File Photo. Lehtikuva
The government on Thursday issued a new decree to improve logistic competitiveness of vehicles in goods transportation and reduction of environmental pollution.
The decree to be effective from October 1, 2013, is expected to raise the maximum permissible masses and dimensions of heavy goods vehicles and vehicle combinations, said a government press release.
‘The purpose of this reform is to improve Finland's competitiveness and reduce transport costs to a level closer to that of continental Europe,’ the release said, adding that transport costs in Finland are higher compared to many other countries due to long distances.
The reforms move will reduce carbon dioxide emissions from traffic by around two per cent annually.
According to the Finnish Transport Agency, the reform will be likely to save approximately EUR 1.6 to 3.2 billion in logistics costs over a period of 20 years.
Strategically important transport routes will be evaluated in terms of their priority in collaboration with the Finnish Transport Agency, municipalities, ELY Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, and businesses.
Improvement of roads and bridges on the state-owned network is to begin in 2014, while municipalities will be able to plan their road and bridge improvements on a timetable they consider suitable. Parties responsible for road management will decide which routes are to be used by lorries, and indicate those through traffic signs.
The maximum permitted height of a vehicle will increase from 4.2 metres to 4.4 metres and mass from 60 tonnes to 76 tonnes. During the five-year transition period, current vehicles will be allowed to carry heavier loads than permissible now. The precondition for this is, however, that the vehicles fulfil the safety requirements applicable to them also when carrying larger masses.
For this budget planning period the Finnish Government has allocated a total of EUR 55 million of additional funding for road repair, to be spent on improving sections that are logistically the most critical, the press release said.
