ECG — 2024-02-15
News from ECG
ECG welcomes the vote by the Transport (TRAN) Committee of the European Parliament on 14 February backing harmonisation of loaded length of vehicle transporters to at least 20.75m.
The TRAN Committee oversees the revision of the Weights and Dimensions Directive (W&D Directive) at European Parliament level. The proposal to revise the W&D Directive was published in July 2023 by the European Commission as part of its Greening Freight package. It included article 8c introducing harmonisation of loaded length of vehicle transporters at EU level. In the past months, ECG proposed revisions to article 8c and worked on the finetuning of the article to meet the real world requirements of its members operating trucks. ECG is pleased to see that the TRAN Committee backed ECG’s suggestions for amending the article towards that end. While article 8c is still in line with the European Commission’s original proposal, it now reflects the operational realities of loading vehicle transporters.
Harmonisation of loaded length of vehicle transporters to at last 20.75m across the EU would finally give legal certainty to trucks crossing EU borders and simplify compliance with a patchwork of different national legislations on loaded length (see ECG’s booklet on the topic). It is also in line with legislation in the majority of Member States on their national territories. Trucking companies move millions of vehicles per year in the European Union. Our sector is as multimodal as possible and maximises the use of ships, railway wagons and inland waterways barges to move vehicles to the final customer. However, for what is called the last mile delivery, which can be anything from a few kilometres to several hundred in some cases, it is not possible to use anything other than trucks. Harmonisation of loaded length of car transporters at EU level to at least 20.75m is crucial for our sector and for our members operating trucks. This will allow operators to have legal certainty, reduce emissions by maximizing efficiency, and reduce costs and administrative burden.
Next steps
The European Parliament is set to adopt its position on the W&D Directive on 11 March during its plenary debate.