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news
Cargo bike (via Richmond Cycling Campaign)“But tradespeople can’t carry their stuff around by bike” – oh yes they can! How cargo bikes are changing the way people work
One of the more common objections you will hear about efforts to promote active travel or restrict motor traffic, whether through the implementation of low traffic neighbourhoods, or congestion charging schemes or those based on vehicle emissions, is the impact they might have on tradespeople who rely on their vans to get to their jobs, and who cannot be expected to do so by bicycle.
But increasingly, electricians, plumbers, gardeners and others, as well as major businesses are taking to two (or sometimes three or four) wheels to carry out their work, and as this image posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter by Richmond Cycling Campaign makes clear, you can shift a lot more by bike than many people might imagine.
This is local gardener Tim Leigh. He used an @LBRUT scheme to get a cargo bike and trailer, and now moves loads like this for work.
pic.twitter.com/HfAtMsUswW
— Richmond Cycling Campaign (@RichmondCycling) November 17, 2023
Ferrying big loads around by bike – something we are big fans of here at road.cc, and which was featured in a blog post by the author of this article earlier today – is becoming an increasingly common way for companies to get goods around our cities, often using specialist companies such as Pedal Me, which has even used its cargo bikes to perform office moves such as for Fusion Media, owned and run by Adam Tranter, the active travel commissioner for the West Midlands.
As part of its Transport Decarbonisation Plan published in 2021 under then Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the UK Government encouraged the use of electric cargo bikes for last mile deliveries, and from florists to online grocers, many businesses are increasingly turning to them as a way of quickly getting purchases to customers in our congested cities.
It’s anyone’s guess where that sits on Rishi Sunak’s list of priorities, although given the cuts made to the active travel budget since he entered Number 10 and his public support for drivers and backtracking on policies aimed at fighting climate change, it seems a safe bet that it will have fallen well down the agenda.
In cities including London, however, it’s a different story. In March this year, Transport for London (TfL) published its Cargo Bike Action Plan, in which its says: “Cargo bikes are an affordable, safe, clean and efficient alternative to vans and other light goods vehicles in London.”
It says that the plan “was developed to promote and enable further growth of cargo bikes to make them a leading option for last-mile freight and servicing trips. It is aimed at organisations involved in delivery and servicing who use or are considering using cargo bikes for business applications, as well as boroughs and other authorities who can facilitate sustainable cargo bike growth.
“Cargo bikes support the Mayor’s ambition for London to reach net zero carbon by 2030 and contribute to the wider ambitions of having healthier, safer streets as set out in the Mayor’s Transport Strategy,” TfL adds.
“The plan also supports our Freight and servicing action plan that sets out the actions we can take to support the safe, clean and efficient freight operations that are fundamental to achieving the Mayor’s vision as a city which is better to live and work in for all Londoners.”
Within London, the Cargo Revolution campaign has signed up a number of boroughs to its charter, and says that those councils signing up to it “are making a commitment to becoming cargo bike friendly boroughs, where everyone who wants to use a cargo bike is supported.
“We’ve worked with businesses, researchers, councillors and other stakeholders to identify five key areas where cargo bike accessibility in boroughs can be improved.”
Those areas are:
Improving internal logistics
Supporting businesses making the switch
Improving infrastructure for businesses and individuals
Making communications cargo-bike friendly
Making it easier for residents to switch to cargo bikes.
The nine councils signed up to the initiative so far – Brent, Camden, City of Westminster, Ealing, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Lambeth, Southwark and Waltham Forest – are all controlled by Labour, and include several of the city’s most forward-thinking boroughs when it comes to active travel.
On its website Cargo Revolution, which was launched by Glimpse with MP Smarter Travel and Clean Cities Campaign, and is funded by Impact on Urban Health, says: “Toxic air and heavy traffic is a nightmare.
“Enter cargo bikes: clean, green and fast two wheelers that can deliver a transport revolution for London. These dream machines can clean up our air, cut carbon pollution and shift impressive amounts of stuff all at the same time.
