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One of the most harmful of two-vehicle crashes to passenger vehicle occupants is when the front of passenger vehicle hits and passes underneath the rear of truck. It resulted in 23% of total death from two-vehicle crashes with a truck in 2018 based on data from the U.S. Department of transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). To reduce the violence of such accidents, the rear underrun protective device (RUPD) is installed on the rear of heavy goods vehicle (HGV), to cause the crumple zone of the impacting passenger vehicle absorbing the impact energy and prevent the impacting passenger vehicle from getting crushed under the HGV. This article demonstrates an approach to design the RUPD based on design inputs, including the structural strength, the local RUPD builders, and the variation of commercial HGV types in Thailand. The morphological analysis is applied along with brainstorming among design team, local manufacturers, and government agency, to generate a total of 72 potential RUPD solutions. In this study, three potential RUPD designs were proposed as RUPD prototypes for different HGV types to investigate their structural strength in terms of strain, deformation, and maximum reaction force. The explicit dynamic finite element (FE) method was implemented to accurately simulate the structural strength of the RUPD prototype since its results were validated by the real test of full-scale prototype with reference to the UN R58 standard. From the results, all proposed RUPD prototypes satisfied the UN R58 standard and are not violated by test loads at all relevant positions. In addition, different designs of the protective beam, which was found to be the main load-bearing resstive component of RUPD, were proposed. Their structural strength and energy-absorbing capability were examined by FE simulation to allow local RUPD builders to have alternatives for RUPD fabrication depending on their resources and applications. Besides, the proposed design approach in this study could be further applied as a guideline design for other RUPD types in a commercial scale.

Articulated heavy goods vehicles and long combination vehicles offer improved efficiency and emissions but reduced low-speed manoeuvrability and high-speed stability compared to rigid lorries. Active control systems can help to address these issues but require additional instrumentation, particularly articulation angle sensing. Existing commercial and research solutions for articulation sensing are limited either in terms of measurement accuracy or practicality. In this paper, a camera-based articulation angle sensing concept using template-matching and an Unscented Kalman Filter is investigated, including detailed simulation and full-scale vehicle experiments. The effects of aliasing and trailer pitch angle are studied, and a correction model for trailer pitch is proposed. The sensing system demonstrates superior measurement accuracy compared to the published literature, with root mean square errors of 0.8°–1.8° for articulation angles up to 37° in full-scale experiments. The sensor solution proposed in this work addresses more of the practical criteria for this problem than the comparable solutions in the literature. It does so through the novel camera and image processing system which is unique to this application. The proposed sensor offers acceptable measurement accuracy in real-time, is non-contact, requires minimal knowledge of trailer parameters and is compatible with semi-trailers and rigid draw-bar trailers.

In 2017, the newly installed Dutch government announced in its coalition agreement to introduce a distancebased heavy goods vehicle charge, similar to the charges levied in other European countries. To study the possible transport impacts, we applied available models and methods in preparation for the introduction of this truck charge in the Netherlands in 2023, in order to present decision information to the government on different aspects of the charge. In this paper we present the analysis of different implementation scenarios for a distancebased truck charge. Different behavioural responses can be expected in terms of freight transport demand, mode choice, logistic efficiency, and route choice. Many studies however lack sufficient detail to properly describe theimpact of road charges for HGV on OD flows and freight traffic. In our contribution we explore the bandwidth of impacts of different pricing schemes, using strategic transport models for freight demand and traffic assignment,with detailed modal split and route choice models, ensuring a proper representation of generalsed transport costs. We explain how we use available transport models in an overarching analytical framework to make acomprehensive impact assessment of the different responses, and to decompose the impacts on the different responses. Final impacts are quantified in terms of freight demand (spatial pattern of transport flows), modal split and traffic flows (route choice, and congestion). Depending on the pricing scenario the tonne kilometres decrease by 0.4%–4.8% on average. The modal shift impacts are stronger on longer transport distances: this is explained both by the larger impact of a distance-based charge on these routes, and by higher substitution possibilities to barge or rail. The results indicate that the overall impacts of the introduction of the different charging alternatives are moderate. However, the network impacts at local level can be substantial due to the impact of re-routing of truck trips to avoid charge.

