i know not everyone gets along here but i dont suppose anyone would wish to see another driver getting put in the back of an ambulance. i have seen 2 accidents since yesterday where a driver has been taken away by ambulance, the one on the M74 just south of j20 looked like a bad one. i dont mind admitting that it is starting to get to me so take it easy and get home safe at the end of your shift. no load is worth your life
scanny77:
i know not everyone gets along here but i dont suppose anyone would wish to see another driver getting put in the back of an ambulance. i have seen 2 accidents since yesterday where a driver has been taken away by ambulance, the one on the M74 just south of j20 looked like a bad one. i dont mind admitting that it is starting to get to me so take it easy and get home safe at the end of your shift. no load is worth your life
I’ve met your type of driver before…
Never had an accident but seen/caused 100’s 
Joking aside, amen to that.
scanny77:
…no load is worth your life
…or, considering the size and weight of your vehicle, someone else’s life.
SmashedCrabFace:
scanny77:
…no load is worth your life…or, considering the size and weight of your vehicle, someone else’s life.
Agreed,
I fell out with a mate ( different company to the one I was working for) who was going to do a “dodgy” many years ago and wind the clock on as he had a 5 am tip and no chance of making it out with fiddling, we both had already run from Brum to S.Wales tipped , reloaded S.Wales and run to Knottingly and were both out of time. He was going to drop his trailer, wind the clock on, run solo to Tyneside, collect a pre loaded trailer and run over night to Dartford.
The load that would cause him to take this risk to to himself, his livelehood, and other road users… Bog rolls.
Is that worth dying for? killing someone else for? or even just losing your licence for?
Imagine telling the jury that the reason you killed that someones Grandmother, is because you fell asleep at the wheel after deliberatly breaking the law, because you felt the people of Kent needed the double quilted bog roll more that those kids needed their Grandmother.
Rikki-UK:
SmashedCrabFace:
scanny77:
…no load is worth your life…or, considering the size and weight of your vehicle, someone else’s life.
Agreed,
I fell out with a mate ( different company to the one I was working for) who was going to do a “dodgy” many years ago and wind the clock on as he had a 5 am tip and no chance of making it out with fiddling, we both had already run from Brum to S.Wales tipped , reloaded S.Wales and run to Knottingly and were both out of time. He was going to drop his trailer, wind the clock on, run solo to Tyneside, collect a pre loaded trailer and run over night to Dartford.
The load that would cause him to take this risk to to himself, his livelehood, and other road users… Bog rolls.
Is that worth dying for? killing someone else for? or even just losing your licence for?
Imagine telling the jury that the reason you killed that someones Grandmother, is because you fell asleep at the wheel after deliberatly breaking the law, because you felt the people of Kent needed the double quilted bog roll more that those kids needed their Grandmother.
I’m going to play Devil’s advocate here 
In the UK I can drive 9 or 10hrs a day with a 45min break or two then have a 9hr break and do it again, yet here in Canada I can legally drive 13hrs a day without having to take a break, have 8hrs off and do it again. I’m the same person no matter which side of the pond I’m on, in the UK what I do would get me locked up, yet here it’s just a day’s work 
I see what you’re saying about breaking the law, but breaking the law and putting people’s safety at risk are two very different things 
Most drivers that end up in an ambulance are there for other reasons than fatigue, I would go as far to say that they’re most likely to be there because they run into the back of another lorry because they were driving too close, most of the lorry accidents I saw in my last years in the UK were rear end shunts, not caused by fatigue, but by drivers being in such a hurry to get somewhere a few minutes faster than it would take if they maintained a safe distance 
I agrre ,
there have been times , many times , when the chart says park up, when I felt I could easily do a few hours more, relaxed refreshed and top of everything, there has been other times when I had plenty of legal time left but was absolutly knackered and a danger to myself and everyone around me.
the driving laws cannot, and do not encompass every single situation, they work to a median, a middle ground, doesnt suit everyone, and probably mostly doesnt suit anyone, but they have to draw a line somewhere. If you choose to go beyond that line, then you have made that choice.
I have done it , as I know you have, I choose now not to, becuase that slap on the back for delivering a load of bog rolls on time by running bent is no longer that important to me… there was a time where it was, then I learnt in this job your only as good as your last load
You pull your planner out the the crap 10 times and run bent to get it there on tiime, You are late ONCE , and your the worst driver in the world,
its a one way street and as a driver your the only loser. You get done for running bent and your licence gets suspended its your planner going to pay your mortgage? … he is going to take home his bonus for hitting his targets … and still pass out to your replacement unrealistic jobs.
Welcome to the cruel world of haulage 
Well said, NMC and Rikki. One of the reasons I and many other drivers prefer driving to working in a factory is that, within reason, you can pick your own meal times, etc. Nowadays, you may as well work in a factory, cos you’re governed by the bloody clock, and it’s come about partly to please pricks in government and partly because a percentage of drivers were / are taking the ■■■■ with the hours they work / worked.
Errrm, not sure I made meself clear there, but I know what I meant.
It’s the same for me over here, even after 13hrs I could easily carry on for a bit, especially if I’m heading home, then I think hours laws are a PITA, but imagine if there wasn’t any, we’d be pushed to the point of exhaustion on a daily basis, the laws are there to protect us from this, so even though they don’t suit us all at times, they are a lot better than the alternative
I always get that sick feeling in my stomach when I see a lorry smashed to bits after a crash, yet 5mins down the road I see other drivers tailgaiting and all the other silly things that we see them do, did it not register that there can be serious consequences when you behave like that on the road
As you say Rikki, I’ve been there and done all the one hits from Southern Europe, I’ve belted up the M1 at 70mph pushing everyone out of my way, but as time has passed, I’ve realised that I’m not invincible, I now drive accordingly, it increases my chances of getting home in one piece, unfortunately there are far too many who haven’t worked it out yet and one of them may take me out with them
I know it gets the ■■■■ taken out of it, but as I’m feeling melancholy, I ask you all to think of the children 
newmercman:
It’s the same for me over here, even after 13hrs I could easily carry on for a bit, especially if I’m heading home, then I think hours laws are a PITA, but imagine if there wasn’t any, we’d be pushed to the point of exhaustion on a daily basis, the laws are there to protect us from this, so even though they don’t suit us all at times, they are a lot better than the alternativeI always get that sick feeling in my stomach when I see a lorry smashed to bits after a crash, yet 5mins down the road I see other drivers tailgaiting and all the other silly things that we see them do, did it not register that there can be serious consequences when you behave like that on the road
As you say Rikki, I’ve been there and done all the one hits from Southern Europe, I’ve belted up the M1 at 70mph pushing everyone out of my way, but as time has passed, I’ve realised that I’m not invincible, I now drive accordingly, it increases my chances of getting home in one piece, unfortunately there are far too many who haven’t worked it out yet and one of them may take me out with them
I know it gets the ■■■■ taken out of it, but as I’m feeling melancholy, I ask you all to think of the children
Yeah,Peterbilts can make you give up the will to live
im not talking about running bent or anything like that. im talking about driving to the conditions. monday was a jack-knife and the ambulance got a police ■■■■■■ back down the wrong way on the hard shoulder which i assume only happens when there is a casualty on board. yesterday was another jack-knife although i didnt see anything. the bad one was a rigid smashing the back of a trailer on the M74 which looked like a possible cut out by the fire brigade job. hopefully the driver wasnt too badly hurt.
its us that are judging the conditions at any given time so when they change its up to us to adapt to them. safety comes before a delivery time every time