“Cargo Revolution is a campaign to celebrate the amazing benefits cargo bikes bring to Londoners, and champion the fantastic local businesses that are adopting them.”
Major companies including Amazon and DHL now use cargo bikes for last-mile fulfilment in the city, but independent traders are also increasingly turning to them as a means of transporting themselves and the tools of their trade around the capital, with Cargo Revolution highlighting several case studies.
Those include electrician Aaron Fleming-Saheed, who trades as Cycling Sparks and mentions the puzzled reaction he sometimes gets from fellow tradespeople in vans at traffic lights when they spot his branding, and plumber Rob Darbyshire, who reveals the benefits of switching to two wheels, some of which only became apparent afterwards, as well as how he adapted his business to maximise the benefits of travelling to customers using a bike rather than a van.
You may also have come across the Carry Shit Olympics account on X, formerly known as Twitter – indeed, you may well have contributed to it – which posts images of people using pedal power to get all kinds of things from A to B, and not just on cargo bikes.
It’s maybe not Vietnam motorbike levels of haulage, but nevertheless there are some very impressive examples – here are just a few of them.
Absolutely epic #CarryShitOlympics right here: https://t.co/hkOl4cfG3Q
— CarryShitOlympics (@CarryShitOlympx) June 18, 2023
Japan 1935, koloriert: #carryshitolympics
Quelle: https://t.co/mNBHLEeAGy pic.twitter.com/9mQdCb0ySG
— Jota Pluralis (@Llusafin) April 12, 2023
Japan 1935, koloriert: #carryshitolympics
Quelle: https://t.co/mNBHLEeAGy pic.twitter.com/9mQdCb0ySG
— Jota Pluralis (@Llusafin) April 12, 2023
Winner! #CarryShitOlympics https://t.co/LLiQDHie6n
— Rob (@DenverBeerRob) April 14, 2023
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- FionaJJ 21 min 13 sec ago
Just yesterday I saw a driver (in 4x4) take a slightly sharper corner at speed, very tight to the kerb. In this place there's a high wall parallel...
- chrisonabike 46 min 14 sec ago
Apologies - you're quite right! Something about presentation and comprehension...
- wtjs 1 hour 6 min ago
You can find out whether they're lying about 'taking action' by asking them what they actually did. When they refuse to tell you, citing various...
- GMBasix 1 hour 53 min ago
But don't forget to correct for altitude.
- chrisonabike 5 hours 51 min ago
Also don't forget - Sustrans are a charity *....
- chrisonabike 6 hours 3 min ago
Yes ... but (just due to the large numbers of people affected) this likely would only proceed in the UK at a very ... cautious ... pace....
- EK Spinner 6 hours 20 min ago
Arsehole in the van not with standing, how did they manage to get a risk assessment allowing a race (a group not a TT) group to be competing on ...
- RafaDy 6 hours 16 min ago
I think reviewer completely missed the point here trying to match bike's name with what it can do. Ribble is namin git's bike weirdly, the...
- Moist von Lipwig 9 hours 41 min ago
Bit of googling gone wrong in the article - the JAT is the Junction Assessment Tool, the Joint Approval Team appears to be a coutner terrorism...
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72 comments
eCargo bikes have a lot of torque and can manage steep hills even with load. It's also possible to plan a job accordingly. Or do several trips if the hill is particularly challenging.
I quite recently got overtaken by an almost fully-laden Freddie's Flowers delivery e-cargo bike on College Road (the flatter section outside Sydenham Hill station) going up to the top of Crystal Palace, he didn't seem to have any problems - I repassed him on the steeper section but he definitely made it to the top, he caught me up again at the lights at the Westow.
I recommend testing an ebike with the Bosch Cargo Line motor. I live in a very hilly place and my own street and driveway are crazily steep, plus I'm in my 50s. I was sceptical about any ebike managing it under load but I've been proved wrong. 85Nm and 400% assist will handle almost any hill.