There seems to be a widespread view that foreign lorry drivers’ lack of competence on Norwegian roads, especially related to winter driving, is a significant safety problem. It has, however, been suggested that foreign heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers perform better than expected on Norwegian winter roads, as they feel less safe than Norwegian drivers, and adapt by driving slower and more carefully. The aim of the present paper is twofold. First, we examine whether foreign HGV drivers in Norway actually have poorer competence on, training for, experience with and equipment for winter driving than Norwegian HGV drivers. Second, we discuss whether the expected negative effect of these safety challenges is mitigated, as foreign HGV drivers adapt their behaviours. We use four data sources to shed light on the aims: (1) interviews, (2) roadside inspections, (3) small-scale survey and (4) towing incidents. Our data support the hypothesis about behavioural adaptation, indicating that foreign HGV drivers experience winter driving as more difficult or unsafe, as they have supposedly less suitable vehicles and equipment, less experience, training and competence for winter driving. They are therefore more likely to get stuck while driving uphill on winter roads, supposedly as they drive more carefully and slower than Norwegian HGV drivers. Norwegian HGV drivers feel safer and more confident while driving on winter roads, because of their equipment and their experience.

Various active safety systems proposed for articulated heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) require an accurate estimate of vehicle sideslip angle. However in contrast to passenger cars, there has been minimal published research on sideslip estimation for articulated HGVs. State-of-the-art observers, which rely on linear vehicle models, perform poorly when manoeuvring near the limits of tyre adhesion. This paper investigates three nonlinear Kalman filters (KFs) for estimating the tractor sideslip angle of a tractor–semitrailer. These are compared to the current state-of-the-art, through computer simulations and vehicle test data. An unscented KF using a 5 degrees-of-freedom single-track vehicle model with linear adaptive tyres is found to substantially outperform the state-of-the-art linear KF across a range of test manoeuvres on different surfaces, both at constant speed and during emergency braking. Robustness of the observer to parameter uncertainty is also demonstrated.

The automatic German toll system is both a software-intensive system – relying on the on-board units to collect the toll charges due – and a socio-technical system – the user can influence the system behaviour. The overall dynamic system behaviour emerges both from the technical implementation of the system and the users’ interaction with the system limiting the effectiveness of common software engineering practices. Simulations are an additional tool to reduce the operational risks and to improve the performance of system development projects. We have developed a realistic microscopic discrete event simulation model of the automatic tolling processes to simulate the overall system behaviour at a scale of 1:1. Taking this model our research investigates the effect of the HGV fleet behaviour on the dynamic system behaviour. To that end the system simulation model is accompanied by a separate model of the HGV driving patterns.

Heavy goods vehicle (HGV) is accounted for approximately 20% CO2 of total GHG emission in the transport sector. The allegedly inexpensive goods transport does not take increasing external environmental cost into account. The latter development undermines European climate targets. Generally, the efficiency of a transport system should take into account all aspects, economic criteria, and also the resource consumption (resource extraction) for the construction of the vehicle and associated carbon emissions (life cycle cost and emissions). The aforementioned points are the objects of investigation. The goals are a transparency of the influencing factors and develop sustainable and equitable transport indicators for goods transport. Optionally it is possible, e.g., to take into account the emission trading scheme (ETS). Maritime transport by feeder or short sea shipping is a main issue of the study comparison with truck transport on the road.

This paper deals with the evaluation of the interaction between a safety barrier and a variable message sign (VMS) that is placed very close to the carriageways in order to reduce the length of the arm above the carriageways. The two issues addressed are the structural response of the VMS, in order to ensure that the structure will not fail under the impact of a heavy goods vehicle (HGV), and the effects of the secondary impact that occurs when the barrier or the vehicle hits the VMS structure. These issues have been analysed both in terms of overall performance of the barrier and of the resulting effects on the HGV itself. As a result, the minimum distance between the front of the barrier and the VMS support structure that will enable to have a performance fully compatible with the requirements of EN1317-2:2010 has been defined for a specific barrier/VMS system.

