Super Truck Only Went 100 Yards.

I was following the news this morning to see what was going to happen when Dick Denby took to the road in his 83 foot super truck, he claims the truck is fully legal and it does not seem to break any laws here, but the government are claiming it is illegal.

He got just 100 yards before he was stopped by the police, Sgt Dave Kay, of Lincolnshire traffic police, and Philip Lapczuk, of VOSA, the Vehicle and Operator Service Agency, immediately pulled him over. The 74-year-old grandfather-of-six was then issued with a notice ordering him to remove the lorry from the public highway without delay.

Embarrassingly, police first had to escort him on a half-mile journey up the road and back so he could find enough room to turn around in. Speaking after meeting with VOSA officials, a defiant Mr Denby claimed: "As far as I'm concerned, the legal position still hasn't been clarified.

"The Department of Transport says the lorry is illegal on the road, but we say it isn't, our lawyers say it isn't, and our trade associations say it isn't. "If the law eventually decides they're illegal then we'll pull it off the roads. If it decides they're legal then everyone who wants one can have one."

The £100,000 'Eco-Link' lorry is based on a Dutch design and is legal in some European countries, including Holland, Sweden and Finland. Hauliers here cite the 1986 Road Vehicles Regulations, which state 'certain vehicles' can carry more than one trailer and be up to 85ft long.

The section was intended for the recovery of broken-down trucks, but the regulations do not state this - providing supporters with a loophole. The Road Haulage and Freight Transport Associations back Mr Denby, owner of Denby Transport, whose drive today was his first in 14 years.
He said: "I didn't want to get any of my drivers into trouble with the law, so I drove the truck myself. To me it was just like driving a normal lorry."

A Department of Transport study has confirmed double-articulated 'super lorries' can reduce emissions and cut the cost of moving goods. But Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly has ruled out road trials for fear of undermining the rail freight market and upsetting other motorists.

Mr Denby, who risked arrest and his licence by taking the vehicle out of his yard, wrote to police to warn he was planning his trip this morning. Sgt Kay said: "He sent me a letter. I replied that he shouldn't take this vehicle on a public road, because under the current legislation it's too long."

Mr Lapczuk confirmed he had simply issued Mr Denby with a "direction notice" rather than a summons, adding: "I have no powers of arrest." Mr Denby said he would now wait for the findings of a VOSA inspection of the Eco-Link, which was examined today, before deciding his next move.

Jack Semple, policy director of the Road Haulage Association, said: "Dick is to be applauded for trying to keep the issue alive in the UK." But Stephen Joseph, a spokesman for the Campaign for Better Transport, said: "The question about these mega-trucks is where do you stop?

"The industry can always argue that if we have bigger lorries we'll have fewer lorries. It hasn't happened in the past - it won't happen in the future."

So do you want to see such lorries on our roads?