Hi
Aaron from Cycling Sparks here. Beilive it or not, we've been doing jobs in and around Crystal Palace for a few years now. (the most recent being right at the very top, just off the village)
Ok , I get your frustration of upbeat articles and certain view points but I think thats where we differ as a company. We're pretty dedicated to seeing what we can do and overcoming obstacles. Can we cycle a huge Genny up to you? No, not just yet, but as the ecargo platform developes we might be able to down the line. Will that bring up other issues? Maybe, but for now we are happy doing it the way we are doing it.
If you'd like to give us a try, our website is here
https://linktr.ee/cyclingsparks
Thanks
Aaron
That gardener needs one of these, it'll carry 350kg.
That is cool ...
Things you can do with a recumbent.
Think that's the better idea for the bike powered mobile home - for road use only 😆
Nice as it is ... how does the rider see behind them?
Looking at their website there is a camera system for the driver.
More tech to go wrong.
Very little can go wrong with a physical mirror, and, despite what many Transit van owners think, they are cheap and easy to replace.
Camera systems ... not so.
Lots of cars and vans now use cameras and screens, not mirrors
The colour though... unless you were riding through a giant bathroom.
Aimed at bianchi owners, maybe?
Beat me to it. Phone didn't show your comment till I scrolled down
Bianchi celeste? Worked for many decades. Tbf, I always thought it looked medicinal
I've had this dangerous loads on bikes debate before, eg with a gardener carrying a garden fork tied on the side horizontally without caps on the spikes. They get very defensive when I suggest that more care is needed.
I think issues will get resolved in custom and practice as usage increases, punctuated by accidents along the way.
I don't actually see why police cannot already enforce on unsafe loads on cycles using existing laws.
I would have thought that existing laws could be enforced.
AFAIK, overloading / dangerous loading is not a specific offence to vehicles.
Extension mirrors are a legal requirement - no reason why that couldn't be applied to bike trailers.
They both are.
Bicycles are vehicles; I presume you meant motor vehicles.
More power to them but I wouldnt have fancied my chances on the uphills when I lived in the lake district.
It's the downhills, anti-camber bends, black ice, diesel on the roads that are the big problems
No reason why a bike isn't suitable for moving stuff ... however:
Nose / hitch weight must not exceed manufacture limits
Axle weights must not be exceeded
Train weight must not exceed manufacture limits
Ideally for large trailers like the above, overspeed brakes should be installed on the trailer
Over-hang limits must be obeyed - especially to the side
Correct reflectors must be used (these must be triangular)
Loads must be safely secured and restrained
Hats off to the chap in the image above, but that trailer *looks* like it's been made out of extending ladders [look carefully from the axle to the rear]
The load does not *look* adequately restrained or secured [Loads must be secured and restrained in such a manner as to remain on the trailer at all times, including inverted]
Unless there is a mirror on the offside bar end, it doesn't *look* like the rider can see behind them, or along the sides of the trailer. [This site is full of comments regarding HGV/PSV blind-spots, and here we have a loaded trailer that is one enormous blind spot. The overswing on the rear end of that trailer could easily knock over a pedestrian or another cyclist off their bike]
If we're going to move forwards and encourage more movement of goods by cargo bike, it has to be ensured that it is done safely and to a minimum of current standards.
As always there is a big difference between can it be done and should it be done.
The more I look at that image, the more I think that its an unsafe load, and that the guy got away with it ... this time.
It looks to me like that trailer stops at the rear wheels, and pretty much everything after that would be deemed 'overhang'.
The overswing on that must be horrendous.
If this was a HGV loaded like that, these comments would be full of venom.
Good points.
Although you speak from a position of experience and knowledge.
I got interested... so this appears to be something like a Bikes At Work trailer - although the models on their website seem to be slightly different than photos elsewhere on the net, perhaps they've updated the design? They do various sizes and also looks like they do custom ones.
However... the pictures I've found all have a cross-bar at the rear of the muguards (which this one seems to be missing) AND a rear cross-member to hold all together.
