One wonders what sort of mess a bloody crane track sticking out 3ft would make of your rigid when the wide load you’re forcing by has no option but to pull out into the lane you claimed by divine right to pass a broken down lorry ( or any bloody thing) you couldn’t see but they could, resulting mess followed up by a driving without due care or worse charge for you when a thoroughly unimpressed traffic plod turns up.
There’s all sorts driving ■■■■■■ vehicles just as there are at the wheel of lorries, none of us are perfect but we manage rub along together.
On the subject of rubbing along, Dipper, brilliant post as always
CraigM:
Without looking at your post history… My bet is you are either a troll or just a complete muppet that shouldnt be allowed on a push bike nevermind in a hgv.
I’ll concur with that.
He’s been driving a van for all of 15 minutes and now knows the ins and outs of wide loads and escorting (ooh err missus). Maybe he should focus on being able to reverse first before he criticises real drivers.
Dipper_Dave:
Bearing in mind the convoy would have been on the radio talking about you and based on the story you’ve made up I reckon the conversation would have gone something like this between lead vehicle and ■■■■■■…
[For this narrative the lead truck driver will be called Bob and the ■■■■■■ vehicle Roger, 2nd truck driver will also be called Roger but don’t know if he will play a part yet].
Roger: “Hey Bob got a knob jockey here who wants to pass, we got room to help this ■■■ out”.
Bob: “Bit tricky so not quite yet, wait for the next long straight, block her for now”.
Roger: “Roger that”
Roger: “You talking to me Roger”
Roger: " No I was talking to Bob"
Roger: “Ok thanks Roger”
Bob: “OK Roger’s we got room now but make it difficult for her”.
Roger: “Will do, get ready Roger”.
Roger: “Roger that Roger and Bob”
Roger: “Ok she is on the way lads, coffee beans at the ready”.
Roger: “Hey Bob look at the state of this”.
Bob: “OMG he looks about 12”
Roger: “Roger that”
Roger: “What”
Roger: “Not you I was Rogering Bob”
Roger: “Your always doing that you big ■■■■”
Roger: “Your just jealous coz your wife screams my name during coitus”
See as it was only a couple of MPH and because I’m a “PAYE wage slave” paid per minute not per mile, I’d have happily eased off, tucked in behind and chilled out.
I’ve been on both sides of this so feel qualified to comment . Taking Sammy’s post at face value I can relate and fully understand his annoyance as I’ve had the same thing happen to me. And I’m not talking about loads which overhang sidewards to the point where it would be foolish to attempt an overtake on your average 2 lane dual carriageway, I’m talking about wide(r) loads that maybe overhang the lane divider line slightly but don’t encroach into the next lane any more than that. It’s quite safe to pass while keeping over to the central res yourself but it requires some cooperation from the wide load driver in that they’re aware you’re there and are prepared to adjust their speed to facilitate your overtake. The problem is that 99% of them do not do this. They keep it pegged at 55mph and get all shouty because you’ve had the audacity to try to attempt to overtake the King of the Road. They also have a tendency to act like utter nob ends on declines and use their weight to overrun and hang you out to dry. This is something you come to expect from the average class 1 licence wielding tool, but not something you should see from an abnormal load driver who should know better.
On the flip side, as Franglais says, as the driver you have to plan in advance for roadside furniture, unexpected breakdowns/obstacles and on some routes the roadside signage is placed very close to the carriageway. When I did some contract work for an abnormal load company the dozers were a particular pain in the arse as the couple of foot overhang on both sides from the dozer blade made it very hard to judge from the cab just how much clearance you had. Sometimes it was the safer option to block both lanes on the narrower dual carriageways because you’d be far too close for comfort when passing trucks parked in shallow lay-bys .
