The Council Directive 96/53/EC, amended by the Directive 2002/7/EC, limits the maximum authorised weights and dimensions in Member States of the European Union. In Belgium, freight vehicles or vehicle combinations may notexceed the maximum length of 16.5 metres (articulated vehicles) or 18.75 metres (road trains) for the transport of divisible goods. Neither may they exceed the maximal weight of 44 tonnes (= 5 axles). It is still possiblefor Member States of the European Union to allow vehicles or vehicle combinations exceeding those maximum authorised limits for the transport of divisible goods during a trial, but only for national traffic. Nevertheless the allowed vehicles or vehicle combinations may not significantly affect international competition in the EU. Nowadays freight combinations exceeding the European maximum weight and/or length limits are only allowed in Sweden and Finland and are being tested in the Netherlands and Germany. A transport system allowing such freight combinations could be more sustainable, but therefore many relevant aspects should be considered. In Belgium, aworkgroup, composed of different Belgian road administrations and some research institutes, has been established in order to collect objective scientific information about such freight combinations and their possible impacts taking into account the specific Belgian limiting conditions. The outputs of this workgroup can feed the debate about the desirability of such freight combinations at national and even at international level. This paper describes the different relevant (sustainable) aspects as examined by the workgroup in Belgium: International experience with such freight combinations; principal environmental, economic, social, legal and fiscal aspectsand the impacts of such freight combinations on infrastructure, mobility and road safety. For the covering abstract see ITRD E139491.
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