ORR is responsible for monitoring the performance and efficiency of Highways England, the company which runs England’s Strategic Road Network (SRN) – the motorways and major A Roads.
In 2016 some 9.8 billion vehicle miles were travelled by HGVs on roads managed by Highways England. Understanding the perspective of freight users on how the network is working, along with their priorities for the future, provides a valuable insight for our work as Highways Monitor.
To that end members of our Highways team visited the Co-Op’s Castlewood Distribution Centre in Derbyshire last month to hear about road user’s priorities in the freight and logistics sector.
The team spoke to the Co-Op’s Head of Transport about how the company plans deliveries and sources information about traffic conditions on the network, as well as what they as a logistics business see as the priorities for future road investment. We also heard from drivers about their experience of using the motorways and trunk roads that make up the SRN.
Insights gathered from site visits such as these help inform our contribution to the development of the next Road Investment Strategy. This supports our monitoring and reporting work by ensuring we understand the concerns and experiences of road users on the ground – and our team will continue to get out and about on the network.