ROG:
alamcculloch:
I think that most LGV and PCV drivers make a good job of things, but along comes an idiot and bang goes our reputation .VERY GOOD POINT - I remember the coach ploker but I do not remember all those other coaches that drove safely…
And he will no doubt remember you more than most of the other cars he encountered that day, not that it is likely to modify his behaviour in any way though.
Coffeeholic:
he will no doubt remember you more than most of the other cars he encountered that day
A bright yellow car with ROG on the number plate… yup, he probably will 
Blue222:
May be slightly off-topic, but I use a 08reg Renault Premium on weekends, and when I come downhill on M11 north towards J9 on cruise, it speeds up to 59mph due to gravity, and automatically tries to slow me down to 56 as usual… But after a few seconds it starts beeping at me and the display warns me about my speed. Ok, i think, but if i let it run it then starts beeping a whole lot more, and then the tacho head display starts flashing and by now i’m feeling really naughty…
So, i’m still under 60mph - the m-way speed limit as far as i know - but this stupid system keeps demanding my attention ( you have to clear the error on the tacho head which takes your eyes off the road for a matter of seconds). My ‘compliance manager’ says that as the truck’s max speed is 56mph then that is the most i should be doing…’ I think that’s a load of old crap, to be honest. And potentially dangerous. Stupid.
Heres a funny one, last week I was driving the same type of unit as you (as I do 5 days a week tbh), one night I got to 58mph and it started flashing at me, but the next night I had the same unit and I got to 63mph and it never did a thing… 
DAF95XF:
Blue222:
May be slightly off-topic, but I use a 08reg Renault Premium on weekends, and when I come downhill on M11 north towards J9 on cruise, it speeds up to 59mph due to gravity, and automatically tries to slow me down to 56 as usual… But after a few seconds it starts beeping at me and the display warns me about my speed. Ok, i think, but if i let it run it then starts beeping a whole lot more, and then the tacho head display starts flashing and by now i’m feeling really naughty…
So, i’m still under 60mph - the m-way speed limit as far as i know - but this stupid system keeps demanding my attention ( you have to clear the error on the tacho head which takes your eyes off the road for a matter of seconds). My ‘compliance manager’ says that as the truck’s max speed is 56mph then that is the most i should be doing…’ I think that’s a load of old crap, to be honest. And potentially dangerous. Stupid.Heres a funny one, last week I was driving the same type of unit as you (as I do 5 days a week tbh), one night I got to 58mph and it started flashing at me, but the next night I had the same unit and I got to 63mph and it never did a thing… :?
you broke it again haven’t you
DAF95XF:
Blue222:
May be slightly off-topic, but I use a 08reg Renault Premium on weekends, and when I come downhill on M11 north towards J9 on cruise, it speeds up to 59mph due to gravity, and automatically tries to slow me down to 56 as usual… But after a few seconds it starts beeping at me and the display warns me about my speed. Ok, i think, but if i let it run it then starts beeping a whole lot more, and then the tacho head display starts flashing and by now i’m feeling really naughty…
So, i’m still under 60mph - the m-way speed limit as far as i know - but this stupid system keeps demanding my attention ( you have to clear the error on the tacho head which takes your eyes off the road for a matter of seconds). My ‘compliance manager’ says that as the truck’s max speed is 56mph then that is the most i should be doing…’ I think that’s a load of old crap, to be honest. And potentially dangerous. Stupid.Heres a funny one, last week I was driving the same type of unit as you (as I do 5 days a week tbh), one night I got to 58mph and it started flashing at me, but the next night I had the same unit and I got to 63mph and it never did a thing…
and that was pulling off a bay heading for the gatehouse and hoping the secuirty guard would raise the barrier his loss if they didnt 
now if i remember geebee45 comment on overspeeds he said VOSA tend to ignore them if its a min here of there. 10 mins constant would set alarm bells ringing though (his words)
could you technicaly be prosecuted for overspeeds as they are logged as infringments 
shuttlespanker:
you broke it again haven’t you
Actually no, I just let her roll downhill with a fully loaded trailer
If I broke the truck on the trunk I do, the traffic office would shoot me 
Cruise Control:
and that was pulling off a bay heading for the gatehouse and hoping the secuirty guard would raise the barrier his loss if they didntnow if i remember geebee45 comment on overspeeds he said VOSA tend to ignore them if its a min here of there. 10 mins constant would set alarm bells ringing though (his words)
could you technicaly be prosecuted for overspeeds as they are logged as infringments
Not pulling off a bay, on some motorway somewhere, may have been the M25 or the M1 or it could have been the M40, cant remember 
DAF95XF:
shuttlespanker:
you broke it again haven’t youActually no, I just let her roll downhill with a fully loaded trailer
If I broke the truck on the trunk I do, the traffic office would shoot me
i was referring to the tacho, where it shoed up at 58 one day, then not at 63 the next
shuttlespanker:
DAF95XF:
shuttlespanker:
you broke it again haven’t youActually no, I just let her roll downhill with a fully loaded trailer
If I broke the truck on the trunk I do, the traffic office would shoot mei was referring to the tacho, where it shoed up at 58 one day, then not at 63 the next
On our trucks, you get an overspeed warning if you do 91 or more for over 1 minute.
