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Presents information relating to the scale of road traffic accidents in the UK involving commercial vehicles. Establishes the extent of the accident problem and explores some of the main causes of vehicle accidents including human nature, the role of the driver, vehicle operators and government road transport strategy. Introduces some general measures to reduce commercial vehicle accidents such as improved driving, safety cultures, vehicle improvements and government policy. Provides a case study of a company which gained many benefits from reducing vehicle accident levels through the implementation of a vehicle accident database.

Commercial vehicle accidents impose very significant costs on industry and society but for a variety of reasons the full costs are often poorly understood. Advocates that vehicle operators should undertake a full and systematic analysis of accident levels, causes and costs. Introduces the CCSM model of vehicle accident reduction. By undertaking analysis based on this approach, most vehicle operators should be able to identify measures to reduce accidents substantially. Typical measures include the implementation of vehicle accident monitoring systems, driver age and experience policies, reviews of vehicle speed policy, driver training schemes, more systematic driver recruitment and better vehicle specification.

The last decade has been a period of considerable change for physical distribution in the UK. Major restructuring has been overdue, often because companies have in the past failed to appreciate the importance of distribution in the marketing process, but now there is a new awareness of the crucial role that distribution can play in the success of companies. As a consequence, innovation in distribution is taking place at an accelerating rate.

In the recent decades, research and industry on city logistics have tried to seek for environment-friendly solutions that are efficient enough to satisfy both society and suppliers’ needs. One of the potential solutions is the use of small-size electric vehicles (SEVs), due to their improved energy efficiency, local zero emissions, and lower traffic disturbance.

In spite of all the benefits of SEV for society, advertised through experimental trials focused on social and environmental benefits, research on these vehicles’ impacts seems to overlook the effects on private stakeholders operations, namely, disregarding the replacement rate needed to assure the same delivery patterns and their purchasing and battery charging implications.

In this chapter, the authors contribute in filling this research gap by considering private interests, related to operation costs levels (running and driving costs), service levels, and efficiency in the promotion of SEV. Simultaneously, its balance with public interests, related with sustainability, quality of life, mobility, and environmental issues are also addressed.

The authors aim to evaluate the usage of SEV in this research and to estimate the effects of replacing conventional vans by SEV on city logistics operations. The results of this quantitative analysis enlighten if SEVs are indeed a viable solution to satisfy public and private stakeholders, when operational and external costs are fully accounted.

The chapter presents a case study that addresses the effects of replacing vans by SEV on city logistics operations in the city of Oporto (Portugal), considering public and private stakeholders’ interests. The study compares four scenarios of 5%, 10%, 30%, and 70% of SEVs replacing diesel vans used in transport and unloading operations. The four scenarios are tested on different geographical scales: street and city levels. First, the authors estimate how the use of SEV in city logistics affects traffic, energy consumption, and emissions. Second, the respective operating and external costs are quantified and the acquisition and battery issues are discussed.

When considering the goal of promoting SEV as a sustainable city logistics policy, under a methodology focused on mobility, operational performance, and environmental externalities, the authors concluded (a) the replacement rate SEV:van is determinant to make a decision on whether or not to use SEVs replacing vans, (b) SEVs are economically competitive with conventional vans if the replacement rate is 1:1, (c) SEVs have a better performance at the street level rather than at the city level, (d) SEVs can be used with normal traffic as a niche of market (lower than 5%), and (e) SEVs benefits exist, but they are not significant enough to drive suppliers for their adoption.

The London Group of the Centre for PDM frequently mounts interesting seminars, and one of their most recent on “Distribution in inner cities” was no exception. Martin Foulkes of the GLC led off, and was followed by A.J. West of RHM Foods and A.J. Baker of Fine Fare.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors responsible for road traffic accidents among commercial commuter drivers in Lagos, Nigeria.

A total of 188 commercial drivers, driving 18‐seater mass transit buses in inter‐city highways were studied. Their accident records for the previous three years collected from Police records, Federal Road Safety Commission records, self‐administered questionnaires and observation of driving habits of the drivers. Their eye status were measured and data also collected from the Driver Union's Insurance Agency. A total of 25 human factor variables, identified as possible contributors to road traffic accidents were studied.

Six variables were found as possible significant contributors to road traffic accidents. They are old age, overtaking, overspeeding, religious affiliation, bad brake conditions and use of bad tyres. When the variables were subjected to two‐way interactions, 44 variable combinations were significant (p < 0.05) with R² of 0.994 and residual error of 1.165.

Accidents are not usually caused by single variables but by a combination of variables.

Apart from variables commonly found in the literature as possible causes of road traffic accidents, there may be some factors that may be peculiar to some countries like religious affiliation, belief in use of charms to protect drivers from accident and eye problems that are not identified because of lack of regular tests among others.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a measurement scale to assess over‐the‐road commercial motor vehicle operators' attitudes toward safety regulations.

A literature review of the current USA motor carrier safety literature and general safety literature is conducted to determine the existence of a construct and measurement scale suitable for assessing truck drivers' attitudes toward regulations. As no existing construct is found, a new construct needs to be developed. A rigorous construct development process is conducted to establish the content domain, reliability, and validity of a new construct to measure truck drivers' regulatory attitudes.

The results of this paper shows a reliable and valid construct to measure truck drivers' perceptions of the general attitude, effectiveness, and enforcement of safety regulations.

This effort is the initial construct development process and use of the construct in theory testing studies is necessary.

The regulatory attitude construct is developed in support of a larger investigation into the behavioral aspects of truck driver safety. The broader study seeks to inform theory and practice as to how the trucking industry's regulatory environment influences truck drivers' safety‐related decisions and behaviors. By identifying the impact of the regulatory environment, safety program managers should be able to direct their educational and training efforts to influence factors that will result in better decisions and safer driving behaviors.

This construct development process marks the first attempt to comprehensively measure truck drivers' attitudes toward safety regulations.

ROAD ACCESS between South Wales and Southern England has been notable for its inadequacy even in the notoriously poor road system of Britain. Two major problems are the Severn estuary and valley, which runs inland north‐easterly to form a natural barrier between the two areas, and the enormous growth of traffic. South Wales has developed considerably as an industrial area, and a large volume of industrial and commercial road vehicles, combined with commuting and heavy tourist traffic is channelled through Gloucester, via a narrow bridge, and the cramped hilly streets of Chepstow, where the popular race meetings periodically help to bring road communication to a standstill.

Over 50 years ago a noted Sheffield metallurgist, Harry Brearley, attempting to improve the life of gun barrels discovered that a steel containing 13% of chromum was resistant to etching by acids. This he called ‘stainless steel’. From this initial discovery many stainless steels have been evolved, suitable for service in a wide range of environments and at normal, cryogenic and elevated temperatures.