Q & A about heavier
and longer vehicles

How is road safety affected?

The greater gross weight has no effect on braking distance and maneuverability, but overtaking distances are lengthened. However, it is felt that the new rigs will have a positive effect on road safety in general, because there will be fewer heavy vehicles on the roads.

Won’t there be greater wear and tear on the roads? 

No. Road wear and tear will probably be less because the new vehicle combinations have more axles, so the load is more evenly distributed compared with traditional vehicles.

Will bridges cope with the new vehicles?

Greater gross weights can cause problems on some long bridges. These must either be reinforced or other traffic could be restricted on such bridges while heavy vehicles cross.

What impact will they have on the environment?

The hypothesis is that fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions will decrease by 20–25 percent because fewer vehicles will be needed to transport timber.

Will stronger tractor units be needed?

No. Many of the tractor units already have engines of 500 and 600 hp, and such engines can easily cope with gross weights of 90 tons.

Why isn’t timber transported by rail instead?

Today, forestry companies are transporting an increasing amount of timber by rail. From 2001 to 2008 timber transport by rail increased by 75 percent – and the use of rail will continue to grow. Environmentally, rail transport is a strong option and is used whenever financially, technically and practically feasible. In certain situations, rail transport is not an alternative to trucks, for example when timber is transported out of the forest.