trucks overtaking!!

[Laurie]

I agree time pressure is a factor, but if you are out of hours and don't get back to the depot normal practice is for a colleague to come out to you in a car and swap so he takes the wagon back to the depot, this is not an excuse for clogging up our road system bydoing 0.5 mph faster trying to get back in time

Afraid it is not like that in the eyes of VOSA. Driving a lorry or a car - to return to depot - still counts as driving.

 

[jimti]

Afraid it is not like that in the eyes of VOSA. Driving a lorry or a car - to return to depot - still counts as driving.

It counts as duty time, so as long as you haven't worked 15 hrs, you may be ok

 

[Mr Squirrel]

I can tell you out of experience that a truck driver being restricted to 56mph is just as infuriating as it is for you being sat on a long clear road in your AMG that happens to be covered in SPECS cameras......

Yes i agree, it can be a minor irritation being stuck behind a truck for a mile or so but when he gets out of the way, all you have to do is squeeze the gas a bit and before you know it, that trucks just a dot in your rear view mirror.....hardly an hard days work is it?
If the poor sod in the truck has to take his foot of the gas for just a couple of seconds that could mean a potential 6 extra gear shifts....thats alot of heavy clutching and 'notchy' gearchanges just to try and maintain a reasonable speed...Now, supposing some arrogant git decides he wont give way to the truck and makes the truck slow down as a result....who suffers as a result? A: the truck driver (who is being paid to be there anyway) or B: you who happens to be stuck behind it?
Whatever your opinions, trucks are there to serve you, they bring you your bread, milk, coffee, clothes, your car, the components for your car, the fuel for your car, your computer and even the chair your well rounded behind is sat in typing this nonsense......so just spare a thought the next time you get stuck behind one of these 'road hogs' they may just be taking your new golf bats to the shop or the batteries for your wifes vibrator.
Sadly, the argument for rail dosent work on many levels, as well as gauge there is also the problem of the railway not stopping at Tescos in the high street.

 

[stevieb15]

The 6 gear changes is the problem. I have had the discussion with many a driver of trucks in companies I have run when I get irate car drivers phoning the company to complain about "our" driver and demand to speak to the MD. I always accept the call because you never know when the complaint will be about "seriously" dangerous driving.
The explanation I always get is that if they allow the revs to drop it might take them 5 minutes to get them back up again.
It makes my blood boil when I am on the receiving end but the only solution is enforcement by the police.
I don't know if anyone else has noticed but continental drivers behave much better before they cross the channel but when they get here they just correspond to the prevailing culture

 

[Dryce]

the problem with freight on rails is the system cannot cope with the increased traffic as it is over stretched already and the infrastructure is not good enough for the extra weight of freight. It is also very expensive.

But the same complaints are made about the road network with regard to capacity.

Some of the problems with rail freight are down to the hacking away of the network generally. But the fundamental IMHO is attitude.

I'm not talking about the whole network but specific routes and increasing the gauge on those routes to deal with drive =on/drive off. By implication I'm serious about increasing the loads. And it may also not have been clear but I'm suggesting that speeds be raised on these routes as well.

I'm aware that there are pathing/capacity issues but freight isn't the only victim of these.

There is also the issue of trust. One reason I think these should be drive on/drive off is to allow fast transfer between transport modes. Another is that in the 70s and early 80s the rail unions helped break trust with customers. Many businesses don't want to expose their strategic delivery/supply chains to union action.

This is due to the increased volume of goods overall rather than vehicle weight. Although trucks now run at up to 44 tonnes (on 6 axles) the maximum weight on any one axle is still only a maximum of 11 tonnes and that has to be on road friendly suspension (air) an axle of 10 tonnes on steal springs would cause far more damage, these are quite rare now but were common in the 60's and 70's

My recollection is that the relationship between vehicle weight and road wear/damage is geometric. A few slightly heavier trucks have a disproportionate impact compared with a greater number of slightly lighter truicks. ie. an increase from 38 to 44 tonnes increases the road damage by a multiple not by fraction. I would suspect that over the last 25 years average HGV speeds on different types of road have increased as well.

At the same time volume has also gone up. I'm seeing damage particularly in lane 1 of motorways and on major trunk A roads that I never recalled seeing in my younger days.

 

[flango]

Afraid it is not like that in the eyes of VOSA. Driving a lorry or a car - to return to depot - still counts as driving.

No what I meant was colleague brings out your own personal car and you drive home in it which does not count as driving under VOSA.

 

[jimti]

No what I meant was colleague brings out your own personal car and you drive home in it which does not count as driving under VOSA.

You can only disregard driving from your depot to your home, if you are driving from another place it would count as a working period (not rest), so if you were out of working hours, this would still not be permissible in the eyes of the law.

