The TRUTH about single carriageways

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

this is really really starting to do my nut in. I’m hoping you guys will be able to shed some light on this and help me out…

It’s as if there is some sort of “unwritten rule” among almost every other truck driver except me that that instead of adhering to the legal limit of 40 (which incidently i happen to disagree with a lot of the time, but it’s the law and who am I to change it), you instead keep the foot down to the limiter, flash other truckies to warn them of the cam vans and then slow down just for the van. I’ve had all sorts of gestures being made at me as people finally get their chance to overtake, even racial ones once or twice : :confused: One guy driving an artic who had already tried to overtake me and almost killed the poor micra driver who came round the approaching bend before he quickly pulled back in; opened his window and gave it ALL SORTS as he passed me, rubbing his hands against his face and shouting blah blah, but wasn’t HE the one who should have been doing 40 as well?? It made me feel as if I was doing something wrong but then I wasn’t, or was I? I don’t even know any more to be honest…

Now I will admit I am relatively inexperienced, only a class 2 driver and been on the roads for just over a year now but I always stick to the limit of whatever type of road I’m on. Even though in a lot of cases I know it’s completely ridiculous and would be perfectly safe to go faster and not hold people up and make them frustrated but I want my licence to stay clean with no points.

I really used to really enjoy truck driving when I first started but now it’s starting to make me dread any journey that involves a SC and as u guys know a lot of the roads we have to use do. I just hate having to be the one who has to pull in to the side every 15 mins or so to avoid there being a serious overtaking accident while all the other traffic (even artics!) speed away home in front of me. I think if i was absolutely certain of the fact there were no hidden cameras i’d have my foot down on the limiter too to be honest. I know it is perfectly safe a lot of the time, but it’s just the risk of tarnishing my licence and I am not prepared to take it. Unfortunately I really feel like I’m on my own on this. :angry:

Do you guys have any views on this? Any honest feedback or advice appreciated, cheers :unamused:

2

You dont set the speed limits, the goverment do, so dont worry about whats going on behind you and enjoy your job. If they want to overtake let them and if there is a layby you can pull into to allow a few past then do it but dont inconvenience yourself, like i said we dont set the speed limits.

I have been driving for twenty years and lorries for seven years and never had a point or endorsement, and hope to keep it that way, touch wood. :slight_smile: the idiots that speed down single carriage ways are the ones you hear on the traffic news on a daily basis about another lorry has lost its load or fell over.

I pressume your paid by the hour, so who wants to rush anyway. :wink:

3

You do right, you did’nt set the limit if they don’t like it sat behind you tough.

4

I am salaried paid so less hours at work the better…

make of that what you will

5

Agree with the others.let the wallys get mad and high blood pressure if they want,its not your fault. me personally stick to the limit and when i look in mirrors at the queue i think :smiling_imp: “hey i got my ownqueue”
Seriously if you speed up just to accomodate the idiots behind you then get flashed or whatever the rest will laugh and think glad it wasn’t me and drive past looking like angels.
SOD EM mate do your own thing and drive how you see fit.

6

Its your licence.
My company enforce our speed limits by doing random checks.Its not worth speeding.
Ive worked for companys where your told the load is urgent.When you get there your sat in the queue with the rest.

i don’t like driving along a wide road with a line of traffic behind me.But they would just drive by when i get pulled for speeding.

You are doing it right mate…It’s a pity 90% of the other so called PROFFESIONAL DRIVERS can’t act as a proffesional.

Tony b

7

You keep your clean licence!

An angel I am not! But like you I do try to stick to the law. On saying that I agree that the 40 limit is slightly outdated now(In a lot of cases anyway), as is the 70 limit for cars on a motorway.

Just keep doing what you are doing, whilst keeping a good eye on what’s going on behind you.

It seems to be everyday now you hear on the radio of a pile up involving trucks and cars.

Salaried or hourly paid, I just don’t think it is worth the risk.

Keep on trucking!

8

:open_mouth: Just keep out of the way, Grandma! :laughing:

9

You stick to your guns and the speed limit. Transport is such a crap job nowadays partly because in the past the " gung ho,I can do that run in 5 mins less than anyone else drivers " have charged around disregarding the speed limits. Now the bosses are saying " why did it take so long, all the other drivers only take whatever time to do it ".

I stick to the speed limit unless my back is up against it and then I will put the foot down but if I end up behind a truck that is sticking to the speed limit then I accept it with good grace and don’t do the usual idiot tricks of sitting on their back door or pulling out every now and then to intimidate them a bit.

At the end of the day a good driver is one that gets his load to it’s destination in one piece and within a timescale that can be achieved without breaking the speed restrictions or tacho rules.

10

smile!:
Now I will admit I am relatively inexperienced, only a class 2 driver and been on the roads for just over a year

What do you mean■■? Only a class 2 driver.
We’ve all been there and done it, it’s just that some, like the example you gave, can’t remember so long ago.
Just over a year■■?, we’ve all been there as well, and once again, some people can’t remember that long back either.

11

I agree with you - I tend to stick to the speed limit, even if I don’t agree with it !!! Although since I am generally driving at night other drivers can normally get past me easily enough. Seems that if you stick to the limit you are in the minority, which is a shame - if we all stuck to it then the numpty car drivers would all complain and something would be more likely to be done about it - certainly on the main routes.

G

12

Dafman:
You do right, you did’nt set the limit if they don’t like it sat behind you tough.

