Co oP Coventry M6 Friday

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

As i was leaving on Thursday evening i was asked if it was ok to put my start time back by 2 hours on the Friday. obvouisley it wasnt ok but eh oh i figured that was 2 hours i could spent at home playing with the computer and not sitting in ther lousy mess room…

A brand new NDC and no canteen for the hundreds of workers just naff vending machines.

Got in at 1300 hours and was told to have a coffee…
I asked if the delay was trucks or loads when i found it was loads they gave me the keys to a truck Daf 6x2 bhp unkown

i stuck my gear in, did the tacho and went for a coffee, having languished in the BHoC for an hour i saunterd back to the truck

At 1500 while i was talking to another driver the traffic bod was walking across
the yard he gives me the bad news (there cant be any other on Friday)
Carnforth changeover.

Having been on the HA website i knew the M6 had been closed earlier by Stoke the driver who was with me said it still was.

We discussed the alternative A51 Stone no go low bridge
m1 to Scotch Corner they would have to reroute southbound driver
A5 A49 v festival no go
M1 A65 Skipton didnt know what bridges on A65

anyway got hitched up and went for rest of paperwork
i asked them to check traffic status couldnt do it no web enabled computer
i asked them to check with someone who was web enabled they couldnt do that
So off i set with the hope that the problem was sorted. the matrix boards only said Toll road busy. I wasnt sure what to do for the best so i headed up the 446
Sally traffic darling we love you tells me M6 completley foobarred
the M1 is usual Friday mayhem but the M62 is blocked at 22 / 23
So i ring the office for advice they cant give me any so i tell them i am going
M1 M62 M61and to allow me 5 hours to get to Carnforth before panicking
now when used to running at 4 metres going via Ashbourne is ok but 4.9 is a joke

i decide to ignore my own advice so off i trot A38 A50 A515 asking a couple of people if the bridge on a515
north of Ashbourmne is still their they didnt know
Not a problem i turn into the high st and see a sign 15 6 or summat a bloody wooden arch across the road oops next right and round by somerfield and out towards Carsington ressy a bit hilly and narrow but not too bad
Into Brassington thats a climb out and what do i see as i head towards the Buxton road yep low bridge sign no probs hang a right at crossroads consult and sat nav drive for 5 mins turn left turn left and i am on the Buxton road
nice scenery you can see when you drive slowly
about 30 mins later i am in Buxton home and dry …except i now have the slow crawl to Stockport. 3.5 hours after leaving the yard i hit the M60
No traffic saying the M60 is busy but its only 1830 there has to be some rush hour traffic
Sat Nav gives eta as 2000 do i have a break or just keep going having stopped to have a leak on 2 occasions and wander round the truck i decide to press on
cos the Jock will already be there and i can have a keep and meal when i am
at Truckhaven I arrive at 1955 passing Jock running solo to !!!

I get in the yard and see 2 Co oP vans. Just as i finishe dropping my trailer my man reappears there 2 of them

i give them a blow by blow account of my journey finishing with not too bad since i didnt leave until 1500hrs

Jock - they told us you left at 1300
me - look heres my tacho 1500
Jock - oh dont those boys tell us some porkies (translated from Glasga)
me - thier making a fuss about trunk notes being signed i have a pen could you do the honours
Jock - OK oh i 'm waiting for trunk 40 and this is trunk 41

Jock rings yard yes their is another on its way expects to be in Carnforth in an hour

I eat i sleep and and 75 mins after i arriving i decide to head home
30 mins down the road i spot Co oP double decker coming north. 8 hours after leaving Coventry he/hshe would make it to his/her changeover

On the run home the matrix says congestion 26 - 16 i phone my brother who rings back 5 mins after i go down the M61 to tell me no problems to J14
Stop at Keele for coffee get to 14 no probs around J4 i am beginning to wilt in at Corley for 10 mins shut leave after 30 mins solid kip run into the yard do the bits and go home

why do companies who run high trailers not have contingency plans to get round problems like this

2

When you have no other option for traffic reports call 401 100 from your mobile, if you are on Vodafone call 2222, and you get the very latest info. If it is a motorway you want, you can bypass all the chat by pressing 1 at the start of the call, which gets you the motorway menu, then the number of the motorway you want info on. It is always very up to date in my experience.

3

I think you brought part of that on yourself by not checking your alternate routes properly. Taking a 4.9 metre trailer up through Ashbourne and along the A6 to Buxton was nothing short of stupid given the number of low bridges in that area. In fact, I can’t see how you’ve managed to do it looking at my bridge map. The bridge on the A515 is too low as are several on the A6 as well. :confused:

4

Coffeeholic:
When you have no other option for traffic reports call 401 100 from your mobile, if you are on Vodafone call 2222, and you get the very latest info. If it is a motorway you want, you can bypass all the chat by pressing 1 at the start of the call, which gets you the motorway menu, then the number of the motorway you want info on. It is always very up to date in my experience.

Orange Traffic is 240 Calls cost 34p per minute (ex VAT).

RAC/Trafficmaster is 1740 Calls to 1740 cost up to 59p per minute.

Highways Agency Real-time traffic info:
08700 660 115
Available 24 hours
BT landline calls cost no more than 8p/min; calls from mobiles usually cost more

but they’re handy occasionally

5

Anything to do with the CO-OP is a ball ache

6

The co-op could not organise a ■■■■ up in a brewery, I now refuse to do any work for them though my agency the problems and waiting around are just not worth it.

They use them 6 wheeler rigids and then expect you to get them around the back of some tiny store though the car park during the day with customers parkign where ever they can, then once you done that you have all them happy shop staff to deal with :unamused: once you have unloaded and the happy store staff :unamused: have signed your paperwork you then have to fight your way back out the loading bay and navigate to the next store thats either down a street with cars on both sides meaning you have to block off the whole street or another favorite reverse the wrong way up a one way street. :unamused:

Next time stay at home :slight_smile:

7

there are no low bridges on A6 north of Brassington
so mr know it all ROB K which way would you have gone

8

i work from halesowen depot delivering frozen food …some of the stores are a right balls ache in the 6 wheelers but you get used to doing it…as for store staff they are a joke total rude and down right lazy

9

Just did a shift for the Co-op on Saturday morning. Cages with nothing to stop goods falling out, Trailer covered in flour/sugar/beer/coke inside, piddly little shops with tight access. Never again.