Being a new C+E licence holder, young, very little experience, a previous defacement of my counterpart for speeding a few years ago and lucky to find myself even in a job. Why is it I seem to be the ONLY truck doing the speed limit?
The vehicle is fitted with a tachograph making it possible to prove what speed you were doing at any point that Police/Vosa wish and I imagine speeding in an LGV is dealt with mush harsher than it is in a car (44tonne can do a lot more damage). So why would I want to risk sitting at 56mph in a 50 or 50+ in a 40?
The reason I brought it up is that iāve been using the A14 all week and the speed limit is 50mph, yet I seemed to get overtaken by everyone and everything other than the ones carrying something so heavy I doubt they could reach the speed limit. Same issue on the A46 and A605, me sitting at 40mph, single carriageway, big tailback and trucks constantly right up my arse overtaking at every opportunity. Makes me feel like im causing everyone a huge inconvenience by sticking to the limitā¦
Kiowan:
Makes me feel like im causing everyone a huge inconvenience by sticking to the limitā¦
Do what you know to be right and drive for yourself and not others where the speed limit is an issue.
Try this - am I safe, am I legal and am I as convenient as possible (keeping the first two answers in mind)? - if yes - SOD the rest but be aware of their actions.
Kiowan:
Makes me feel like im causing everyone a huge inconvenience by sticking to the limitā¦
At the end of the day it is the law and it is your licenceā¦
However we all know the law is an ā ā ā and i suggest you use your discretionā¦ ā¦when you look in your mirror and see a 30 car tailback behind you just remember that the people of the back of that queue wont be cruising along at 40mph like yourself, they will be doing 20/30mph due to the nature of a tailbackā¦they tend to concertinaā¦ also when your sat there with your cruise control set to 40mph and you see a hillā¦knock it off and accelerate up the hill ā¦dont allow yourself to drop down to 30mph like so many drivers doā¦ the poor people in that tailback will actually grind to a halt
Personally i never drive at 50mph on a dual carrigewayā¦ i dont understand how anybody could go say from Rugby (start of A14) to Ipswich at 50mph, im not really fussed if you choose to because i can easily overtake you unlike on a single carrigeway road but come on we can only use 2 lanes of a Motorway yet we can legally do 60mph, dual carrigeways only have 2 lanes yet we have to go 50 ā ā
I would love to know when the speed limits for trucks were introducedā¦was it the same time as the braking distances for cars in the highway code because we all know that cars and trucks are now far superior to there counterparts when these rules were 1st introduced ā¦ me thinks they need to be revised
For a start most trucks which say they are doing 56mph more than likely doing 54mph if not less, on a SatNav for a 50mph limit wouldnt you need to be doing 55mph to get done for speeding.
I know there is some tollerances with speed limits, 32mph in a 30mph, well according to police guidelines.
I never seen the police enforce the 50mph HGV limit on dual carriageways, had them cruise past me loads of times when doing supposedly 56mph
Kenny1975:
Can you get done doing 56mph in a 50mph limit ?
For a start most trucks which say they are doing 56mph more than likely doing 54mph if not less, on a SatNav for a 50mph limit wouldnt you need to be doing 55mph to get done for speeding.
I know there is some tollerances with speed limits, 32mph in a 30mph, well according to police guidelines.
I never seen the police enforce the 50mph HGV limit on dual carriageways, had them cruise past me loads of times when doing supposedly 56mph
Kind of exactly my pointā¦ i seriously doubt that anyone will get done for doing 56 on a dual carrigewayā¦ but some people are so scraed of the law that they will set the cruise to 48mph just to be safe lolā¦ in truth they are doing 45mph and yes ANNOYING the hell out of every other driver on the road
One of my friends (mmtm although he has no reason to lie) got a severe telling off for doing 56 on a dual carriageway, the A55 in N Wales, Mr Brunstromās territory I believe.
Kiowan:
Being a new C+E licence holder, young, very little experience, a previous defacement of my counterpart for speeding a few years ago and lucky to find myself even in a job. Why is it I seem to be the ONLY truck doing the speed limit?
Donāt worry, I feel the same way occasionally. And I certainly get some abuse from other drivers, mostly truckers, when they pass me at the dual carriageway sections for doing 50mph on an single carriageway road (I drive 7.5t). Youāre sticking to the limit and the law, donāt worry
Kiowan:
The vehicle is fitted with a tachograph making it possible to prove what speed you were doing at any point that Police/Vosa wish and I imagine speeding in an LGV is dealt with mush harsher than it is in a car (44tonne can do a lot more damage). So why would I want to risk sitting at 56mph in a 50 or 50+ in a 40?
One TM told me āThe tacho doesnāt know where you are, you can go to the limiterā yeah right.
Kiowan:
The reason I brought it up is that iāve been using the A14 all week and the speed limit is 50mph, yet I seemed to get overtaken by everyone and everything other than the ones carrying something so heavy I doubt they could reach the speed limit. Same issue on the A46 and A605, me sitting at 40mph, single carriageway, big tailback and trucks constantly right up my arse overtaking at every opportunity. Makes me feel like im causing everyone a huge inconvenience by sticking to the limitā¦
Dude. Youāre sticking to the law. Youāre not alone you know. I think the supermarket wagons stick to the law too.
You would only notice those who are passing you or going slower than you if you are sticking to the limit as you would never meet all the others sticking to the same limit.
I rememeber one driver telling me years ago going up to Inverness on the A9 doing the speed limit 40mph was told to get a F***** move on by the police because of the large Q of traffic behind him.
