So there are 2 things about overtaking that I have come across of late.
Number 1.
You are overtaking another truck at 56mph - foot flat to the floor. Sometimes tho you get half way past him and suddenly you are in the same position for what seems like a lifetime before either 1 of 2 things happen. Either he starts to go faster in which case you look like a right d*ck tucking back behind him once hes gone ahead or you creep forward an inch at a time until what seems like 5 miles have passed and you eventually have enough room to overtake.
I personally find it absolutely hilarious when I see it happen to someone else. I mean I really laugh out loud and pee myself when I see the overtaker fail and then fall back in behind. Might be just me but thats my sense of humour. However when it happens to me I think the opposite. I think you [zb]!!!
Am sure it says somewhere in the highway code book that the person being overtaken should slow down but I find that hardly ever happens in my experience.
Number 2.
So you overtake another truck and indicate to go back into the 1st lane. I think we all wait until you see them flash to have the go ahead to do so. So if all goes to plan they flash and then back in the 1st lane we go. We then either use the indicators or hazards to say “thanks”.
Now what happens if you think they havent flashed or you might have missed it when looking forwards as some seem to flash only once, whereas some seem to flash several times (like me) in quick succession. Would you say “thanks” anyway out of habit or would you be thinking well you didnt flash me so I wont flash you.
This has happened to me several times and I thought sod you I wont say “thanks” but then I start thinking further down the road that maybe he did flash and I missed it and now I feel bad. So now I just do it anyway after pulling back in.
What do you guys/gals do if you have these experiences?
When I overtake (rare) I always wait for the flash, and if it doesn’t come I just make sure I’m well clear and not cutting that drivers nose off. Then I say thanks as I might have missed it, and me saying thanks means no fairies will die!
As for overtaking and avoiding the elephant race. First you need to assess yourself and your opposition, like in a game of trumps. Light and fast is the top trump, and only beaten when a heavier truck hits a downhill and doesn’t care about the limiter. But if slow and heavy, just accept you’re screwed and bound to look a plum if trying a dodgy overtake trying to save a few minutes on the journey.
Ok, about the overtaking thing (opens can of worms).
If a wagon is overtaking me, once he gets about half way up my trailer I ease off a couple of clicks (after all, he was faster than me at that point). I flash him in, if he thanks me that’s fine. If he doesn’t - that’s fine too.
My reasoning is that the easier I make it for him to get back into lane one, the quicker stupid car drivers can overtake the pair of us and ■■■■ off.
If I catch him on the next uphill, I will overtake him, then wait for him to catch me down the road and repeat.
I usually wait till there is a bit of a downhill and suss what the other driver is like speed wise going down before I decide to overtake or not. Had a few occasions when I’ve gone for it only to then get to a downhill before I’ve passed them and they make me look a div by speeding up and undertaking me. It’s usually a bit of a gamble however you figure it.
Not all the time but mostly, ( depending road conditions and traffic behind me etc ) if a truck is ( a tad faster ) and taking its time to get past me i will slow down and let it past. Only takes a moment and saves quicker truck being stuck on outside lane trying to pass and holding up traffic. Before you know it you or i are back up to 53/54/55 etc and the faster truck is on its way and everybody is a winner. Makes sense to me
billythewhizz:
So there are 2 things about overtaking that I have come across of late.
Number 1.
You are overtaking another truck at 56mph - foot flat to the floor. Sometimes tho you get half way past him and suddenly you are in the same position for what seems like a lifetime before either 1 of 2 things happen. Either he starts to go faster in which case you look like a right d*ck tucking back behind him once hes gone ahead or you creep forward an inch at a time until what seems like 5 miles have passed and you eventually have enough room to overtake.
I personally find it absolutely hilarious when I see it happen to someone else. I mean I really laugh out loud and pee myself when I see the overtaker fail and then fall back in behind. Might be just me but thats my sense of humour. However when it happens to me I think the opposite. I think you [zb]!!!
Am sure it says somewhere in the highway code book that the person being overtaken should slow down but I find that hardly ever happens in my experience.
Number 2.