Often it’s not immediately obvious to you why the ■■■■■■ is blocking you from passing or has brought you to a halt. I did quite a bit of plant movement work on the gas pipeline they built across N Yorks near Seattle and one of the regular routes was across the A59 through Blubberhouses. The width of the dozer blades combined with the 4 axle rear steer trailer made made it risky to drive the twisty section from the top of Kex Gill down to the reservoir with traffic coming in the opposite direction, so I’d wait at the top of the hill while the ■■■■■■ drove all the way down to Fewston reservoir and hold the traffic there so that I had a clear run without meeting another wagon coming the other way in the tight bends. It’s stuff like that you don’t even think about as all you see is some nob end in a flashy Sprinter holding you up for 2 mins for no obvious reason. The old knackered King trailer I had must have had the laziest 2 rear steers I’ve ever experiencied. Unless you were really jacking it round they hardly used to steer at all which meant that negotiating roundabouts required the use of all the full width of the road, much to the annoyance of all the “must get in front of truck” brigade. The later models where all 4 rear axles steer are much more manoeuvrable and don’t require as much road space.
In summary : yes there are just as many bell ends driving abnormal loads as there are driving standard loads, but don’t automatically assume the ■■■■■■ blocking you from passing is because the ■■■■■■ driver is some Walter Mitty with delusions of grandeur - it could be being done for good reason, although my own observations over recent years usually tend to place them in the latter category sadly.
biggriffin:
I had a similar incident to the op, couple weeks back, wide’ish load A1 south, I’m on my way to yard(in car), come up behind the ■■■■■■ (Christmas tree transit), not a problem, we then come up to a Tesco plobber, wide’ish load over takes plobber, I then thinks he’ll move over to let us by, O no the spotty you’ff,road commander has the POWER to block, so he does this with a zeal, the dual carriageway is wide enough, not much furniture, so I whips up the inside, Mr wide load not happy, you’ff in da van goes off the scale,
Did they want to stop and discuss this issue, No I did offer to stop,… Total power crazed numptys.
Couldn’t have happened mate. You must be making it up…
The reality is as has been said these specimens have no power to stop or block anyone or to try and dictate what others do. The two clowns driving the artics were giving it all the swearing and knuckle dragging rubbish. But neither got out when they could. I’m not exactly hard so I’m glad they didn’t. But I don’t swear at people and try and act tough like that… I’d feel like a clown giving it the big one and then sitting in my cab like a little girl rather than saying something in person.
Tbh I’d love to reverse this scenario. I go out with my gf whose towing a caravan and we are both driving different card. I start blocking lanes in case she has to move out a few miles down the road (because she’s too important to slow down like everyone else). When someone goes past her she starts swearing at them - and I have the audacity to tell someone they didn’t have permission to pass.
And for reference. It was two static caravans. On a456 near abergavenny. Absolutely shed loads of room. And I could see there was no obstruction. I’m 100% confident they were trying to be difficult. And didn’t like someone overtaking. I see no reason to extend my day when I could be enjoying the sun with my partner.
biggriffin:
I had a similar incident to the op, couple weeks back, wide’ish load A1 south, I’m on my way to yard(in car), come up behind the ■■■■■■ (Christmas tree transit), not a problem, we then come up to a Tesco plobber, wide’ish load over takes plobber, I then thinks he’ll move over to let us by, O no the spotty you’ff,road commander has the POWER to block, so he does this with a zeal, the dual carriageway is wide enough, not much furniture, so I whips up the inside, Mr wide load not happy, you’ff in da van goes off the scale,
Did they want to stop and discuss this issue, No I did offer to stop,… Total power crazed numptys.
Couldn’t have happened mate. You must be making it up…
The reality is as has been said these specimens have no power to stop or block anyone or to try and dictate what others do. The two clowns driving the artics were giving it all the swearing and knuckle dragging rubbish. But neither got out when they could. I’m not exactly hard so I’m glad they didn’t. But I don’t swear at people and try and act tough like that… I’d feel like a clown giving it the big one and then sitting in my cab like a little girl rather than saying something in person.
Tbh I’d love to reverse this scenario. I go out with my gf whose towing a caravan and we are both driving different card. I start blocking lanes in case she has to move out a few miles down the road (because she’s too important to slow down like everyone else). When someone goes past her she starts swearing at them - and I have the audacity to tell someone they didn’t have permission to pass.
