New safety regulations for agricultural vehicles have been signed into law by Transport Minister, Leo Varadkar, but the green diesel issue remains unresolved.
The new rules follow a prolonged consultation process, dating back to 2008, involving the Road Safety Authority (RSA), the Department of Transport, agricultural contractors, the Road Hauliers Association (RHA) and the IFA.
The key points for farmers are that:
* More powerful braking systems will be required for agricultural vehicles operating at speeds in excess of 40kmph. Most of the correctly maintained tractors which have come into use in the past 30 years already meet these requirements;
* Agricultural vehicles will need to be equipped with appropriate lighting systems, flashing amber beacons and reflective markings;
* Trailers operating at weights exceeding 19t and 22.5t for tandem and triaxle trailers respectively, or at speeds exceeding 40km/h, will require fitment of both a weights and dimensions plate and a speed disc
Limits:
In addition, new national weight limits are being introduced.These will enable tractor and trailer combinations which are unplated to continue in use at limits where the maximum towable mass is capped at three times the tractor’s weight.
Plated tractors and trailer combinations will benefit from being able to operate at higher weight limits of up to 24-34t for tandem and triaxle agricultural trailers respectively.
However, these combinations must be fitted with a flexible suspension system, they must be fitted with flotation tyres for operation at 10t per axle in the case of a tandem axle trailer or 9t per axle in the case of a triaxle trailer.
In addition, they must be fitted with a steered or steering axles if they have an axle spacing of 1.8m or greater.
The rules will only become operational in 18 months time on January 1, 2016 and will replace the agricultural vehicles road safety standards which have been in existence for the past 50 years.
The Department of Transport said the new regulations were needed because agricultural vehicles were widely used on public roads and it was important to have a regulatory system in place which reflected the development in agri-vehicle technology over the years.
However, many of the controversial measures proposed during the consultation period, such as banning tractors from motorways, a revised driving licensing system for young farm family members, and speed limits restrictions for tractors on public roads, are not contained in the new measures.
One issue that remains outstanding is the use of green diesel by agri-contractors carrying out non-farming work.
The Department of Transport and the Road Safety Authority told the Farming Independent this issue would be a matter for the Department of Finance and the Revenue Commissioners to address.
Farming Independent sought clarification about the diesel question from the Department of Finance this week but its response was unavailable as we went to press.
Consequences
Tom Murphy, of the Professional Agricultural Contractors (PAC), claimed that any changes to the green diesel/white diesel rules would have serious consequences for his members.”The reality is that the average agricultural contractors workload divides at 70pc on farm related work from May to September and 30pc on outside work, like clearing sites for local authorities and doing work on buildings sites,” he said.”Immediately, 30pc of our income is cut and the effect of this cut will be seen when it comes to contractors buying new machinery in the years ahead,” Mr Murphy explained.
(Source – Irish Independent – Indo Farming – Ken Whelan – 17/06/2014)
Transport Minister Leo Varadkar has introduced new safety regulations for agricultural vechicles