profiles

A sample of some of the nearly 70 papers to be delivered during the symposium.
Other profiles will be available on on this page in coming months,
with the full program expected to be released before the end of 2009.

Introduction of Long Combination Vehicles in Ontario

John Billing, Ron Madill (CAN)

Since the 1980s, Canada has led in the operation of higher capacity vehicles. John Billing and Ron Madill describe the process leading to the introduction of Long Combination Vehicles (Turnpike Doubles, Rocky Mountain Doubles and Triples) in the province of Ontario. Use of LCVs in Ontario is expected to result in efficiency, environmental and pavement benefits, and relieve a developing driver shortage.

OECD Working Group on Heavy Vehicles: Regulatory, Operational and Productivity Improvements

Jorgen Christensen (DK)

The OECD and the International Transport Forum have combined to create the Working Group on Heavy Vehicles: Regulatory, Operational and Productivity Improvements. The Working Group, led by Jorgen Christensen (Denmark) is currently finalising a report and recommendations on achieving safe, sustainable and efficient operation of heavy vehicles, including a review of international experience with higher capacity vehicles. Results of this work will be presented in a special plenary session.

Where does the growth of road freight transport end and what can policy makers do about it?

Loes Aarts, Lóri Tavasszy, Gerwin Zoner (NL)

Sustained economic growth has been accompanied by rapid growth in road freight, putting pressure on infrastructure and raising environmental and amenity issues. Some key issues in transport policy are whether road freight demand will ‘decouple’ from economic growth and how road freight can be managed to achieve societal outcomes. These are the issues that Loes Aarts and her colleagues will address.

Monitoring results of two PBS demonstration vehicles in the forestry industry in South Africa

Paul Nordengen (RSA)

The South African approach to the implementation of performancebased standards is of great interest. South Africa has drawn on previous initiatives in Canada, New Zealand and Australia to develop a demonstration project, initially involving two PBS vehicles in forestry operations. Paul Nordengen reports on the demonstration project and makes recommendations for the further development of PBS in South Africa.

Analysis of stability control systems for tractor-semitrailers

John Woodrooffe, Daniel Blower and Paul Green (USA)

Whilst the use of stability control systems on light vehicles has been extensively researched, less is known about their operational effectiveness on articulated vehicles. John Woodrooffe, Daniel Blower and Paul Green report on a study of the performance of electronic stability control systems (ESC) and roll stability control systems (RSC) for heavy truck tractor-semitrailers. The study considered crash causation data and assessed the potential impact of stability control systems on each crash type.

Intelligent Access Program: update on heavy vehicle monitoring

Chris Koniditsiotis and Charles Karl (AUS)

The development of the Australian Intelligent Access Program (IAP) has been reported at earlier conferences. The program is now fully operational. Chris Koniditsiotis and Charles Karl will report on operations to date and potential developments, including electronic work diaries, on-board mass monitoring and speed compliance.

Higher productivity freight vehicles: lessons of history – a case study of B-doubles in Australia

Bob Pearson (AUS)

Bob Pearson played a key role in the introduction in the 1980s of the Canadian B-train into Australia, where it has been known as the B-double. Now at a maximum length of 26 metres and gross combination mass of 68 tonnes, the B-double is used extensively in Australia in both urban and non-urban applications and is close to replacing the tractor-semitrailer as the ‘workhorse’ heavy freight vehicle. Bob will describe the process of introduction of B-doubles no Australia and draw lessons for the introduction of higher productivity vehicles.

Modelling Freight Demand in New Zealand

John de Pont (NZ)

In common with many other countries, road freight growth in New Zealand had been consistently in excess of GDP growth for many years. This road freight growth is regarded as unsustainable due impacts on congestion, energy usage, air quality and CO2 emissions. John de Pont will report on a modelling framework that describes the relationship between economic growth and freight growth in a way which enables the development of strategies to achieve sustainable levels of freight demand.

What a difference a quarter century makes: commercial motor vehicle and driver safety in the United States, 1984 - 2009

Deborah Freund (US)

In the past quarter-century there have been major structural changes in the highway motor freight and passenger industries in the US. There have also been substantial developments in safety regulation of drivers, vehicles and motor carriers and in the enforcement of these regulation. Deborah Freund will describe these developments, discuss the political influences and offer some observations on the next stages in commercial vehicle safety technologies and safety regulation

Sustainable road transport: a key component of the global economy

Jacques Marmy (IRU)

Road transport is a key part of the global economy. Jacques Marmy will present the view of the International Road Transport Union (IRU) that the progress of road transport will involve new technologies, tools, methods and systems to ensure flexibility and accessibility. These tools should not be misused and their use should be kept voluntary to all transport stakeholders.

A Critique of the Australian Vehicle Standards Regulatory System

Peter Hart (AUS)

Significant changes to the regulation of heavy vehicle standards in Australia are underway. These involve the harmonisation of the Australian Design Rules with UNECE rules, development of performance-based standards and the harmonisation of in-service rules between states and territories. Peter Hart will provide a critique of the framework for the regulation of vehicle standards in Australia and identify challenges and gaps.

Using exposure-based evidence to assess regulatory compliance of productivity-permitted long trucks

Jonathan Regehr, Jeanetter Montufar, Peter Sweatman, Alan Clayton (CAN)

One of the difficulties in convincing politicians and the public of the beneficial effects of higher capacity vehicles had been lack of operational data. This issue has been addressed in Canada by Jonathan Regehr and his colleagues. This paper provides evidence from the Canadian Prairie Region of levels of compliance in long truck operations with safety regulations, weight restrictions and network-related operational conditions.

Whole life pavement performance modelling of full-depth asphalt pavements

William Goodrum, David Cebon (UK)

Whilst the pavement effects of ‘road-friendly’ suspensions are generally accepted, the impact of air suspensions with ineffective dampers has not been thoroughly researched. William Goodrum and David Cebon use refined Whole-Life Pavement Performance Modelling to investigate the effects of suspension condition on heavy vehicle operation at higher mass limits with road-friendly suspensions. The methodology is tested on datasets from Australia and the United States.

Reducing health and safety risks on poorly maintained rural roads

Johan Granlund (SE)

Truck drivers exposed to high levels of whole-body vibration are at high risk of musculoskeletal and cardiovascular diseases and of involvement in traffic accidents. This has been identified as an issue on low volume roads in Nordic countries. This paper reports methods to identify road characteristics which cause unacceptable vibration and potential interventions to overcome these issues.