…
Ok so it takes 4hrs 10mins on paper, you and I both know that on paper and the real world are often two different things, so there is every chance that things will go ■■■■ up and you would have run over your time. What would you have done?
A, Carry on until you find a safe place to stop.
B, Abandon your lorry wherever it happened to be 4hrs 30mins from your last break.
Me, I’d go with option A.
Now, you mention about my pay packet, I don’t see the relevance, I do not even have to be a lorry driver to have an opinion about this, it matters not one iota, where I live, what I do for a living, blah, blah, blah. I disagree with it and that is that, this forum is a platform from which I can voice that opinion. Whilst voicing my opinion you may like to take note that although I disagree with the opinions of others, I do not ask them the reasons why they have that particular opinion, nor do I question the relevance to their lives, that is called a debate. Doing it your way is having an argument 
Now, back to parking on the hard shoulder. One very important thing to remember is that unlike parking in the same position in an A road layby, it is illegal to park on the hard shoulder of a British Motorway and that is a fact.
Again, I know that running over your time can have consequences further down the line, but how can you possibly justify breaking one law to not break another?
Yes, something should be done about the lack of parking spaces and possibly to sort out the ridiculous traffic volumes, but until that time comes, every road user should be expected to work with what is happening here and now.
My opinion is that drivers that have to park on the hard shoulder have failed to plan properly, all the mitigating circumstances in the world will not change that opinion.
HTH
I’m surprised they don’t just pull their cards, if it’s not the UK authorities they’re afraid of
I’ve just seen a johnny foreigner parked in a lay by at Fen Drayton A14, well when I say parked in a layby I use that in its loosest terms, the lay by was obviously full when he arrived there last night, so instead off going on to a safer place he’s parked in the slip road into the lay by, O/S rear of the traler barely off the carriageway. So at one point in the night a car or light van has collided with his trailer and wiped out his O/S lights and bumper, also smashed the mudwing too. God knows what state the colliding vehicle or ocupants were in, but I suggest that the damage to the trailer means it was an impact at speed.
This is why all who’ve said that these guys need to move onto somewhere safer, have been saying it. This foreigner wasnt breaking the law, he was in the lay by, not on the carriageway, but had laft so little room for error on the part off other using that road.
Yeah but it saved him from possibly paying a couple of hundred euro fine in two weeks time, so what if it ruins somebody’s life.
I will now turn off sarcasm mode!
newmercman:
Yeah but it saved him from possibly paying a couple of hundred euro fine in two weeks time, so what if it ruins somebody’s life.I will now turn off sarcasm mode!
Yep saved him from possibly paying a fine in a week or 2, if he was stopped. For sure its going cost to repair though
I suppose he’s saved his boss £20 at Cambridge services. avoid services another 50 or so times and it’ll just about cover the cost of the damage 
or it just might be that he doesn’t have arms growing out of his arse so can change whatever needed without the need for a fitter, a nurse and a babysitter 
from what I gather he was parked legally and somebody texting/sleeping/sipping on their tea couldn’t control their vehicle and hit a visible stationary object. but alas, the stationary object was not a bridge or a lamppost, but a foreign lorry, so woe be upon him
There is no excuse for hitting a vehicle, no matter where it is stopped, even on the hard shoulder, after all it could be broken down, so the safety aspect of it is irrelevant, if people drive in such a manner as to hit parked vehicles then maybe they ‘deserve’ a face full of dashboard, but parking on a hard shoulder is against the law.
That is the point, noses are turned up at British Law, just to comply with enforcement of laws in other countries.
If the old bill properly enforced the law in Britain this thread would not exist 
So it’s not the drivers that park on the hard shoulder who are to blame, it is the Police who do not do their job who are at fault
newmercman:
There is no excuse for hitting a vehicle, no matter where it is stopped, even on the hard shoulder, after all it could be broken down, so the safety aspect of it is irrelevant, if people drive in such a manner as to hit parked vehicles then maybe they ‘deserve’ a face full of dashboard, but parking on a hard shoulder is against the law.
