Heavy Lorries (Checks)

HC Deb 23 December 1981 vol 15 cc971-3

2. Mr. Chapman

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what checks are made of the gross weights of large vehicles and their axle weight distribution at points of entry into the United Kingdom; and whether such checks can be made on all like vehicles without disrupting traffic flows and delaying drivers.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke

My Department's staff carry out regular weight checks, supplemented by occasional enforcement "blitzes" at roll-on/roll-off ferry ports. There are now dynamic weighbridges, which impose minimum delay, at or close to all such ports. However, enforcement checks on every vehicle would be impracticable and would impose unacceptable congestion and delay.

Mr. Chapman

I am grateful to my hon. and learned Friend for that information. What proportion of heavy vehicles coming into ports of entry are found to be over the legal maximum weight? If schemes can be devised to judge the weights of vehicles by putting a metal 'strip across the road, will he encourage those new forms of test to be incorporated at all points of entry?

Mr. Clarke

At present about one in five vehicles stopped at ports is found to be overloaded, but that is because the traffic examiners tend to pick the most suspicious-looking vehicles. I doubt whether one in five of all lorries is overloaded. We are installing equipment, known as the dynamic weighbridge, which enables us to stop and check more lorries than before.

Mr. J. Enoch Powell

Does the Minister's reply include points of entry into the United Kingdom across its land frontier? If, by reason of any local circumstances, the arrangements that he has described are not applicable, will he ensure that corresponding checks are carried out so that there is the same amount of surveillance?

Mr. Clarke

I shall consult my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to see what arrangements apply within the land border of the United Kingdom, and I shall let the right hon. Gentleman know. Most of the arrangements that we enforce are at the ports, because they are the most convenient places to check incoming vehicles from other countries.

Mr. Ward

Is my hon. and learned Friend aware that much of the resistance to the increased lorry weights proposed by my right hon. Friend is because there is no constant check at ports? That resistance is growing in constituencies such as my own. Is he further aware that Germany has adopted methods of showing weights by gauges on the lorries? Would it not be a reasonable imposition on lorry operators, at the port of entry, to prove that their loads are adequately distributed? If it could be shown that every lorry load was within the law, l am sure that much of the resistance shown by people living near the port of Poole would disappear.

Mr. Clarke

We keep having blitzes at ports in an effort to reassure people that we are stepping up enforcement. Technical advances are constantly being made. We shall bring in whatever new devices are available, as they become effective in practice. As a result of our present somewhat curious weight restrictions, some large vehicles, if they are to be legally loaded, are fully loaded. It is easier to overload above our present limits within the capacity of containers than it would be if we went up to the kind of weight limits for which containers are designed.

Mr. Booth

Does the Under-Secretary accept that the statement that he made this morning—that one in five of the lorries checked is overweight—will do nothing to reassure people that we have adequate means of enforcing lorry weights? Does he further accept that it will be necessary for the Government to take further steps to assure people that there are adequate means of enforcement before we increase lorry weights in this country?

Mr. Clarke

The Government are anxious to enforce lorry weights. We stop and take action against many vehicles. One in five sounds alarming, but the check is done only on some vehicles. The traffic examiners, who are experienced in these matters, check lorries that look as though they are overloaded. Obviously many empty lorries are allowed to pass, as are lorries that are perfectly acceptable. A sign of the alertness of traffic examiners is their ability to spot the lorries that are labouring and down on their springs.