The aim of this paper is to identify and analyze important factors related to the benefits of Intelligent Truck Parking (ITP) for different stakeholders (including the end users) in the context of Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) transport. Previous work has neither focused on different types of ITP benefits for HGVs, nor on the end user perspective. This article identifies benefit areas and attributes as well as stakeholder groups relevant for HGV transport based on a review of previous research and projects. These benefit areas and attributes are theoretically assessed and compared for different stakeholders using multi-criteria analysis. Additionally, interview results of Swedish drivers’ and companies’ perceptions of ITP are presented. Comparing results of the interviews with the theoretical assessment indicates that the end users may not perceive ITP as highly beneficial although they theoretically benefit the most. Companies, particularly national haulage companies, express a low willingness to pay for ITP. Both the theoretical assessment and interviews show the potential for ITP to deliver different benefits to different actors across the transport chain.

This contribution focuses on policy and planning strategies to reduce air pollution caused by heavy goods vehicle traffic. It examines the impacts of the implementation of the autobahn toll for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) in Germany and the significance of environmental zoning in Berlin, Germany, for improving air quality, by using the conceptual framework of planning analysis.

Heavy goods vehicle overtaking ban is a traffic technique action used in many European countries in order to satisfy safety, capacity and efficiency requirements on the motorway network. In Hungary, a permanent ban is in effect, which does not take into consideration the current traffic conditions and traffic flow. This kind of restriction impedes the circulation of heavy goods vehicles on low traffic sections that increases the costs of transport. The possibility of introducing a dynamic overtaking ban that reduces the unnecessary use of the restriction both in time and in space have been examined, providing optimum solution for vehicle and truck drivers.

This paper develops a path-following steering control strategy for an articulated heavy goods vehicle. The controller steers the axles of the semi-trailer so that its rear end follows the path of the fifth wheel coupling: for all paths and all speeds. This substantially improves low-speed manoeuvrability, off-tracking, and tyre scrubbing (wear). It also increases high-speed stability, reduces ‘rearward amplification’, and reduces the propensity to roll over in high-speed transient manoeuvres. The design of a novel experimental heavy goods vehicle with three independent hydraulically actuated steering axles is presented. The path-following controller is tested on the experimental vehicle, at low and high speeds. The field test results are compared with vehicle simulations and found to agree well. The benefits of this steering control approach are quantified. In a low-speed ‘roundabout’ manoeuvre, low-speed off-tracking was reduced by 73 per cent, from 4.25 m for a conventional vehicle to 1.15 m for the experimental vehicle; swept-path width was reduced by 2 m (28 per cent); peak scrubbing tyre forces were reduced by 83 per cent; and entry tail-swing was eliminated. In an 80 km/h lane-change manoeuvre, peak path error for the experimental vehicle was 33 per cent less than for the conventional vehicle, and rearward amplification of the trailer was 35 per cent less. Increasing the bandwidth of the steering actuators improved the high-speed dynamic performance of the vehicle, but at the expense of increased oil flow.

Semi-active anti-roll systems, with a high and low roll stiffness, or, since cornering is typically a transient event, damping setting have the capacity to improve heavy vehicle stability while having very low power consumption. If a vehicle is travelling around a right-hand bend and a low roll damping setting is selected, the vehicle will roll outwards. If a high damping setting is then selected, the outward roll will be locked-in. When the vehicle enters a left-hand bend, the inward roll becomes locked-in. This has the potential to increase critical lateral acceleration by up to 12.5% if the vehicle's future course can be predicted accurately (e.g. with a Global Positioning System). However, if the vehicle does not follow the expected path, the critical lateral acceleration may be degraded. Exploiting the delay between a steer angle being applied and the lateral acceleration developing could avoid this problem. However, the benefits from such a system are considerably lower, up to a 2.4% improvement in critical lateral acceleration. Hence, a 'modal control strategy' is developed aimed at providing high levels of benefit while being robust to deviations from the expected path. The modal strategy is able to provide benefits of up to 11%, while being robust to most deviations.

This paper illustrates a methodology developed to analyze the influence of traffic conditions, i.e. volume and composition on accidents on different types of interurban roads in Spain, by applying negative binomial models. The annual average daily traffic was identified as the most important variable, followed by the percentage of heavy goods vehicles, and different covariate patterns were found for each road type. The analysis of hypothetical scenarios of the reduction of heavy goods vehicles in two of the most representative freight transportation corridors, combined with hypotheses of total daily traffic mean intensity variation, produced by the existence or absence of induced traffic gives rise to several scenarios. In all cases a reduction in the total number of accidents would occur as a result of the drop in the number of heavy goods transport vehicles, However the higher traffic intensity, resulting of the induction of other vehicular traffic, reduces the effects on the number of accidents on single carriageway road segments compared with high capacity roads, due to the increase in exposure. This type of analysis provides objective elements for evaluating policies that encourage modal shifts and road safety enhancements.

