Scottish hauliers are up in arms about the “horrendous” extra costs they face because of the HGV ban on the Forth Road Bridge, which has been extended until the end of February.
The bridge, originally scheduled to reopen to HGV traffic on 4 January after steelwork repairs, will reopen to all other vehicles from today (23 December), but HGVs will remain banned for more than two months.
Andrew Black of Andrew Black Haulage and Storage told MotorTransport.co.uk: "The money we’ve had to spend on fuel, driver’s wages and loss of productivity on the motors is horrendous.
“The Forth bridge must have been in a terrible state, that it’s going to take them so long to sort it out. It’s all about the Scottish National Party not maintaining their bridges as they should be.”
Operator Bullet Express tweeted: "Disgrace the FRB is opening to all bar HGVs , the very companies who need it most. Another industry slap in the face."
The trade associations described the extended closure as a “devastating blow” to the industry that is going to have a “horrific effect” on Scottish hauliers.
The RHA’s regional director for Scotland, Martin Reid, said the association was calling on the Scottish government to help meet the ongoing costs of the bridge closure, as it thinks they are too great “for the industry to absorb by itself”.
“We think that by extending this to the end of February it’s going to cost around £40m the industry in Scotland, based on fuel costs and driver time,” said Reid. “We’re calling on the Scottish government to step up and do something about it, because it’s no fault of the hauliers or the haulage companies that this has happened, so we need a bit of help here.”
The FTA’s director of policy Karen Dee agreed that the costs would have a “devastating blow” on hauliers, and added: “The additional costs incurred by the 50-mile diversion are significant, especially when contracts have already been signed and there is no opportunity to recoup the money.”
Reid added that further problems are likely to arise because the relaxation of drivers’ hour rules is only valid until 6 January, after which any extension will require EU approval.
So at the minute we’re frantically trying to gather information for the DfT so we can try and ensure we get that extension, at the very least. We’ve only got a couple of weeks to get this done, but it’s the couple of weeks in a year where the country shuts down. At the busiest time of the year.
“We’re frantically trying to gather information for the DfT at the moment so we can try and ensure we get that extension,” he explained. “We’ve only got a couple of weeks to get this done, but it’s the couple of weeks in a year where the country shuts down.”
