I’ve just finished another trunk up the M6. I work afternoons and a black Friday was upon us again. It,s been a week of freezing conditions, so the grit is out but followed by rain creates greasy and dirty roads with heavy spray, poor visability and longer stopping distances. We all know this, we have been doing it long enough and we have gained experience and got proficient at taking divercery action. Sally traffic was getting frustrated at the amount that she had to report and she said that she felt sorry for everybody that was stuck in jams and we hear accident on the so and so and accident on the so and so, and we work our way around the problem or book some over time. If we sit in it when we get to the incident we often see a fender bender and some bruised pride and have a good laugh.
Then there is days like today with people dying on our roads, so I had to sit in some traffic there are families thats lives have been changed today in a way that time won’t heal it’s a christmas that they wern’t planning and my sypathies go out to all involved.
This is a great time of year and reading the postings that appear here, the wealth of skill and experience is obvious but while your wives and husbands are out spending your hard earned O/T, sit in the jam, earn the money and for god’s sake PLEASE lets be careful out there!!!
Lindsey.
Lindsey, I have to agree with every word…
Friday afternoon has to be the worst time for anyone on the road, and for me it usually means a few hours spent sitting on th M25 trying to get back to Sussex.
Today I was lucky, tipped in Kettering at 1pm and a good run back meant I was parked up by 4pm, but listening to Sally on my last lap home to Hastings in the car made me feel ever so grateful that I had actually made it home without being delayed by some incident that had resulted in a very unhappy Christmas for someone!
Take care out there, the idiots really are out to get you!!!
I was going to Bedworth from Bury, and heard all about the hassle on the M6 @ J3 so i went down the A5. Just before Tamworth had a break, set off again at 1840, just sat at the M42 R/bout and our patron saint of travel said the M6 was open, so instead of going down A5 to Nuneaton decided to get on M/way, where it splits up for North and South went South and i thought i was on the toll road not another vehicle all the way to the M6, only lost about 10 minutes.
But there are some right nutters out there abd for some reason this week a lot of them have been lorry drivers ( but that is another post ).
If you get paid by the hour take it easy why rush the longer it takes the more you get
That smash happened at lunch time as far as I know and was apparently 4 trucks and 2 cars and a van, 2 people died but don’t quote me I havent seen todays press but I am glad that you got through without too much delay you were lucky the whole area was static when I went to work.
My deepest condolences to the friends and family of the Norfolk lorry driver and the car driver from Leicester who were involved in this incident.
Not nice is it 
Well said, Ladytrucker.
HA HA HA HA HA !
It makes me laugh to see how the folk back there make a fuss about a spot of frost, snow or ice. I have to admit I used to be the same when I lived there and there was plenty of times the traffic ground to a halt because of a bit of ice or snow.
What would you do if you had to live in an area where the temp stays at least 20 bellow for 5 months of the year and driving in 8 inches of snow or sheet ice at regular speed was normal?
In the last 10 days we have had 26 inches of snow and friday morning I drove for 250 miles in an ‘ICE STORM’, actually crossing areas of sheet black ice without dropping speed and still getting to my booking on time. Tomorrow evening we are expecting yet another 18 inches of snow but although a major inconvenience I will still take my truck to it’s destination on time.
Stop whinging and plough through the snow and ice.
Lindsey if one person dies in a rail crash today there will be outcry it will be on the front pages of every paper tomorrow , i dont know the statistics for rail fatalities but i do know that today and tomorrow 10 people will die on the roads of Britain, i also know that no-one will give a ■■■■.
The problem is as discussed in the old forums there is no incentive in this country to become a better driver pass your test drive and … thats it really , i personally think there should be a form of retest every so often.
Anyone who has watched Britains worst driver must be aware that some driving instructors can be bribed as there is no way in this world some of those idiots should be allowed to drive.
I was in Spain last weekend, and the national radio station reported " a massacre" on their roads during the holiday (8th December)… Sadly 65 souls lost their lives in one days carnage on Spanish roads. Every time I am caught in a traffic jam now, I worry about what has caused it, so many times others lives are lost, and all most drivers worry about is being late getting somewhere.
It seems to get even worse as we approach Christmas each year, but I guess that we just feel worse when we hear of these tragedys at this time of year.
Better a few hours late in this world than years early in the next…if there is a next of course.
Mal.
Sunday we had 3 ft of snow and half way through my trip it turned to an ice storm, … I still goy there.
Pat, over there, you get snow and ice and snow and cold…
You get that stuff all regular. We’re not used to it here.
British Rail would like to apologise for the cancellation of the 1615 to London. This is due to the unforseen arrival of Winter. Thankyou for your understanding in this difficult time.
May you always get there Pat, safe & in one peice. I mean that sincerely, but give a thought to the old saying, pride comes before a fall. Bad things can hit any of us out of the blue, even blokes with 20-30 years under our belts.
Mal.
allikat:
Pat, over there, you get snow and ice and snow and cold…
You get that stuff all regular. We’re not used to it here.British Rail would like to apologise for the cancellation of the 1615 to London. This is due to the unforseen arrival of Winter. Thankyou for your understanding in this difficult time.
I am not used to it either, I only came here 4 years ago and took my CDL A last summer because the job I was in was rubbish. Last wunter was my first driving trucks over here. I have learned that during the first winter although I was driving steady as i did in the UK all the others were driving a lot faster, it is just as simple as that, if you don’t get a move on you get behind all the idiots sitting in the middle lane doing 25mph with hazard lights on.
I have experienced weather like this in the UK, back in the early 80’s and in winter of 94 I awoke on Christmas eve at Panrith to find over a foot of snow outside and I had to be in Northamptonshire by mid day, traffic was doing about 30 or so in one line over shap but I just ploughed through in the centre lane at 55. When you go slow the snow just gets thicker so it is best to keep going as fast as is safely possible.