Started this in the “Tanker Roll Overs” thread, but thought it only polite to start a new topic so as not to take over the original post.
Having done the odd shift for my mate, taking trailers into Immingham, I have noticed the unprofessional driving standard of tanker drivers leaving the fuel plant at Killingholme, racing along the A160, often in 2’s or 3’s at distances too close to react should the vehicle infront brake harshly.
Drivers seem to forget what it is they are carrying, and the majority of loads, if driven in the wrong manner could pose a hazard to other road users, wether an unsecured load, incorrectly loaded, weight distribution etc, but with ADR the potential hazard is increased.
ADR consignments are a potential threat to life or the environment, wether it’s a gas, fuel ( incl diesel ) acids, alkalis, and these possible hazards have an increased level of damage they could impose, should there be an accident, eg :- a single fuel tanker carries 43,000 ltrs of diesel ( I googled that so I’m probably wrong ) which in itself is disastrous to the environment and would be a huge task to contain, now if that was two tankers the potential threat becomes greater, but that’s diesel, now change the first vehicle to a petrol tanker half empty ( or half full for the pedantic ) and the second vehicle an oxidising agent the risk is massively increased.
Both the French and Germans have a compulsory 80kph speed limit and a minimum distance between ADR carrying vehicles. These regs are not tanker specific they are for any LGV carrying ADR.
With the number of accidents involving LGV’s on the increase, as both frustration and impatience impair a drivers concentration and awareness of his / her surroundings, should there be regulations on ADR carrying vehicles implemented here ?
I’ll come straight out with a “No” for the speed rules.
If there are simple extra rules for truck driving safety, then why exempt ordinary cargo trucks from them?
If dropping the speed by ten kliks stops lots of accidents for haz trucks then why wouldn’t that apply to all trucks?
Speed differential means more overtakes. More overtakes introduces extra potential for danger. I’m not saying all overtakes are dangerous, but they are more hazardous than staying in lane.
More separation between haz trucks? Maybe. But more separation between some of the tailgating fools, with normal loads, and enforcement of that, would be good too.
Show some evidence that these rules are beneficial to safety, and I’ll change my attitude, but they look like knee-jerk “gotta be seen to do summat” rules, rather than thought through and proven measures.
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43000 litres of diesel weighs over 38 tonne at 20•c
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Keep doing “the odd shift” and don’t worry your pretty head,
50mph and 56mph creates its own problems as shown by supermarkets and Maritime who drive at 52mph
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It ain’t just tanker drivers that drive like that though. You could pick almost any type of vehicle and find there are a certain amount of their drivers drive irresponsibly.
Why are these drivers driving like that? Is it because they cannot get their work load completed driving at the correct speed limits or are they boy racers who have not grown up yet?
Or is it that trucks are so easy to drive now and just feel like an oversized car? Who knows but something needs to be done.
When I drove petrol tankers in the 80’s I can honestly say the vast majority of drivers drove sensibly. Obviously you still got the odd one that thought he was the next Lewis Hamilton but most took the job seriously and knew the consequences if it went wrong and I can tell you the H&S was next to nothing compared to today but thats another story.
Wheel Nut:
Keep doing “the odd shift” and don’t worry your pretty head,50mph and 56mph creates its own problems as shown by supermarkets and Maritime who drive at 52mph
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Cheers for the concern Wheel nut, but don’t fret I don’t worry my head albeit not so pretty 
My days of driving around at 85kph with my retarder set to 88kph are coming to an end so that’s one less for the diesel demons to worry about as they cut other drivers up regardless of what they are carrying, carving the job up as they go along.