Cambridgeshire is the first county in the UK to introduce an on-line route planning service for lorries and coaches. It shows them where the weight restrictions and low bridges are. It even shows the locations of the traders selling food in lay-bys. I ha

Cambridgeshire is the first county in the UK to introduce an on-line route planning service for lorries and coaches.

It shows them where the weight restrictions and low bridges are. It even shows the locations of the traders selling food in lay-bys.

I had a look at the website the other day and there are some things about it that will be useful to everyone, not just lorry drivers.

For instance, you can punch in any postcode in Cambridgeshire and it will show you a little map of where it is.

And you can change the scale of the map to show how to get there from major routes. I will find that useful myself.

Our route manager, Rob Roweth, is working on even more facilities for the site in due course.

The intention is that it will allow its information to be transferred to satellite navigation systems - most lorries and coaches now are so equipped.

As a natural-born control freak, that gives me even more ideas. If we have some kind of control over where people's sat-nav is telling them to go, we can reduce the likelihood of their going along roads that we would rather keep free of heavy vehicles.

Few lorry drivers will rat-run if their sat-nav is taking them along a normal route with no effort on their part.

The website can also be used by the public to report problems or to ask questions about freight and its movement. If you want to try it for yourselves, go to www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/managing and follow the link to commercial vehicles.