Asking HGV drivers to arrive at site exactly at 8am to begin loading/unloading is challenging especially on heavily congested roads. Not only does this cause driver stress but can result in unwanted behaviours. Often drivers’ set off and arrive early to avoid peak traffic. HGVs are frequently observed being parked outside site gates, on residential or main roads, on footways causing damage and in bus or cycle lanes with engines idling.
This leads to potential pedestrian and cycling safety concerns, obstruction causing traffic delay (impacting on bus journey times) and associated congestion resulting in negative emissions. TfL receive numerous complaints from impacted residents and road users especially cyclists and bus operators.
TfL’s Early Doors Agreement (MoU) is a method that formally agrees a set number of vehicles to access site early subject to a strict protocol. This includes; engines off, no noise, no loitering and under constant monitoring to avoid non-compliance by the project team.
Involves:
- Liaising with developers, local authorities and impacted stakeholders to address early arrival issues;
- A site investigation that supplies the total room available to accommodate a specific number of HGVs;
- An MoU being signed by all interested parties;
- Assessments can take up to 30 days;
- The final decision coming from residents and environmental teams.
Results:
- Reduced safety conflicts;
- Reduced impacts on air quality;
- Reduced driver stress;
- Addresses residents’ concerns;
- Reduces obstructions on all roads, bus & cycle lanes;
- Cost savings.
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The Early Doors Agreement has allowed us to hold our HGV deliveiries within our site boundry line which has drastically reduced our impact on unwanted road use from our deliveries to site. Our worry has always been the impact of these deliveries parking with their engines running outside of our agreed delivery routes, causing both stress to our neighbours and the impact to other road users.
During the early part of this year we had each day up to 1000m3 of concrete booked for site. the use of the early doors agreement allowed us to batch and send the concrete for a prompt eight o’clock start with nine concrete mixers leaving the batching plant.
Also it allows us to plan our deliveries around the larger and more time consuming items that arrive early, switch off their engines and again start promptly at eight o’clock.
There have been so many plus points to this agreement that this should be considered as a stadard policy on all major projects in Central London.