Which is the reason I thought the recent crackdown by Suffolk police was wrong, if a truck is parked off the main carraigeway then having parking light isn’t going to stop somebody who isn’t concentrating hitting them.
newmercman:
That is the point, noses are turned up at British Law, just to comply with enforcement of laws in other countries.If the old bill properly enforced the law in Britain this thread would not exist
So it’s not the drivers that park on the hard shoulder who are to blame, it is the Police who do not do their job who are at fault
Totally agree I don’t think the foreign trucks parking on the hard shoulder is only about money, if at all. you see plenty parked in the services, either they aren’t paying or its done on fuel cards.
It’s become a problem, due to lack of facilities, and lack of enforcement. So you’re a foreign driver used to seeng in some parts of Europe trucks parked in gaps on the hard shoulder, so you see a couple parked here you think it must be ok here. When nobody moves you on you assume it must be ok, you then tell one of your mates, he do the same and doesn’t get moved, eventually you get the situation we have now.
To change this there needs to be a crackdown, after a while the word gets round and the problem might not exactly go away but is reduced and easier to manage.
But that means sending more vehicles out on patrol and that cost money. So it isn’t going to happen until some senior politicians mistress or boy friend complains about it.
Bottom line is that the UK needs to take road safety and driver fatigue seriously. At the moment they want to have the rules but are not interested in providing the means for trucks to actually stop and park to comply. Parking in Europe may not be perfect but there is a darn sight more of it there available to trucks than in the UK, often for free or a small token price. The situation in the UK is as if we’ve sent 400 air liners in to our airspace, then closed down 85% of our airport runways, the planes are all circling Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester etc but they simply cannot land due to severe under capacity, they’re running out of fuel, but there’s nowhere to go. The plane would crash, burn and kill hundreds of people. Trucks on the other hand are expected to just shut up and park somewhere, but where, there is nowhere, you either don’t park and risk tacho infringements and prosecution or you perhaps park in an idiotic place and probably get away with it, or perhaps face prosecution. Its not a very good set of options is it.
milodon:
or it just might be that he doesn’t have arms growing out of his arse so can change whatever needed without the need for a fitter, a nurse and a babysitterfrom what I gather he was parked legally and somebody texting/sleeping/sipping on their tea couldn’t control their vehicle and hit a visible stationary object. but alas, the stationary object was not a bridge or a lamppost, but a foreign lorry, so woe be upon him
He’s going need to be a bloody Magician first, so he can magic up the bits that no longer exist, O/S bottom end off the trailer is was non existant.
Yes he was legally parked, if parking in the run off to a lay by with a reserve to the main carriageway is legal, leaving the O/S rear off the vehicle within inches off the road.
Possibly it was somebody texting sleeping or sipping tea who collided with the back off the trailer, but if a little bit more sense had been used in the parking off that truck over night, then someones night wouldn’t have been ruined.
Most likely He would’ve been able to park in Cambridge services on a Friday night without trouble, I have parked there many times on a friday and it doesn’t get filled up, unlike the rest off the week. The fact that it is less than 10 mins before where he choose to park, so he would have known that he was short off time 10 minutes earlier. I suggest that was a financial decision not to pay to park, but to just hope there would be room in a layby.
eddie snax:
I suggest that was a financial decision not to pay to park, but to just hope there would be room in a layby.
One of my old bosses was of the opinion that the driver should pay for parking out of their tax free night out allowance, I’m presuming you’re of this mind to? Many UK companies don’t pay for parking any longer and most eastern European firms certainly don’t. If you, as an employee wish to pay out of your own pocket a hefty portion of your wages to park your bosses vehicle for the night, crack on.
robinhood_1984:
eddie snax:
I suggest that was a financial decision not to pay to park, but to just hope there would be room in a layby.One of my old bosses was of the opinion that the driver should pay for parking out of their tax free night out allowance, I’m presuming you’re of this mind to? Many UK companies don’t pay for parking any longer and most eastern European firms certainly don’t. If you, as an employee wish to pay out of your own pocket a hefty portion of your wages to park your bosses vehicle for the night, crack on.