The single carriageway 40mph guess it depends where you are in the country but a lot of forces dont seem to enforce it but then again you can get unluckly and find areas where it is.
Police guidelines have minimum speeds to charge someone with speeding usually around about 10% over the limit.
30mph limit charged over 32mph
50mph - 55mph
70mph - 77mph
Since as i said before most trucks saying they are doing 90kmph are actually doing more like between 52-54mph unlikely to get charged for speeding.
ACPO guidelines as I understood them was 10% + 2mph. (except 20 zone +3)
Iāve found them from the horseās mouth - ACPO Speeding Word Doc
(If you donāt have MS Word, use OpenOffice (free) or Google it and view as HTML.)
That document is fairly old now - the 10% + 2 guidance is reasonable but I suspect there are some over zealous mobile camera vans out there that would nick you for less.
Their survival is at stake - human nature & all that ā¦
Stick to what youve been taught & stay legal, Remember its your license & not guy behind getting frustrated.
Take any advice from this site with a pinch of salt as it may not always be the right thing to do.
That deadline youve got to meet dont mean nothing if your 6ft under.
I recently posted a What would you do in this scenario post & it had some interesting results & now if i can move over or do something to help the people behind i wil but you wont always have the opertunity or the numpty behind just aint got a blues clue to see your giving him that opertunity.
Most of all Enjoy your job & dont let it get you down, treat it more of a hobby & do it right, do it once the first time.
just browsing through some of the Q&A one came up about speeding,like others have said itās your licence do what you feel comfortable at.one of the other remarks was about supermarket trucks,there is a good reason for staying legal it boils down to image all the supermarket trucks are highly visible to the public and are know as ''a tesco or a j sainsbury truckāwhere as jps transport from hull is a bit different they are not so high profile so it comes down to if the public see a supermarket truck doing stupid things/speeding then it gives the company a bad image and that is very bad for them,thats why we go slower than most and we are told to do it as well give an example ā¦ 1900hrs start 30 minutes vehicle check leave depot 19.30 time allowed to deliver to plymouth store 4hrs 30 minutes(from bristol).why speed?to sit in a lay-by and wait?
exelman:
just browsing through some of the Q&A one came up about speeding,like others have said itās your licence do what you feel comfortable at.one of the other remarks was about supermarket trucks,there is a good reason for staying legal it boils down to image all the supermarket trucks are highly visible to the public and are know as ''a tesco or a j sainsbury truckāwhere as jps transport from hull is a bit different they are not so high profile so it comes down to if the public see a supermarket truck doing stupid things/speeding then it gives the company a bad image and that is very bad for them,thats why we go slower than most and we are told to do it as well give an example ā¦ 1900hrs start 30 minutes vehicle check leave depot 19.30 time allowed to deliver to plymouth store 4hrs 30 minutes(from bristol).why speed?to sit in a lay-by and wait?
Welcome Exelman - weāve been waiting a while for you, it would appear!!
Let me guess - Emerald Parkā ā ?
I can see where youāre coming from with this, however the idea relies on the majority of other road users understanding the speed limits. Which Iād say 80% donāt.
During my time on an Exel supermarket contract, I got called into the office to be told that someone had rung up Well Driven? and complained that I was driving dangerously slowly along the A16. The relevant tacho was blown up on the tacho scanning computer system, checked and revealed I was doing 64km/h at the time. I wasnāt the only one this happened to either.
Supermarkets do want to be seen as being professional - thatās why they use the likes of Well Driven?. But I think they should then go back to the people who complain and say, āWell actually our vehicle was travelling at the speed limit of 40 mph along that road and we have tachograph and telemetric evidence to support this.ā I feel this would show them up in an even better light.
Firstly I agree with what you said about the A14 (try the A34 from M40 to Southampton it is just as bad!) being used as a race track as I have lost count of how many times I have been passed by trucks doing 56mph on the limiter.
Wherever possible I stick to the limits as much as I can as I don,t get paid to break the law (my bosses words not mine!) so whether I agree with the limits or not is irrelevant as the law (rightly or wrongly) is there to be complied with and even if drivers don,t agree with the limits (which sometimes I don,t) it doesn,t mean the way to change the law is to break them only idiots think that breaking the law is going to change them.
Something to think about as in most cases of a holdup it is not necessarily you, the 1st vehicle that is causing the problem it is the 2nd one who invariably can,t or in some cases won,t overtake you and ad infinitum then you get the qeue behind you.
Why do they do it when they are fully aware of the speed limits, do they think the boss gives them brownie points for breaking the law or to put it another way āIFā they do get prosecuted due to say being involved in an accident serious or even fatal and they are defending their living in front of the magistrate for dangerous driving or even manslaughter do these idiots think the boss will be on their side, that is when they find out (the hard way) you are on your own mate!!!
Remember one thing your licence is āVOCATIONALā and can be withdrawn at any time at the behest of the VOSA and they certainly will if they think you are not fit to hold a HGV licence.
You are the ONLY one responsible for the manner in which the vehicle is being driven so why worry about the idiots who have a total disregard for the law my attitude is āB******* to themā they are not my problem I don,t see the point in risking my living to keep up with idiots who put two fingers up to the law and then scream about being prosecuted when they get caught and how unfair the system is.
.
although he has no reason to lie) got a severe telling off for doing 56 on a dual carriageway, the A55 in N Wales, Mr Brunstromās territory I believe.
