Once you have broken down and pull on to hard shoulder what is the maximum time
you can wait before being remove by police or ha.Last night on way to work see
a hgv broke down on the M20 still there 13 hours later.
Probably an EE driver on a weekend break!
One of my blokes was taking a low loader & 25 ton machine around the M25 when the unit caught fire, He pulled onto Hard shoulder, grabbed his grub bag & got out. Proper fire, melted the ally tanks, spilt 450 litres over the road - hell of a mess.
Anyway, Police & HA made the usual drama out of a crisis & shut the road, there are 4 lanes there, they could have kept at least 2 open, 3 in the old days,
Anyway - this cocky plod came over to him & said - You’ve got an hour to shift that or we’ll fine you,
Well Dave is 6’4" - ex army, not easily bullied,
He replied No 1 - It’s not my motor - so I don’t give a [zb]
No 2 - It’s not a wheelbarrow - you can’t just pick it up
No 3 - The recovery is already on it’s way - but it is stuck back there & can’t get here whilst you muppets have the road closed
Plod shut up - wandered off & they opened the road up
If a copper said that he’s a t****r. We all know, we the proper motorway trained type, that after any good fire it will take a good while to shift it.
Plus, it should be left to HA to sort recovery with the company/haulier.
we had a truck involved in a rta on the 25 and the driver called in and the company despatched a recovery vehicle…when the driver told the cops he was told to cancel it as they had called for recovery from a company on their list??
xamtex:
we had a truck involved in a rta on the 25 and the driver called in and the company despatched a recovery vehicle…when the driver told the cops he was told to cancel it as they had called for recovery from a company on their list??
Should have left his own recovery running if they would have got there sooner, Usually 1st on scene takes it, but there’s plenty of Billy [zb] who will say “recovery is only 5 minutes away” for over an hr to save a few quid at everyone else’s cost while the motorway lane stays shut.
Hard shoulder there’s usually a bit of flexibility unless it’s something dodgy like a fire.
xamtex:
we had a truck involved in a rta on the 25 and the driver called in and the company despatched a recovery vehicle…when the driver told the cops he was told to cancel it as they had called for recovery from a company on their list??
Tickets for the policeman’s ball still selling well then…
fdm:
xamtex:
we had a truck involved in a rta on the 25 and the driver called in and the company despatched a recovery vehicle…when the driver told the cops he was told to cancel it as they had called for recovery from a company on their list??Tickets for the policeman’s ball still selling well then…
I remember seeing a notice in Tesco cabs which announced that Tesco would be making the decision about who would be called for recovery and no-one else.
speedyguy:
xamtex:
we had a truck involved in a rta on the 25 and the driver called in and the company despatched a recovery vehicle…when the driver told the cops he was told to cancel it as they had called for recovery from a company on their list??Should have left his own recovery running if they would have got there sooner, Usually 1st on scene takes it, but there’s plenty of Billy [zb] who will say “recovery is only 5 minutes away” for over an hr to save a few quid at everyone else’s cost while the motorway lane stays shut.
Hard shoulder there’s usually a bit of flexibility unless it’s something dodgy like a fire.
I’d want a cast iron eta for recovery, otherwise stat removal will be invoked. I’ve also lost count of the amount of times I’m told recovery is 10 minutes away, 45 minutes later I’m still waiting. Get stat running and first on scene gets the gig, stat can always be stood down. 
The bigger question might be did no ha or police go past in 13 hours to move on or to get recovery
If I see a vehicle on the hard shoulder, I’ll stop to see what the problem is and if they have recovery. If not, I’ll try and help arrange something via my control. If they have, I’ll drive past after the eta given just to make sure recovery is there.
As a rule, if its been reported, two hours, then they can tow you away at your expence, but usually with an HGV, they let it be recovered, the important thing to remember is if its a danger to the public…!?
Traffic Rat:
If a copper said that he’s a t****r. We all know, we the proper motorway trained type, that after any good fire it will take a good while to shift it.Plus, it should be left to HA to sort recovery with the company/haulier.
What the Battenberg Disco drivers who sent the Fire Appliance up the M11, so joined the M25 way past the scene, and then sent a Transit up with 2 bags of cat litter on it to clear up the mess when a sweeper was needed.
Heavyhaul were already on the way as they were best equipped & nearest, so didn’t need the “Experts” interfering & trying to get their buddies in for a backhander!