Steering through a world of

red tapeINDUSTRY FOCUSROAD HAULAGE, ESCORTS & PERMITS

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driving hours, it is always challenging toschedule the truck and driver to make surehe is within the regulations and still crossingthe border during the permitted hours. It islosing a lot of time.”

Permits outlookThe challenges and bureaucracy of securingroad permits are only getting worse,according to van der Weijden. “Each countryis changing its rules and requirements andthere are different rules on weights per axle.It is not one European Union when youstart to investigate this.”

He suggested that some nationalgovernments are protecting business forlocal transport companies by making therules very complicated. “Spain, for example,has changed the rules this year again and youcannot even change the truck or trailer anymore during a trip, as all the numbersshould be on the permit. When you have toapply for a permit, two to five weeks beforethe day of loading, it is really hard to definethat this specific truck with this specifictrailer will execute the transport. We lose theflexibility in our operations.”

As with so many countries, Spain’s rulesvary from one region to another. “In oneregion the permit is valid for just four weeksand in another region it is for six months.One region expects you to write exactly onyour permits that you are moving anexcavator and the other region not. Whenyou have ‘excavator’ on the permits and youhave the chance to load a bulldozer back,then you have to apply for a new permit.This is frustrating.”

Ivan Rojnica, head of the road transportdepartment at Zagrebtrans, in Croatia, seesno prospect of any harmonisation acrossEurope for oversized permits. While nocountry’s system is ideal, he said, Austriacould be held up as an example of howthings should be: yearly permits withrelatively liberal dimensions (25.0 x 3.5 x4.3 m, 60 tonnes), with normal permitsissued relatively quickly and valid for 30 daysor longer if necessary. Additionally, thetechnical escort personnel in Austria aretrained in authorised establishments so that apolice escort is not necessary and can bereplaced by an extra technical escort car.

“There are many other countries withsome good things in the oversized transport

Most of us would like to thinkthat we are, to an extent atleast, in charge of our owndestiny. There is little hope ofthat for anyone planning and

organising the transport of heavy and out-of-gauge cargo by road.

It all starts, of course, with the customer– and that, in itself, can present difficulties.“The challenge is to convince the clientabout the rules related to exceptionaltransport,” said Pieter van der Weijden,director at Ryano Logistics & Projects, basedin Moerdijk, the Netherlands. “Often clientsdo not really understand that it takes time toput a permit in place and they do not realisethe effects on the permits if the shipperchanges the dimensions to 3-5 cm wider orchanges the weight by 1-2 tonnes.

“It is challenging to stay strong with ashipper when it is on time limits for deliveryand two days before, or at the moment ofloading, we find out that the dimensionshave changed. Turning this to applying forpermits – for each country it is a differentprocess and also divided into different areasand different categories which we have to fitin for the whole project.”

Scheduling the truck, with the correctplate numbers as shown on the permits, iseven more challenging, as clients expectflexibility regarding the loading day – forexample, postponing loading just a daybefore the planned date, said van derWeijden. “That can lead to big operationalproblems when truck, permits and escortsare already scheduled.”

Border problemsWhat are the challenges out there onEurope’s roads? Border crossings, togetherwith pilot cars, are difficult to manage butworkable, he said.

“Pilot cars in Germany have differentrestrictions to pilot cars in France, forexample. It is the same with time of arrival atthe borders. In Germany you can only driveduring the night and in France you can onlydrive during the day. Cooperation betweencountries could be improved.”

A good example, he said, is the bordercrossing between France and Spain at LePerthus, en route to Barcelona. “You canonly pass this border between 03:00 and09:00. With the current regulations about

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Harmonisation of regulations is but a dream in the world ofheavy haulage. Dealing with the bureaucracy, complexities,costs and staggering variations in rules relating to permits andescorts is not for the faint-hearted. Felicity Landon reports.