After a long period of political debate and technological difficulties, the German heavy goods vehicle (HGV) toll system was finally put into operation in January 2005. This paper is divided into two main parts. The first section discusses the German HGV toll in detail, with a focus on fee calculation. This is followed by an analysis of the macro-economic impact of the toll. Based on an input–output model for the German economy involving 70 distinct industries, undesirable potential price increases are considered along with potential positive employment effects which can be expected if the toll revenue re-enters the economy.

This paper aims to address some important issues concerning the rapid growth in vehicle ownership and how different types of vehicles interact, especially in a country undergoing rapid economic development, such as Thailand. The forecasts of such growth are important for road building, traffic management, strategic transport decision making, travel demand forecasts, and other policy issues at the regional and national level. For those reasons, a series of vehicle ownership models that include (a) car, (b) motorcycle, (c) truck and heavy goods vehicle, and (d) bus and coach models is proposed, developed, and presented. These models are built on limited aggregate data, both time series and cross-sectional, and are disaggregated spatially by province, with non–log-linear weighted least squares regression. Basically, the inputs required are forecast gross provincial products per capita and population level. The model of vehicle ownership is applicable to the conventional four-stage transport model as an add-on before the trip generation stage. All proposed models have good statistical properties, that is, all statistically significant coefficients and high adjusted R2 value and good fits within 12% of observed values during the base years. The model of car ownership gives reasonable income elasticities regarding car ownership and a sensible saturation level when compared with other studies. The forecast for a case of increasing income shows that the car ownership level will increase together with the truck level. However, as people own more cars, motorcycle and bus ownership levels will decrease.

This paper aims to address some important issues of a rapid growth in vehicle ownership, how different types of vehicles interact and how these growths affect a number of trip generations, especially in a country undergoing fast economic development, such as Thailand. The forecasts of such growth are important for strategic transport decision-making, travel demand forecasts and other policy issues at both regional and national levels. For these reasons, a series of vehicle ownership models, which include: (1) car, (2) motorcycle, (3) truck and heavy goods vehicle and (4) bus and coach models, are proposed together with a trip generation model. These models are built upon the limited aggregate data, both time series and cross sectional and disaggregated spatially by province, using non-log-linear weighted least squares regression for motor vehicle ownership models and exponential modelling for a trip generation model. The inputs required are basically forecasted gross provincial products per capita and population level. All proposed models have good statistical properties, i.e. all statistically significant coefficients and high adjusted R squared value and very good fits which are within 12% of observed values during the base years. The car ownership model also gives reasonable car ownership elasticities with respect to income and a sensible saturation level when compared with other studies. The forecast for a case of increasing income shows that the car and truck ownership level will increase together with the trip generation level. However, as people own more cars, the motorcycle and bus ownership levels will decrease as there might be a switch to car ownership.

Collisions between Heavy Goods Vehicle and Vulnerable Road Users such as cyclists or pedestrians often result in severe injuries of the weaker road users. Blind Spot Mirrors and advanced Blind Spot Detection systems assist in avoiding collisions. Blind Spot Mirrors are however only useful if the drivers are trained to use them. The paper describes the development of a monitoring solution for assist in truck driver training. The system also can be used as a blind spot detection system to warn truck drivers. The work is performed within the DESERVE project, which aims at designing and developing a Tool Platform for embedded Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) to exploit the benefits of cross-domain software reuse, standardised interfaces, and easy and safety-compliant integration of heterogeneous modules to cope with the expected increase of functions complexity and the impellent need of cost reduction.