And for reference. It was two static caravans. On a456 near abergavenny. Absolutely shed loads of room. And I could see there was no obstruction. I’m 100% confident they were trying to be difficult. And didn’t like someone overtaking. I see no reason to extend my day when I could be enjoying the sun with my partner.
You’re a complete and utter balloon knot.
You must be thicker than a whale omelette to fail to grasp that you were a total ■■■ in this situation.
sammym:
What’s the score with these plonkers? Had a run in yesterday with them. Came up behind a couple of artics carrying something big. Going up the hill and on straights, they were a couple of mph slower than me. So I decided to do an overtake on dual carriageway. Next thing I know I got this little van blocking me… So I pulled back in behind one of the trucks. He then starts gesturing at me for ages. I didn’t think anything of it. Eventually, he pulled in behind me flashing his lights. He clearly was not happy that I’d taken his bit of road.
Anyway, eventually I did get past them. Much to the annoyance of the artic drivers. Both of them old fat men. Gesturing and swearing at me - I just smiled and gave up the thumbs up. Which seemed to annoy them more. Don’t think they liked my rigid getting past their scanias with associated tat in cab. Worst thing is they tried blocking my overtake by going faster down the hills.
Quite clearly never done wide load work. Often even though you aren’t wide enough to make it impossible for others to pass in L2 because of the overhang on the nearside you find you need to move over so you’re not smacking stuff on the side of the road. Depending on what you’re carrying there’s a likelihood you can’t see behind you which is why there is an ■■■■■■ van there to shut off L2. An impatient dumbass like you who is in such a rush they can’t even cope with slowing down just a couple of MPH on a hill would then at that point find themselves being shoved into the central reservation by the load being carried.
Stick to the rigid you’re driving, you’re too thick to be trusted with anything any bigger.
sammym:
I was just annoyed that he was making my life harder and childishly decided to do the same.
Thanks for the link to legislation.
I used to think that the things you were posted were because you were new. I’m now understanding it is because you’re as thick as crap with absolutely zero common sense, the ability to think for yourself and any forward thinking and are the last person who should be in a truck. I suggest you pack it in and continue with whatever pathetic BA(rsehole) pointless degree you’re doing.
sammym:
And I could see there was no obstruction.
No, you with absolutely sod all experience and without x-ray vision, not that good knowledge of the road network and zero knowledge of the stuff you pay no attention to but which are hazards to those shifting stuff like 14ft wide static caravans could see no obstruction that would bother you.
No, you with absolutely sod all experience and without x-ray vision, not that good knowledge of the road network and zero knowledge of the stuff you pay no attention to but which are hazards to those shifting stuff like 14ft wide static caravans could see no obstruction that would bother you.
Yet those 14’ wide static caravan drivers have no qualms about overtaking you on the 63 coming out of Hull when they’ve only got 0.5 mph on you and limited visibility. It cuts both ways.
SammyM pulls out and starts passing wide load .
Wide load has to move out to get round a broken down van full of kittens / children on the hard shoulder .
Kittens / children see Sammym shunted into and over the barrier and into the on coming traffic in the other side .
You are a first class clown Sammy - best advice I could give you would be to put your licence in an envelope and send it back to Swansea as you don’t seem to be able to think for yourself
Conor:
No, you with absolutely sod all experience and without x-ray vision, not that good knowledge of the road network and zero knowledge of the stuff you pay no attention to but which are hazards to those shifting stuff like 14ft wide static caravans could see no obstruction that would bother you.
Hark at it!!! Accusing others of lacking x-ray vision but being an expert in all things when he wasn’t even there.
If I wanted your opinion about my person I’d ask for it. You are clearly an angry little man who has a lot to say on the internet. Frankly… I couldn’t care less what you think about me. And as for being ‘thick’ - I’d love to compare our educational qualifications and our earning potential.
Unless it was blatantly obvious…ie narrow road then surely if it wasn’t safe to overtake the van should have been blocking you even trying…then you wouldn’t have ended up between them
if the van was behind them I’d have been overtaking too
Conor:
No, you with absolutely sod all experience and without x-ray vision, not that good knowledge of the road network and zero knowledge of the stuff you pay no attention to but which are hazards to those shifting stuff like 14ft wide static caravans could see no obstruction that would bother you.
