Hello to you all. I am a new driver and passed my C+E in January. I decided to get the licence due to uncertainty in my current position which is not driving related. I must say thank to you all as when i started on this journey i found all the answers to my questions on this forum.
I am still in my current position working 07h30 to 16h30 Mon to Fri so i have been doing agency driving every other weekend to get the experience which i really enjoy. As a new driver i know what the speed limits are and try to keep to them but it seems most drivers on the A roads dont bother with doing 40. I have asked a few other drivers and most say they do 50 on A roads. I do the same now to keep up with the other lorries but do worry a bit as it is all recorded on your card. Is this right or should i be sticking to the correct limit.
Stick to the speed limit. Just because other folks are jumping off the bridge doesn’t mean you have to follow!
It’s your licence - for which you will have paid a great deal of money. Why do you want to pay fines and get points?
There’s nothing smart about speeding - mugs game.
To add to it all, many speeding drivers are hourly paid. Never did understand that!
Pete 
Basilpot:
Hello to you all. I am a new driver and passed my C+E in January. I decided to get the licence due to uncertainty in my current position which is not driving related. I must say thank to you all as when i started on this journey i found all the answers to my questions on this forum.
I am still in my current position working 07h30 to 16h30 Mon to Fri so i have been doing agency driving every other weekend to get the experience which i really enjoy. As a new driver i know what the speed limits are and try to keep to them but it seems most drivers on the A roads dont bother with doing 40. I have asked a few other drivers and most say they do 50 on A roads. I do the same now to keep up with the other lorries but do worry a bit as it is all recorded on your card. Is this right or should i be sticking to the correct limit.
When you say “A roads” presumably you’re talking about single carriageway roads, it’s your choice whether or not you stick to the 40mph limit on single carriageway roads, one thing you should not be doing is speeding just because others do, if anyone gets held up by you sticking to the legal speed limit it’s not your problem, do your own driving 
Personally I’ll admit to not sticking religiously to speed limits, but I never complain if I get stuck behind someone sticking to the legal limit.
Another reason not to speed, is that it has a knock on effect. You speed, then you arrive where you are going (not much sooner than you would have done had you not speeded), but beacuse you have been rushing, you then rush the work there and end up having problems which could delay you. Better to arrive none rushed, take your time doing whatever you have to do, and acheive it without drama, then find you leave there on time, and don’t have to speed to the next stop. It’s how I work and I have a very calm and relaxed day.
Thanks for the replies, I agree with your comments.
You won’t get done via your card for speeding but you shouldn’t go out of your way to speed just because you feel pressured to by other road users. If you feel as though your being bullied then the best way is to pull over if you can and let them get on with it or just ignore them. The former is a safer bet imo.
Héraultais:
Another reason not to speed, is that it has a knock on effect. You speed, then you arrive where you are going (not much sooner than you would have done had you not speeded), but beacuse you have been rushing, you then rush the work there and end up having problems which could delay you. Better to arrive none rushed, take your time doing whatever you have to do, and acheive it without drama, then find you leave there on time, and don’t have to speed to the next stop. It’s how I work and I have a very calm and relaxed day.
Have to disagree with this. I do long distance work maxing out my hours. We are limited to well under 56mph and every single minute makes a huge difference to how the day pans out when its added up: making collections / deliveries, getting parked up in a decent location, making home etc etc - Its not a excuse to break laws and certainly not suggesting people should but small amounts of time do make a difference to the working day.
truckster5:
Have to disagree with this. I do long distance work maxing out my hours. We are limited to well under 56mph and every single minute makes a huge difference to how the day pans out when its added up: making collections / deliveries, getting parked up in a decent location, making home etc etc - Its not a excuse to break laws and certainly not suggesting people should but small amounts of time do make a difference to the working day.
We will just have to agree to disagree, as I personally found that the more I rushed, whether driving or other work, the more likely I was to make mistakes. Now I don’t speed, take my time and generally finish quicker than I would otherwise, and the bonus is I am less tired and not stressed at all. But I don’t max out my hours.
Héraultais:
truckster5:
Have to disagree with this. I do long distance work maxing out my hours. We are limited to well under 56mph and every single minute makes a huge difference to how the day pans out when its added up: making collections / deliveries, getting parked up in a decent location, making home etc etc - Its not a excuse to break laws and certainly not suggesting people should but small amounts of time do make a difference to the working day.We will just have to agree to disagree, as I personally found that the more I rushed, whether driving or other work, the more likely I was to make mistakes. Now I don’t speed, take my time and generally finish quicker than I would otherwise, and the bonus is I am less tired and not stressed at all. But I don’t max out my hours.
if your maxed out and under pressure for getting parked up then your doing it wrong or your being planed wrong.