If within a minute, you get up to, say 110kmh, and then slow down to 90, no overspeed warning.
If for that minute your on a gentle slope that’s just steep enough (and no more) to get your speed up to 91, you’ll get an overspeed warning.
An overspeed warning IS NOT a legal infringement in the UK, on it’s own.
It may be that it’s a Company Rules infringement.
i,m going to have to give myself a bollicking then cos i must get about 20 overspeed warnings a day if i,m on a motorway on which the limits 60 {not 56} then i will let it run downhill to about 63 ish, love to see a copper try and do me for speeding like that,why should i dab the brakes as some have said, it will soon slow down when it starts to go up the other side or the road flattens out a bit
ROG:
alamcculloch:
The buses that I drive have limiters set to 100 k which is 62 mph …and with the same lane restrictions on motorways as LGVs it makes the whole thing farcical.
Last Monday I went down the M1 to Northampton in my car and was in this position… in middle lane overtaking some slow trucks, keeping my distance behind another truck who was getting passed the other trucks albeit slowly but steadily - traffic in outer lane was so bunched up that it would be unsafe to attempt to get into it.
A coach came up really close behind me in the middle lane flashing it’s headlights and trying to intimidate me to get out the way !!!
Where was I suppose to go■■? - dive inbetween the trucks in lane 1 - unsafe or force my way into the faster really bunched up traffic in lane 3 - unsafe or get up the arse of the truck in front - unsafe.
So I simply eased off, little by little until I had doubled the gap in front of me - coachy did not like that - tough !!A little later I saw the same coach (full of passengers) tailgating a truck in the middle lane.
Would this type of behaviour have happened or be less frequent if coaches and trucks were limited to the same speed ?
I know it’s not big or clever, but I reacted to a similar situation in a different way, I was trying to get in the middle lane to pass a slower lorry, I was in a 144 Scania, empty & because I was running up north to collect BSE offal I was on a log book & my speed limiter fuse had fallen out anyway this knob in a coach tried to close the gap so I couldn’t get out, well it didn’t work & he got quite irate, flashing his lights & suggesting I have a Nescafe, I took offence at this & preceeded to ■■■■ the coach off, everytime I pulled into lane 1 I matched his speed & left him out there, when I needed to get into lane 2 I put my foot down & got in front of him, then slowed to .00000001km/h faster than the lorry I was passing, he went out in lane 3 a couple of times, which was a bit naughty & I put my foot down & left him stranded out there too, he was doing his nut, I did this from J8 to J29 on the M1, as I said, I know it wasn’t very clever, but I was laughing all the way up the road, all the times I’ve had that kind of treatment & finally I got my own back, all because he was being a prick & trying to block me in, the coach didn’t have any passengers, it would’ve been different then. I know a few on here have coach licences & if it was any of you in that yellow coach, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha 
Oops, I thought that this was the Professional Drivers Forum.
Oh come on, from junction 8 to 29 is professional !!
a couple of junctions is just amateur 
alamcculloch:
Oops, I thought that this was the Professional Drivers Forum.
Totally professional mate, I was being paid, therefore it’s my profession Sometimes it’s nice to fight fire with fire, although not if you’re a fireman, evidently foam & water works much better in that case, anyway I digress, the bloke was trying to be a prick, I showed him how to do it properly
Anyway coach drivers are dangerous, all dressed up in their polyester jackets, one of them brushes past a Wili Betz driver in the services & BOOM
I did National Express for about 6-7 months before finally seeing sense and going back to Buses.
However, I’m quite pleased to say that I never once had any problems with other HGVs or other Coaches. The only runs I did were between Portsmouth/Southampton and London Victoria along the M3. I was always happy to let HGVs into Lane 2 to get past another Wagon as I couldn’t care less about the 49 people sitting behind me in a hurry to get to their destination, I’m pretty sure they didn’t care about me!
First Group plc have recently started a rival service to NatEx called Greyhound, which runs direct services from Portsmouth-London and Southampton-London. On 1 particular return journey from London to Southampton I decided to sit in Row 1 in the nearside seats so I could see the Driver’s view of what was going on. I don’t think the guy driving it had been driving Coaches for too long as past Basingstoke a 4 Tonne Van emerged onto the M3 Southbound with a HUGE RED STICKER saying “This Vehicle Is Limited To 56mph”…we remained in Lane 1 doing 62mph (why on earth can Buses and Coaches do 62 yet HGVs and Vans over 3.5 Tonnes can only do 56?) and at the last minute the Retarder was yanked onto 100% and we missed rear-ending him by inches.