This one does indeed look a bodge job not only in that they've repositioned the wheels to the rear (apparently system allows you to do this) then extended with ladders. From how the ladders are hanging down it looks like the rear cross-member is not where it would be expected to be, if there at all...
Impressive though, 140kg weight limit on the trailer!
Trailer unloaded somewhere between 18 and 24 kg. Max total weight limit for the GSD is 172 kg - can't find stuff about towing though.
For this kind of towing as you say a proper heavyweight trailer (eg. with overrun braking etc - or its own braking at all) would seem to be required.
On your last comment - possibly. And unless they've got some serious custom mirrors (AND are checking them, probably more work on this kind of bike...) it does look like they'll have sizeable blind spots.
However... unless this guy is running some seriously illegal motor (looks like a Tern GSD which certainly comes as legal) between the weight at the speed there are some orders of magnitude (in terms of energy - heck, just in terms of weight) difference between this and an HGV.
Do we know if anyone has actually been maimed or killed by a cargo bike (never mind one with trailer)? If - as people sometimes airly say - we're contemplating a massive expansion of "last mile" delivery* (no doubt with a zoo of mini delivery vehicles) we should be investigating. Because commercial enterprises will be prepared to push it as far as is technically legal and then some...
* Which I generally think is a good idea.
Had a long answer to your points ... and hit the browser back button ... wiped it all out ....
Essentially:
Saying this isn't a HGV is a red herring. If that thing toppled over on to a pedestrian, or another cyclist ... its gonna hurt. Especially if it's up to max weight of 172kg.
Mirrors: you must use extension mirrors if your reward view is obstructed by your trailer (Rule 98. Note: this is a *must*)
Why should people have to have been hurt or killed before? Why not drive the message that it needs to be right *now* rather than wait.
Last mile delivery: there is a trailer system (can't remember it's name, and it could be in use in Holland) where the TFU / shipping container train of thought is used: trailer is essentially a pair of booms on wheels that lock in to place on the container, allowing for a speedy load change. Looks pretty damn good. Can't find it at the moment.
These extenders look tied down with either bungie cord or rope. They aren't even ratchet strapped.
I would expect to see a U bolt and plate or pin and socket arrangement if this was an authorised modification.
If he hit someone with this, he could be in serious shit... and god help him if he got sued as his insurance would likely decline him.
Been there!
Totally agree it will hurt - and quite possible for it to hurt enough... And the more I looked at this one the worse. As you say it looks like they've extended this almost in order to try to get weight off the hitch and make the bike manageable, or maybe they went there with the ladders already overhanging the back etc. There's no way there's adequate vision around this.
It's just that according to the numbers HGVs are the second most deadly mode (by absolute numbers and per distance travelled). I think this reflects that though you're not likely to get hit by one (as you might expect cars are way in front in overal numbers killed, LGVs by deaths per distance travelled) if you do the outcome is much more likely to be severe. Bikes - even badly loaded bikes like this one - probably orders of magnitude less.
Perhaps - like cars - we've expectations too e.g. we expect HGV drivers to be trained for driving their vehicles (with specific extra training where necessary). Gardeners on bikes - not so much.
I think you're correct though that the time to fix things is at the start. I think getting people on foot / bike further away from HGVs is a good idea (as reminded by the outcome of the driver trial reported here in Oxford). Of course that then needs other vehicles to take goods on. We already havea a van problem - while we're at it why not take a hard look at people using larger bikes / trailers commercially (any new vehicles) and what testing / training (licencing?) these may need. Before the genie is well and truly out of the bottle like it seems with dodgy food delivery e-motorbikes.
Looking at some of the commercial ones in Edinburgh I do wonder about the stability if they were high-loaded.
Aye ... they do look like a gust from the side would have it over quite quickly - especially if poorly loaded.
Although .. the DHL Cubicylcle looks like it could be quite fun ..
and it has a swap body on it - you can see the legs folded up underneath.
Beware turning to the dark side...
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