One of my duties during my night shift is to swap an empty trailer for a full one at Hopwood.
I appreciate that swapping trailers isn’t exactly a quiet procedure, that’s why I make sure I do it in the coach park (which is usually completely empty). Now this evening I meet the other driver, swap trailers as usual and it’s then time for my break, and the other driver had left engine running for 2 mins as he did his lines etc.
So then this guy in artic parked further down coach park sounds horn and throws open his door and shouts ‘will you ■■■■■ ■■■■ off I’ve ■■■■■■■ paid to get in here and get my head down now ■■■■ off you pair of pricks’.
Pleasant!
Like I said, I appreciate that it’s not quiet, hence not doing it in the lorry park.
As a driver ive come to expect engine noise, trailer noise etc if I’ve got my head down, never would I confront another professional as its part and parcel of the trade!
Am I right or have I got this completely wrong? It’s a good job me and other lad ain’t nutters who could of quite possibly reacted a little more aggressively than we did.
The ■■■■’s certainly woken everyone else up.
Though to be honest the noise, like trailer swaps, in MSAs at night is a big reason I don’t park there.
It’s not the engine running as much as the pulling out without winding the legs all the way down and reversing under at 40mph in a smash the pin off competition that gets on my ■■■■.
Maybe he was just really tired & looking forward to a good nights sleep… I hate people who leave the engine running unnecessarily. I couldn’t believe a fuel tanker driver who delivered to our place just left his engine running & walked off to the office to do paperwork, unbelievable…,
Own Account Driver:
It’s not the engine running as much as the pulling out without winding the legs all the way down and reversing under at 40mph in a smash the pin off competition that gets on my ■■■■.
Exactly, it CAN be done quite quietly with no need for engines left idling when the vehicle is not moving & no need for revs when it is.
Just realise it wasn’t anything personal, everybody has bad days and gets tired.
I’ve shouted at someone like that before for being an inconsiderate twit. Though it wasn’t for a trailer swap. I was parked in a layby, and he thought he’d have a drum and bass session for 20 minutes at 4am after he woke up before driving off, I gave him 20 minutes before losing my rag. I don’t mind trailer swaps, you know the noise will be over soon, but pointless engine idling and loud radios or loud conversations with your mate with no consideration for those who may be sleeping has been known to wind me up.
Some noise is unavoidable, but there are ways to do things. The problem is some people have absolutely zero concept of others, it’s not that they are being deliberately selfish, they literally cannot compute that other people exist and thus have no understanding of how their behaviour can affect people. As long as you are aware of others, and do your best to be considerate then happy days.
Just do the trailer swap as quickly as possible and don’t hang around.
Some people will moan even if you park at the opposite end of the MSA entirely.
They must attach a listening bug to the outside of the cab, to pick up any butterflies that might land on the wing mirrors when they are asleep.
If you go out of your way to hear noise, you’ll hear some regardless of where you are.
As a southerner, I have to contend with the laybys in my neck of the woods being constantly full of drivers from outside the area, because it’s cheaper to pay a tramper to come in from elsewhere, than hire the local talent. Doubtless, if I attempted to pull into a rare “last remaining place” one night, I’d get moaned at by some regional accent who’s sentence starts something like “Fer ■■■■■ sayk - canneya see…” 
When my digicard is flashing 4:15 and I’m busting for a ■■■■, it really gets up my nose when I can’t find anywhere to park to save my life! 
dont they still clamp if your parked in the coach bays or is that a thing of the past. 
russell2587:
They do at Maidstone
We used to swap trailers quite often in Maidstone, normally during the day, get the French or Belgian driver home and us for a weekend. One morning we had an officious bloke demanding two parking fees because we were doing a commercial activity. I gave him a prepaid envelope to head office and asked him to send the bill there. My opposite number just reversed up and then drove around his white van with the flashing beacons. The ■■■■■■■■ then proceeded to stick an immobilised sticker on my passenger door. I followed him and peeled it off and stuck it on his hiviz.
Well it made me chuckle for a few hours 
dbox87:
So then this guy in artic parked further down coach park sounds horn and throws open his door and shouts ‘will you [zb] [zb] off I’ve [zb] paid to get in here and get my head down now [zb] off you pair of pricks’.
Presumably he was parking on the coach park because the lorry park was full but even if that’s the case it’s hypocritical to blow his horn then complain about you making noise 
Your mate may have been wrong to leave the engine running but to be honest I doubt anyone on the lorry park would here you changing trailers on the coach park at Hopwood, but they’d certainly hear him blowing his horn.
Seems to me that there was only one prick on the coach park that night and it wasn’t you or your mate.
Just another example of how facilities for the job are poor. Services should be for those that need them, those governed by tacho. Whether that be sleeping or trailer swaps, the two areas should be away from each other and divided by sound breaks such as bushes, free to use and chargeable to those not on tacho.
Is trailer swaps something MSAs must allow as a lot of truckstops have signs forbidding it?
russell2587:
They do at Maidstone
Maidstone is a 4x4 service area - don’t ya know!