Static vehicle load can be calculated accurately from measurements of axle strain. This paper describes, in outline form, a series of laboratory and field tests on an instrumented heavy goods vehicle. The vehicle was instrumented in the laboratory and an extensive series of calibration tests performed to establish the relationship between measurements of axle strain and vehicle load, this testing regime was also used to validate the instrumentation. A field trial was then conducted with the vehicle being returned to service and axle strain measurements being recorded continuously. Estimates of the static load were then validated against daily weigh-bridge measurements. The system has been in continuous service for several years now and has proven to be a robust and accurate method of calculating static vehicle load which can be easily installed on a vehicle at relatively low cost. When combined with a vehicle tracking unit real time load data can be made available to a fleet operator and on the spot load data displayed to the driver. Inadvertent overloading, with all its implications for safety and road damage, can thus be avoided.

Calculations of heat release rates (HRR) from four large-scale tests, with a mock-up of a Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) trailer, in a road tunnel are presented. Initial longitudinal ventilation rates within the tunnel were in the range of 2.8–3.2 m/s. Peak HRRs in the range of 66–202 MW were estimated. The peak HRRs were obtained between 7.1 and 18.4 min from ignition in the various tests. The HGV-trailer mock-up consisted of a steel rack system loaded with a mixed commodity of wood pallets and polyethylene pallets (Test T1), wood pallets and polyurethane mattresses (Test T2), furniture and fixtures with ten truck rubber tyres (Test T3), and paper cartons and polystyrene cups (Test T4). Each commodity was covered with a polyester tarpaulin in each test and ignited on the upstream, front end of the trailer. A comparison is made between the results presented here and other large-scale tests with HGV trailers in tunnels. The combined expanded relative standard uncertainty of the method used to determine the HRR was calculated to be 14.9%.

Large-scale fire tests were carried out with heavy goods vehicle (HGV) cargos in the Runehamar tunnel in Norway. The tunnel is a decommissioned, two-way-asphalted road tunnel that is 1600 m long, 6 m high and 9 m wide, with a slope varying between 0.5% uphill and 1% downhill. In total four tests were performed with fire in an HGV set-up and a longitudinal ventilation flow of approximately 3 m/s. In three tests, mixtures of different cellulose and plastic materials were used; in the fourth test a commodity consisting of furniture and fixtures was used. In all tests the mass ratio was approximately 82% cellulose and 18% plastic. A polyester tarpaulin covered the cargo. One purpose of the large-scale tests was to obtain new relevant gas temperature-time data from large-scale HGV fires in tunnels. There is presently a lack of such information for road tunnels. The maximum heat release rates produced by the four different fire loads varied between 66 and 202 MW resulting in maximum gas temperatures at the ceiling ranging between 1281 and 1365 °C. A comparison with literature values shows that the gas temperatures obtained here are uniformly higher than those obtained in other similar large-scale test series conducted using solid materials. A mathematical correlation of a temperature–time curve is given and this is the best representation of the measured temperature and a combination of frequently used temperature curves for tunnels (the HC curve and the RWS curve).

Transporting manual labourers in the cargo area of heavy goods vehicles is a common practice in Singapore. Earlier studies have reported higher fatalities and more serious injuries in such unrestrained cargo area passengers compared with those sitting in the cabin of the vehicle. We conducted a case series of injured cargo area passengers presenting to the Emergency Department from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2007. A total of 34 male casualties (mean age 29.7 years) were treated. They were injured in four separate heavy goods vehicle crashes during the study period. Patients who were nonresident manual labourers comprised 94.1%; 44.1% (15 patients) were ejected from the vehicle but despite this, the mean Injury Severity Score was 2.2 (SD 3.5). Three of the patients were admitted to hospital, with one patient (Injury Severity Score 22) requiring surgery and intensive care stay. The remaining patients were discharged from the Emergency Department, and there were no deaths. Six patients reattended the Emergency Department for unresolved pain from their injuries. A total of 173 absent-days were incurred. This report highlights the fact that cargo area passengers are at high risk of ejection, and they incur significant morbidity from their injuries with subsequent loss of productivity. In addition, heavy goods vehicle crashes are usually mass casualty events, severely taxing the receiving Emergency Department. Safer alternatives for mass transport of manual labourers are required. Language: en

