08.03.2024
UK crane movement embargoes
A number of crane rental companies in the UK are experiencing extreme difficulties with movement embargoes, blocking them from travelling to site between certain hours of the day and risking the cranes being impounded.
It seems that much of the difficulties are coming from local police forces which have the challenge of enforcing the rules. Some police forces are being practical and learning about the equipment so that that they can differentiate between a 90 tonne mobile crane and a long, 4.5 metre wide, 250 tonne abnormal load. While others have been dogmatic and even, if everything we have head is true, started impounding cranes.
In the Midlands region the situation has reached the point where companies have sent letters to Government ministers and several members of Parliament, one of which we carry below.
The UK Road Haulage Association and Heavy Transport Association have been fighting cases of irrational and inconsistent application of the rules by some forces since last year. They have also called on chief constables to confirm if their forces are following College of Policing guidelines on Special Types General Orders (STGO).
They have also recommended that in some cases it is worth making a complaint, through the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). Its number is: 0300 020 0096 or email
[email protected] and finally write: Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), PO Box 473, Sale M33 0BW.
More positively seven police forces in Southern England - Essex, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Kent, have joined together on this issue, removing barriers so in order “to make it easier to transport abnormal loads across the counties.”
A letter sent this week
RE: Mobile Crane Abnormal Loads Embargo
07/03/2024
Dear All,
We are writing to you to inform you of the struggles we are facing and ask for assistance in finding a resolution.
At the current time, the enforcement of the abnormal load embargo, particularly in the Mercia area is affecting our ability to maintain crane hire services for our clients.
Mobile crane hire has always been a daily and on-demand service, whereby we may be on a site for a single day or a few days. This requires mobile cranes to be driven from our depot to the location of hire each day and returned each day or after completion of the hire. We offer 24-hour, 7-day service and work to meet our clients and environmental demands.
We operate in many sectors, including, but not limited to:
• Construction (house builders, schools, hospitals, infrastructure, roadways, HS2)—all of which have targets and units to produce, emergencies to cover, and time restraints—most of which are behind current legislative needs, including the housing sector not achieving the supply demanded and legislated.
• Maintenance and manufacture (building and service, engineers, quarries, factories—all of which operate shift work, shutdowns, and emergency requirements).
• Emergency services (police, fire service, recovery).
• MOD, HSE, and airports are all in need of an on-demand service.
While we always try to plan and accommodate all eventualities, as we have multiples of the same type of vehicle, we cannot give specific registration numbers for vehicles due to a number of factors, including crane breakdowns, changes in availability, driver safety inductions for site and machinery, environmental and weather conditions, etc.
Our industry by its very nature is extremely interchangeable, with cranes not being able to safely operate in high winds or on unsuitable ground due to flooding, etc., and with the current weather conditions and ever-changing climate, this is not expected to improve. We need to have flexibility to be able to maintain supply during these industry conditions.
The current embargo being enforced with us of not being able to travel cranes between 7am -9.30am and 4pm - 6.30pm means several issues:
• Driver hours have increased, with drivers leaving the depot earlier and having to park up to wait to return later.
• The increased driver hours will have an effect on all those end users, effectively pushing up prices to an unmanageable level. It is likely house builders will be the worst affected due to the level of crane supply, and the increase in price will push up housing prices for both councils and private sector sales. It may also decrease the unit levels being achieved, which is in direct opposition to the supply and demand levels required by the government.
• The additional work and driving hours for the drivers will have a direct safety implication, and the risk assessment and factor for this based on the minimal gain the embargo will have on vehicle numbers for mobile cranes may not be suitable and sufficient and in fact increase risk on other levels to an unsuitable point.
• The work-life balance for drivers is being affected, with additional working hours for seemingly no reason, resulting in them being away from family longer and reduced rest time as mobile cranes are not tacho-regulated as they are classified as special types.
