Outside lane

[s p a c e m a n]

I'm 99% certain that I'm right, but it makes my teeth itch every time that I do it because of where it is and the amount of cameras on it.

We're allowed in the outside lane of a 4 lane dual carriageway aren't we?

[R0G]

s p a c e m a n said:

I'm 99% certain that I'm right, but it makes my teeth itch every time that I do it because of where it is and the amount of cameras on it.

We're allowed in the outside lane of a 4 lane dual carriageway aren't we?

YES - only motorways have a restriction

[s p a c e m a n]

I do it a lot on the run up to the Dartford tunnel and over the bridge, it's quite rare to see anyone else do it though which has always put that bit of doubt in my mind.


Carrying on from this, I've heard a couple of good rumours recently about vosa fines that I don't believe. One driver is trying to convince me that he was fined for not having his trailer legs wound all the way up. Not that he forgot to do them, that they weren't wound the last couple of turns. I can understand getting a tug for it if the legs look like they're unwinding themselves, but short of them being inches from the floor and not complying with a ground clearance regulation I can't think of what they would write on the ticket. This rumour has led to a few people ruining the cogs in the legs because they're hanging off the handle trying to get them up the last couple of inches

Another one was not fully extending skeletal trailers for 45ft boxes and using the 40ft setting instead, I've got no idea what rule the drivers they're breaking with that one.

Anyone got some more good rumours we can get answers to?

[bigfatnick]

s p a c e m a n said:

One driver is trying to convince me that he was fined for not having his trailer legs wound all the way up. Not that he forgot to do them, that they weren't wound the last couple of turns. I can understand getting a tug for it if the legs look like they're unwinding themselves, but short of them being inches from the floor and not complying with a ground clearance regulation I can't think of what they would write on the ticket. This rumour has led to a few people ruining the cogs in the legs because they're hanging off the handle trying to get them up the last couple of inches

Anyone got some more good rumours we can get answers to?

My boss asked the traffic commissioner about the legs thing, the reply was that he'd never heard of it and it was utter rubbish. As a side note - you can't wind them up fully on almost any of our old st, yet it all passes mots (sometimes a good few per year). And vosa have never said anything about despite us and our scruffy equipment getting pulled in ALL the time.

Another one I asked of a visa man was the "now they're self funded they have to dish out fines to make it pay". Well I asked a vosa man on one of the occasions I was invited to pull in and chew my nails off. The fines they get go to the treasury, not vosa. Plus, a couple hundred quids worth of fines in a day won't go anywhere near paying 6-10 blokes/angry lesbians wages, buying a load of ford galaxies, up keeping their sites. He explained how it was all paid for and it all made sense at the time, but now I've forgot what he said, ha.

[grumpy52]

A mate of mine years ago forgot to wind the legs up and was eventually pulled by the police who followed the gouge marks for miles , he claims the police told him to bog off smartish as the paperwork was too complicated too sort .

[iva cosworth]

The 7.5T driver where I work won't drive in lane 1 or 4 on Dartford bridge.

He might get blown over the side.

He also won't go into Strand underpass despite being underheight,by a coupleof inches.

I use it with 1" clearance,although in real terms it's probably loads more.

[chilistrucker]

If I'm right with sliding container trailers the trailer must be set in the correct position when pulling a loaded box, but when empty it's ok to be on either 40 or 45 position!
When empty though, best to be in any position with a 20 on rather than the closed shut, (unloading) position, afaik. Not sure on the legal status of that one, but the slid shut position when empty, shouldn't be used for driving IMHO,
Upsets the balance and traction,

[GEARJAMMER]

chilistrucker said:

When empty though, best to be in any position with a 20 on rather than the closed shut, (unloading) position, afaik. Not sure on the legal status of that one, but the slid shut position when empty, shouldn't be used for driving IMHO,
Upsets the balance and traction,

Ive been told this, I can understand it 'if' you have three axles down on a shortened trailer..... but, I have in the past pulled skellys with an empty or light 20ft box on in the closed up position with the front axle of the trailer raised, in my eyes running like that, with the mid-lift up on the unit, so 4 out of 6 axles on the road (2 on unit, 2 on trailer) is surely no different to running with a 20ft fixed skelly?

Also I believe running with the skelly shortened with no container on at all is fine, regardless of how many axles are up or down?

[Chipchap]

I think it may be that if you are operating at 16500mm overall then you need to comply with all of the other regulations and dimensions. Such as 4500mm from front of cab to king pin and 12000mm from kingpin to centre line of middle axle and of course the 2040mm swing clearance along with the inner and outer turning radius.

