The Wind is taking it toll

tommy t:
If the insurance underwriters/companies where to put a clause in their t&c’s regarding driving in severe weather conditions (ie refusing to pay out ) then this would stop those heartless/clueless office bods threatening a drivers lively hood ect ,There needs to be better protection for employees for this ,as well as proctection for employers from customers, in that it’s seen as an act of god, or as BT openreach put it MBORC (Matters beyond our reasonable control) once a severe weather warning has been issued any delays it’s tuff ■■■■■■■ if it’s delayed end of, is the way things should be and from a drivers point of view nothing is more important than yourself, load and truck come after that,and they can be replaced,you can’t, as said out on the road you are basically on your own ,and soon forgotten should you perrish whilst trying to earn a coin

Yes; its called a "“force majeure” an unforeseen event…however when the winds are blowing at 70/80mph and you land on a poor sods roof killing them after your tacho shows consistent driving in said weather…is it an unforeseen even ? Do you take my point?

raymundo:

Fatboy slimslow:

Thunderbird:

raymundo:
0Quite nice here today … err, No it aint :frowning:

If you took that picture youre in the wrong line of work; great shot :sunglasses:

have a look at his LOCATION! :grimacing: :grimacing: :grimacing: :grimacing:

That’s where I work when I need the money, now at home on leave on the Moray Firth, photo taken by me at Burghead (braving the teeth of the storm lol)

Nice one, google it, you might earn a few quid :sunglasses:

Not long ago the EU were considering making the 4metre height limit law across all the Eu including the UK. All the industry were up in arms because they argued it would mean a lot more trucks on the road. What I can’t inderstand is why that is bad, after all, more trucks equals more drivers, making drivers a valuable commodity, plus travelling abroad when it is windy, you don’t see many trucks blown over poorly due to the wind because of the 4metre height restriction.

@ thunderbird, That’s something that would need to be addressed ,as you could be driving for several hours and could run into bad weather, such as high winds or blizzard conditions,before any severe weather warnings have been issued, there is no black/white solution that could be applied to every situation,
Is why that i suggested about insurance companies making a clause about driving or continuing to drive for longer than nesscerary in severe weather , as this would have a knock on effect with employers, not expecting a driver to risk their lives for the sake of a load ,or £6.31 phr in some cases,lol

Simon:

Thunderbird:

Thunderbird:

fredthered:
Don’t anyone take this the wrong way, but the way it should be is that YOU as the person in charge of and responsible for this LGV must be the one to decide when it is safe to take it onto the public highway.

Bring back common sense (?) and lets stop leaving the decisions of safety to people sat in ivory towers trying to impress the office totty and the boss.

YOU are there - they aren’t!

Dont take this the wrong way either please…there are rules as has been said above for OTHER industries where the decision IS TAKEN away. Why not our industry? Common sense tends to go out of the window when youre faced with the dole que and no money especially at Xmas time…I do take your point, however, it should be taken away from us IMHO as after all we are jointly liable in the matter. Do you agree?

Let us suppose the said company we work for goes BUMP! The disaffected parties then take out a private prosecution again you, the driver? Nothing stopping them doing that…after all YOU knew the risks but took them. There are criminal implications too, gross negligence…shall we go on?

I came off the boat at Immingham this morning. Drove up the M180, M18, A1, A66 and M6. I had a couple of hairy moments but nothing too bad. I was driving a 4m high euroliner with about 10t load. That wagon hadn’t blown over when I came over the 66. It had by the time I’d had my break at The Fleece.
Why should I have parked up ? Because YOU think it’s too dangerous for me to carry on?
I’ll park up when I think it’s too dangerous, I don’t need you or anyone else to make my mind up for me thanks very much.
My boss will accept my decision. He’d rather his wagon and load (and driver) get back in one piece with the goods in deliverable condition.
I’ll park up when I think it’s too dangerous because I lost a mate a few years ago to the wind. Another mate was 100 yards or so behind the one who got blown over, he still hasn’t fully recovered from that experience. He got home tonight as well.

