NFB calls for government intervention on UK travel restrictions

UK trade association the National Federation of Builders (NFB), which represents the interests of regional contractors and small and medium sized house builders in England and Wales, says the UK government must act immediately help hauliers.

Police forces across England are increasing working with councils to set times that abnormal loads can or cannot travel on the UK’s roads and the impact is increasingly making construction more expensive, logistically complex or practicably impossible, it claims.

Richard Beresford, chief executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), said: “A productive nation is nothing without a well-functioning construction industry, but we are increasingly finding that the operational side of construction is far from the minds of decision makers.

“Plant machinery hire was already negatively impacted by the removal of red diesel for construction because it caused fuel theft to increase, plant machinery costs to rise and created new and greater maintenance challenges. Today we are hearing that crane operators and hauliers moving abnormal sized loads are pulling out of the market because embargoes on travel between certain hours are making jobs impossible, financially unviable or having seriously negative impacts on workforces.”

Concerns cited by industry hauliers include:

• Contractual complications due to weather conditions for transport not being suitable
• Higher costs of escorts and self-escort complications
• Project delays and knock on cost impacts
• Regulations hindering deliveries, for example: environmental and working hours
• Workforce stress and unavailability
• Local and regional differences in haulage regulations

Rico Wojtulewicz, head of policy and market Insight, said: “With so many issues across the industry, from the cost of materials, and shrinking pool of workers, to a broken planning process and increased insolvencies, we need the government to act quickly and sort out this mess.

“A temporary Written Ministerial Statement removing all embargoes on travel for abnormal loads would give the government time and space to have a consultation on how travel restrictions should work nationally. Letting local police forces and councils make decisions on travel embargoes, particularly when they are not providing evidence of their rationale, is creating a logistical nightmare and another major barrier for UK productivity.”