Good thing that the driver CPC will be enforced all around Europe to ensure a better quality of driver. An International database of hauliers with a register of all listed directors and TM’s is also being established so that rogue firms can be targeted and punished accordingly.
To tackle cross border impact to the European transport industry the EU is going to create a series of zones similar to the london underground system. A zone will contain your own country with a fixed fee paid annualy(or each trip) to travel to the zones outside yours. Numbers of zones will be clearly visible in the windscreen anyone in a zone without the correct cover will be fined or have the truck taken.
Thanks to Alistair Darlings strict campaigning of the EU similar subsidy measures will be afforded to the transport industry (as the farming industry) by way of using monies taken from the above scheme to subsidise fuel to hauliers based upon a fixed EU PPLitre. Any country paying less than the fixed price will incurr additional chages when they leave their home zone.
Ring Ring Ring Ring, and then Nomad awoke it was all a dream he was where he started last night in a services in Exeter cold hungry and dying for a tinkle!!
Just a few ideas incase anyone from the Fat Cat Brigade in Central London is looking at the site.
All trucks entering this country should have to pay tolls to get any further than the docks…we`re taxed enough, start taxing them NOW!
Fuel tank size for visiting trucks should be limited on Health & Safety grounds, then visitors would have to fill up in this country…why should we be the only ones paying for OVERTAXED FUEL !
Every foriegn truck coming in has to be VOSA checked at port of entry, yes, it would take ages, stuff `em… ever been stuck at an overseas port waiting for customs clearance!
haulier:
Watched the program tonight some very interesting points raised and a bit of an eye opener as to how these eastern european drivers are worked, let’s hope them practises don’t take off over here!!! But one thing shouldn’t the side swipe issue be put across a bit more, i’m not going to pipe on about how many miles i’ve driven or countries visited but it’s becoming an increasing problem with numpty car and van drivers slowing down when catching up slower moving vehicles in the middle lane and sitting along side you on the motorway somtimes in your blind spot, refusing to move over into lane three when you’ve got your indicator on. They’re hard work in a RHD vehicle these LHD trucks have a far greater degree of blind spot. When is it going to become mandatory to have a motorway driving course and test and get some form of appreciation in first before being allowed onto the motorway network?
I agree with all of this, and being a rookie HGV1 convert after years in white vans has made me very aware how many blind spots we have to contend with. Especially bad in slow moving multi-lane traffic like the M1 roadworks where cars and bikes keep switching lanes under your front corners, and the likes of the Kegworth M1/A50/A6/A453 roundabout with 3 narrow lanes all going through traffic lights at similar speeds. Cars darting from lane to lane. Big potential for side-swipes but luckily only at low speeds.
I was impressed with Quentin Wilson for stressing how bad our visibility is in certain directions, but a little surprised that no mention was made of efforts being made to combat the problem i.e. all those freshnell lenses that have been given out to truckers. Many trucks are using these now, but maybe they should be compulsory.
If nothing else, car drivers and bikers who watched the program should now realise why it is risky to sit alongside trucks in the same position for any longer than necessary when overtaking. Taking HGV 2 and 1 tests and riding motor bikes certainly makes you a better car driver too.
Stupid ■■■■■■■ driver not checking mirrors is a problem .
Coming back from a weekend away in the car , family in it . Irish plated left ■■■■■■ with all the mirrors and all the lights and assorterd chrome , approaching dual carriageway roundabout , both lanes straight on type roundabout . The line he was taking just didn’t look right to me , coming up beside him approaching the roundabout , both slowing down for it .
The line he wanted had racing line written all over it , I backed off and said to my missus watch this he will cut all the lanes to thrash the roundabout . Yup racing line was the one he took . If I had set off at the same time as him I would have been under his trailer .
The road was quiet and it was obvious the driver had gotten into the swing of the road being quiet and not checked his mirror approaching the roundabout and entering the roundabout . Good job I anticipated his move other wise that would have been a nasty accident . Some other poor ■■■■■■■ might not have gotten away with it .
He knew I was there when I caught him up after the roundabout and gave him some horn .
