Fleets are calling for an initiative to reduce the number of parking tickets issued to vehicles in London to be extended to all commercial vehicles.

Councils in the capital have doubled the permitted loading time from 20 to 40 minutes for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes saving fleets thousands of pounds (Fleet News, September 10).

However, fleet managers want the scheme to be extended to all commercial vehicles and for other cities around the country to follow London’s lead.

“I would like to see the loading times for all commercial vehicles extended to at least 40 minutes,” said Emmanuel Lewis, fleet manager at Vista Support.

Leigh Stiff, fleet manager at Hannaford, added: “It’s not fair when you consider companies are just trying to go about their business, but it’s the local council which benefits.

“Of course we do understand why these measures are in place, otherwise there would be a free-for-all and it would create total havoc. Nevertheless, these loading times should be more realistic.”

The only London borough currently considering extending the scheme to include all commercial vehicles is the City of Westminster, while cities outside the capital employ a range of restrictions when it comes to permitted loading times.

In some parts of Cardiff commercial vehicles have up to 30 minutes; in Birmingham it is up to 20 minutes; and in Leeds and Manchester there are no time constraints. However, all insisted that loading and unloading should be continuous to avoid being penalised.

Cardiff and Manchester said they were not considering extending their permitted times and Leeds and Manchester, which both offered greater flexibility than the capital, had no changes in the pipeline. None differentiated between vehicles according to their weight.

"Many parking tickets which are issued are simply a waste of time and resource due to the fact they were unfairly issued in the first place," explained Am Pall, CitySprint's fleet and specialist services director.

“Therefore anything which helps drivers in London, or the rest of the country, is a positive step forward.

"However, we still need to determine whether there are adequate loading bays as by extending the time commercial vehicles can ‘park’ in these bays, an already extensive problem could be exacerbated.

"The guidance also needs to be clearly defined. What exactly does a ‘loading bay’ allow? A courier, for example, will often need to unload the vehicle and then proceed to the reception area of a building. They may then be asked to continue to the third floor, for example, in order to deliver the package to the recipient.

"Many traffic wardens will currently issue a parking ticket in a loading bay if they cannot see the driver ‘loading’ or ‘unloading’. However, when you consider the likely scenarios involved with the delivery of packages to expect the driver to not have to leave the vehicle is unrealistic.

"In these situations the amount of time a driver is meant to be allocated is irrelevant as the traffic wardens are interpreting the guidance differently from the driver, and from what is realistic in practice. Therefore, in order for this positive step forwards to be truly beneficial we have to ensure it is enforced correctly.”

As a result of heavier commercial vehicles being given more time, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) said its members have already seen up to a 30% reduction in the number of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) in the City of Westminster, with similar results seen in other London Boroughs.