Ditto to that :smiley:

13

You could slow down to 35 mph and really rile them :laughing: .
The "we have never had a problem with that run before with the time limits " discussion is one i have now and again with the desk jockeys .

14

high time the roads in the uk were reclassified, we’re still working to a system that was devised 50 years ago, fair enough 40 mph is fast enough on some A roads but on others to do that speed you make your self a hazard, i do a regular run to scotland twice a week the second ending up in inverness so i pick a backload up from dingwall top side which means running down the a9 110 mile to perth, this is 70% single carriageway although in it’s entirety wide and mostly bang straight for the most part where you can see a mile or more down the road, for us this is obviously a 40mph limit, nobody and i mean nobody does 40mph on that road, came down it thursday afternoon and caught up with a lad doing about 45, no problem to me but within 10 minutes there was a long que of cars behind us and not much longer before a few got frustrated and started attempting suicide moves to get past, clearly on roads such as this a 50 mph limit for hgv’s would be the safest option for everyone concerned, so do you use your judgement as a professional driver or do you adhere to the legal limit?

15

this is 70% single carriageway although in it’s entirety wide and mostly bang straight for the most part where you can see a mile or more down the road, for us this is obviously a 40mph limit, nobody and i mean nobody does 40mph on that road, came down it thursday afternoon and caught up with a lad doing about 45

Sorry to correct you - when I was doing Inverness or Dingwall then I stuck to the 40, if it is Elgin then I may have inadvertantly been slightly quicker … … …

I may be the only one though - other than the snow ploughs that is !!

G

16

Look Matey stick by your guns, I got six points for 44 in a 50 and 46 in a 50 in two days, has not affected my job but pushed the car insurance up :cry:

17

I’ll agree, stick to the limits. It aint worth the hassle.

Although around 2 weeks ago I was cruising along the A66 (The dual carriagway bit, going downhill) When I suddenly spotted the dreaded scamera van parked up on the steepest part of the hill, full load of doors on meant my speed has creapt up to about 56mph, hopefully the other 4 trucks in front shielded me! We’ll have to see…

Yesterday on my way to Bridlington, sticking to the 40 limit there was an artic behind me indulging in what I can only describe as bullying tactics, tailgating around 10 feet off my rear end and pulling out and trying to intimidate me, not a chance there (ex-bus driver see, I KNOW how to handle fools like him) I just slowed to about 35 and that really ■■■■■■ him off, eventually he overtook in what I can only say were “iffy” conditions, his decision.

18

after mate got pulled by cops for overtaking and meeting cop car comming the opposite way,getting a fax from head office saying my truck had been seen tearing down a single carriage way by a director, then vosa on a stop about 6 months ago picking up on me leaving base and doing 56 m.p.h when its 30mph then about 15 miles of 40mph[ wondered why he asked me what route id taken that day]. ive now decided to stick to the limits and funnily enough it only takes me about 5 mins longer to get to the motorway than it did on the limiter even though it feels like your hardly moving, assume its because at 40 you seem to keep going wheras at 56 you seem to be stop start ,only thing i can think of.

19

paul b:

running down the a9, 110 mile to Perth, this is 70% single carriageway although in it’s entirety wide and mostly bang straight for the most part where you can see a mile or more down the road, for us this is obviously a 40mph limit, nobody and i mean nobody does 40mph on that road, came down it Thursday afternoon and caught up with a lad doing about 45, no problem to me but within 10 minutes there was a long queue of cars behind us and not much longer before a few got frustrated and started attempting suicide moves to get past, clearly on roads such as this a 50 mph limit for hgv’s would be the safest option for everyone concerned, so do you use your judgement as a professional driver or do you adhere to the legal limit?

The A9, Inverness to Perth, straight :question: :question: :question: :open_mouth: Thats not quite how I remember it, have they done a lot of straightening work in the last 7 years :question:
(There was a story, several years back now, that the Highlands Police approached the supermarket chains. Asking them to ask their truck drivers to drive at 50 rather than 40 on the A9 north of Perth. The reply was that if their drivers wouldn’t be prosecuted for speeding, by camera vans etc, then they would quite happily instruct their drivers to do so. Unfortunately the Police wouldn’t agree to that, so the 40 limit is adhered to). :open_mouth: :open_mouth: :laughing:

I have to say I’m no angel and tend to run at a speed slightly higher than the legal limit on wide single track roads, well below my limiter though.
I quite often find a speed limiter trucker catching me up. They then usually stay just off my back bumper, sitting well out on the white line. This means that cars catching us up have very little chance of getting past. Not only do they have two artics to get past, it’s also very difficult for them to have the sight-lines so they can be sure it’s safe to go.

As we all know, car drivers are generally pretty poor drivers anyway. They seem to need a written notice, in triplicate, 3 weeks in advance, informing them that this 2 mile straight piece of road just ahead will be clear, so it’ll be quite safe to pull out and overtake that truck doing 40 (or so) mph. Not all I hasten to add, but a horribly high percentage.

Now if my new best friend (well they must be, I wouldn’t let a stranger get that close) was to hold back a bit and drive in a more normal road position, car drivers might be able to get past us by leap-frogging us instead of having to get past at least 35 metres of fairly quickly moving truck.

20

probably didn’t word that very well, no it’s not straight but you’ll agree that on the majority of it you can see a long way down the road and as single A roads go, it’s probably as good as it gets.
always surprisses me how many claim to stick to the speed limits but their never on the road when i am, even the supermarket men run at 50 on the a9.