It seems the more I ask the question drivers all have their own opinions and situations. As a new driver I think I will stick to the rules. I had to follow another driver up the A14 and had to go as hard as I could to keep up. From my limited experience I know that doing 40 single or 50 on a dual most other lorries are all trying to get past me. One driver told me that you aloud 5% +1 over the limit so you don’t have to worry about speed. Another driver said 40 is boring you got to do 50 even on a single carriage way.
Just imagine if you killed someone doing 50 in a 40 you’ll be locked up, but if you were doing 40 then at least speed wouldn’t be a contributing factor.
I must admit that I rush around, just the way I am. Want to get done and home. Before anyone has a go, I’m not saying I break the speed limits or drive dangerously.
You really don’t make up much (if any) time by doing it.
I do a Glasgow run on a Monday morning, I always fuel up at Todhills on my way up, it’s amazing that before I’ve even got the nozzle in the tank, how many motors go past that I thought that I’d now be miles ahead of, having passed them an hour or two before.
Someone dithering at the till, or an engaged loo easily undoes all the stressing and straining you’ve been doing all morning.
When you’re stressed, there is no way you’re concentrating as much.
Easier to get the job done, unstressed, and you’re more likely not to end up in one of those “RIP drive” threads that we see on here all too often.
bald bloke:
Just imagine if you killed someone doing 50 in a 40 you’ll be locked up, but if you were doing 40 then at least speed wouldn’t be a contributing factor.
Be careful with statements like that. You can be within the posted speed limits and be travelling at a speed unsafe for the road conditions so speed does become a contributing factor.
Drive for the conditions of the road and within the posted speed limits.
m1cks:
bald bloke:
Just imagine if you killed someone doing 50 in a 40 you’ll be locked up, but if you were doing 40 then at least speed wouldn’t be a contributing factor.Be careful with statements like that. You can be within the posted speed limits and be travelling at a speed unsafe for the road conditions so speed does become a contributing factor.
Drive for the conditions of the road and within the posted speed limits.
Someone was jailed a year or so ago for driving his van into an existing accident on the A40 outside Uxbridge. This was because he was doing over the speed limit for his vehicle. So what the earlier poster said was true. Of course, you can be going too fast without legally speeding, but the two don’t contradict each other.
Personally, on many single carriageways, the road isn’t wide enough to do more than 40mph, the exception being those which are either about three lanes wide, or more (e.g. the A22 near Uckfield) or which have very good visibility (e.g. the A31 near Alresford). 40mph is quite adequate for most single carriageways. It might be an idea to raise it for lower end rigids, up to about 12 or 15 tonnes, rather than for all HGVs.
The easiest way to simplify it would be to make it 50 mph on A roads and 40 on B/C and other NSL roads. Any roads unsuitable for 50 mph could either be made a B road or would.have a lower limit for all vehicles anyway.
NOVE:
I must admit that I rush around, just the way I am. Want to get done and home. Before anyone has a go, I’m not saying I break the speed limits or drive dangerously.You really don’t make up much (if any) time by doing it.
I do a Glasgow run on a Monday morning, I always fuel up at Todhills on my way up, it’s amazing that before I’ve even got the nozzle in the tank, how many motors go past that I thought that I’d now be miles ahead of, having passed them an hour or two before.
Someone dithering at the till, or an engaged loo easily undoes all the stressing and straining you’ve been doing all morning.
When you’re stressed, there is no way you’re concentrating as much.
Easier to get the job done, unstressed, and you’re more likely not to end up in one of those “RIP drive” threads that we see on here all too often.
It can work the other way too mate
We had a hire truck in limited to 56. On a long Motorway night trunk run one of the drivers using this truck was 10 miles behind me and another driver i was following. Our fleet trucks are limited.
A couple of hours later on arriving at the depot and who should roll up approx 3 minutes after us but the hire truck. He’d basically pulled back 10 miles by being just 4 mph quicker!! Small amounts of time do or certainly can make a difference in certain circumstances.
I’m just using this as a example in regards to the time debate rather than condoning speeding btw 
I nail it to Glasgow as depending on my weight it can take 4.23 to 4.27 to get there.
m1cks:
bald bloke:
Just imagine if you killed someone doing 50 in a 40 you’ll be locked up, but if you were doing 40 then at least speed wouldn’t be a contributing factor.Be careful with statements like that. You can be within the posted speed limits and be travelling at a speed unsafe for the road conditions so speed does become a contributing factor.
Drive for the conditions of the road and within the posted speed limits.
Yeah I realise that but was just generalising.
You never know if an unmarked Police car is behind you.If your operating base is near a single carriagway 40mph limit,Dvsa or Vosa can examine tacho records.
For example,if all the drivers were doing 56 mph before getting on a motorway or a dual carriagway for 50mph they could see speeding offenxes.
Early in the morning or late at night most Police MAY turn a blind eye.And there is Friday rules.Got to get back Friday drivers.