Newsletter

Dear friends of the HVTT Forum, Covid-19 has brought difficult times to all of us. No one has gone unaffected. As challenging as it is we still need to find ways to cope and to move on. That is also true for the Chinese organizing committee for the postponed HVTT16 in Qingdao. With this newsletter I would like to give an update on the preparations for the 2021 HVTT16, which will take place 7-9 September in Qingdao. Our assumption is that this will be a physical meeting, but we are also prepared to accommodate online participation. We will arrange this symposium in a hybrid format, where online, in person, live and recorded presentations meet in real time. The event will also be recorded for those not present to be able to watch at any time. The aim is to have real time sessions during those hours where people across global... Read More

Greetings from the Southern Hemisphere, Weather Report It is traditional in these newsletters to give a local weather report.  In New Zealand we have just moved into spring.  Daylight saving came into effect here last weekend.  The winter has been very mild here but in the last two weeks we have had a couple of storms.  These have been just a few days of rain and high winds but one of them has had a significant impact on our transport infrastructure.  Auckland, where I live, is New Zealand’s largest city and lies on an isthmus.  At the narrowest points, the distance between the west and east coast is less than three kms.  The main North-South highway crosses the harbour on an eight-lane bridge which carries 170,000 vehicles a day.  Two weeks ago during a storm, peak wind gusts of up to 127 km/h caused two trucks to be blown over... Read More

The impact of COVID 19 on road transportation in South America Hello to all, I write to you while working from home in Buenos Aires, a city about to enter its 100th day of quarantine. Weather-wise, we are supposed to be almost in winter, but I am still in a T-shirt. In my previous newsletter, I explained that many countries in the region underwent elections at the last quarter of 2019, then changed president between December and January. But January and February are summer holidays so mid-March was the time to start business. We were all getting ready when… the COVID19 virus started to spread badly, and we saw borders totally closed, leaving people and goods stranded on the way, until further decisions were made. The figure shows the different countries shut down, with the darker red representing more severe restrictions. Transport companies and truck drivers stepped up to the... Read More

Dear HVTT Forum Subscribers, Postponement of HVTT16 In case you missed the announcement in a previous email, the HVTT16 Symposium that was planned to be held in Qingdao, China in October 2020 has been postponed. A new date will be determined and it is planned that this will be announced by the organisers on 15 July. Effect of panic-buying on the Australian supply chain The Australian road freight industry and regulating bodies have risen to the challenge of COVID-19. The industry has been a star performer amid the unprecedented panic-buying that cleared supermarket shelves to an extent many of us have never seen in our lifetimes. Citizens were assured that the lack of goods on the shelves was not so much a matter of ‘running out’ as it was a signal that our supply chain was stretched to its limit due to the spike in demand. The industry worked hard... Read More

Dear HVTT Forum Subscribers, I hope this newsletter finds all of you and your families in good shape in these unusual times. Life here in Europe has changed significantly for most of us because of Covid pandemic. Schools and universities are mostly closed and education is being practiced as e-learning. People are encouraged to limit social contact and, if the profession allows, to work from home. To a certain extent it is rather pleasant as one has more time to spend with the family, though combining normal work duties with role of home teacher, especially for small children, requires some patience. Teleconferencing represents a special category of tools which became ‘’our daily bread’’ on a large scale. Personally, I do not find it that inconvenient as it keeps you focused on the topic, on the other hand it can develop into a rather high adrenaline event due to the unexpected... Read More

Dear IFRTT subscriber It seems that every time I start to write an IFRTT newsletter there is an international crisis reaching the daily headlines. Currently the Coronavirus is of great concern – besides the rapidly increasing number of daily fatalities & infections and the impact on the economies of several countries, China in particular, there is the uncertainty of when (surely not “and if”) the virus will be brought under control. The devastating fires in Australia are also tragic from a number of perspectives. The weather in South Africa seems to be reasonably well-behaved at present; dam levels across the country are not critical but remain a concern at approximately 50%. Perhaps it is not the focus on water security but the focus on the importance of sustainability in transport that remains arguably low. An excerpt from the draft Green Transport Strategy for South Africa: “The Department of Transport is... Read More

Dear IFRTT subscriber, As another calendar year draws to a close, it is my pleasure to share a few truck-related notes that have recently crossed my desk. In this issue of the newsletter, you’ll find information about ongoing work to quantify truck loads on infrastructure and the challenge of accommodating trucks in urban areas. Truck loads on infrastructure For those of you planning to attend the Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) in Washington DC next month, consider attending Workshop 1086: Employing Weigh-in-Motion Data to Design, Rate, Manage, and Preserve Our Nation’s Bridge Structures. This workshop brings together bridge and traffic data collection experts and practitioners to discuss how real-world truck weight data can be leveraged to reduce risk and more efficiently address bridge needs. The workshop features an overview of the bridge-related research needs identified in the 2019 TRB Consensus Study Report on Research to Support Evaluation... Read More

Dear friends of the IFRTT, We are now less than one year away from the HVTT16 in Qingdao. I am painfully aware that too little information has been communicated so far, but there is hope! Now the promotion film has been updated and uploaded to Youtube: https://youtu.be/3r4kH1pBvEU Have a look at it!! You will see a very dynamic country with regards to road transport and logistics. The promotion film may look like exaggerated advertising, but I can testify that it well reflects the reality in China. Please visit YouTube and share the video with your respective friend groups and please mention the dates for the HVTT16, October 13-16 2020 in Qingdao and the webpages below. The Chinese organizers, RIOH plan to invite many relevant stakeholders to the HVTT. Due to the Chinese digital firewall they prefer to put the webpage on a Chinese server, which is both rational and understandable.... Read More

Dear IFRTT subscribers, This newsletter is about a stormy autumn, but also contains information on the submission of papers for the HVTT16, 12-15 October 2020 in Qingdao, China (see below). John de Pont (HVTT16 Scientific chair) will inform you about the paper submission process. In the November Newsletter Mats Harborn (IFRTT Vice President Asia) will give more news on the HVTT16 in China. But first: a stormy autumn. Despite the fall in nitrogen emissions, about three-quarters of the Dutch nature reserve still receives too much nitrogen than is permitted under European legislation. This makes biodiversity poor. The highest general administrative court in The Netherlands, The Council of State, has determined that the current approach of the Dutch government is insufficient. As a result of this ruling, many permits for the construction of stables, residential areas or roads have been declared invalid and it has become more difficult to obtain new... Read More

Step-by-step Hi everybody, Spring has arrived in Buenos Aires, and I love it! Lots of news to share with you in these past months in around South America. A mixed bag, as usual, but never a dull moment around here. Especially that most countries are undergoing presidential elections, some are doing financially better than others… it is not for the faint hearted. Starting from Argentina, the bitrain or B-double went from the bad hag that was too big/too dangerous to “best thing that could ever happen in road transportation”. From newspapers to tweets, authorities and associations were praising the higher road safety, competitiveness and reduction in pollution of these heavy performance vehicles. Diverse industries were strongly arguing in favour, from public to private, from fuel to automobile, forestry, steel and construction materials to candies and chocolates. National and provincial governments opening road infrastructure works with bitrains. If you reader, are... Read More