Hark at it!!! Accusing others of lacking x-ray vision but being an expert in all things when he wasn’t even there.
If I wanted your opinion about my person I’d ask for it. You are clearly an angry little man who has a lot to say on the internet. Frankly… I couldn’t care less what you think about me. And as for being ‘thick’ - I’d love to compare our educational qualifications and our earning potential.
beefy4605:
SammyM pulls out and starts passing wide load .
Wide load has to move out to get round a broken down van full of kittens / children on the hard shoulder .
Kittens / children see Sammym shunted into and over the barrier and into the on coming traffic in the other side .
You are a first class clown Sammy - best advice I could give you would be to put your licence in an envelope and send it back to Swansea as you don’t seem to be able to think for yourself
Think about this for a moment…
Beefy pulls out to overtake Sammym. Both beefy and sammym are driving normal vehicles. Beefy in an artic and sammym in a 18t rigid. Sammym needs to move out to get around a broken van. There is no space so sammym simply applies the brakes as he has left a reasonable stopping distance. He then indicates and overtakes the broken down vehicle when it’s safe to do so.
Because Sammym isn’t a bell who thinks he has the right to not knock his cruise off or have to slow down if there is an obstruction in his way. He understands that eventually a space will become available.
On what planet… is is acceptable to block other vehicles on a dual carriageway because you might have to slow down if something gets in your way■■? There are only two peddles usually - one to go faster and one to go slower. You can use both of them…
I can’t be the only one who is puzzled by how Sammy was (according to his post) behind the ■■■■■■ vehicle and 2 static caravan loads, unable to overtake because the ■■■■■■ vehicle was blocking his path, but then in the next sentence he is now in front of the ■■■■■■ vehicle but still behind the 2 static caravans . How did he get in front of the ■■■■■■ if he was blocking his path? And as he was apparently able to do so, why did he not continue past the 2 trucks as well? I feel that we are only getting half of the story here, but that aside, the ■■■■■■ had no reason to be blocking an overtake of 2 static caravan loads on a well-sighted dual carriageway for the simple reason that when the tables are turned and you’re holding them up they never hesitate to overtake you regardless of how much of a squeeze it is - it ends up being you that is forced to move over to the shoulder so that you don’t get your offside mirror taken off as they come past.
Rob K:
I can’t be the only one who is puzzled by how Sammy was (according to his post) behind the ■■■■■■ vehicle and 2 static caravan loads, unable to overtake because the ■■■■■■ vehicle was blocking his path, but then in the next sentence he is now in front of the ■■■■■■ vehicle but still behind the 2 static caravans . How did he get in front of the ■■■■■■ if he was blocking his path? And as he was apparently able to do so, why did he not continue past the 2 trucks as well? I feel that we are only getting half of the story here, but that aside, the ■■■■■■ had no reason to be blocking an overtake of 2 static caravan loads on a well-sighted dual carriageway for the simple reason that when the tables are turned and you’re holding them up they never hesitate to overtake you regardless of how much of a squeeze it is - it ends up being you that is forced to move over to the shoulder so that you don’t get your offside mirror taken off as they come past.
He came out to block me… And then stayed at the same speed as his wagons. So I pulled in and went up the inside of him. Causing him to be stuck out until he came behind me. It was a childish move on my part to do that. But I was just a bit like… As I couldn’t understand why he was playing silly buggers. I then managed to do my overtake - but they picked up speeds down the hill and got very upset with me when I did overtake on the flat part.
Now I could take the view as many do on here that his flashing lights and chevrons mean I should do exactly what he wants. And that I should ‘stay in my lane’ so to speak. But the idea that because you have a slightly larger load you will have to suddenly lurch into the right-hand lane is ludicrous. And any driver who things they will needs their head looking at - imagine if it was a car overtaking that got crunched cos the almighty powerful big rigger wasn’t willing to slow down like a normal person for an obstruction.