This paper examines the effects of ‘road friendly’ heavy goods vehicle suspensions on long-term flexible pavement performance. A deterministic ‘whole-life pavement performance model’ (WLPPM) is used to calculate pavement damage due to realistic traffic and environmental loading. The traffic is modelled first as a fleet of steel-sprung heavy goods vehicles and second as a fleet of ‘road friendly’ air-suspended vehicles. The pavement life predictions are compared for the two cases and with results from a simple road damage analysis based on the ‘fourth power law’. It is concluded that changing to a fleet of ‘road friendly’ vehicles would not significantly affect the life or maintenance costs of thicker asphalt pavements (motorways and trunk roads) where the mode of failure is permanent deformation (rutting). However, the life of thinner pavements (minor roads) that fail by fatigue damage and pot-holing would be increased significantly if the vehicle fleet changed to road friendly suspensions. Predictions from the simplified fourth power law approach tend to significantly overestimate the benefits of road friendly suspensions for major road conditions compared to the WLPPM predictions. It is concluded that the potential economic benefits in England and Wales of converting to air suspensions may be only 30 per cent of those predicted by the authors of the EC ‘road friendly suspensions’ regulations.

The objective of this paper is to present a methodological approach and a case study for an international comparison of accident data coming from different national databases. Safety levels and the characteristics of severe crashes involving heavy goods vehicles in different European countries (Italy, France, Germany, Great Britain and Spain) are analysed. Considering that all the countries involved have different inventory structures for the variables reported in their national accident databases, the taxonomy theory was used in order to create a comparable structure for the database used in the analysis. The taxonomy is non-exclusive and the codes are categorical, denoting the absence or presence of a certain feature. Based on the data available in each national database the five European Union databases of accidents involving heavy goods vehicles have been referenced to only one, composed of 11 items (casualty class, injury number and severity, location, light conditions, road conditions, junction, vehicle type, driver age, driver gender, accident type and manoeuvres), which capture common features of heavy goods vehicles accidents. A statistical analysis was carried out in order to highlight significant differences in the proportions of heavy goods vehicles crash categories.

The "Eurovignette Directive" voted in June 2006 sets a framework for future would-be Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) road charging system on the Trans-European Road Network (TERN). The directive claims that any new toll for HGV must be consistent with the infrastructure costs that HGV’s are responsible for in order to ensure that the tolling system is fair, proportionate, transparent and non-discriminatory. These tolls must then derive from a road costs allocation study. This paper focuses on the allocation of pavement costs. It analyses how truck classes could be defined so that they gather trucks causing the same kind of damage to the pavement. It calculates allocation ratios that could be adapted to the French road network. Finally, it compares these results to the propositions of the directive annexes. This work was done using the ALIZE software developed by the Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussees (LCPC) and from which derives the French pavement design method.

The aim of the study is to understand the nature of blind spots in the vision of drivers of Large Goods Vehicles caused by vehicle design variables such as the driver eye height, and mirror designs. The study was informed by the processing of UK national accident data using cluster analysis to establish if vehicle blind spots contribute to accidents. In order to establish the cause and nature of blind spots six top selling trucks in the UK, with a range of sizes were digitized and imported into the SAMMIE Digital Human Modelling (DHM) system. A novel CAD based vision projection technique, which has been validated in a laboratory study, allowed multiple mirror and window aperture projections to be created, resulting in the identification and quantification of a key blind spot. The identified blind spot was demonstrated to have the potential to be associated with the scenarios that were identified in the accident data. The project led to the revision of UNECE Regulation 46 that defines mirror coverage in the European Union, with new vehicle registrations in Europe being required to meet the amended standard after June of 2015.

Nowadays the environment issue has been paid much more attention. Road freight vehicles, and especially heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), are facing the low carbon challenge. This paper presents the technology of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as an alternative fuel and it gives a detailed demonstration on adopting LNG fuel for HGVs by using the Grey Situation Decision method. Finally, it presents the future role of LNG heavy goods vehicles on the road freight transport in China.

