ESTA is optimistic that new regulations to harmonize marking and lighting on heavy transport will be contained in the EU’s revised Weights and Dimensions Directive (96/53) that is currently being considered by the Council of Ministers.
The association has been campaigning on this issue for more than five years since it set up a specialist working group which produced detailed recommendations.
These won the backing of the VDA, the influential German automotive industry association, and were originally presented to the UNECE committee responsible for administering international conventions on traffic regulations, but progress stalled due to the backlog of work caused by the Covid pandemic.
Now ESTA’s focus has turned to Brussels’ proposed revision of the Weights and Dimensions Directive which has already been backed by the European Parliament and has entered a process of consultation with the Council following the European elections in June.
The revised directive contains measures to harmonise the numerous and complex rules governing abnormal transport, including a provision that Member States shall cooperate to “avoid the multiplicity of vehicle markings and signalling” alongside a proposed obligation on the European Commission to ensure that such a provision is implemented.
ESTA’s long-standing campaign on marking and lighting has been led by Iffet Türken, ESTA Section Transport President and Executive Board Member of trailer manufacturer Kässbohrer.
She said: “This is very good news indeed and shows that we are slowly and steadily making progress, even though it is taking far longer than we would like.
“The current situation is absolutely ridiculous. The rules for marking and lighting of abnormal transports are different in every EU country. Why is a side marking board in one country 50 x 50 cm and in another country 42.5 x 42.5 cm?
“ESTA is simply trying to introduce some unity and common sense here.”
Apart from Türken, ESTA’s original working group comprised Tahsin Dogan from Kässbohrer; André Friderici of Switzerland-based Friderici Spécial and ESTA Section Transport Vice President; Lars Schoedt of TII-Scheuerle; and Ambro Smit of Netherlands transport association TLN.
The original recommendations are on the ESTA website here.