I’m not impressed by the size of truck cabs in the uk, even the giga super doopa mega tastic xxxxxlllll hyper tastic type trucks, especially for long distance. I recently took a look inside a Kenworth T700 and the room was amazing, I think our trucks are appalling in size compared to trucks from other countries, there’s barely enough room to swing a cat, you can have a shower and a dump as well as prepare a three course meal in some of their trucks.
Rest is important, if a person has more room in his or her cab to relax, cook , paperwork, etc, then they will be able to perform much better and not feel so tired when driving.
Question,
When will uk trucks be able to compete in size with other trucks across the globe?
Coffeeholic:
I often leave the ignition on all night so i can see the time on the digi tacho when I wake during the night or I want power to the 12 volt socket to charge something up while I sleep.
I always did that, pain in the arse if you have an airleak and the buzzer comes on
Yep, a couple of weeks ago I had set the alarm for 07:00 and when it went off I got up, got dressed and opened the curtains then wondered why it was dark. It was just after 02:00 and it was the low air alarm that had woken me. I had only been asleep 2 hours!!!
Are there any laws or regulations relating to the minimum specification required for a truck to be regarded as suitable for nights out? I ask because we’re having an increasing number of unexpected nights out. We don’t carry any night out kit because the trucks are supposed to run 24/6 (parked up for 24hrs from Sat lunch to Sunday lunch), and whilst they have bunks, they don’t have curtains for the rear window, and to get the night heater to run all the time, you need to leave the ignition on.
Cue the usual suspects flooding in any minute now about it being illegal due to cab dimensions, bunk dimensions, distance from steering wheel, firmness of mattress etc etc etc .
I’m NOT AN EXPERT in this so you’ll need to await a reply from Herr Hobbs or someone else in-the-know, but afaik there are no regs apart from it needing to have a bunk, which you have. The rest is immaterial about night heater, curtains etc. That’s down to you to grow some cojones and say to your gaffer that “this ain’t on, sort it otherwise I ain’t doing any night outs”.
Personally I would refuse to do any nights out in it until the night heater issue was sorted closely followed by the curtains. I don’t care what time of the year it is, if it ain’t got a working night heater then no nights out for me because even in the middle of summer the temp often drops to single digits in the small hours. I wouldn’t sleep in the cold in my own house, I’d turn the heating on a notch, and I expect to be able to do the same in a truck. Call me a puff/softy/whatever you want, but I ain’t freezing my bollox off for no [zb].
Are there any laws or regulations relating to the minimum specification required for a truck to be regarded as suitable for nights out?
Yes there are and I’ll list them all in order of importance.
The vehicle must have suitable sleeping facilities for each driver.
…
There is just one single requirement. You can legally night out in a day cab provided it has suitable sleeping facilities and as what is suitable isn’t defined you could sling a hammock up in the cab. No legal requirements for heaters or minimum size.
If you need to leave the ignition on to run the night heater then leave it on. I often leave the ignition on all night so i can see the time on the digi tacho when I wake during the night or I want power to the 12 volt socket to charge something up while I sleep.
Coffeeholic:
I often leave the ignition on all night so i can see the time on the digi tacho when I wake during the night or I want power to the 12 volt socket to charge something up while I sleep.
I always did that, pain in the arse if you have an airleak and the buzzer comes on, but I normally slept with the radio on low too, when you are tired enough sleep takes over and then you wake up to some music in the morning.
Unusual to need the ignition on for the night heater though, as most of them need to run on to cool down when they are turned off
Coffeeholic:
I often leave the ignition on all night so i can see the time on the digi tacho when I wake during the night or I want power to the 12 volt socket to charge something up while I sleep.
I always did that, pain in the arse if you have an airleak and the buzzer comes on
Yep, a couple of weeks ago I had set the alarm for 07:00 and when it went off I got up, got dressed and opened the curtains then wondered why it was dark. It was just after 02:00 and it was the low air alarm that had woken me. I had only been asleep 2 hours!!!
Cue the usual suspects flooding in any minute now about it being illegal due to cab dimensions, bunk dimensions, distance from steering wheel, firmness of mattress etc etc etc .
I’m NOT AN EXPERT in this so you’ll need to await a reply from Herr Hobbs or someone else in-the-know, but afaik there are no regs apart from it needing to have a bunk, which you have. The rest is immaterial about night heater, curtains etc. That’s down to you to grow some cojones and say to your gaffer that “this ain’t on, sort it otherwise I ain’t doing any night outs”.
Personally I would refuse to do any nights out in it until the night heater issue was sorted closely followed by the curtains. I don’t care what time of the year it is, if it ain’t got a working night heater then no nights out for me because even in the middle of summer the temp often drops to single digits in the small hours. I wouldn’t sleep in the cold in my own house, I’d turn the heating on a notch, and I expect to be able to do the same in a truck. Call me a puff/softy/whatever you want, but I ain’t freezing my bollox off for no [zb].
Wheel Nut:
Unusual to need the ignition on for the night heater though, as most of them need to run on to cool down when they are turned off
In my Merc the night heater runs for up to 2 hours n then switches off.
I can set a timer to restart it (I set it to come on an hour before my alarm goes off), or if I start to feel cold I can start it manually when it’ll run for another 2 hours.
OR I can leave the ignition on and it’ll run all night.
At the risk of being pedantic in VOSA’s eyes any roadworthy vehicle is suitable for “nights out” as no one says you have to sleep in the vehicle. I spent a brief,unenjoyable but profitable spell working for one of the major supermarkets & although we had sleepers & in some cases Globetrotter, spacecabs, topliners etc we were expected to use digs when on nights out. As these were pre-booked we often did,but not always…wait for it
A night out? Sleeping in the vehicle? We are pampered, we get put up in Travelodge/premier inn. Although if you have a night out that generally means its gone wrong.
Wheel Nut:
Unusual to need the ignition on for the night heater though, as most of them need to run on to cool down when they are turned off
In my Merc the night heater runs for up to 2 hours n then switches off.
I can set a timer to restart it (I set it to come on an hour before my alarm goes off), or if I start to feel cold I can start it manually when it’ll run for another 2 hours.
OR I can leave the ignition on and it’ll run all night.
Useless information post.
An ADR certificated vehicle cannot be fitted with a programmable timer and must be disabled
I had only been asleep 2 hours!!!
.
in VOSA’s eyes any roadworthy vehicle is suitable for “nights out” as no one says you have to sleep in the vehicle. I spent a brief,unenjoyable but profitable spell working for one of the major supermarkets & although we had sleepers & in some cases Globetrotter, spacecabs, topliners etc we were expected to use digs when on nights out. As these were pre-booked we often did,but not always…wait for it