Inflationary pressures will "inevitably" increase if a ban on extra-large "supercube" container lorries using Dublin city centre is imposed, according to the Irish Road Hauliers Association (IRHA).
The Association also warned that the number of conventional lorries passing through the city could treble if the Department of Transport plans were to take effect.
The IRHA has called for an urgent meeting with the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, following confirmation yesterday that "supercube" trucks - too large to use the Dublin Port Tunnel when it is complete in 2005 - would not be allowed pass through the city centre.
IRHA spokesperson Mr Jimmy Quinn said there would be "massive financial repercussions on both the haulage and retail sectors through increased distribution costs" if the ban was imposed. "And that would inevitably be passed on to the price of goods in the shopping basket," he continued.
He said there were "unquestionable" advantages to the use of such vehicles pointing out that the use of smaller trucks to deliver into the city would increase traffic. "Supercubes" are between one and two feet taller than conventional articulated trucks but can hold twice the capacity.
"For example, if you take one supercube out and replace it with 28 one-tonne vehicles then the consequences are obvious," he said.
At present, it is estimated that an average of 16 supercubes per hour pass through the city centre.
When the final part of the Southern Cross is complete most trucks will be routed around the city anyway but there would still be a need for some supercubes to service businesses within the M50, he added.