English - Nooteboom Giants on the Road Magazine English - Nr. 4 - 2017 | Page 17
REGULATIONS
even collect the exemption in Warsaw. The OSPTN campaigns for the
option to apply and receive applications digitally.
3. The requirements for escorts and their vehicle will be defined more
precisely. At the moment vehicles in any colour are permitted, in the
near future the choice of colours will be restricted. The requirements
for the training, testing and experience of the escorts will be
scrutinized further and proposals for the regulations will be drawn up
based on the results.
4. In Poland the maximum permitted axle loads are currently the same
for all axles. The association is in favour of differentiating between
axles. In that case a pendle axle will be allowed 12 tonnes maximum
per axle and beam axles 10 tonnes maximum per axle.
5. Many mobile cranes are built on the basis of a maximum axle load of
12 tonnes per axle. The negotiations concerning the upgrading of the
axle loads will probably result this year in an increase in the permitted
axle load for cranes to 12 tonnes.
DIFFERENT INFRASTRUCTURE
The infrastructure in Poland is different than in some other European
countries. Poland does not have a network of canals and rivers, such as
exists between the Netherlands and Germany. The various canals that
connect the south and north of Poland with each other have a water level
that is too low for the transport of very heavy loads. Discussions about
improving the existing canals are ongoing, but it will be years before any
work will start. Because transport by rail is no solution either this means
that nearly every large or heavy load must be transported by road. High,
wide or long, is usually fine – often after a thorough route survey – but
heavy loads are a big problem. Many bridges are only suitable for HGV’s
with a maximum weight of 50 or sometimes 60 tonnes. If the weight
exceeds 60 tonnes each bridge or viaduct has to be assessed to determine
whether the transport can pass over it without any problems.
THE OSPTN
Lukasz Chwalczuk is the chairman of the OSPTN. Ten years ago he
hardly knew anything about abnormal transport, but due to his legal
background he is the perfect intermediary between the transport
operators and the Polish government. His position on the board of the
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With a Category 4 exemption the vehicle must have steered axles
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This transport is allowed without exemption
ESTA also enables him to promote the interests of the Polish companies
on an international level.
Lukasz: “In the past few years we have achieved quite a lot. Sometimes
it’s about relatively small things, such as road signs to clearly indicate
which roads are suitable for 8, 10 or 11.5 tonnes per axle. It’s important
for the Polish industry to be able to transport their goods over the
road. Work is being done to improve the infrastructure in Poland,
but the permit for vehicles exceeding a gross weight of 60 tonnes
remains problematic. When it comes to regulations, such as e.g. escort
vehicles, we study the situation in other European countries. For
instance, we have a very good relationship with the RDW (Dutch Road
Administration).”
Poland is a country where developments take place at a rapid pace.
In just one generation Poland has changed from a closed Eastern
European economy to a vibrant country with young, enthusiastic
and well-educated people. The sector abnormal transport gained
momentum when Poland joined the EEG. There is no shortage of
enthusiasm and technical knowledge, but the regulations are still
evolving and the infrastructure needs investment in order to give more
leeway to transports that exceed 60 tonnes GVW. ■
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Category 3: maximum 3.2 metres wide and 23 metres long
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