One of the biggest unresolved problems regarding the completion of the free internal transport market within the European community is the problem of harmonization of taxation on the road haulage industry. As the highest tax country, Britain might be expected to have to reduce its level of taxes as part of any harmonization. This paper considers the current methodology of the British Department of Transport regarding the allocation of the track and external costs of road transport, in the light of developments in methodology and experience elsewhere in Western Europe and North America. We find a number of reasons for believing that, far from overstating the marginal social cost of use of roads by the road haulage industry, the current British approach actually understates it. Thus any move towards harmonizing tax levels may reduce taxes in Britain at a time when they should be increasing. (A)

In this paper, a finite element model of a 30,000 kg Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) was developed and validated against full-scale crash test data. Since this vehicle is a standard test vehicle in the European crash test standards, EN1317, development of an accurate vehicle model was deemed to be a positive contribution to the evaluation of roadside safety hardware. The vehicle model reproduces a FIAT-IVECO F180 truck, a vehicle with four axles and a mass of 30,000 kg when fully loaded. The model consisted of 12,337 elements and 11,470 nodes and was built for and is ready to use with LS-DYNA finite element code from Livermore Software Technology Corporation. Data available from two previously performed full-scale crash tests, one on a steel bridge rail and the other on a portable concrete barrier, were used to validate the accuracy of the HGV model. Results of the finite element simulation study show that the developed HGV model shows promise and can accurately replicate the behaviour of an actual HGV in a full-scale crash test. Improvements such as the steering mechanism in the front axles and the suspension system are currently underway to make the model more realistic.

Within an overland transport agreement between Switzerland and the European Union, this paper describes how Switzerland has accepted the gradual increase in heavy goods vehicle (HGV) axle weight limits from 28 to 40 tons. Thus, people’s quality of life is influenced in the affected regions, as they are exposed to the pollution with noise and harmful substances. Hence, it is assumed that people move to less affected areas and accept longer journeys to their workplaces; on the other hand, the transalpine freight traffic might create new jobs in the affected municipalities. Thus, research on the transalpine freight traffic’s impact on people and environment is carried out at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research. The objective is to verify the previously formulated hypotheses. However, the analysis of demographic data showed for one municipality that people moved away from there because of lack of building land and because of the municipality’s location in a narrow shadowy valley. These persons accepted longer journeys to their workplaces, profiting from an improved supply of public transportation and increased mobility. Nonetheless, although the transalpine freight traffic created workplaces for this municipality, it can only partially explain why people commuted there. For another municipality, in spite of transalpine freight traffic increase, people moved there as they profited from the good attainability of larger cities, low taxes, the availability of building land and because the transalpine freight traffic’s noise was responsible for lower land prices. Analyses of socioeconomic data for further municipalities will be necessary and quantitative interviews will complete and thus confirm or modify the present results. The interviews shall be repeated regularly in order to evaluate the changes in quality of life in the affected municipalities.

It is fact that European highway safety personnel are not aware of the significance of transition barriers. As a result, most countries do not use transition designs on their highways. On the other hand, the ones that are currently in use lack adequate detailing and do not provide the required level of protection during a collision event. In this paper, the impact performance of a standard US flared-back guardrail-to-bridge rail transition is evaluated using a 30,000 kg heavy goods vehicle according to European EN1317 test TB71 requirements. A highly acceptable and versatile non-linear finite element code, LS-DYNA, is used for the analysis. Simulation results show that the transition fails to contain the vehicle. The vehicle overrides the transition due to insufficient rail height. To upgrade the impact performance of the transition to H4a, high containment level, an additional rail element was added to the current design to increase the rail height from 810 mm to 1050 mm. Subsequent simulation results show that the modified transition design meets the EN1317 test TB71 requirements. It is therefore recommended that the current US standard flared back guardrail-to-bridge rail transition design should have a minimum of 1050 mm rail height to satisfy European crash testing guidelines for H4a, heavy containment level transition.

Extraordinary developments in virtual crash testing research have been achieved during the past decade. Advancements in hardware and software technology along with improvements in computation mechanics and increased number of full-scale crash tests contributed positively to the development of more realistic finite element models. Use of complex finite element codes based on computational mechanics principles allowed the virtual reproduction of real world problems. Regarding roadside safety, the design phase was, until now, based on the use of simplified analysis, unable to describe accurately the complexity of vehicle impacts against safety hardware. Modeling details, such as geometry, constitutive laws of the materials, rigid, kinematic and other links between bodies, definition and characterization of contact surfaces are necessary to build an accurate finite element model for an impact problem. This set of information is needed for each different body involved in the event; making the development of a complete model very much demanding. Once a part (subset) of the entire model has been accurately validated against real experimental data, it can be used again and again in other analogous models. In this paper, finite element model of a unique Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) was developed and partially validated using actual crash test data. Development of this particular vehicle model was important since this vehicle is extensively used in Europe to test the structural adequacy of high containment level (H4a) safety barriers according to EN 1317 standard. The HGV model studied reproduces a FIAT-IVECO F180 truck, a vehicle with 4 axles and a mass of 30,000 kg when fully loaded. The model consisted of 12,337 elements and 11,470 nodes and was built for and is ready to use with LS-DYNA finite element code from Livermore Software Technology Corporation. Results of the validation study suggest that the developed HGV model shows promise and can be used in further studies with confidence. Improvements such as, steering mechanism in front axes and suspension system is currently underway to make model more realistic.Copyright © 2005 by ASME

