Coronavirus Update for Irvine Customers
It’s said the population of London will double during the Olympics, so special measures have been put in place for deliveries. We have detailed some Olympics facts and figures and how you, particularly transport and fleet clients – could be impacted.
All operators of fleets within the UK could be affected by transport changes planned for the Olympics, particularly hauliers with a nationwide delivery area. So operators must pre-plan and make arrangements to cope with the issues.
With the 55,000 strong Olympics family of athletes, officials, sponsors and media, plus
200,000 volunteers and 8.8 million spectators, the Olympics period is going to bring an influx of visitors to the UK.
22 of the 32 Olympics locations are in London, and it’s anticipated there will be an additional 3.3 million additional journeys daily in the capital alone. This isn’t just due to spectators but teams moving around too. Take beach volleyball. There are four sessions in one day with 70 coach movements required for each event. So it’s easy to see how all these journeys add up.
Significant congestion around London is likely throughout the Games, but the good news is all roadworks in London stopped on 1 April until after the games (excluding emergency repairs).
However, the 109-mile Olympics route network throughout London provides restrictions on travel and will be operational from two days prior until two days after the Games, including the Paralympic Games. Deliveries on the network will only be possible between 00:00 and 06:00 with some areas having non-stopping restrictions which would prevent kerbside deliveries and increased penalty fines to be imposed for stopping on Olympics vehicle routes.
All vehicles within London for commercial activities will also be subject to regular spot-checks at designated checkpoints and must have proof of legitimate business in the area. Plus out-of-hours deliveries in London must meet a code of conduct for quieter deliveries which can be found at www.tfl.gov.uk/2012outofhoursdeliveries As part of this code vehicles must have silenced reversing bleepers, which does increase risk exposure to incidents and could lead to an increase in claims. Another change for insurers and brokers to be aware of is additional vehicles may be hired by carriers to cope with limited time delivery slots.
Night working relating to deliveries could also see drivers temporarily classed as night workers under the working time directive, having a potential knock on effect to driver hours. And where an operator’s licence has environment restrictions noted, an application for a temporary change of hours must be applied for and granted.
And it’s not just London that’s affected. Hotspot blockages are also likely for areas around the various nationwide venues on the dates when they’re used and localised traffic congestion is likely across the UK for the torch relay.
It’s worth also bearing in mind the route of the Olympic torch in the weeks running up to the Olympics – full details can be found here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17358291
You can find out more at these websites:
www.london2012.com/traveladviceforbusiness
source – aviva insurance.
Related posts
