I was in an RDC on Friday night;very busy yard with lots of parked trailers and vehicles. Yard fairly poorly lit with badly placed lights,causing several ‘shadowy areas’. Three tugs operating,one was fairly new so all it’s lights were working. The other two weren’t quite so well equipped.One had just the o/s/f sidelight working and the other had only the n/s rearlight working. All three had amber beacons and turntable spotlights working but all of them moved trailers without hooking up the lighting suzie.
Does any-one know if there are any rules governing the use of these vehicles or is it just down to their operators?.
I have no problem wearing hi-vis vests etc and I am not re-opening that thread,but surely they are all but redundant if the tugs have no headlights to pick you out in the dark.
Any-one got any views?
I did quite some time shunting for Tesco, who are very strict about safety rules, we ‘NEVER’ hooked up the trailer lights 
I did a few months stint on a shunt tug. Red line only - no lights!! 
company policy to use lights as well. think somwone got injured at another depot and its gone right across the board allegedly.
jon
What annoys me about this RDC’s is that if you yourself drive above the site speed limit of 5mph then you get a rollocking but it’s okay for the shunters to tear-arse around at 40mph everywhere 
What annoys me about this RDC’s is that if you yourself drive above the site speed limit of 5mph then you get a rollocking but it’s okay for the shunters to tear-arse around at 40mph everywhere
i know what your sayin rob we all got memos when i was at arla foods about going to fast in the yard ,but for the 3 yes 3 shunters moving trailers off 10 bays 
.
they didn’t need anylights on at night not even on the tug never mind the trailers but speed was ok for them.
one rule for one
jon
They have amber flashing light’s did they not If you can’t see the flashing light’s well stone a crow. 
but it’s okay for the shunters to tear-arse around at 40mph everywhere
When was the last time you saw a tug going at 40mph 20 if your lucky
i shunt for sainsburys at hams hall all 4 of us on each shift( 16 in all) have to connect all lines red,yellow, n type and s type electrics. if we are seen by any of the management from team captain up (transport dept) without lines on, we are reported for a d.p. we even have to use headlights in the day on full beam…bit different to shunting at safeways we had to use the air lines only no electrics…
we also have tax on the tugs so we can use the public highway between the depot and the vmu.
sorry tammy but look away now…
tugs and their drivers are a pain in the arse speeding round everywhere like they own the place no lights on driving round you when your trying to reversve always on at you " you cant park there " so you move and they park there instead then if your trying to get your head down when on a bay they dont even think just park next to you leave the tug running while they go and get a coffee. or when trying to catch 40 winks park opposite with the becons going. or the best is sat talking to their mate and when you go and ask which bay they want the trailer on or where to drop it they wait til you just reach them then drive off.
this comment wasnt aimed at anyone it is just based on personel experiances.
Let me say one thing,their not shunters,they are yard marshall’s Well that’s what our’s call themselves,me i call them hitler’s.
Hmmm the shunter at a depot in hams hall i go to is the most useless moaning git i have ever come across , if he’s not moaning about where you are being unloaded its not giving him enough room to reverse , i swear sometimes he must think he has a boeing 747 … I tend to ignore him or give him very blunt answers as the way he speaks to people is unbeleivable …
at our place some are ok, and even helpful but some are idiots…I told one his electrics suzie must be faulty as I saw him plug it in, but no lights illuminated on the trailer. His response? ‘dont give a (edit ;-p)’…
10mph speed limit . . . you drive round at 10 and they’re trying to undertake/overtake you… as for the one way system - What a joke!! yet if we drivers went the wrong way round there would be a right stink!
paul@midway:
Hmmm the shunter at a depot in hams hall i go to is the most useless moaning git i have ever come across , if he’s not moaning about where you are being unloaded its not giving him enough room to reverse , i swear sometimes he must think he has a boeing 747 … I tend to ignore him or give him very blunt answers as the way he speaks to people is unbeleivable …
what does this one look like??
That cant be me then paul, 
… honest there are 16 off us… 4 per shift.
Surely it’s all covered by basic HASAWA.
Also if you note the Highway code, it applies not just to the public highway but also to private roads, so technically the lights must all be working one way & speed limit signs must be obeyed etc
If i was to jump in a bus for and drive it across a private yard the police could arrest me for driving without a licence.
So if there is a decent union rep there get them on the case, he/she could contact the local traffic police or HSE and get a casual visit done.
dennisw1:
If i was to jump in a bus for and drive it across a private yard the police could arrest me for driving without a licence.
Some people at my firm drive the HGV lorries around in the yard without having a licence. I knew that the HSE would probably frown on this, but didn’t realise it was illegal.
dennisw1:
If i was to jump in a bus for and drive it across a private yard the police could arrest me for driving without a licence.
Rubbish!
Dogmanbodie:
dennisw1:
If i was to jump in a bus for and drive it across a private yard the police could arrest me for driving without a licence.Rubbish!
Think you are right Dogmanbodie. Provided you are not on the public highway, you are not commiting an offence, are you. That’s not to say the HSE would approve. But the police couldn’t do you for it.
I often shunt at work, and we use red and yellow lines. The last time I plugged the electrics in it blew several fuses on the tug - so didn’t bother to do that again. 
Tammy:
paul@midway:
Hmmm the shunter at a depot in hams hall i go to is the most useless moaning git i have ever come across , if he’s not moaning about where you are being unloaded its not giving him enough room to reverse , i swear sometimes he must think he has a boeing 747 … I tend to ignore him or give him very blunt answers as the way he speaks to people is unbeleivable …what does this one look like??
That cant be me then paul,
tammy i think its a inter depot thing , and more then likley not sainsburys if you think about the companys on the estate . we could beer all night
jon
Dogmanbodie:
dennisw1:
If i was to jump in a bus for and drive it across a private yard the police could arrest me for driving without a licence.Rubbish!
No it’s not rubbish go and check the latest highway code, it;s the law.
TBH though it’s only really there so the police can do chavs who do dougnuts in supermarket car parks at 3am. It was also brought out so they could nick people who drove on unadopted (aka Private) roads without licence, insurance etc. However the police ‘could’ if they chose to be arsey do you for any such infringements as speeding, no lights etc in a tug, truck, what ever too.
Although if you managed to do a dougnut in Tesco’s car park with a 40ft trailer on the back, they’re more likely to congratulate you
Basically someone would have to get the police to go and have a look at a problem yard, they wouldnt just go round all the DC’s on the off chance
jonboy:
Tammy:
paul@midway:
Hmmm the shunter at a depot in hams hall i go to is the most useless moaning git i have ever come across , if he’s not moaning about where you are being unloaded its not giving him enough room to reverse , i swear sometimes he must think he has a boeing 747 … I tend to ignore him or give him very blunt answers as the way he speaks to people is unbeleivable …what does this one look like??
That cant be me then paul,
tammy i think its a inter depot thing , and more then likley not sainsburys
jon
He’s right you know …