We then remained behind the Van for about a mile while the Coach driver was flashing his lights telling him to get a move on…at this point I was so embarrassed I told him the vehicle in front was limited to 56 as per the HUGE RED STICKER on the rear of the Van was quite clearly advertising for everyone to read and was the 1st thing I saw.
If you ever drive HGVs around Southampton and you’re ever stunned by a First Bus that flashes you out (which obviously never happens because Bus drivers…) then it’s probably me as I know we’ve each got our own deadlines to meet. That also includes Bin Lorries as Bin Lorries and Buses ironically have a lot in common…our rubbish has legs attached that move itself, which is probably the only difference!!!
Now cyclists, there’s a different argument!
Richard
you can’t be prosecuted from the tacho speed alone. it must be backed up with other evidence, like a speed camera, or being followed by a copper.
too many people believe that pleading guilty will get them a lesser sentence or a reduced fine. that is ■■■■■■■■.
it was agreed with the government prior to the introduction of tachographs that a tachograph speed trace could never be used as primary evidence to convict a driver for speeding.
so, don’t worry about it. if your transport manager moans too much. break his fingers with a hammer, and kidnap his wife and kids. that’ll do it.
limeyphil:
you can’t be prosecuted from the tacho speed alone. it must be backed up with other evidence, like a speed camera, or being followed by a copper.
Not necessarily - there were many drivers prosecuted in the case where they worked for a Cambridge haulier and no roads within a 15 min (could be more) drive of the depot were over the LGV 40 limit.
The authorities swooped on the company after complaints from locals about speeding trucks and drivers were prosecuted fron the tacho evidence alone as it showed they were over the speed limit within 15 mins from base.
I have previously posted a link to this case on this site but I cannot find it at the moment…
ROG:
limeyphil:
you can’t be prosecuted from the tacho speed alone. it must be backed up with other evidence, like a speed camera, or being followed by a copper.Not necessarily - there were many drivers prosecuted in the case where they worked for a Cambridge haulier and no roads within a 15 min (could be more) drive of the depot were over the LGV 40 limit.
The authorities swooped on the company after complaints from locals about speeding trucks and drivers were prosecuted fron the tacho evidence alone as it showed they were over the speed limit within 15 mins from base.
I have previously posted a link to this case on this site but I cannot find it at the moment…
wasn’t they the same idiots who pleaded guilty? it wouldn’t have happened at a trial.
limeyphil:
you can’t be prosecuted from the tacho speed alone. it must be backed up with other evidence, like a speed camera, or being followed by a copper.
too many people believe that pleading guilty will get them a lesser sentence or a reduced fine. that is ■■■■■■■■.
it was agreed with the government prior to the introduction of tachographs that a tachograph speed trace could never be used as primary evidence to convict a driver for speeding.so, don’t worry about it. if your transport manager moans too much. break his fingers with a hammer, and kidnap his wife and kids. that’ll do it.
You’re right about that issue concerning speed trace evidence and I actually still had the actual comments from the time which was printed in a truck magazine but I’d have a problem finding it now that’s if it’s not been thrown out.Anyway just before the introduction of limiters I actually brought the same issue to the attention of one of my old managers when after years of running on motorways at a speed in which the 60 mph limit was usually treated with some ‘flexibility’ either side of it,he decided that a too high speed trace would be sufficient evidence for disciplinary action and that the MOT and coppers were actually convicting drivers and going for O licences on the basis of the speed trace alone.He won the argument as he did manage to come up with some examples of prosecutions and in a case of unfair dismissal he would have won easily anyway on those grounds.I certainly would’nt wanted to have hit his fingers with a hammer because he probably saved me from losing my licence and/or getting sacked and ending up on the dole long before I eventually left the job.But that proves just what those ‘agreements’ with the government were actually worth and to think that we were actually arguing about running at the 60 mph limit when we can’t even run over 56 mph now.
I don’t know if the law has been changed but you couldn’t be convicted of speeding on tacho evidence alone, the case against the Cambridge haulier, Knowles, was brought by the ministry as they were then known, or VOSA as they are known today, I think they ‘only’ suspended the HGV entitlement of the drivers concerned, they cannot, as far as I’m aware touch your car licence. As an operator though, that’s a different story, they can pull O licences if a similar situation arises, I think Maritime & DHL at the Isle of Grain had a warning, VOSA had a big purge down there a few years ago & shortly after any Maritime or DHL lorry stuck rigidly to the 40mph limit.
VOSA can & will suspend your HGV for a lot of things, one of my drivers got nicked for yapping on the phone on the M11, he paid the fixed penalty & that was that, until I had an inspection by VOSA (nothing sinister, just a look at maintainance records, they do them every 5yrs or so) the VOSA man mentioned that one of my drivers had been nicked for being on the phone & told me to tell him to watch out as they could park him up for that.