Vehicles that collide with highway safety features do not always produce the same effects. The outcome for each vehicle that collides with a feature will be different, depending greatly not only on its mass, velocity, and impact angle but also on the position of its center of mass and on the tire-pavement friction. The ways in which barrier and striking vehicle behaviors are affected by changes in the position of the center of mass and in the tire-pavement side friction were analyzed to identify the most dangerous loading systems. Toward this aim numerous simulations of a collision of a truck against a steel road safety barrier were carried out through nonlinear, dynamic finite-element analysis. The results obtained demonstrate that the position of the center of mass is of greater consequence in collisions in which the impact energy is close to the maximum barrier containment capacity and under conditions that favor friction. The longitudinal position of the center of mass has a large impact on the risk that the vehicle will pass over the barrier or roll over. If it is in the back, the most common loading system, the risk of passing over the barrier is rather limited compared with the risk of rolling over. As the position of the center of mass is pushed forward, the risk of rolling over is reduced but the risk of passing over the barrier increases. If the height of the center of mass increases, the rollover risk is higher, but a higher center of mass does not significantly influence displacement and the risk of passing over the barrier.

The biggest threat to road users especially at night in Nigeria is poor visibility of heavy goods vehicle that get stalled at will due largely to poor maintenance. The pictures show the level of carnage and the danger in abandoned trucks and articulated machines. P Olson/M Sivak researched in 1988 that the amount of light required to see during the hours of darkness doubles every 13 years. As we age, our visual capacity diminishes. The place of enhanced visibility cannot be over emphasised in the developing countries where they have poor maintenance culture, search and rescue and poor medical services. The pictures shows crashes of vehicles; pictures of some burnt victims. (Especially the 43 that was burnt to death in a single crash into a broken down petrol truck). The pictures will also highlight the vehicles used in this part of the world.

This paper considers techniques to predict and record the performance of different classes of vehicle operating in an Urban Traffic Control system. Fixed-time plans were developed using the TRANSYT predictive model and compared with data recorded with an instrumented car and Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV). Controlled experiments were carried out on a section of unopened highway to establish cruise, delay and speed change components for the survey vehicles. On-street surveys were carried out on the urban road network in Loughborough with signal co-ordination from fixed-time plans optimised initially for minimum delay and then to minimise fuel. Control strategies were operated in collaboration with the Leicestershire County Council's Urban Traffic Control Unit. The main issues considered are: fuel savings achieved with "minimum fuel" plans for different size vehicles in peak and off-peak traffic conditions; a comparison of the predicted journey times and fuel for the urban road network with those measured link-by-link with the instrumented vehicles; the relative importance of the cruise, delay and speed change components for the HGV compared with the car; the effect of signal cycle time and other components in establishing fixed-time plans for signal co-ordination that minimised fuel consumption.

As a measure of driving performance, time headway provides a way of representing the total interaction between a driver, his vehicle and the road environment as well as an exact description of episodes of dangerously close following. This paper presents the results of a field experiment on the effects on time headway of prolonged driving in a continuous convoy situation. In all, 12 professional truck drivers in two age groups were used. Each drove an instrumented 7 ton rigid van-type heavy goods vehicle for 11 hours on each of 4 consecutive days. Time headway was measured using a closed-circuit television system designed to provide a continuous record of instantaneous time headway. Conditions under which the drivers' following performances were measured were different types of following manoeuvre, prolonged driving and early and late shifts. Comparison with the results of an earlier study of incidental episodes of vehicle following provided an evaluation of the effects of infrequent versus continuous fol...