News

Mixamate Managing Director, Chris Smith, who is also the Chairman of the Batched on Site Association (BSA), is featured in this month’s issue of Concrete Magazine – the official publication of the Concrete Society. The Government recently announced new regulations regarding the classification of mobile batching plant machines, and Chris’ commentary informs the industry on the latest steps that the association is taking to liaise with the government on these crucial updates.

“Mixamate is a company with a large fleet and we have been busy in recent years converting to 5-axle machinery,” says Smith, Managing Director for Mixamate and Chairman for the Batched on Site Association. “But many operators out there are one-man bands with small – and in some cases even single truck fleets – and while a ten year transition period may seem like a long time, this will effectively put those practitioners out of business.”

The new legislation relates to a number of issues including maximum weight, where 4-axle machines will be limited to 32 tonnes. From September of this year, operators will be given a 10yr transition period in which to make the necessary updates to their fleets.

Many operators including those within the Batched on Site Committee have highlighted the specialist nature of these machines, which spend most of their time static on-site and are required to mix materials on arrival. Both traditional volumetric mixers and the hydraulic computer operated machines used by Mixamate, operate in this way.

The BSA continues to work with government in this crucial area of legislation and you can find out more about the association here.