Well I’m sorry for the loss of your friend and I’m glad you made it home safe (tonight). I have done many runs in 16 footers for Palletforce and been fortunate…I’m sure your boss is very proud of you. I’m talking about a general consensus here, NOT JUST YOU. Collective agreement that should be in place as a matter of course and a duty of care to others, we all have it. It just falls down in this industry IMHO when we are expected to do what others wouldn’t. As I said common sense takes a back seat when mouths need feeding and a roof needs to be kept over heads. Your actions and opinions (although I respect them and you are freely welcome to converse them) will do nothing to change things…IF we as drivers in this industry dont go about looking out for ourselves AND ultimately our families who will…? Oh, when your boss respects your decision after you have God for bid wiped out some people under your trailer…how far do you think he will be behind you…? I’d say about a P45 and a dismissal for your said decision …

So yet again you want to give your professional decisions to someone else :unamused:

Grow a pair.

who me ? I’ll tell you now if i thought it was too dangerous for me to continue then i wouldn’t do so, the boss or office staff could rant & rave all they wanted i still wouldn’t be changing my mind

But if these bosses who don’t give a stuff about their drivers where to get some pressure from other directions such as insurance saying no we ain’t gonna pay , or some other advise not to travel was ignored rendering bossman liable should their be a fatalities as a result would negate the need for a driver to have to tell their boss they aint doing it ect, and risk ending up out of a job (indirectly of course)

tommy t:
@ thunderbird, That’s something that would need to be addressed ,as you could be driving for several hours and could run into bad weather, such as high winds or blizzard conditions,before any severe weather warnings have been issued, there is no black/white solution that could be applied to every situation,
Is why that i suggested about insurance companies making a clause about driving or continuing to drive for longer than nesscerary in severe weather , as this would have a knock on effect with employers, not expecting a driver to risk their lives for the sake of a load ,or £6.31 phr in some cases,lol

I agree with you there Tommy-T, it is a difficult scenario we have in this industry…what I would like is some proper debate and legislation in force, put to an MP, Green Paper Job. It is important, not just in respects of the weather situation at the moment. There is a total grey area where IMHO it falls on a driver. YES, I respect common sense, however, in the real life/terms it goes out the window. We have all been there, wanting to get home, a party, a wedding, a funeral. So we take the risks because ultimately in the end the office will see you drive through hell and back and ask you to take some returns on the way!! Then it falls on our toes, when the brown stuff hits the fan we all know whos feet it falls on…office recorded conversations go missing, you’re on you’re own lad.

Surely the purpose of this site is for the Driver and his well-being and good information CHANGE, if we cant do this nobody else will.

Simon:
So yet again you want to give your professional decisions to someone else :unamused:

Grow a pair.

Yeah I do when MY BALLS are on the line hero…your 7/8/9/15 pound an hour job worth it lad?

To get the government to listen you would have to put emphasises on the danger to other road users, as they clearly don’t like or respect about lorry drivers in the UK , a lorry gets blown over it’s an inconvienence causing delays to all those car drivers who have far more important jorneys to make ect ect they ain’t intestested in the driver of that lorry they/we are two a penny

How do you set up a Poll for drivers to vote on this subject Moderator Simon?

Thunderbird:

Simon:
So yet again you want to give your professional decisions to someone else :unamused:

Grow a pair.

Yeah I do when MY BALLS are on the line hero…your 7/8/9/15 pound an hour job worth it lad?

Try being a driver, instead of asking someone else to decide for you.
You are the one with the keys.
You are the one with all the relevant information at your finger tips.
It’s part of your job to make these decisions for yourself according to that information.
If it’s too dangerous, PARK UP.

And you can shove your self righteous crap right up your ring piece too, boy.
I’m not claiming to be a hero. I’m a truck driver that used my experience and the information at my finger tips to make a decision. My decision was to carry on for now and reassess. That is what I did from rolling off the boat to parking up in the yard.
Yes, some wagons went over.
One of those was on the Friarton Bridge (A90, Perth). At that time the bridge was closed to high siders. That driver decided to ignore the warning signs and try to cross that bridge.
Several others were stopped, forced to park up and charged with careless driving, for doing the same thing on other bridges.
Millions of miles were also driven by thousands of other truck drivers with no incident, in exactly the same conditions.
Those are all heroes?
Or just other drivers who did the same as me, assessed as they went, stopped if they needed to or carried on if they felt it was safe enough.

Like I said earlier, grow some balls and maybe you’ll be a driver one day.
But not if you keep insisting it’s someone else’s responsibility to make your decisions for you.

tommy t:
To get the government to listen you would have to put emphasises on the danger to other road users, as they clearly don’t like or respect about lorry drivers in the UK , a lorry gets blown over it’s an inconvienence causing delays to all those car drivers who have far more important jorneys to make ect ect they ain’t intestested in the driver of that lorry they/we are two a penny

With due respect T-T that attitude never gets anyone anywhere…I understand your lack of zeal about this because all this industry does is moan, nothing more or less. CHANGE has to start somewhere…forget about what OTHER people think, what do you and other drivers think…? Shall we try and do something, to make a change? …POLL? it’s a start?

