Ban on HGVs in rush hour would be "detrimental" to c-stores

Banning heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) from roads during rush hour would create chaos for stores in city centres and do nothing to improve cycle safety, leading retailers and logistics providers have claimed.

This week the Transport Select Committee was examining a range of measures to improve cycle safety, including a possible ban on large vehicles, including HGVs, from city centres at peak times.

The evidence session, held on December 2, was called after six cyclists were killed on London’s roads in a 14-day period.

Committee chairwoman Louise Ellman MP said the ban would have “consequences for businesses which needed to be assessed”.

The Freight Transport Association said a ban would create “massive economic implications for the shops and businesses”. “It would also create new safety issues as one lorry is replaced by about eight smaller vehicles - not to mention the increased congestion and air pollution that would result,” it added.

Nisa distribution director Jonathan Stowe told C-Store that a ban would be “detrimental” to stores “for no perceived benefit”.

“The challenge for convenience stores is that they don’t have large back-up storage and therefore the timing of the deliveries is critical to maximise sales and product availability - especially to meet the early morning trade,” he said.

“From a logistics perspective all of our vehicles are multi-drop, and to compete with the major multiples on cost we need to be able to route and operate expensive delivery vehicles efficiently across the full working day.”