• The mental, occupational, and physical health of both drivers and back-room staff is being affected at unsuitable levels. This is due to the sheer worry, complicated routing and notification procedures, the nature of the crane hire industry, the constant change, and the additional working hours being inflicted to maintain employment.
• The financial restraints placed on crane hire companies are also being affected, as the industry has recently, like all, navigated through Covid. The industry has also been subject to the reverse VAT changes and the new fuel levy changes. Clients have been reluctant to accept these price increases, and as such, further increases will certainly result in a loss of work and cash flow. This may result in the company losing its solvency.
• Several sites we operate on have environmental restrictions, meaning we cannot attend a site prior to 7am or leave after a certain hour to avoid disturbing residents and individual site safety restrictions. Some also have restrictions where we must leave the area for a certain time, including near airports, etc.
• As employers, we have a moral and legal duty to maintain and monitor the occupational health of our employees.
We feel the embargo is blocking our ability to maintain this. Several areas of the country have adopted a dispensation for mobile cranes in so far as the embargo and notifications apply to mobile cranes of 5 axles and above. We are seeking a dispensation as we feel that although mobile cranes are classed as abnormal loads, they are special types and, as such, operate in much the same way as standard HGVs which are not subject to the embargo.
Mobile cranes do not generally require escort vehicles and do not normally take up additional lanes, and as such, they move like all other vehicles at these times. We do not feel enough due diligence in the sector has been carried out before this strict enforcement was undertaken. A lack of understanding of the industry and the vehicle types means they are being treated the same as large abnormal loads rather than standard HGVs. If the current embargo continues and is enforced in the current strict way, with vehicles being impounded, they will no longer be able to operate. This will inevitably result in around 70 redundancies for our company alone.
Embargoes in other areas:
Abnormal loads are banned from entering most of London between 06:00 and 10:00 in the morning and between 15:30 and 20:00 in the evening from Monday to Friday, and at the weekend between 10:30 and 20:00.
West Yorkshire Police operates an embargo on abnormal load vehicles between the hours of 6:30 to 10:00 and 16:00 to 18:30
But the key is on how the enforcement is dealt with .
Please feel free to add your comments below
cooper G
Not sure the facts of this post and press release are correct. I just checked and embargo times are different to those quoted for the midlands and have been for some time,
I see that the author of the letter also states that crane hire is a Mobile crane hire has always been a daily and on-demand service, how is this even possible as crane hire companies have to follow the legislation and give notice of movements.
The seven forces in the south just all have the same embargo’s. Sit doesn’t state that mobile crane companies can move during the embargo’s.
It’s just a load of fake and inaccurate news.
Honey G
With a decreasing number of mobile crane operators out there and lack of interest in doing all the hours under the sun, this is by far a silly and dangerous move to impose more hours onto an operator.
But our biggest problem is that The Highway have our motorways closed to 6am for routine maintenance, local councils doesn't want any noise or sites to operate before 8am including letting a crane onto site but our wonderful police force expect us to be off the road by 6am. It’s just not possible to please everyone.
London Times for us are 6am - 8pm. If you have experienced London, id rather be on the road at 5pm than I would at 8pm with tourist's, night goers, piss heads and whilst battling to see cyclists in the dark. Its just nuts.
No one who’s been sat in a mobile crane has come up with these embargo’s.
tquax
Pretty normal here in Germany. Even with a 3 axle 60 tonne LTM 1060 you sometimes have, what we call, Sperrzeiten. And is it getting more common to have Sperrzeiten for a 4 axle LTM 1070. General timing in Germany is from 6 am till 9 am and then from 4 pm till 7 pm.
Crane lads
6:30 to 10:00 and 16:00 to 18:00 is motorway restrictions 6:30 to 18:00 is city centre.
Pemby
Last I was told, Leeds is all day, 6am to 6:30pm, so forcing driving to ridiculous levels.
Src: worked with a Grove 300, we were done at noon. He had to wait, his ballast was also embargoed for 6:30am to 6pm. Gotta be against HGV tacho rules if he can't have the 11hrs separate the driving as different shifts.