Excellent first hand experience of a common sterotype …Irish and left ■■■■■■
Can we have one of those "I would have carried on because it’s not my fault he is driving into an accident and going to flatten me " type discussions now .
jessicas dad:
i missed the programme but the title was a little off putting… what was it killer lorries or something.
i cannot fathom out why oh why they wont introduce a vinginette scheme here.
The fact is,this country is up [zb] creek,and we allow anyone and everyone access to this country,and all it’s services for free,without any contribution whatsoever.
Well you might let foreigners into your god forsaken country and give them everything for free - but I as a British passport holder have to bloody well pay if I need the NHS. After having paid my dues in the UK for 33 years, including 10 years in the British Army as well, I am NOT ENTITLED TO FREE bugger all.
Good thing that the driver CPC will be enforced all around Europe to ensure a better quality of driver. An International database of hauliers with a register of all listed directors and TM’s is also being established so that rogue firms can be targeted and punished accordingly.
Not so Im afraid. I did a drivers course at work the other week, problem was it was all in Spanish - now I speak Spanish, but reading and writing is different. So the Instructor just signed me off as passed.
You can bet your life that we (in Spain) and many other countries will simply “buy” the cpc - Britain of course will employ thousands of inspectors, it will cost a fortune and you will all moan because youre the only ones who do it properly - again.
Never watched it couldnt be arsed, knew what it would be about similar programs on before, just make me angry. Seen one with VOSA checking foreign trucks and 1/4 defective, think serious and other figures for breaking of drivers hours huge percentages of the foreign trucks being pulled.
That program was on a year or so ago.
I think we should leave Europe, well in terms of truck regulations, they are a joke. Speed limiters conflict with our speed limits, euro tacho rules conflict with UK domestic rules. Euro rules are supposed to be for safety, and whats worse we can’t enforce them against foreign drivers !
The rules are based on FAIR COMPETITION, what a laugh. Fair competition if everyone was playing the same game, get foreign trucks running on cheap diesel over here, paying crap wages, getting drivers to completly disreguard hours rules and in some cases no speed limiters and nothing happens when they come over here. Well thats not true, after they wipe out a family will get maybe jailed for a few months.
UK driver would loose licence and jailed for certain things foreign drivers over here do as standard. Infact any tiny indiscression and the self rightous police or VOSA will come down on you like a ton of bricks.
Drivers CPC a good thing, yeah for half wits crashing trucks in foreign countries and for training agencies, they will be rubbing their hands. What about drivers driven for years clean licence, no accident record, suddenly gotta fork out even more hard earned cash to get tested by some guy they prob have much more on the road experience than. Whilst no doubt other countries it will be a back hander or just fill in a form making zero difference.
We are the mugs of Europe and our industry is screwed is just gonna be huge companies operating here and its a sad day.
Back in the late 80s when i used to drive a desk for an Irish freight forwarders, I can remember if a(Southrn) Irish driver got a pull for overload or hours, he’d end up in front of the magistrate (and at the police station if it was next day) and fined. He wouldn’t be allowed to continue until the fine had been paid. Many a time we would end up paying the fine to get the truck moving if it had our freight on it and recover from the Irish truck company later. Can’t work out why that system can’t be applied now.
And as stated before, if they limited the amount of fuel in the tanks of the foreign trucks on the way in - not difficult- then they are paying for the use of our roads at least and it shouldn’t be ridiculously expensive to administer.
There wouldnt be much to gain by limiting the amount of fuel we bring into the UK. If I fill up in Irun on the Spanish / French border then I only have about 700 litres by the time I get to the UK - thats half tanks. Apart form that it is illegal under EEU law to charge us for fuel upon which we have already paid duty.
That aside British hauliers need to force the issue of over taxation by the UK government on derv. I beleive nearly 80% of the cost of derv in the UK is tax - if thats the case why the hell are the roads in such a bloody awful condition?
As I said before on a previous thread, we would have no objection to pay to use your roads - we will simply pass the cost on to UK consumers by increasing our charges accordingly.