Travelling time
Where a vehicle coming within the scope of the EU rules is neither at the driver’s home nor at the
employer’s operational centre where the driver is normally based but is at a separate location, time
spent travelling to or from that location to take charge of the vehicle may not be counted as a rest
or break,

Drivers hours regulations are very complex, and just to make life even harder the working time directive is not very compatible with drivers hours, but we have to work within both and try to earn a living.
That still doesn't justify trucks taking mile after mile to pass each other

 

[flango]

You can only disregard driving from your depot to your home, if you are driving from another place it would count as a working period (not rest), so if you were out of working hours, this would still not be permissible in the eyes of the law.


Drivers hours regulations are very complex, and just to make life even harder the working time directive is not very compatible with drivers hours, but we have to work within both and try to earn a living.
That still doesn't justify trucks taking mile after mile to pass each other

I agree they are complex and hope we aren't breeaking them but I'll give you an example.

I sometimes bring race transporters back for a company, If for instance iI get within about 70 miles of the depot and find myself out of hours which has happened quite regularly, I'll park up and a colleague will come to me in my car. Now him travelling in my car to collect the transporter counts as his driving time to be added to the time it takes him to get the transporter back to the depot. When he arrives with me I take my own car and drive home This as I understand it does not count to as part of my driving hours as I am not travelling to take charge of a vehicle. Or I hope thats the case?

 

[glojo]

I'm fairly convinced that one of the reasons our roads and motorways are in such poor condition is due to the increase in HGV weight limits over the last 25 years and the consequential damage.

Could one of our hauliers tell us how much their costs are for a 12 month 'tax disc'?

If we are talking about costs, then I am guessing the haulier is paying far more than their share of taxation to use our highways and if we all get held up for a few minutes, then is it really the end of the world?

Couldn't we all have an extra pick of our staboard nostril whilst waiting for Eddie Stobard to overtake a slightly slower vehicle?

 

[crockers]

I find Vans nose to tail driving at 80 - 90 mph far more of a danger than trucks overtaking one another...I've had them on my tail so close you couldn't even see the numberplate....ok I'm the wimp and pulled over...but it makes me angry.

 

[BTB 500]

Inconsiderate overtaking was certainly a problem when we were travelling North on the M1 on Friday afternoon ... repeatedly blocked by trucks inching past others in the inside lane, sometimes taking 5+ minutes to complete the manoeuvre as they individually sped up/slowed down at slight gradients.

We were towing, so not allowed to use the outside lane (which was reasonably clear) to overtake.

 

[GRAV888]

Could one of our hauliers tell us how much their costs are for a 12 month 'tax disc'?

Mine are 44tonne, 6 axles all on air.
£1200 per year.

 

[jimti]

I agree they are complex and hope we aren't breeaking them but I'll give you an example.

I sometimes bring race transporters back for a company, If for instance iI get within about 70 miles of the depot and find myself out of hours which has happened quite regularly, I'll park up and a colleague will come to me in my car. Now him travelling in my car to collect the transporter counts as his driving time to be added to the time it takes him to get the transporter back to the depot. When he arrives with me I take my own car and drive home This as I understand it does not count to as part of my driving hours as I am not travelling to take charge of a vehicle. Or I hope thats the case?

given your example you wouldn't have a problem with your "driving time" but if you have run or do run out of "working hours" before you reach your home you would most definitely be committing an offence.
Also your colleague would not have to count bringing your car to you as driving time, but would have to count it towards his daily working time.

 

[Laurie]

Hey Grav888 - Glad to see you are still on the road !

Mine ( a paltry 6 wheeler) 650 GBP per year

 

[GRAV888]

Hey Grav888 - Glad to see you are still on the road !

Only just. Looking for a new contract for one of the units if you hear of anything

 

[Laurie]

I'll keep my ears open - haulage only ?

You don't have any of those MB Club stickers left in your bottom drawer do you ?

 

[glojo]

Mine are 44tonne, 6 axles all on air.
£1200 per year.

so a truck pays £1200 per year to use our highways and we then complain because they just might inconvienance us for an extra two or three minutes of our journey Makessense to me

Grav... Were you at Thruxton?

 

[GRAV888]

Grav... Were you at Thruxton?

Sure was. Did you see me waving the red flag when the supersport race was stopped?

 

[glojo]

Sure was. Did you see me waving the red flag when the supersport race was stopped?

I did mention it on another thread........

I saw yuh..

I even paused it and called in the boss.

I told her there really was a man with a red flag that used to walk in front of cars to set the max speed

 

[GRAV888]

I did mention it on another thread........

I saw yuh..

I even paused it and called in the boss.

I told her there really was a man with a red flag that used to walk in front of cars to set the max speed

Mrs Grav was on their the week before when Karl Harris blew a water hose.
We're like Phil and Fern.