How to get lorries off Malaysian roads?

CURRENT traffic predictions forecast that even with all road infrastructure projects going ahead, traffic jams will continue to increase until 2025.

Lorries are a major contributor to traffic jams, as well as to air pollution and road accidents. Therefore, more roads will not solve the issue of traffic jams. So, what is the alternative? I propose to get as many lorries off Malaysian roads as possible.

The time to regard sea and rail transport as an alternative for road transport is over. It is time for a new paradigm in transportation concepts. The port and rail infrastructure is already present in Malaysia, with plenty of capacity to take lorries off the roads.

There are just far too many lorries on Malaysian roads that do not belong there. Which category of goods does not belong on Malaysian roads?

First of all, dangerous goods do not belong on the road, especially on those passing through high population areas. They should, as much as possible, be transported via sea and rail.

There are far higher risks to the population when dangerous goods are transported via road compared with via water and rail. The later is safer and more secure.

Second, long-distance transport of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) with a long shelflife (in months rather than days) should be moved via sea and rail with proper planning. Next to providing FMCG supply chains a more sustainable footprint, it will also provide major transportation savings, which are important in FMCG logistics. As FMCG transports are a leading contributor to traffic jams in cities, a big part of FMCG supplies should be moved during the night, instead of the day.

Third, construction materials should be transported via rail to a depot near the city. Such materials are one of the top contributors to cargo transportation movements. These heavy loads are relatively high in accident statistics compared with other types of lorries.

A rail depot could act as a temporary storage location for construction materials. From this depot, small shipments can be sent to construction sites when the site requires it. As construction traffic is a major contributor to traffic in cities, this kind of cargo should be mainly transported at night.

Finally, non-express cargo that has neither an origin nor destination in Malaysia and is just passing through should be handled via sea or rail transportation. There is a lot of containerised and conventional trucking taking place between Singapore and Thailand that is just using our highways without a real need to do so. China’s Belt and Road initiative, connecting Singapore via Malaysia all the way to China, should be foremost a sea, rail, and possible pipeline initiative, not road.

There is an urgent need for national and local governments, manufacturers, retailers and the logistics sector to think of new transport concepts where lorries, trains and vessels in unison provide smart logistic solutions.

Big shippers need to take the lead to move the bulk of their cargo to more sustainable modes of transport. Not every shipment needs to be entirely by lorries. This is utter nonsense and purely a result of poor supply chain planning and optimisation skills.

Not every shipment needs to be entirely by lorries. This is utter nonsense and purely a result of poor supply chain planning and optimisation skills.

marco@lbbinternational.com