Freight Scotland
About Us
The Traffic Controller Unit manages the Freight Scotland Intelligent Transport System (ITS) and associated website. The Traffic Controller Unit is based within the Scottish Executive's Transport Agency known as Transport Scotland.
About Freight Scotland
What is Freight Scotland?
Which roads does Freight Scotland cover?
Who operates the Freight Scotland Website?
Contacts
What is Freight Scotland?
Freight Scotland enables the collection and distribution of real-time freight and traffic information relating to incidents and events currently taking place on the Scottish trunk road network.
Freight users in Scotland are provided with information about freight haulage facilities, up-to-date freight news and road conditions with the aim of ensuring that most efficient use is made of the existing freight network.
By providing information detailing Scottish freight news and road conditions freight operators are given advance notice of both improvements to the Scottish freight network and warning of problems on the Scottish road network that may affect freight transport. These may include roadworks, accidents, road restrictions, bad weather conditions and road closures.
Freight Scotland also provides location and contact information for Scotland’s main freight transportation facilities, railheads, ports and airports. In addition the website provides location details for Scotland’s major industrial estates.
The Scottish Executive and Scottish Ministers have recognised the key role of the Scottish road haulage industry in developing the economy. Through the Road Haulage Modernisation Fund they have committed expenditure of £11.8m between the years 2003/4 and 2007/8. Freight Scotland is a deliverable from the fund.
Which roads does Freight Scotland cover?
Freight Scotland covers the entire Scottish trunk road network, as illustrated in the map below.
Who operates the Freight Scotland Website?
The Freight Scotland web site is operated by Traffic Scotland which in turn is operated from the National Network Control Centre (NNCC), which is a 24-hour driver information and traffic control centre. The NNCC staff have the role of implementing traffic control and network management across the Scottish trunk road network.
From the NNCC, the trunk road network traffic conditions are monitored, using sensors, buried in the road, and closed circuit television cameras. The NNCC have developed operational relationships with the following organisations to collect and distribute relevant traffic information:
- trunk road maintenance operators;
- local roads authorities;
- bridge managers;
- the police;
- the media;
- motoring organisations; and
- other interested parties.
The Police, from their own control rooms, are responsible for setting localised variable message signs and lane control signals during the initial stages of a traffic incident. The setting of strategic signing across the Scottish trunk road network is the role of the NNCC. The Police also answer and handle all telephone calls from the motorway emergency telephones.
Trunk road maintenance operators, who are responsible for maintaining the trunk road network, advise the NNCC of roadworks planned and currently underway.
The NNCC therefore has a key role in pulling together traffic information and distributing it to all interested parties, including road users.
Contacts
The views of the public are always welcome and will help to ensure that Freight Scotland is as responsive as possible to the needs of users.
If you wish to contact Freight Scotland with comments, or to seek further information please, click here.
