HGV drivers prioritise improvements to quality of road surfaces

18 December 2015

Quality of road surfaces’ is the aspect of England’s motorways and major ‘A’ roads that HGV (heavy goods vehicle) drivers want to see improved most.

‘Better management of unplanned delays such as accidents and breakdowns’ and ‘better management of roadworks’ are also in their top three priorities.

This research, published today, by Transport Focus, the independent watchdog, asked HGV drivers to rank their priorities for improvement. The results are broken down by annual mileage and vehicle and road type.

It follows research earlier in the year which revealed car and van drivers and motorcyclists’ priorities for improvement. ‘Quality of road surfaces’ was also the top priority for them. However, they ranked ‘safer design and upkeep of roads’ (ranked second for car and van drivers and third for motorcyclists) and ‘better behaved drivers’ (ranked third for car and van drivers and second for motorcyclists) within their top three priorities.

Guy Dangerfield, Transport Focus’s road user director, said:
“We’ve asked four different types of road users what they want improved most, and they have all given the same answer – quality of road surfaces. The message is clear. We will now plan further research to establish which aspects of surface quality road users most want to see improved. Is it general ‘smoothness’? Is it the potholes? Or is it noisy surfaces?” 

Click the link below to download the report:
Road users’ priorities for improvement: heavy goods vehicle drivers