So by not extending the front section the king pin to front of trailer dimension is out I think.

However I may be wide of the mark ?

A

[alangla]

iva cosworth said:

The 7.5T driver where I work won't drive in lane 1 or 4 on Dartford bridge.

He might get blown over the side.

I used to work with a bloke who wouldn't cross the Friarton Bridge near Perth in lane 1, same reason. He was fine on the Forth & Erskine bridges because if you went over on them you'd probably land on the walkway rather than the water.

Here's a good one for the outside lane question, would you drive an HGV in the outside lane here : http://goo.gl/maps/bljwk ?

[mp3manager]

Yes, as it is leading to an exit. But to get in the that lane, you have to cross the 3rd lane of the M8.

Never done that exit myself but passed it plenty of times and always thought it a bit odd...just like most motorways that were built through city-centres.

[LikesBikes]

mp3manager said:

Yes, as it is leading to an exit. But to get in the that lane, you have to cross the 3rd lane of the M8.

But you can use the third lane of a four lane stretch of motorway, it's the outside lane of a three or more lane motorway you can't use. Similar is the split for the A194(M) from the northbound A1(M). There's signs on the approach to say HGV's and coaches can use the outside lane.

[bigfatnick]

alangla said:

iva cosworth said:

The 7.5T driver where I work won't drive in lane 1 or 4 on Dartford bridge.

He might get blown over the side.

I used to work with a bloke who wouldn't cross the Friarton Bridge near Perth in lane 1, same reason. He was fine on the Forth & Erskine bridges because if you went over on them you'd probably land on the walkway rather than the water.

Here's a good one for the outside lane question, would you drive an HGV in the outside lane here : http://goo.gl/maps/bljwk ?

j

i have to admit, i often have a "what if" moment as i cross that an empty curtainsider going north, it seems maybe the hills funnel the wind away on windy days though as it never seems that bad when i get there.

[s p a c e m a n]

You lot need to try the Medway bridge on the M2, I've lost count of the number of times I've had 2 lanes on there whilst going in a straight line

[grumpy52]

The closest I have been to being blown over was on the A299 Thanet Way .
I was in a LDV 3 .5 ton curtain sider .
I was that sure I was going over I was leaning and braced for lift off as I saw the off side back wheels with a foot of daylight under them .
Cloth was touched !

[All that jazz]

GEARJAMMER said:

chilistrucker said:

When empty though, best to be in any position with a 20 on rather than the closed shut, (unloading) position, afaik. Not sure on the legal status of that one, but the slid shut position when empty, shouldn't be used for driving IMHO,
Upsets the balance and traction,

Ive been told this, I can understand it 'if' you have three axles down on a shortened trailer..... but, I have in the past pulled skellys with an empty or light 20ft box on in the closed up position with the front axle of the trailer raised, in my eyes running like that, with the mid-lift up on the unit, so 4 out of 6 axles on the road (2 on unit, 2 on trailer) is surely no different to running with a 20ft fixed skelly?

Also I believe running with the skelly shortened with no container on at all is fine, regardless of how many axles are up or down?

Used to do it all the time when on boxes. As mentioned, front axle up and mid lift up on tractor, no traction or stability problems whatsoever. Some members on a supposed "professional drivers forum" claim that the trailer chassis isn't strong enough to be driven like that but no evidence to support that was forthcoming so I've concluded that it originated from an RDC waiting room. Used to see plenty being driven like that a decade ago but rare to see them now.

[s p a c e m a n]

There's nothing wrong with running a skel in the closed position with a 20 box on, I wouldn't do it if it was heavy as it's much more stable at full length and it's easier to stretch it than tiptoe around every corner on your journey. The only thing to look out for before you do it is whether the mud guards are fouling the wheels or the flaps are going to drag along the floor, a lot of them aren't the original ones and when the fitters stick them on they don't think about the different positions that the trailer can run in.

[All that jazz]

s p a c e m a n said:

There's nothing wrong with running a skel in the closed position with a 20 box on, I wouldn't do it if it was heavy as it's much more stable at full length and it's easier to stretch it than tiptoe around every corner on your journey. The only thing to look out for before you do it is whether the mud guards are fouling the wheels or the flaps are going to drag along the floor, a lot of them aren't the original ones and when the fitters stick them on they don't think about the different positions that the trailer can run in.

I should have perhaps added for clarity that I was referring to running with an empty or very light box in that position, not a loaded one.