You presume wrongly, I’ve never worked for a boss that requires you to fork out for your own pocket for parking, and have never done so(pay for parking). Those who have to pay to park from their night subsistence allowance should either refuse or find another job, or carry on being satified with subsidising their employer, after all, they may well be very happy with every other aspect off their employment terms,and choose to accept that one draw back, mine is not to reason why.
If East European firms dont reimbirse for overnight parking, then maybe its standard terms within these Countries that drivers pay for their own parking,and that an allowance for this is built into the pay structure. Maybe the pay as an international driver, compared to other semi skilled jobs in these Countries is quite favourable. I dont know what their terms and conditions are, and I reckon you dont either.
What I do know is that on friday night a foreign registered truck parked in what was a dangerous manner, and that during the night somebody hit it, and that that driver could have parked 10 minutes earlier in Cambridge services, and that he must have known at that point that he was short on hours, so should have parked then and not pushed on for a massive 10 minutes
PS, The issue off lack of parking facilities, which is a real problem in this Country as many have raised in this thread, I would think, that in this particular case it doesnt apply, as I have already stated earlier, Cambridge services in My experience is rarely full on a Friday night
mickyblue:
I think your full of [zb] Harry Monk. I have not stated once in this thread that they should be dealt with. I just wish you grow some knackers and wear boxers.Why are you so disturbed by the fact I used to work for the police? You always mention it in your posts. Very sad life you lead. So please get a grip and stop with the snide attacks you keep doing because there boring.
Only just got round to reading this thread. Nothing much to contribute that hasn’t already been said. I just like this post. Welcome back Harry. Good to see your up to your old ways already, well done.
Mickyblue a top tip, Harry is disturbed by a lot of things that don’t fit into his narrow narrow mindset. And likes to bring these things up constantly despite them not being relevant to the discussion and yet other times he will attack for talking about things that are relevant to the discussion. Best avoided is my advice, he just likes to disguise his hate with fancy words. Its still hate though.
eddie snax:
You presume wrongly, I’ve never worked for a boss that requires you to fork out for your own pocket for parking, and have never done so(pay for parking). Those who have to pay to park from their night subsistence allowance should either refuse or find another job, or carry on being satified with subsidising their employer, after all, they may well be very happy with every other aspect off their employment terms,and choose to accept that one draw back, mine is not to reason why.If East European firms dont reimbirse for overnight parking, then maybe its standard terms within these Countries that drivers pay for their own parking,and that an allowance for this is built into the pay structure. Maybe the pay as an international driver, compared to other semi skilled jobs in these Countries is quite favourable. I dont know what their terms and conditions are, and I reckon you dont either.
What I do know is that on friday night a foreign registered truck parked in what was a dangerous manner, and that during the night somebody hit it, and that that driver could have parked 10 minutes earlier in Cambridge services, and that he must have known at that point that he was short on hours, so should have parked then and not pushed on for a massive 10 minutes
PS, The issue off lack of parking facilities, which is a real problem in this Country as many have raised in this thread, I would think, that in this particular case it doesnt apply, as I have already stated earlier, Cambridge services in My experience is rarely full on a Friday night
Cambridge services is totally irrelevant if it costs a fortune to park in it, its not even an option. Many British firms don’t pay for parking, and at £20-30 per night you cannot expect a driver to pay for it, an eastern European driver earns peanuts in comparison to a British driver and while it may be an alright wage by the standards of his own country, it is in no way going to be enough to fork out £20 per night for something that you only find a reasonable option because you’re not actually paying for it yourself.
