Rail will always complain, but consider this, as a road train driver in Australia (53 metres - 176 ft. long) road transport is always going to be more efficient.
Rail in Britain is a basket case, rail in Australia also, a basket case. Trains cannot back up to receiving docks of shops. (instant double or triple handling for a start) The abuse that rail freight receives, vastly outweighs road travel.
Good luck to big trucks, England. Need any expert drivers? Would love to come home, the minute you change your government from socialist to conservative.
Australia is no longer the place to be.
Happy driving - and big trucks, they really aren't so bad!

W Georgetti, Darwin, NT Australia.

It is hard to see the advantage of these trucks when compared to the railways - surely policies should be orientated toward switching from road to rail not rail to road. This would make better use of the railway infrastructure and provide additional revenue to ensure it does not further deteriorate.

There is enough stress on our creaking road network

Alan, Cheltenham, GLOS

Instead of making efforts to get freight back on to rail,yet again the government will pander to the road lobby and allow these monstrosities on to our roads.We picked up the tab last time to have all the bridges strengthened for increased lorry weight, will we now have to pay for the infrastructure to cope with these Behemoths?.

David Tootell, Blackburn, United Kingdom.

I have driven the Denby LHV, and driving it agianst a normal HGV really isn't much difference, it turns in the same turning circle and operates in the same way. The chances are that these types of vehicle will be restricted so that they can't overtake, will be on trunked routes only, between distribution hubs, and what I don't understand is, like it or lump it, we have to move forward and the roads are already to full for the traffic we all currently operate within the UK, two of these vehicles saves one normal truck from operating, seems common sense to me. The rail, the rail, the rail, there is no rail network in the UK, that's why we have to move forward, maybe the goverment should have invested 24 billion into the rail not Northern Rock then and only then will you have a starting point and even that's only strachting the surface of the real rail problem in the UK.

Paul , Stowmarket, Suffolk

Large lorries are the biggest danger to cyclists and motorcyclists, there are no possible routes in the UK which would keep these lorries off roads used by vulnerable road users.

If Denby Transport is offerring to pay for constructing routes totally segregated from cycles, motorcycles, and small cars then a trial could be considered.

Charlie Lloyd, London Cycing Campaign

Charlie Lloyd, London,

Well there you go - the great British public throwing up their hands in horror. Nick - lorries over 7.5t are ALREADY limited to 56mph on motorways, so no change there. Paul C - the operators won't go anywhere near towns and villages with these lorries; they are only any use between distribution centres which are by necessity at or very close to motorway junctions. You must have seen them - big sheds with ARGOS or TESCO on the side. Mrs Tuffs - relax, for the reasons above. Your children are safe. Remember - lorries, however big, are driven by real people, most of whom are fathers (AND mothers) themselves!

twobanksoffour, Liverpool,

Fantastic - If bendy buses weren't dangerous enough because of their size, lets put something larger on the roads.

I could see the use in these large lorries if they are confined to motorways and large roads but if they were allowed into towns and cities they will cause nothing but mayhem and danger to pedestrians and cyclists.

Paul C, London, UK

If these lorries are limited to 56.7 MPH then driving on all non motorway roads will automatically be reduced to this speed for the rest of the driving public. Inevitably frustation will increase and accident rates will soar due to motorists who are quite rightly not prepared to live there lives governed by "TRUCK DRIVERS".

Nick Harris, Galashiels, Borders

Maybe these lorries could be accommodated in the left hand lane on motorways, but I live in a county without motorways and with many winding lanes and am filled with dread at the thought of these monsters being let loose. We have many poached egg roundabouts in ancient towns and villlages of very pretty black and white houses and these will be shaken to bits with even bigger heavier lorries. Can you immagine children, who are being encouraged to walk to school, crossing roads or walking beside them or on them where there are no pavements? Where will these lorries park when their driver time is up? At the moment lorries try to park overnight in residential areas where there are no facilities for drivers and cause sleepless nights for those who have no choice but to listen to their refrigeration units cutting in and out.

Mrs S Tuffs, Hereford, Herefordshire

Do I want supperlorries mostly certainly not, most of our roads could not cope, the incidence of serious accidenst involving large lorries is too high and the thought of a side swipe from one of these leviathans horrendous. Think of the problems with left hand drive versions! The environmental element is specious, when will we stop looking a short term solutions, we have to plan for the redundancy of the diesel truck not increasinmg it's size. All freight should be trunked by rail and then delivered from regional hubs by smaller electric vehicles. This, if properley done will also make the railways more financially viable.

p.race, pulborough, west sussex

What will kill this off is the impracticality of the outfit itself. Although the rear trailer is a standard rear-loading artic trailer suited to all the loading bays across the country, the front trailer is necessarily a side-loading curtainsider, 60% of the length. Side loading makes it less than useful for trunking between disribution centres. I think Denby are testing the water. A full road-train would make more sense - two full-length artic trailers, both rear-loadable, the rearmost unhitched and shunted onto the dock, the front backed on by the tractor unit. Problem is, the British public would throw their hands up in horror, even though these are in use common elsewhere in the world. Admittedly it's a small island but the efficiency such a layout offers is very attractive.

twobanksoffour, Liverpool,

What happened to the railways? Why aren't they used?

bill, hook,

Whilst were on the subject of reducing population how about stopping all benefits once a couple get past two children.

Nick Dixon, Sutton Coldfield, England

Instead of coming up with bigger, better and more efficient
Why not simply have less people on the planet???
It would solve a lot of problems.
How about one child per married couple?

Michael, Liverpool, UK

Would it not be a good idea to put them on separate roads, perhaps even rails and then you could link two or three together and have just one driver?
We could call them trains ?

