More than two thirds of waste sites could be suitable for HGVs with low entry cabs, according to research by Aecom.

Aecom conducted a virtual assessment of 1,848 landfill, waste transfer and waste treatment sites in the south east of England.

Of these, Aecom found 1,190, or 64%, of the assessed sites would be suitable for low entry vehicles.

The long-term aim of the TfL-commissioned work is to build a directory of sites that operators can refer to in order to check the suitability of vehicles for a job.

Aecom designed assessment criteria against which sites can be examined for vehicle suitability.

Based around four key areas, the criteria considers height/depth of ruts/bumps on the site; approach angles for vehicles; the material the vehicle will drive over and how weather conditions will affect traction; water on the site and what it might cover.

Presenting the findings at the Clocs Conference and Exhibition yesterday, Aecom associate Jo Edwards told delegates the research was currently focused on waste sites, but would look to include general construction sites in the future.

The next step was to trial vehicles on the sites to confirm its findings, she said.

“Our assessment criteria is theoretical so we need to conduct some vehicle trials to validate the assessment criteria.”

She called for more clarity from manufactures on vehicles’ suitability for different jobs.

She said: “There’s so many variants on a theme, there are so many makes and models of vehicles, and it’s difficult to choose the right tools for the job. There’s some work still to go to demystify which truck can do which job, so we can make informed choices.”