Identifying the Need for Freight to be Included in Local Authority Transport Planning - Sustainable Urban Logistics: Concepts, Methods and Information Systems - page 43

could have covered all the deliveries in the area. With regards to parking and
legislation, government and local councils are very restrictive. Access to and
provision of adequate loading/unloading facilities was a commonly reported
impediment by operators interviewed in all localities. Penalty Charge Notices
(PCN's) in response to parking offences are frequently received as operators
struggle to make deliveries to city centre commercial premises such as restaurants
and pharmacies where access may be poor and often a lack of loading bays prevail.
For operators covering central London, dealing with the sheer volume of parking
tickets and bus lane fines can often be a full time occupation. Over the period Q1
2009-Q2 2011, a survey of twenty-six Freight Transport Association (FTA)
members revealed that over 80,000 Penalty Charge Notices (PCN's) had been
accumulated, totalling £3.86 million in revenue for London Councils, with the
average PCN cost per operator being £148,349 (Chapman 2012 ). Furthermore,
unauthorised parking at loading and unloading facilities by private cars for
example was highlighted as a major hindrance for efficient transport operations in
the majority of the localities interviewed. However, in Gothenburg, Sweden, a
good example of enforcement has been demonstrated, since a higher surveillance
of the traffic situation in the inner city resulted in a 90 % decrease in traffic
violations (Jäderberg 2012 ).
Operators also identified a significant lack of suitable lorry parking in and
around large urban conurbations. An issue, which has arisen following the Euro-
pean Union's introduction of legislation regarding drivers' working hours, which
was established in April 2007. The EC regulation 561/2006 states that after a
period of four-and-a-half hours driving time, a driver must take an uninterrupted
45 min break (Goel 2009 ). In response, some LA's in the UK had developed
designated lorry parks that provide state-of-the-art facilities close to the boundary
of their area; however many of these remain under-utilised by the freight transport
industry. Some of the reasons for this as mentioned in the interviews included
LA's appearing to over-charge for their use, or the park being sited too far away
from public houses and other local amenities.
7 Current Levels of Freight Stakeholder Involvement
in Transport Planning
As a consequence of the lack of awareness and knowledge regarding freight
transport in the urban area, there is also a lack of stakeholder involvement in
transport planning. The most common involvement is when the local authority
responds to a complaint regarding freight transport in the urban area. Such com-
plaints can originate directly from the transport operator, for example regarding
problems with loading bays or road surfaces and pedestrian walkways affecting the
ability to handle the final goods delivery to the receiver; or from residents or shop
owners regarding noise, safety or heavy trucks blocking their display windows.