HGVs in the Third Lane
Discussion
Nope, the law as to Hgv's being banned from the third lane still applies, but the amount of people who seem to think it funny to drive slowly in the middle lane shows no sign of diminishing
, and we have to meet book in times nowdays to make a living so think on, and try not to hold these guys up. Scrub 10mph off a moving truck, and it will take 3/4 miles on the flat to regain top speed, which is only 56mph after all.
, and we have to meet book in times nowdays to make a living so think on, and try not to hold these guys up. Scrub 10mph off a moving truck, and it will take 3/4 miles on the flat to regain top speed, which is only 56mph after all.Gnome, are you sure you're not confusing 7.5 tonners with HGV's?
7.5 tonners (the next, proper size of truck up from transit size) generally have to have tachographs by law, and require the vehicle owner to have an Operators Licence, BUT they are allowd into the outside lane.
A lot of people don't realise this - and let's face it, many 7.5 tonners look like full sized trucks - and it can be a bit of a shock if they pull into the lane in front of you!
7.5 tonners (the next, proper size of truck up from transit size) generally have to have tachographs by law, and require the vehicle owner to have an Operators Licence, BUT they are allowd into the outside lane.
A lot of people don't realise this - and let's face it, many 7.5 tonners look like full sized trucks - and it can be a bit of a shock if they pull into the lane in front of you!
quote:
I have spent a day driving HGVs, some fully loaded, and a number of modern trucks are quite capable of putting 10mph back on in quite short order.
So... many trucks could wait a few seconds instead of seeing me approach *then* pulling out just as I'm about to pass. For instance.
A day! Not sure if this gives you credence to comment on what a HGV's trucks capabilities are, try driving one on the road for a week and then make your comments.
Just remember that without truckers you wouldn't get your car part/food/petrol/etc etc. I know they are not angels but please don't make them worse than any other driver on the road.
What about coach drivers. 70+mph in a 17 tonne+ vehicle....
or
Majority of car drivers pulling in front of loaded trucks at the last minute coming up to a roundabout..
etc etc
Oh, I went up in a light plane once and was allowed to fly it, why do people need lessons it was easy
Rant over
Whilst I have sympathy with truck drivers and encounters with numpties. BUT two trucks passing each other at 0.0001 mph causes huge tailbacks. One point that could be raised here is the fact that freight should be carried IMHO by TRAIN. Why does a truck have to do 300+ miles to deliver bread, shoes, etc. Then travel all the way back empty, when the train can do it better.
Someone may be able to tell me but I think France has trains that allow trucks to drive on/drive off. That seems a good idea to me.
Someone may be able to tell me but I think France has trains that allow trucks to drive on/drive off. That seems a good idea to me.
Happened to me the other weekend - driving down the A1 and two trucks overtaking each other. It took 12 miles for them to eventually sort it out. Is this acceptable? No. Even got caught behind two trucks on the M18 once - 20 miles before they sorted that one out.
Lots of sympathy for truck drivers and what they have to contend with. However, the rare one that completely screws up the road system deserves the hatred that he gets.... gives a poor impression on the professional drivers.
Why do they do this though? Surely arriving at your destination 2 minutes before the other truck makes little or no difference? If anyone is good at maths then please do work it out. If it took 12 miles to overtake a truck going 56 - what speed would they be doing? My heads not on right at the moment...
Cheers,
Paul
Lots of sympathy for truck drivers and what they have to contend with. However, the rare one that completely screws up the road system deserves the hatred that he gets.... gives a poor impression on the professional drivers.
Why do they do this though? Surely arriving at your destination 2 minutes before the other truck makes little or no difference? If anyone is good at maths then please do work it out. If it took 12 miles to overtake a truck going 56 - what speed would they be doing? My heads not on right at the moment...
Cheers,
Paul
quote:
Why does a truck have to do 300+ miles to deliver bread, shoes, etc. Then travel all the way back empty, when the train can do it better.
I assume you either know very little about fresh food supply-chain logistics or work in the marketing department for a rail frieght company! (I'm involved with the former of the two)
As far as fresh food is concerned, the emphasis is on 'fresh'. A truck would still be needed to transport the goods from the factory to the rail depots and then from the rail depot at the other end to the depot from where each supermarket/store is supplied. This process would take a lot longer and be more costly than by taking directly to the final depot.