Zagrebtrans, in Croatia, sees noprospect of any harmonisation across

Europe for oversized transport permits.

www.heavyliftpfi.com March/April 2016

INDUSTRY FOCUSROAD HAULAGE, ESCORTS & PERMITS

● Heavy Haul

● Heavy Lift

● Seafreight

● Projects

● Worldwide

Factory Production Heavy Components Fabrication & Assembly Moving Assembled Units to River Quay Barge Transport Ocean Vessel Transportation

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we want to fix. We have had a lot of meetingswith escort companies and officials.”

Another issue that should be addressed isthe length of time it takes to register a newsemi-trailer in Poland, said Chwalczuk. “Youcan have your new semi-trailer in Polandbut it can be three or four months before itcan be on the roads, because it sometimestakes that long to get your plates.”

Ailing infrastructureThe continued degradation of the infra-structure across Europe is making heavytransport operations increasingly difficult,according to David Collett, ESTA president.

“For example, in Germany the state ofthe bridges and routes for heavy transportcauses great problems – a recent report saidthat 46 percent of the Germany’s bridges arein need of repair. And the problems in thatcountry are hardly unique.”

As for permits, he said: “We are as farremoved from harmonisation as we haveever been as an industry. We have beentrying for years to get Europe’s roadtransport authorities to reduce thepaperwork and bureaucracy faced by theheavy transport industry and adopt theSpecial European Registration for Trucksand Trailers (SERT).

“SERT was launched ten years ago withthe support of the European Commission.However, to date only the Netherlands hasfully adopted the SERT proposals and wefeel that a great opportunity to boostefficiency and eliminate an obstacle to cross-border trade has been lost.”

SERT forms part of the European BestPractice Guidelines for Abnormal RoadTransport, published by the EuropeanCommission’s Transport Directorate in2005. It was intended to replace the differentnational documents faced by heavy transportfirms, reducing paperwork while makingsure the authorities have the detailedinformation they need.

In 2012, ESTA research concluded that

permitting would be difficult, because eachcountry has its different infrastructure,bridges, and load tolerances. “But I wouldlike to start with escort rules, to unify what apilot car should look like and a unifiedcertificate for the pilot.”

In Poland, OSPTN has its own particularbattles. Leading up to last year’s election, theassociation was working closely with thetransport minister to put the contents of newlegislation on transport and escorts in place.“We got everything ready; now we arestarting to move forward again with the newgovernment. The main issue in Poland isescort rules; new regulations wereimplemented five years ago but in the timesince then there have been somemisunderstandings and small errors which

Austria could be held up as agood example of how thingsshould be: yearly permits withrelatively liberal dimensions,with normal permits issuedrelatively quickly and valid for30 days or for longer.

– Ivan Rojnica, Zagrebtrans

www.heavyliftpfi.com March/April 2016 117

systems – for example, the yearly permitsystem in Poland with multiple permitcategories and permits that are tied to thecompany, not truck or trailer platenumbers.”

However, he said, Croatia has the sameunchanged permit system and oversizedtransport regulations that it had two decadesago, with extremely expensive permits.“Some permits can exceed EUR50,000(USD55,800). For years we have been tryingto push our government to changesomething, but without success.”

Croatia may be expensive, but permitsare almost double the price in Bosnia, saidRojnica. “Bosnia is a very difficult countryfor oversized transport, with the mostexpensive permits in Europe – maybe theworld, very old road infrastructure, withmany bridges with questionable and lowcapacity, and mountain terrain with manytunnels on main roads, limiting themaximum cargo height.”

ESTA targetsPresident of the Polish Heavy TransportAssociation (OSPTN) and newly appointedtransport officer at the European Associationof Abnormal Road Transport and MobileCranes (ESTA), Lukasz Chwalczuk, will befocusing on expanding ESTA membershipinto Central and Eastern Europe.

“At present, our members are mainlycompanies from Western Europe and wewant to make a connection with the Easterncountries; I have already made contacts withcompanies in Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine,Bulgaria and Romania, among others,because they have the same issues as us all.

