Freight deliveries to major UK cities must be governed by the same regulations to avoid confusion for operators, warned the FTA.
The warning comes as the government looks to push through its Cities Devolution Bill, which will see cities that elected their own mayor given control of local transport, housing and skills following the current set-up in London.
Christopher Snelling, head of urban logistics and regional policy at the FTA, said: “Government and proposed new authorities should ensure that operators of freight do not have to face differing rules and regulations in order to deliver goods in different cities.
“The FTA has concerns over the future role of elected Mayors in these authorities. Personality politics can lead to actions led by political image concerns rather than good policy making processes.”
Speaking in Manchester, chancellor George Osborne said the Cities Devolution Bill will be in the Queen's Speech on 27 May.
“This law will pave the way for Greater Manchester – and, importantly, other cities as well, to take greater control and responsibility over all the key things that make a city work, from transport and housing to skills, and key public services like health and social care,” Osborne said.
“It means by the end of this year the legal framework will be set so that any city can proceed to implement a mayoral devolution deal.”
• The FTA is hosting its Managing Freight in London Conference on 2 June at The Oval. It will cover a range of issues that will operators in the capital, ranging from the development of cycle superhighways to Clocs, Fors, retrofitting of safety equipment and penalty charge notices.
The Metropolitan Police will be hosting an ‘Exchanging Places’ event which will be taking place the evening before the conference to highlight safe tactics for sharing the roads and giving cyclists the opportunity to see the road from the driver’s seat of a large goods vehicle. The vehicle will be provided by Volvo Trucks which is also sponsoring the one day conference.