Telling drivers to find another job if they have to pay for parking is totally avoiding the issue, so many companies don’t pay that its not even an option. Perhaps you have the luxury of having no wife, kids, mortgage or whatever to pay for so can jack in your job on principal if the need ever arose on the issue of parking, but others don’t have that luxury, especially an eastern European who has to go away for 4 or 6 weeks at a time to support his family. To someone that earns £150 per week, paying £20-30 for a night in any British motorway services out of his own money is never an option, not even on Christmas Eve when it’d be totally empty.
switchlogic:
mickyblue:
I think your full of [zb] Harry Monk. I have not stated once in this thread that they should be dealt with. I just wish you grow some knackers and wear boxers.Why are you so disturbed by the fact I used to work for the police? You always mention it in your posts. Very sad life you lead. So please get a grip and stop with the snide attacks you keep doing because there boring.
Mickyblue a top tip, Harry is disturbed by a lot of things that don’t fit into his narrow narrow mindset. And likes to bring these things up constantly despite them not being relevant to the discussion and yet other times he will attack for talking about things that are relevant to the discussion. Best avoided is my advice, he just likes to disguise his hate with fancy words. Its still hate though.
Thanks for the advice Luke. Cannot teach an old dog new tricks 
For what’s its worth I agree with some posters about the shocking parking situation in the UK. But I also agree with Mickyblue, that all it takes is some planning. In my 11 years driving trucks, 8 round Europe I’ve never found myself needing to park on the hard shoulder, for a 45 or a 9. I just wouldn’t do it anyway. I wont even park in laybys with no divider on dual carriageways. Why? Good planning, but also I’ve known two drivers parked in narrow laybys who had cars run into the back of them, a total of three dead people. And given the choice between a fine for tacho offences, which I’ve only had once, or finding bodies under my truck I’ll take the fine thanks.
Oh and just to add, I’ve never worked for a company that routinely pays for parking. My current job will pay if you’re stuck but that’s about it. Ive paid less than 10 times in my whole career.
robinhood_1984:
eddie snax:
What I do know is that on friday night a foreign registered truck parked in what was a dangerous manner, and that during the night somebody hit it, and that that driver could have parked 10 minutes earlier in Cambridge services, and that he must have known at that point that he was short on hours, so should have parked then and not pushed on for a massive 10 minutesPS, The issue off lack of parking facilities, which is a real problem in this Country as many have raised in this thread, I would think, that in this particular case it doesnt apply, as I have already stated earlier, Cambridge services in My experience is rarely full on a Friday night
Cambridge services is totally irrelevant if it costs a fortune to park in it, its not even an option. Many British firms don’t pay for parking, and at £20-30 per night you cannot expect a driver to pay for it, an eastern European driver earns peanuts in comparison to a British driver and while it may be an alright wage by the standards of his own country, it is in no way going to be enough to fork out £20 per night for something that you only find a reasonable option because you’re not actually paying for it yourself.
Telling drivers to find another job if they have to pay for parking is totally avoiding the issue, so many companies don’t pay that its not even an option. Perhaps you have the luxury of having no wife, kids, mortgage or whatever to pay for so can jack in your job on principal if the need ever arose on the issue of parking, but others don’t have that luxury, especially an eastern European who has to go away for 4 or 6 weeks at a time to support his family. To someone that earns £150 per week, paying £20-30 for a night in any British motorway services out of his own money is never an option, not even on Christmas Eve when it’d be totally empty.
Blimey is there anything else you want to get totaly wrong about Me. I have a Wife off 18 years good service, 3 Children, and a Mortgage.
As for chucking a job in on a point off principle, yes if I’m getting shafted I will walk, but having dependants means I take my time to find another job to go first, I dont spit my dummy and walk out the door empty handed. As a matter off fact I’m on my 3rd job since 2008, because I dont want to be the fall guy for bad management so much for a lack off jobs then
Before you label me a zenophobe, as you seem to be running through the book. I have no issues about Immigrants coming here to work and settle, or about foreign competion on a fair basis, even though they priced me out off doing unaccompanied trailer work, I treat it as a challenge.
