Seven police forces in the East have teamed up with the Metropolitan Police in an effort to coordinate the movement of abnormal loads through their counties, and to the edge of the capital, making it easier for hauliers to plan their journey movements outside of embargoed times.
The borders between the forces, Essex, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Kent, have been “removed” making it easier to transport abnormal loads across the counties.
The agreement was made between the forces at a summit in which the forces were supported by National Highways, Connect Plus (M25) and Transport for London.
They say the agreement will provide clarity and confidence to hauliers that we recognise the major projects and developments taking place in our region.
Following analysis provided by National Highways, hauliers will now be required to adhere to the two aligned embargo times that are there to prevent the movement of the biggest and slowest vehicles on the strategic road network during the peak periods of traffic.
Hauliers will be prevented from moving abnormal loads between 7-9am and between 4-6pm, Monday to Friday. There will be no change to restrictions at the weekends and the Metropolitan Police district’s arrangements will not change.
The current Chair of the Abnormal Load Officers group, Essex Police’s Sergeant Jason Dearsley, explained: “For most hauliers we hope this change provides them with a clearly defined system, making route planning in the Eastern Region easier by increasing in some forces the hours that abnormal loads can be moved.
“We all remain committed to working closely with the haulage organisations to provide clarity, to ensure that abnormal load movements will occur with minimum disruption to their business and with the utmost regard to the safety of all our road users.
“This partnership agreement is a great representation of what we can do to work together to strike a balance between keeping the economy moving whilst remaining focussed on road safety.”
(Picture – Essex Police)
