Environmentalists challenge German gov't approval of mega truck use

Environmentalists have decided to join forces and challenge a decision in January by the German government which greenlighted mega trucks for regular use.

A coalition of environmentalists has been formed in Germany, which included people from Pro-Rail Alliance, Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND) and Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH).

According to the coalition, German Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure Alexander Dobrindt has violated the European laws by authorizing the use of mega trucks in January this year.

In January, Dobrindt approved the regular use of mega trucks, saying Germany's highways were ready for longer trucks -- what Germans have dubbed "gigaliners" -- and may be driven on highways, German broadcaster Deustche Welle reported.

Mega trucks, also known as longer and heavier vehicles (LHV), are 6.5 meters longer than conventional vehicles totaling approximately 25 meters long, allowing them to carry 50 percent more cargo.

The coalition alleged that EU law states that the maximum length of vehicles is set at 18.75 meters long (EC 96/53). Only in exceptional circumstances can a longer vehicle be used, such as the transportation of wind farm components.

Dobrindt, however, said in January that the results of a five-year test phase were in, and that the mega trucks were "practical", Deustche Welle reported.

The Ministry of Transport had commissioned the Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt) to investigate the use of longer trucks in a field trial over a five-year period which began in 2010. The BASt report revealed that two long-truck journeys can replace three conventional truck journeys.

The report also said efficiency gains would be achieved through fuel savings of between approximately 15 and 25 percent compared to the standard freight vehicles.

The coalition, however, disagreed. Due to the potential cost savings that transport companies would achieve, rather than each gigaliner reducing overall journeys by one third, they would in fact increase journeys by approximately 7,000 more a year, according to the coalition.

This, in turn, would increase emissions and further hamper infrastructure. Additionally, road traffic would also be increased due to the gigaliners' load being capped at 44 tons, it said.

The coalition expressed concerns over taxpayers' funds being drained by the added burden of adjusting and maintaining German infrastructure to accommodate these longer vehicles as well as adding unnecessary load to the already heavily congested roads.

CEO of Pro-Rail Alliance, Dirk Flege, described transport policy as being "biased towards roads and distorting competition".

BUND's Chairman, Hubert Weiger, warned transport companies not to invest heavily in the gigaliner experiment. Endit