I love it when I turn up at a customer and I find a bunch of europeans guys, whom generaly have quiet good English, they work hard and are allways good for a bit of banter, which I’m afraid cannot be said about my fellow country men all the time.
I dont do Continental, but if I did I would make danm sure that I had a reasonable or working knowledge off the rules that would affect me on a day to day basis. It seems that some off the foreign drivers coming here arent.
Regardless off how expensive as a propotion of your income a parking charge is, excempt for breakdown, there is no excuse to leave your vehicle in a dangerous position, and it requires no expence or even minimal grasp of english to assertain what is dagerous or not.
If I have a blind spot to the trials off being a continental driver, working in a foreign land where everything seems to be extortionatly priced, compared to my humble income. You Robinhood 1984, seem unable to grasp how easy it is to workout wether you feel safe to park or not, and that anything a foreign driver does must be given a tollerence beyond common sense, because he’s in a foreignland.
On this basis we will never agree
But then, we are coming to the question that was touched before:
What if “danger” and “illegal” not always go in line.
Example: If i park here, on that unused slip road, deep into it and right to the left, I am illegal, but I am not obstructing anyone and I am about 7 metres from moving traffic.
goo.gl/maps/i4bgm
If I park here, on that layby, I am perfectly legal, but I am just 20 cm from the traffic going 70 and in some cases more.
goo.gl/maps/KDqvg
So if I was to choose a place to park legally, I would go for the latter. But if I was asked to find place to park safely, regardless of the legal issues, I would see first one as a better solution.
In Europe often the police and other forces keep a blind eye for the truckers who were struggling to find safe place to park as long, as they are not danger to the traffic. That’s why many of European truck drivers assume that it will be the same in UK. I am all for removing trucks parked dangerously (and for that matter, for teaching British police that stopping vehicles on the hard shoulder is as stupid, as parking there) but in my eyes it’s not the world’s end if someone park in places like unused slip road, maintenance vehicles lay by etc. as long as it wasn’t just to bad planning but due to unforeseen circumstances.
orys:
But then, we are coming to the question that was touched before:What if “danger” and “illegal” not always go in line.
Example: If i park here, on that unused slip road, deep into it and right to the left, I am illegal, but I am not obstructing anyone and I am about 7 metres from moving traffic.
goo.gl/maps/i4bgmIf I park here, on that layby, I am perfectly legal, but I am just 20 cm from the traffic going 70 and in some cases more.
goo.gl/maps/KDqvgSo if I was to choose a place to park legally, I would go for the latter. But if I was asked to find place to park safely, regardless of the legal issues, I would see first one as a better solution.
In Europe often the police and other forces keep a blind eye for the truckers who were struggling to find safe place to park as long, as they are not danger to the traffic. That’s why many of European truck drivers assume that it will be the same in UK. I am all for removing trucks parked dangerously (and for that matter, for teaching British police that stopping vehicles on the hard shoulder is as stupid, as parking there) but in my eyes it’s not the world’s end if someone park in places like unused slip road, maintenance vehicles lay by etc. as long as it wasn’t just to bad planning but due to unforeseen circumstances.
My point about the incident that I refered to is, that the driver had passed less than 10 minutes earlier a safe place to park. I keep getting told that these drivers only park in these dangerous circumstances because off unforseen problems, and that they will get hit hard in the pocket for infringments,if they run over time and then get checked in europe. But this guy must have known that he was closer to his time, in fact his tacho may well have been flashing a 15 minute warning, but he pressed on, and that is at least bad planning, if not bloody mindedness. The consequences off his action where to leave his vehicle so close to the main carriageway that through the night someone, for whatever reason collided with it. Now that is at the basic level the fault off the second driver, but the truck driver has at the very least, forgetting the other party, caused his firm the hassle to get that fixed, and it was past bodging, and I’ve bodged quiet alot in the past, before the arms out off arse line is thrown up again