FTA is advising motorists to plan ahead for Black Friday – the day thousands of schools break up for the summer – is expected to be a nightmare as over 3 million vehicles are predicted to be hitting the UK roads.
Motorways including M1, M4, M5, M25 & M50, are all set to bear the brunt of the getaway as drivers attempt to beat the Saturday morning holiday traffic queues.
Traffic heading into the Port of Dover have also being experiencing delays as additional security checks are being carried out at the French border check points, with reports of drivers being delayed in excess of two hours.
The FTA provides up-to-date traffic information via its app, and regularly updates its members of expected issues which will affect their drives.
Malcolm Bingham, FTA Head of Road Network Management Policy said: “Planning ahead of any journey is crucial for all drivers – particularly when so much traffic is expected on the roads. FTA encourages its members to use all the information available to avoid traffic jams as they attempt to make their routine journeys and deliveries.
“Delays cost money for the industry; it costs £1 a minute for a 44-tonne HGV to stand still in traffic and there is also the knock-on effect when contracts can’t be delivered on time and deadlines are missed. All of this piles addition financial pressure on operators who work on very tight profit margins.”
Using FTA’s traffic information service via the app, drivers can stay informed of all the hold-ups on the roads. The app uses data supplied by INRIX Media and focuses on serious delays being experienced on the UK network. The updates can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and are updated every 15 minutes to provide more effective real time traffic data.
In total the country’s main roads are estimated to be filled with 14.4million vehicles across the weekend.
ShopFTA also stocks a range of products including satellite navigation systems which provide live traffic updates, UK and European mapping.
Notes for editors
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The Freight Transport Association can trace its origins back to 1889 and is recognised as the voice of the freight and logistics industry, representing the transport interests of companies moving goods by road, rail, sea and air. FTA members operate over 220,000 goods vehicles – half the UK fleet – consign over 90 per cent of the freight moved by rail and 70 per cent of sea and air freight.
