News

Swiss road lobby says no to Gigaliners

October 14, 2009

A Swiss haulage association has said allowing 25-metre lorries – known as ‘mega-trucks’ or ‘gigaliners’ – on Europe’s roads would be bad economically and environmentally.

Astag, a committed member of the vocal haulage lobby group IRU (International Road Transport Union), says the controversial lorries would make no sense for economic reasons in domestic transport, and that they would also be an unnecessary burden for road infrastructure and the environment.

By contrast, the Swedish government is promoting the ‘mega-trucks’.

At a recent conferenece on intelligent transport systems attended by several EU transport ministers, the Swedish lorry maker Scania arranged for several ministers to test drive the company’s 25-metre trucks.

Afterwards, Sweden’s communications minister Åsa Torstensson said, ‘I believe transports with longer vehicles are the right way to go.’

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