So you overtake another truck and indicate to go back into the 1st lane. I think we all wait until you see them flash to have the go ahead to do so. So if all goes to plan they flash and then back in the 1st lane we go. We then either use the indicators or hazards to say “thanks”.
Now what happens if you think they havent flashed or you might have missed it when looking forwards as some seem to flash only once, whereas some seem to flash several times (like me) in quick succession. Would you say “thanks” anyway out of habit or would you be thinking well you didnt flash me so I wont flash you.
This has happened to me several times and I thought sod you I wont say “thanks” but then I start thinking further down the road that maybe he did flash and I missed it and now I feel bad. So now I just do it anyway after pulling back in.
What do you guys/gals do if you have these experiences?
As far as am aware highway code is only a guidance and not the law
This is why I always cruise around at 52. Plenty left if I need to nip past something but I don’t get caught in that elephant racing. We have one unit that does 58 yet 99% of the time its at 52 unless its Foot Down Friday.
Number 1)
If I’m being overtaken I usually knock off the CC a couple of clicks and resume when they are a ways up the road, I’d sooner them passed and on their way than having them sat alongside me for anything up to a couple of minutes.
If I’m doing the overtaking and they creep ahead while I’m alongside then I’ll weigh up the situation (how much traffic is there behind me, am I heavy and slowing uphill or is he heavy and speeding up downhill and so on) then back off and pull back in if necessary, I don’t see it as a loss of face or losing a race I just might need to ease off a couple of clicks for a few miles just to not sit up his rear end debating whether I should have another crack at the overtake or not, 9 times out of ten I’ve planned my route well enough not to be worried about being 20 minutes late coz I lost a few minutes on the way there, if you’re running late it’s because of events out of your control or you got out of bed too late, not because you didn’t get past those couple of trucks on the M1.
Number 2)
I used to wonder “did I miss the flash in”? then I devised a cunning thank you strategy, you can use it too but you must from hereon in refer to it as the “Reef manoeuvre”
Did i see the flash?
Yes = < < < > <
No/Maybe = < < < >
The last right on the No/Maybe Is me justifying to myself that if he did flash then I thanked him and he knows it or if he didn’t flash me in he can never be sure whether I just accidentally returned the indicator stalk too far and accidentally knocked on the right for one tick, sad I know but it makes me feel better
billythewhizz:
So there are 2 things about overtaking that I have come across of late.
Number 1.
You are overtaking another truck at 56mph - foot flat to the floor. Sometimes tho you get half way past him and suddenly you are in the same position for what seems like a lifetime before either 1 of 2 things happen. Either he starts to go faster in which case you look like a right d*ck tucking back behind him once hes gone ahead or you creep forward an inch at a time until what seems like 5 miles have passed and you eventually have enough room to overtake.
I personally find it absolutely hilarious when I see it happen to someone else. I mean I really laugh out loud and pee myself when I see the overtaker fail and then fall back in behind. Might be just me but thats my sense of humour. However when it happens to me I think the opposite. I think you [zb]!!!
Am sure it says somewhere in the highway code book that the person being overtaken should slow down but I find that hardly ever happens in my experience.
Number 2.
So you overtake another truck and indicate to go back into the 1st lane. I think we all wait until you see them flash to have the go ahead to do so. So if all goes to plan they flash and then back in the 1st lane we go. We then either use the indicators or hazards to say “thanks”.
Now what happens if you think they havent flashed or you might have missed it when looking forwards as some seem to flash only once, whereas some seem to flash several times (like me) in quick succession. Would you say “thanks” anyway out of habit or would you be thinking well you didnt flash me so I wont flash you.
This has happened to me several times and I thought sod you I wont say “thanks” but then I start thinking further down the road that maybe he did flash and I missed it and now I feel bad. So now I just do it anyway after pulling back in.
