Driverless lorries,,,,

[srw]

Over the 30-odd years, rail freight in the UK has barely changed - apart from the fact that the amount of coal moved has tanked very recently as we've shut down coal-fired power stations. There's been an increase in non-coal freight recently. The slack in the system available from the fall in coal transport can't, I suspect, be easily taken up by non-coal, because that would need more investment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_freight_in_Great_Britain

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...597/domestic-road-freight-statistics-2016.pdf
And the amount moved by the road is about 20 times larger. (These stats are in absolute tonnes)

http://www.metadyne.co.uk/D_ml_freight_km.html
The amount of freight moved by rail has barely changed since the early 1970s - after a 50% decline since the 1950s. Since the 1950s, the amount of freight on the roads has gone up by a factor of 20. (These stats are in tonne-kilometres).

For all that the sentimentalist in me would love to see a massive increase in rail freight, the realist recognises that that would require far more infrastructure investment than is going to happen. Road freight is here to say, so we might as well make it as safe and as efficient as we possibly can.

 

[srw]

The majority I was referring to clearly also walk and may also cycle - but they prioritise driving (flag for crossover to "short driving journeys" thread). They will support further restrictions on walking and cycling on carriageways rather than see their right to make unimpeded progress as a motorist restricted.

I disagree. And the evidence, I think, supports me - over the last 30-odd years we have seen more and more town and city centres converted from unrestricted roads to roads prioritising pedestrians and cyclists, and more and more rural non-trunk roads deprioritising drivers, with speed limited zones and restricted turns.

 

[jefmcg]

That's a lot of assumption and assertion there...

Really, that's your takeaway from my deeply personal story about tragedy and loss?

Please delete your post. I regret sharing that story here.

 

[classic33]

[QUOTE 4935975, member: 9609"]Yes, there is very few operations where three trucks will be running to the same place at the same time - who is going to want 78 palettes all in one go or have 78 palettes all ready to collect, the gate man would have a hairy canary if three trucks arrived at the same time. Many places work on a strict timetable with lorries booked in for specific times hours apart, companies don't store stuff, they don't have the room, it arrives and is used then more arrives.

But these are trials to get it all working so I'm sure something can be found - I suspect in the future any lorry will be able to join on with any other lorry who is on the motorway at the same time, presumably there will be a system where the lead lorry can charge the lorries behind thus sharing the benefit.

Are the benifits that great in platooning. at 56 mph 40% of the fuel is used to overcome wind resistance, if that was reduced by 75% then over three lorries there is going to be a 20% saving on fuel. you could nearly make the same saving by reducing the speed to 35 mph, which would be very feasible in a lorry that does not need a driver.[/QUOTE]
The trials on that part are due next year.

 

[toffee]

Exactly this. If it gets to the stage where you can logistically move a few hundred tons of stuff by road then companies like DHL can make hubs immediately outside urban areas and do the final couple of miles to a supermarket from there.

Thing is, it they do not just go to supermarkets. Company I work for imports a lot of goods via Felixstowe. Doubt it will be possible to get the goods via rail swap, them over to road then truck them close to our warehouse then swap them to a small van for the last few miles in the same time as we now just truck them straight off the boat to the warehouse. There is going to be lots of small vans, as well, due to the weight

You will have to wait that bit longer for your goods, which is ok if they are not urgent.

 

[Jenkins]

Maximum weight for a 40' container is around 30 tonnes, not thousands. Suspect thats the reason trucks maximum weight was increased a few years ago.
Would be much better if containers were lifted straight from ships onto trains then onward. Don't think theres actually much in the way of railways operating in ports anymore though, in UK anyway. Europe is different.
Hull does have one line left - imported wood pellets to Drax power station. How environmentally friendly that is is another matter.

Try Felixstowe. Three dedicated container rail terminals with 35+ movements in and out each day (except Sunday) with each being of up to 32 wagons (60' of container space) long.

https://www.portoffelixstowe.co.uk/rail/rail-schedule
https://www.portoffelixstowe.co.uk/port/rail-services/

 

[srw]

Try Felixstowe. Three dedicated container rail terminals with 35+ movements in and out each day (except Sunday) with each being of up to 32 wagons (60' of container space) long.

https://www.portoffelixstowe.co.uk/rail/rail-schedule
https://www.portoffelixstowe.co.uk/port/rail-services/

That's about 1,100 containers per day, six days a week.

Meanwhile Dover handles the equivalent of nearly 7,000 per day, seven days a week.

 

[Jenkins]

Just what is going to be transported in this convoy of 3 or more fully laden vehicles coming from and going to the same destination?

From what I see here, it's cr*p from China going to Amazon fulfilment centres. You could probably take up a large section of the A14 inside lane with just the convoy of containers for the Leicester one.

 

[Jenkins]

That's about 1,100 containers per day, six days a week.

Meanwhile Dover handles the equivalent of nearly 7,000 per day, seven days a week.

Quite a lot of those will be fillled with loads of Chinese clothing being moved arouind Europe in various valuation/VAT/money laundering frauds.

Don't forget that Felixstowe also has a massive amount of containers moved by road as well as the rail totals you've quoted. If a way could be found of safely hooking groups of lorrries together when going from here to similar areas (such as to a set point on the road network like the A14/A1 junction) where they would then split up to the various end destinations it could help congestion.

 

[srw]

Quite a lot

At £150k or so per year running costs for an HGV, you'd need an epically crooked fraud to make real money.

Oh great.... road trains on the congested A14. Just what we need....

No part of it is even in the top 50 most congested road segments.... Plenty of room for more lorries, especially if they're driven in computer-controlled convoy, and so take up less road-space.