Colin Macpherson, Gramat , France

Large lorries are already a nightmare on our narrow lanes in Devon. Sat Nav sends them down totally unsuitable roads and farmer friends have had to aid these monsters when they have had to stop on steep hills with sharp curves. They are lucky tractors are on hand! If they can't keep these on bigger roads what chance do we have with something even larger. with no pavements, horseriders and walkers take their lives in their hands.

Irene fisher, Petrockstowe, uk

It's not just the roads that need to be adapted to cope with such trucks, but also innumerable loading bays and delivery sites around the country. Our built environment is on a very small scale compared with the USA or most of Europe. Imagine one of these things turning up at Tescos and trying to manouvre around the back. Reversing must be a lot of fun! Also, I hope the impact of a broken down one has been considered. One of these stuck on a busy roundabout would cause complete chaos. The idea looks attractive until you get into the details...

Colin, Shrewsbury,

Will these super lorries pay more in road duties to cover the cost of their damage to our network of motorways? And, how do we stop foreign lorry drivers who have committed driving offences which apparently are not recorded on their licences like the requirement is in the UK, to drive safely on our roads?
Maybe these lorries could travel only at night and only in the left hand lanes on Motorways. Satellite navigation systems will need to be looked at so that these monsters do not stray into villages and minor roads. Why can’t we use the waterways instead?

L Evans, London,

Let's be clear - you cannot force freight from roads onto rail for two reasons - one to take 5% of freight off roads would require a doubling of the current rail network, and two, you still need lorries to take goods to the shops. The larger the vehicle and the more it carries, the less congestion and the fewer emissions it causes.
It is not trucks which cause congestion - it's cars. And the very guy who is working on this problem for the government has said that you have three times the effect on road congestion if you concentrate on putting people on trains - not freight. The rail freight community is spooked quite simply because more efficient lorries would be a commercial and environmental success and it's terrified it couldn't compete.
Whether or not the size and infrastructure in the UK will yield the same benefits from LHVs as elsewhere, it is a decision we should make from a position of information, not ignorance, about the crucial role of trucks in the UK economy.

Louise Cole, Northallerton, UK

More damage to Roads, more accidents, more NHS costs, more road furniture damaged and need replacing, Haulage contractors may save, but everyone else pays. I look forward to seeing them trying to get into supermarket car parks. as well as the points in the previous letters..

Mike, Paphos, Cyprus

Yet again people express an opinion without having any idea. There is no more room on the railways for freight, and as the government closed most of the railway network not much hope to expand capacity. The roads are the only option left and these larger vehicles would be the best option for transporting goods between source and a retailers warehouse, for example. A supermarket has a large warehouse that all its suppliers deliver to, in bulk. It then transports everything a supermarket branch needs in another lorry to minimise costs and lorry movements. Therefore having the ability to move more goods in bulk between warehouses, usually next to a motorway, would make good sense.
Of course rail does make more sense but who is going to build new railways?

ER, London,

Why not use ? Railway it would be much more cheaper and environment friendly and safer as well

Vijay Patel, Leicester , U.K.

If these lorries are allowed on our roads I will give up cycling and walking and buy a big 4x4 to give myself some protection.

Clive Stringer, Eggesford, Devon

These vehicles should only be used on some A roads and motorways.. there should be distribution centres near these motorways to sort out the goods to smaller vehicles.. there is no way lorries can make it around the local villages near me, let alone a super lorry... and Nigal came out with quite a funny remark! nice one!

Adam Webb, MK, UK

Did the fuel consumption trials replicate the constant stop-start conditons prevalent on UK roads, thus allowing for the comparatively large amounts of fuel needed to overcome inertia and get such a large vehicle moving? And once underway, what kind of speed do these lorries achieve? If they're equivalent to other HGVs, then they represent a far greater risk in the event of a collision - imagine one of these fish-tailing on a motorway? If they tend to run at a slower speed, then they will cause even more congestion and with it, more pollution. Lorries on the road is not the answer. Freight by rail is the only sane solution, if you care about the environment, congestion and safety on the roads.

D Harris, East Sussex,

As a cyclist I'd be worried about being flattened by one of these things as it passed me. I'd prefer to see an increase in rail freight - surely a more sensible way of transporting heavy goods than clogging up our roads with even more lorries!

Ben Garside, Loughborough, Leics

Can the truck lobby explain how a car driver will merge from slip road to motorway if a line of these monster trucks is speeding along the inside lane, or how these trucks will safely change lanes on roundabout junctions as clueless truckers try to work out where they should be going? Don't believe the stuff about restrictions to motorways-these LHVs are a trojan horse for huge trucks to be allowed into retail parks and other unsuitable roads.

Chris Packham, Birmingham,

Absolutely ludicrous. Our roads are not built for these monsters.

Chris, Birmingham,

we can well do with out these, never mind the fact that they are ill suited to are small island nation, what will happen to all the drivers?

Surley less lorries mean less drivers which means greater unemployment?

Is that what we really want in such a harsh climent as it is, i would far rather see lorries band from driving more than 100 miles and force all fright on to the rail ways.

Mr W Jones, Liverpool,

yes let's ban cars from certain routes, we could then make special tracks for the Superlorries to run on and then call then TRAINS!!

Nigel Proctor, Crediton, UK

Motorist will suffer, we have very long (triple trailers) in the U.S. and they are very dangerous.
Jon

Jon Bounds, Roseburg, Oregon, U.S.A.

They cut carbon emissions, but are dangerous to private cars.

So why not ban private cars from the routes that they use? That way you cut even more carbon, and goods get to their destinations faster.

Malcolm McLean, Bradford, UK