“As president of the Polish association, Ican say that since we joined ESTA it hasbeen much easier for me to speak with thePolish authorities and officials; they see meas someone from Europe who hasconnections with big companies,manufacturers and suppliers from Europe,so that is very helpful for me. I believe itworks the same in each country. For many itis much easier to deal with the authorities ifthey are represented by a Europeanorganisation instead of standing bythemselves.”

It helps at EU level too, he explained:“We want to get as many countries orassociations from different countries to joinESTA because that will give us morestrength to talk with the EU.”

ESTA will be lobbying to improve theharmonisation of rules and regulationsgoverning heavy transport throughoutEurope, Chwalczuk added.

He acknowledged that harmonisation of

The challenges and bureaucracy of securingroad permits are only getting worse,

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up as examples for the others, said Todd.Two “very positive things” happen as a resultof reducing permit turnround times, heemphasised.

“First, safety is enhanced because thequicker the carriers can obtain the permits,the more likely they are to go through theprocess of purchasing permits, checking theroute, width, weight, etc. Second,automation can bring increased revenue forthe state. What we are finding is that as statesadopt automated permitting, and begin toincrease the thresholds, they are seeing amoderate increase in the revenue theyreceive. It truly is a ‘win-win’ for theindustry, government and manufacturers.”

This move towards automation isattracting attention around the world,according to Todd – not that it is nothappening elsewhere but it is not happeningat the same rate as in the USA. “From aworldwide perspective, I think it is worthnoting – the momentum is building ingovernment and the industry for moreforcefully advocating automated permittingsystems.”

But lack of harmonisation from state tostate continues, with regards to the amountof weight permitted per single axle, tandem,

then look at raising the threshold on height,width and weight on what you issue.”

A small but growing number of stateshave “really reached out and increased theirthreshold” and the SC&RA is holding them

A recent report said that46 percent of Germany’s bridgesare in need of repair. And theproblems in that country arehardly unique.

– David Collett, ESTA

www.heavyliftpfi.com March/April 2016 119

complying with different cross-borderpermit regulations costs the industry aroundEUR500 million (USD558 million) a year.

“We will keep plugging away, butunnecessary and wasteful bureaucracyremains a huge issue,” said Collett.

The increasing use of automated permitsystems is important in the battle to gainharmonisation across the USA, said StevenTodd, vice president of the SpecializedCarriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA).

“Automation has really taken offtechnology-wise, particularly in the pastcouple of years; ten years ago, only a smallnumber of states had such a system, andtoday close to 30 states have systems inplace,” he said. “Now that more and morestates have implemented such automatedpermitting systems, we strongly advocatethat they increase the threshold at whichthey will automatically issue permits.

Conservative approach“Many states are very conservative with whatthey will automatically issue. We understandthey need to be conservative but what we arestressing to them is: as you become morecomfortable with the system and testing, getyour money’s worth from the system but

UK based haulier Collett Transport delivers windturbine components by road to the Muirhall windfarm in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.

When Ryano Logistics moved an entire factory fromthe Netherlands to Medellin in Colombia last year, itexperienced the opposite of having too many rules.

“This was a very nice project which includeddismantling, packaging, securing, loading on truck,

going to the port, loading as out-of-gauge cargo forColombia, taking it off at the Port of Santa Marthaand then, with local exceptional transport, goingtowards the final destination of Medellin,” saidPieter van der Weijden, director.

“They provide you with a permit in Colombia for4.8 m height for a specific route but that does notconfirm that the route is clear to drive. So, we metthe challenge of trees and cables on the road –pushing them up or cutting back the tree to moveforward. It is a distance of just 450 km but took sixdays’ driving.”

Over-regulation: the alternative

INDUSTRY FOCUSROAD HAULAGE, ESCORTS & PERMITS

quad, dual lane trailers, and so on. That, saidTodd, will probably be the next major pushfor SC&RA. “The lack of harmonisationbetween states in terms of what they willand will not allow weight-wise is causingour industry major expense. There aredifferent rules for every configuration.