What do you guys/gals do if you have these experiences?
with regards to number 1 try to look out for any Tesco lorries in the distance ahead, they very helpful for overtaking someone that’s going only half a mile slower than you lol
haha love that last bit Reef! must admit i do that sometimes as well…just in case…
the winter before last,i overtook an immaculate full loaded 143 Scania going up Loughborough bank on the M1…driver looked well peed off to see a ratty old Daf come by him.just pulled off at J.21 before the 143 managed to get his revenge
There was a guy on motorway other week in a MINI doing 40mph so i decided to pass him as i was empty, soon as i got beside him I dont think he liked the fact a truck was going to pass him so he decided to speed up on my INSIDE and shoot off at about 80mph the ■■■■■■!
ValleysTrucker:
There was a guy on motorway other week in a MINI doing 40mph so i decided to pass him as i was empty, soon as i got beside him I dont think he liked the fact a truck was going to pass him so he decided to speed up on my INSIDE and shoot off at about 80mph the ■■■■■■!
I’ll bet he was totally oblivious to how slow he was actually going until you went pass in your truck then he woke up .
ValleysTrucker:
There was a guy on motorway other week in a MINI doing 40mph so i decided to pass him as i was empty, soon as i got beside him I dont think he liked the fact a truck was going to pass him so he decided to speed up on my INSIDE and shoot off at about 80mph the ■■■■■■!
The worst are the ones that only wake up slightly and hold you out there looking a lemon!
ValleysTrucker:
There was a guy on motorway other week in a MINI doing 40mph so i decided to pass him as i was empty, soon as i got beside him I dont think he liked the fact a truck was going to pass him so he decided to speed up on my INSIDE and shoot off at about 80mph the ■■■■■■!
The worst are the ones that only wake up slightly and hold you out there looking a lemon!
The Sarge:
Ok, about the overtaking thing (opens can of worms).
If a wagon is overtaking me, once he gets about half way up my trailer I ease off a couple of clicks (after all, he was faster than me at that point). I flash him in, if he thanks me that’s fine. If he doesn’t - that’s fine too.
My reasoning is that the easier I make it for him to get back into lane one, the quicker stupid car drivers can overtake the pair of us and [zb] off.
If I catch him on the next uphill, I will overtake him, then wait for him to catch me down the road and repeat.
^^ Read and digest folks. It ain’t rocket science.
billythewhizz:
So there are 2 things about overtaking that I have come across of late.
Number 1.
You are overtaking another truck at 56mph - foot flat to the floor. Sometimes tho you get half way past him and suddenly you are in the same position for what seems like a lifetime before either 1 of 2 things happen. Either he starts to go faster in which case you look like a right d*ck tucking back behind him once hes gone ahead or you creep forward an inch at a time until what seems like 5 miles have passed and you eventually have enough room to overtake.
I personally find it absolutely hilarious when I see it happen to someone else. I mean I really laugh out loud and pee myself when I see the overtaker fail and then fall back in behind. Might be just me but thats my sense of humour. However when it happens to me I think the opposite. I think you [zb]!!!
Am sure it says somewhere in the highway code book that the person being overtaken should slow down but I find that hardly ever happens in my experience.
Number 2.
So you overtake another truck and indicate to go back into the 1st lane. I think we all wait until you see them flash to have the go ahead to do so. So if all goes to plan they flash and then back in the 1st lane we go. We then either use the indicators or hazards to say “thanks”.
Now what happens if you think they havent flashed or you might have missed it when looking forwards as some seem to flash only once, whereas some seem to flash several times (like me) in quick succession. Would you say “thanks” anyway out of habit or would you be thinking well you didnt flash me so I wont flash you.
This has happened to me several times and I thought sod you I wont say “thanks” but then I start thinking further down the road that maybe he did flash and I missed it and now I feel bad. So now I just do it anyway after pulling back in.
What do you guys/gals do if you have these experiences?
I was thinking about this the other day in a way. If someone wants to overtake me ill lower the speed on the cruise control and drop back then when I feel it’s safe to do so I’ll flash him in. I like to keep a good distance from other trucks especially after seeing a 4 truck pile up the other week on the M1 with all 3 trucks ploughing into each other to the one that stopped. I can only assume they was up each others arse.
I’ve had a few incidents where I’ve not seen a flash and moved in and thanked anyway. They most likely thought I was being a sarcastic ■■■■■
