| dbo:abstract
|
- The Denby Eco-Link, dubbed the super lorry by the mainstream media, is a commercial vehicle designed and built by Denby Transport of the United Kingdom. The Eco-Link is a 60 tonne fully laden, 25.25m long, 8 axle B-Train (or B-Double) type of semi-trailer truck, in which a tractor unit pulls two semi-trailers, using fifth wheel couplings on both trailers. As one prototype of the UK Longer Heavier Vehicle (LHV) vehicle definition, which are longer and heavier than normal Large Goods Vehicles (LGVs, British English: lorries), it is not currently permitted to be used in the UK. As of 2009, the largest ordinary lorries in the UK have 6 axles and a maximum laden weight of 44 tonnes, and can be 16.5m long as single trailer semi-trailer trucks (British English: articulated lorries), or 18.75m as drawbar lorries. Denby Transport, a Lincoln based haulage company owned by the Denby family, have been developing and testing the Eco-Link on private proving grounds since 2002. Denby believes that the Eco-Link offers several environmental and productivity benefits over normal lorries, without any decrease in safety, and that an active steering system used on the middle trailer gives the Eco-Link a manoeuvrability and turning circle equivalent to shorter legal LGVs. In 2004 Denby, among other UK hauliers, unsuccessfully applied for permission from the Department for Transport (DfT) to trial their LHV prototypes on the public road. In June 2008, after a two-year desk study into LHV's, the DfT ruled out approval of trials of most designs LHV considered, including the Eco-Link. After taking legal advice, by the end of 2009 Denby Transport owner Dick Denby had concluded that, due to its manoeuvrability, and if kept to a maximum weight of 44 tonnes, the Eco-Link would be legal under a loophole in the . Having reached an impasse with the DfT, who still regarded the EcoLink as an illegal LHV but conceded that only the courts could rule on the matter, on 1 December Mr Denby took the Eco-Link for a road test on the A46. Having already informed the police, Mr Denby was stopped outside the depot by Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) who prohibited further tests. Prior to the test, Mr Denby stated he would fight the expected prohibition of the vehicle through the courts if necessary. (en)
|
| rdfs:comment
|
- The Denby Eco-Link, dubbed the super lorry by the mainstream media, is a commercial vehicle designed and built by Denby Transport of the United Kingdom. The Eco-Link is a 60 tonne fully laden, 25.25m long, 8 axle B-Train (or B-Double) type of semi-trailer truck, in which a tractor unit pulls two semi-trailers, using fifth wheel couplings on both trailers. As one prototype of the UK Longer Heavier Vehicle (LHV) vehicle definition, which are longer and heavier than normal Large Goods Vehicles (LGVs, British English: lorries), it is not currently permitted to be used in the UK. As of 2009, the largest ordinary lorries in the UK have 6 axles and a maximum laden weight of 44 tonnes, and can be 16.5m long as single trailer semi-trailer trucks (British English: articulated lorries), or 18.75m as (en)
|
