I was talking to one of our drivers a couple of days ago, and he had just returned to work, after being suspended for scraping the
underside of an unmarked bridge with a 16ft 2ins trailer on the A19 the other day.
This is the second time in the last couple of months, that one of our drivers has scraped the underside of an unmarked bridge, with
a 16ft 2ins trailer. Both trailers were damaged, both bridges had no real damage (other than scrape marks), both drivers were suspended…but then allowed back to work within a couple of days following company investigations.
Apparently both Company investigations found that the drivers were not at fault…as both bridges were indeed unmarked, and therefore should have been safe for a 16ft 2ins trailer to pass safely underneath.
The driver that I spoke to reckons that he may have hit a bump in the road, just below the bridge …which may have caused his trailer to “bounce” up a bit, scraping the bridge??
Most of our Double deckers are 16ft 0ins, but we have around 20 that are 16ft 2 ins.
All a bit worrying …if you’re driving trailers that are over 16ft 0ins!!
I’m no expert or authority on bridges, but …are some of our unmarked bridges slightly under 16ft 6ins??
Who ran four motors, had a driver call him saying he’d hit a bridge on the M1 and torn the back of the trailer off.
Turns out he’d left the suspension in the up position on the double deck trailer after tipping at Asda Bedford and clouted the first northbound bridge on the M1.
It’s feasable that your drivers might be doing this too.
Not quite: The minimum height of an unmarked bridge in the UK is 5 metres (we went metric 40 odd years ago guys). 5 metres converts to 16 feet and 4.85 inches which is near enough for jazz, but 5/32 of an inch would be serious in many situations.
Assuming the relevant authorities know about these bridge strikes, have these bridges now been marked correctly?
I’d assume also that someone had measured these trailers, rather thsn go off a spec sheet?
Remember that the height sticker on the front of a trailer will also state with what height fifth wheel that measurement applies, typically it is 48 inches.
I’m no expert or authority on bridges, but …are some of our unmarked bridges slightly under 16ft 6ins??
In this year’s ‘official dvsa guide to driving goods vehicles’ page 65 states. 'The headroom under bridges in the UK is at least 5 meters (16 feet 6 inch) unless marked otherwise.
Must be down to the suspension being up or who ever measured the bridge [emoji848]
Scanias with the mid-lift in the up position are much higher on the front with a double decker.
This^^^^^ Had an assessment drive with Asda at Didcot yesterday, big notice in the training room warning about running with the midlift up (Scania fleet) as “it can raise trailer height by up to 6 inches” and you would be inadvertently over the height you think you are at.
Scanias with the mid-lift in the up position are much higher on the front with a double decker.
This^^^^^ Had an assessment drive with Asda at Didcot yesterday, big notice in the training room warning about running with the midlift up (Scania fleet) as “it can raise trailer height by up to 6 inches” and you would be inadvertently over the height you think you are at.
When I was at Stobartski’s, if a trailer had been dropped by a Scania with its midlift up and I was driving a Volvo, I couldn’t get the pin without winding the legs down a bit
Santa:
Not quite: The minimum height of an unmarked bridge in the UK is 5 metres (we went metric 40 odd years ago guys). 5 metres converts to 16 feet and 4.85 inches which is near enough for jazz, but 5/32 of an inch would be serious in many situations.
No, that’s still “not quite” correct. The Chapter 4 Traffic Signs Manual (effectively, the legal “bible” for road signs) states that 5.03m is the figure to be used when deciding whether the bridge (or other structure) requires warning signs, not 5.0m
It goes on to specify how the measurement is to be made and the figure on the sign(s) is calculated. There are different methods for imperial and metric measurements (which helps to explain why the metric figure on the signs is sometimes not the direct equivalent of the Imperial figure also displayed). Full details here: tsrgd.co.uk/pdf/tsm/tsm-chapter-04.pdf (page 30-40).
i see two issues here: 1. Midlift on many trucks automatically raise when its empty, and no way of lowering it. 2. When resurfacing, i believe they always take off a certain amount ( planing ) and replace it with the same amount, so for eg, 2" off…2" back on…i always believed also that motorway bridges are 17 ft…but some abroad are 4m. but clearly marked with a diversion in place if needed.
Scanias with the mid-lift in the up position are much higher on the front with a double decker.
This^^^^^ Had an assessment drive with Asda at Didcot yesterday, big notice in the training room warning about running with the midlift up (Scania fleet) as “it can raise trailer height by up to 6 inches” and you would be inadvertently over the height you think you are at.
When I was at Stobartski’s, if a trailer had been dropped by a Scania with its midlift up and I was driving a Volvo, I couldn’t get the pin without winding the legs down a bit
Yep, also sign saying no coupling or uncoupling with midlift raised.
Wonder why Scanias do that, rather unsafe if you’re not aware of it!
Do you use Scania buy any chance. And if you do, has the axle been lifted when going under the bridge. A scania with lifted axle travels higher than when the axle is down