The rail solution could work for non-perishable goods (you mentioned shoes) but as today's consumers expect their food to be fresh and (relatively) cheap, rail is not the answer where this is concerned. Sorry. Same argument could be applied as to why people don't use the train more instead of their cars. It takes me 45 mins to get to work by car, the last time I had to use public transport, it took nearly 2 hours (bus to station, train to Liverpool St, then underground to Docklands).
I also get pi$$ed off by having to hit the brakes on the M11/A14 when a 40-tonner doing 55 pulls out in front of me, but its a fact of life these days. In the USA, trucks are not subject to speed limitations and I remember one trip on an interstate where I had the cruise control of the Hertzmobile set to 75, only to have a mirror full of a Kenworth doing about 80 closing in on me.
The rail solution could work for non-perishable goods (you mentioned shoes) but as today's consumers expect their food to be fresh and (relatively) cheap, rail is not the answer where this is concerned. Sorry. Same argument could be applied as to why people don't use the train more instead of their cars. It takes me 45 mins to get to work by car, the last time I had to use public transport, it took nearly 2 hours (bus to station, train to Liverpool St, then underground to Docklands).
I also get pi$$ed off by having to hit the brakes on the M11/A14 when a 40-tonner doing 55 pulls out in front of me, but its a fact of life these days. In the USA, trucks are not subject to speed limitations and I remember one trip on an interstate where I had the cruise control of the Hertzmobile set to 75, only to have a mirror full of a Kenworth doing about 80 closing in on me.
So what about Eddie Stobart carrying empty beer cans then? There must be thousands of non-perishable freight trips made by lorry that could just as easily be made by train.
I even heard a proposal by someone that involved using the canal system for freight - the canals run between major industrial cities, have minimal traffic on them (apart from a few hippies avoiding council tax and old people in summer) and once you get a 'chain' of barges going, there would be a constant supply of goods.
I even heard a proposal by someone that involved using the canal system for freight - the canals run between major industrial cities, have minimal traffic on them (apart from a few hippies avoiding council tax and old people in summer) and once you get a 'chain' of barges going, there would be a constant supply of goods.
quote:
..I had the cruise control of the Hertzmobile set to 75, only to have a mirror full of a Kenworth doing about 80 closing in on me.
Thats what we need in tjis country! Give trucks big engines (12 litre V12's would be fine) big brakes (erm...2 discs per wheel, discs 1 inch smaller than the wheel, and pads that cover half the disc!) no limiters and remove the speed limits from the following roads:-
A1, M1, M3, M4, M5, M6, M8, A10, A14, M11, M25, M74!!
Smokey and the Bandit UK Style!
Thats why I suggested the drive on/off. Tne train is quicker over long journies. The problem I have is the very long distance lorries ie 200miles plus. Fresh food on that refrigerated lorry would be quicker for the lorry to goto local train station drive onto train go to other station and drive off train.
Bastard caravans 
tvradict lots of trucks in the UK DO have 12 (or above) litre engines volvo FH12, Scania 143 etc. Some of those big US rigs have 16 litre (still 6 cylinder though) CAT diesels (600 hp (448 kW) with 2050 lb-ft (2789 N•m) of torque)
If you see any of those heavy haulage trucks with 'CAT 3' written on the front, that's the sort of engine it's packing!!!
I used to have a summer job in a haulage yard (stacking pallets), and the truckers there used to tell me that you could get 100 out of a standard rig if you took the limiter off, just that it would take ages to get there and you couldn't stop
If you see any of those heavy haulage trucks with 'CAT 3' written on the front, that's the sort of engine it's packing!!!
I used to have a summer job in a haulage yard (stacking pallets), and the truckers there used to tell me that you could get 100 out of a standard rig if you took the limiter off, just that it would take ages to get there and you couldn't stop
Borrocks they're all Yorkie munching twats who believe they are "knights of the road", tossers if ever there was a most ignorant road user catagory truckers fall right up there with horse riders. The most annoying manouver known to man kind is to sit 3 miles back in the outside lane and prevent the filter in turn because it offends your twisted Yorkie bar distorted sense of fair play. arseholes the lot of them.
Sorry needed that.
Sorry needed that.
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