“We are, however, making great headwayon allowable weight on a two-axle tandem;not long ago, most states only allowed40,000 lbs (18.14 tonnes). Now we aredown to just four states that still restrict tothat and of these four we believe two areproposing legislation to raise it to 46,000 lbs(20.87 tonnes).”

Africa: working with authoritiesGerben Langstraat, director, Middle East -East Africa at Steder Group, noted thatcountries across Africa have very specificregulations when it comes to permits for thehaulage of oversize goods.

Operating mostly in Ethiopia, Steder iswell-versed in the processes involved inobtaining permits and organising escorts.

“We know that before we apply for apermit concerning difficult transports, wemust execute our own road study andprovide that to the authorities, explainingwhy we wish to take a certain route. Thisdefinitely speeds up the process for us.”

Langstraat added that the basicapplication process, which is a manualsystem, can be “simple and straightforward”as long as the transport provider cooperates.“We play a very active role and get it donewithin a maximum of two weeks.”

Roel Derudder, general manager ofKenfreight, added: “In East Africa the permitsystems are not harmonised although theaxle load limits are generally the same.

“Kenya has a fairly straightforwardsystem which you can apply for in advance.Uganda is only now developing a very basicsystem so we have to see which shape it willtake. Tanzania is the most stringent andbureaucratic - permits can take many weeks

Derudder feels that real efforts are beingmade to improve Africa’s roadinfrastructure. “The new road networkaround Nairobi is impressive and Tanzaniamight be strict on permits, but it does havewell surfaced roads to protect.”

However, he believes that smoother andwider roads would facilitate deliveries. “Onehuge step forward in our view would be tomake the main Mombasa-Nairobi-Kampalahighway a two-lane highway to massivelyimprove safety.”

In general, road infrastructure in Ethiopiais improving, added Langstraat, but suchdevelopment can also cause problems.

“When a new bridge is underconstruction, a temporary bridge is laiddown, which generally does not have thecapacity to carry our equipment. When arailway is constructed new obstacles (likeviaducts) appear and of course solutionshave to be found.

“So yes – sometimes it is becoming moredifficult, but by working together with theauthorities, solutions are easy to achieve.”

Qatari regulationsOver in the Middle East, the Cabinet ofQatar has reviewed recommendations fromthe heavy transport committee in its firstquarterly report to improve the regulation ofheavy transport in the country.

The recommendations proposedincluded: the establishment of a database forall those involved in heavy transport, fromindividuals to companies and commercialinstitutions; the registration of transportvehicles, heavy machinery and equipmentowned by citizens; and the development of aunified model for contracts to hire heavytransport equipment.

The committee was formed in 2014 toexamine all matters relating to heavytransport in Qatar, in particular to study theways in which heavy transport can beorganised and propose practical mechanismsfor this management. HLPFI

and application only starts after the loadingof the truck. Rwanda and Burundi currentlyhave no system in place.”

The use of escorts depends on the goodstransported, said Langstraat. “Authoritiesmight decide that a police escort or evenmilitary escort is required. This is providedfor a fair price and it is all a matter of havingcontacts and good relations.”

Automation [of permit systems]has really taken off technology-wise, particularly inthe past couple of years.

– Steven Todd, SC&RA

March/April 2016 www.heavyliftpfi.com120

ESTA will launch its new best practice guide forthe use of SPMTs at its spring meeting in Munich.

The European Association of Abnormal RoadTransport and Mobile Cranes (ESTA) will launch anew best practice guide for the use of self-propelled modular transporters (SPMT) at itsspring meeting at Bauma in Munich.

“Currently there are no formal regulationsanywhere in the world with regards to the use ofSPMTs. The guide has been put together to createa ‘baseline starting point’ when considering useof SPMTs,” said Dave Collett, ESTA president.

“The new guidelines will help address theproblem of trailers tipping over, which hashappened on some occasions even though theexisting operating rules and stability calculationswere being precisely followed.

“Clients asked what the industry was going todo about the problem. In response, we created aworking group that included representatives fromseveral of our leading members, plusmanufacturers and clients.”

SPMT best practice guide