Thunderbird:
How do you set up a Poll for drivers to vote on this subject Moderator Simon?

You want to pass the buck again? :unamused:

Start a new topic.
There are boxes to fill in to set up a poll. On a tab in the bottom grey section of that page.
Then click Preview, to make sure it looks the way you want it to.
Adjust things if required, click Preview again to check.
Then click Submit.

Simon:

Thunderbird:

Simon:
So yet again you want to give your professional decisions to someone else :unamused:

Grow a pair.

Yeah I do when MY BALLS are on the line hero…your 7/8/9/15 pound an hour job worth it lad?

Try being a driver, instead of asking someone else to decide for you.
You are the one with the keys.
You are the one with all the relevant information at your finger tips.
It’s part of your job to make these decisions for yourself according to that information.
If it’s too dangerous, PARK UP.

And you can shove your self righteous crap right up your ring piece too, boy.
I’m not claiming to be a hero. I’m a truck driver that used my experience and the information at my finger tips to make a decision. My decision was to carry on for now and reassess. That is what I did from rolling off the boat to parking up in the yard.
Yes, some wagons went over.
One of those was on the Friarton Bridge (A90, Perth). At that time the bridge was closed to high siders. That driver decided to ignore the warning signs and try to cross that bridge.
Several others were stopped, forced to park up and charged with careless driving, for doing the same thing on other bridges.
Millions of miles were also driven by thousands of other truck drivers with no incident, in exactly the same conditions.
Those are all heroes?
Or just other drivers who did the same as me, assessed as they went, stopped if they needed to or carried on if they felt it was safe enough.

Like I said earlier, grow some balls and maybe you’ll be a driver one day.
But not if you keep insisting it’s someone else’s responsibility to make your decisions for you.

What a load of pretentious crap boy!

I’ve done just a few miles myself…all with the thought of how is some [zb] waiting to shaft me…and this being the ideal situation. You are my hero, can I have a signed photo please? The POINT here is big BALLS is where does the buck stop? I’ll tell ye, with you, you doughnut and as Ive said, ultimately is it worth anybodies life? AND you may have mill plus miles under your belt, but many other drivers havent, considered that ? Why if your said example is the template for this industry have numerous haulage drivers been killed in high winds? Set that against another industry? Narrow and bigoted opinion, but just my opinion and I’m welcome to it as you are big balls.

Simon:

Thunderbird:
How do you set up a Poll for drivers to vote on this subject Moderator Simon?

You want to pass the buck again? :unamused:

Start a new topic.
There are boxes to fill in to set up a poll. On a tab in the bottom grey section of that page.
Then click Preview, to make sure it looks the way you want it to.
Adjust things if required, click Preview again to check.
Then click Submit.

pass nothing me mate, esp not a Buck, just like you Jocks, wouldnt give a door a slam!! :smiley:

Thunderbird:

Simon:

Thunderbird:
How do you set up a Poll for drivers to vote on this subject Moderator Simon?

You want to pass the buck again? :unamused:

Start a new topic.
There are boxes to fill in to set up a poll. On a tab in the bottom grey section of that page.
Then click Preview, to make sure it looks the way you want it to.
Adjust things if required, click Preview again to check.
Then click Submit.

pass nothing me mate, esp not a Buck, just like you Jocks, wouldnt give a door a slam!! :smiley:

Should you reply; I’m off for a ■■■■ and a ■■■, then to bed…I’ll get back to you tomorrow when the winds have died down, keep smiling :wink:

Firm I worked for about 8 years ago now once had the police come in to the yard and say don’t send any vehicles out until we give you the go ahead,it really was the worst wind iv ever experienced.as soon as the police went they were trying to send drivers on there way and when questioned said not interested things need delivering and threatening disaplinery action to those who would not do as they said.
That day 3 went over on the M1 near Barnsley I pulled in and called it a day and got all sorts of abuse down the phone,got to my drop next day apologised for been late and the bloke said don’t worry mate no point risking your safety for a load to be late.
If only some traffic office staff would have the same attitude…

If you’re bricking it, park up. They don’t pay you enough to be be bricking it at work.

disgo:
Some drivers don’t help themselves though.2 blown over on the Ouse bridge M62 at Goole rather than go round.

Yesterday morning this bridge was closed to HGV’s and most went though Goole so would they still be covered with insurance or would it be you ignored the advice no cover.