I only wanted to know if there were special rules for them. And I got that answer. The reality is I’m a pretty considerate guy. In that position, I’d have knocked my cruise off to the other vehicle get passed more quickly and then flashed them in. And if they had been turning or doing something where I’d get in the way on tight roads I’d have sat behind for an hour if needed. But I’m not putting up with those games on a dual carriageway because they can’t take being overtaken by a smaller vehicle.
so the van was behind both trucks and moved in to lane 2 when you tried to overtake?
yeah that’s how it works…that means don’t overtake…it’s just being a fanny trying to get past in that scenario. Although I do think they should just slow down and let you past if they’re only concerned about how long the overtake is going to take
from your original post it sounded like you managed to get past one of the trucks and pulled in between them
Rob K:
I can’t be the only one who is puzzled by how Sammy was (according to his post) behind the ■■■■■■ vehicle and 2 static caravan loads, unable to overtake because the ■■■■■■ vehicle was blocking his path, but then in the next sentence he is now in front of the ■■■■■■ vehicle but still behind the 2 static caravans . How did he get in front of the ■■■■■■ if he was blocking his path? And as he was apparently able to do so, why did he not continue past the 2 trucks as well? I feel that we are only getting half of the story here, but that aside, the ■■■■■■ had no reason to be blocking an overtake of 2 static caravan loads on a well-sighted dual carriageway for the simple reason that when the tables are turned and you’re holding them up they never hesitate to overtake you regardless of how much of a squeeze it is - it ends up being you that is forced to move over to the shoulder so that you don’t get your offside mirror taken off as they come past.
He came out to block me… And then stayed at the same speed as his wagons. So I pulled in and went up the inside of him. Causing him to be stuck out until he came behind me. It was a childish move on my part to do that. But I was just a bit like… As I couldn’t understand why he was playing silly buggers. I then managed to do my overtake - but they picked up speeds down the hill and got very upset with me when I did overtake on the flat part.
Now I could take the view as many do on here that his flashing lights and chevrons mean I should do exactly what he wants. And that I should ‘stay in my lane’ so to speak. But the idea that because you have a slightly larger load you will have to suddenly lurch into the right-hand lane is ludicrous. And any driver who things they will needs their head looking at - imagine if it was a car overtaking that got crunched cos the almighty powerful big rigger wasn’t willing to slow down like a normal person for an obstruction.
I only wanted to know if there were special rules for them. And I got that answer. The reality is I’m a pretty considerate guy. In that position, I’d have knocked my cruise off to the other vehicle get passed more quickly and then flashed them in. And if they had been turning or doing something where I’d get in the way on tight roads I’d have sat behind for an hour if needed. But I’m not putting up with those games on a dual carriageway because they can’t take being overtaken by a smaller vehicle.
To be honest if the situation was exactly as described I would have held back after the initial ‘block’ and waited to see what the craic was. Give him the benefit of the doubt and all that. If we’d gone another 5 miles down the road and nothing had changed then that would tell me I was dealing with a Walt and I would’ve done exactly the same as you. It strikes me as being more of a small ■■■■■ issue due to having a lower limiter speed than a space issue.
. Taking Sammy’s post at face value I can relate and fully understand his annoyance as I’ve had the same thing happen to me. And I’m not talking about loads which overhang sidewards to the point where it would be foolish to attempt an overtake on your average 2 lane dual carriageway, I’m talking about wide(r) loads that maybe overhang the lane divider line slightly but don’t encroach into the next lane any more than that. It’s quite safe to pass while keeping over to the central res yourself but it requires some cooperation from the wide load driver in that they’re aware you’re there and are prepared to adjust their speed to facilitate your overtake. The problem is that 99% of them do not do this. They keep it pegged at 55mph and get all shouty because you’ve had the audacity to try to attempt to overtake the King of the Road. They also have a tendency to act like utter nob ends on declines and use their weight to overrun and hang you out to dry. This is something you come to expect from the average class 1 licence wielding tool, but not something you should see from an abnormal load driver who should know better.
.
. How did he get in front of the ■■■■■■ if he was blocking his path? And as he was apparently able to do so, why did he not continue past the 2 trucks as well? 