What we would object to is paying then being subjected to the unbeleivable amount of time it takes to travel even the shortest of distances in the UK due to the appalling roads, police closing roads because someone falls of his bicycle, etc…etc…etc…
Hombre:
That aside British hauliers need to force the issue of over taxation by the UK government on derv. I beleive nearly 80% of the cost of derv in the UK is tax Then in the unique way this shower of excrement run this country you can be arrested under the terrorist act -
if thats the case why the hell are the roads in such a bloody awful condition? Fuel duty is paying for 2 wars and millions in relief to countries that couldn’t give one hoot about us . Don’t rely on road tax either , it has been cleverly renamed vehicle excise duty so none of it has to be spent on road , and why spend money on roads anyway . It keeps the greens happy and they need that vote
What we would object to is paying then being subjected to the unbeleivable amount of time it takes to travel even the shortest of distances in the UK due to the appalling roads, police closing roads because someone falls of his bicycle, etc…etc…etc… You can blame that on the over zealous health and safety culture which has been brought about by the overzealous “where there is a blame there is a claim culture”
if you are bent then you dont get out of the port, you get the chance to tip at the port but yet again your company has to use a british firm to finish your job
1, Quentin Wilson is a big girls blouse ‘ooh I’m scared of the big lorry’
2, More stringent checks on lorries entering the uk.
3, On the spot fines, everywhere else in Europe does it so why can’t we
As in most of Europe an on the spot fine could be given by the Police or VOSA at the roadside, this would be a deposit, refundable if there is proven to be no charge to answer to or increased if required, the French & Germans have been doing it for years, SO WHY CAN’T WE
If we all start campaigning for a road user charge to be introduced it will be a classic case of turkeys voting for Christmas. Under European law, and like it or not we are in the EU and will be for a very long time, any charge that is introduced will have to be paid by UK trucks as well, just as the Germans pay the MAUT and the Dutch, Belgians etc pay the vignette in their country. Now the Government may decide to reduce, or do away with, the RFL if a charge was introduced but I can’t see it somehow, so the charge could then be on top of the existing RFL which would no doubt please the green lobby. If they did see fit to do away with the RFL it would likely work out more expensive for the majority of hauliers, unless the daily charge was so small as to make it not worth the effort of administering it. A charge of £5 to £10 a day could work out to between £1500 and £3000 pounds for most hauliers which for the majority would be more than they pay now. Any sort of per kilometre charge would be worse, again if it was set at a worthwhile rate.
Introducing a road user charge would not help in ‘levelling the playing field’ as they would pay more and we would pay more, while the rest of our costs would stay higher than theirs. So introducing such a charge will only increase the already high costs to UK hauliers and no doubt send even more to the wall.
Nice idea in theory but in reality the only people it would really hurt is UK hauliers… again.
dont know if this is a stupid suggestion or maybe it has been mentioned lots of times but why cant they produce a new colour/grade of diesel similar to the red diesel for agriculture, but for hgv’s
I thought the programme was pretty good overall - not too OTT.
However, what annoyed me was that after pointing out the massive blindspots on wagons and commenting that “I’ve barely looked out the windscreen there is so much going on behind me” and “you need two drivers ( ) to keep an eye on everything”, Wilsons solution was 'blindspot cameras for trucks so they can avoid collisions".
Eh? How can we be expected to monitor MORE screens and mirrors when its hard enough as it is, particularly with heavy traffic either side of you.
Why the hell can’t we educate car drivers on basic things like ‘Don’t sit in the blindspot’? Its not rocket science ffs! Why does the onus have to be on the bloody wagon driver? It doesn’t make sense.
Also, although I felt for the parents of the 19-year old that was killed in a sideswipe, I thought it was a dangerous idea that the truck driver is ‘a professional so shouldn’t make mistakes’. Everyone makes mistakes no matter how professional they are, from Bill Gates to Lewis Hamilton to teachers and doctors. Depite what some ‘where there is blame etc’ lawyers would have you believe; accidents do happen and will always happen, thats a fact of life I’m afriad.
Just a few ideas incase anyone from the Fat Cat Brigade in Central London is looking at the site.
) to keep an eye on everything”, Wilsons solution was 'blindspot cameras for trucks so they can avoid collisions".