I agree with Rikki and Lucy that all the BBC are interested in is making Truckers look even worse than they have tried to in the past,because basically your average general public just think we are SCUM without understanding or wanting to understand what our jobs entail.
The 50% running illegally thing really ■■■■■■ me off,the early broadcasts on the radio said it was uk drivers,but by 8 o clock it had changed to mainly foreign drivers.
They also failed to mention that as well as running bent,none of these foreign trucks pay to run on uk roads,and most of the time VOSA just are’nt interested in dealing with these drivers,they’re more interested in finding any tiny infringement from the legal british driver
So if your reading this BBC,do a story on the ILLEGAL running of FOREIGN trucks,THE FACT THAT THE BRITISH AUTHORITIES ARE’NT TOO INTERESTED IN THIS,AND THE FACT THAT THEY CAN ENDANGER BRITISH LIVES FOR FREE
Grace Productions:
We are making a BBC1 Real Story documentary looking at sleepiness and sleep apnoea amongst Britain’s lorry drivers. We know there are many lorry drivers out there who may have this problem, but DON’T want to go to their doctor or their employer, because they are afraid of losing their jobs.
I’ve heard of the condition Sleep apnoea before, but it’s not unique to Truck Drivers.
Drivers falling asleep is a problem, as has been said it has as much to do with long unsocial hours and poor facilities as to medical conditions.
HGV drivers hours are regulated by law and most of us who drive for a living know the symptoms of feeling sleepy at the wheel and what to do and what to do. But how many times do you hear of people boasting about driving from one end of the country in x hours to go on holiday without stopping.
Grace Productions Perhaps you should read some of the diaries or take a trip with some of the drivers on this forum, many go to all points in Europe and beyond and this might give you an idea to pitch to the BBC about the real life of truck drivers.
But as you can tell from the response we are sick of the seeing the Press stereotype us as being overweight, speed crazed, ignorant, uneducated, sexist and bullies.
In fact some of us are quite inteligent, we’ve managed to stop our knuckles dragging on the ground and some of us have even learned to use a knife and fork.
As Quinny says, what about the vehicles that are NOT covered by Tacho rules ?
They can be pulled over at 11 o’clock at night, having been on the road from 4 A.M. the same morning, with no evidence as to how many miles the driver has covered.
This to me is a greater danger than a vehicle that is fitted with a device recording the driver’s movements.
paul@midway criticised the standard of driving to-day. I couldn’t agree more.
I travelled to Liverpool in my car a couple of weeks ago.
The more experienced driver’s on here may or may not agree with me, but compared with 10 years ago, nowadays you need eyes in the side, and the back of your head.
Gone are the days of leaving a safe gap. Some-one will nick it.
Gone are the days of "Reading " the road. 6 feet will do.
Dont brake. The vehicle behind you WILL hit you.
Do something constructive and useful Grace Productions.
Show the LACK of affordable driver facilities in the U.K.
Show the LACK of parking places for L.G.V.'s.
Show the total mis-understanding of the general public, regarding L.G.V’s
Show the amount of goods transported by L.G.V’s.
Produce, and show a programme that tells the truth .
After all, Sensationalism Sells… On the front page.
Quinny:
However.he’s fortunate enough to have an expense account with his company,and can use it to stop at a hotel if need be,but the average truck driver can’t just carry on once his times up,and has to stop where he is able to,and has been said,it can sometimes be a lay-by,hence a reason why some drivers may not get good proper quality sleep.
Ken.
Well said Ken, thats part of our problem, and what I’d like them to investigate and expose!
Grace Productions:
We are making a BBC1 Real Story documentary looking at sleepiness and sleep apnoea amongst Britain’s lorry drivers. [/i]
Errrr, a bit behind the times aren’t you, try speaking to the sleep research laboratory at Loughborough, I believe they do this sort of study all the time, in fact didn’t they bring out a paper on this last year or the year before.
Quinny:
How many drivers of company cars,do as many miles as a truck driver?
My best friend who has an 04 plate Mundano,and he has done nearly 51000 miles in it,since getting it.It’s not unusual for him to do a journey starting in Wakefield taking him to Swansea and back in a day,via another 3 or 4 stops to see clients,and then return home in an evening.
Now if that isn’t a recipe for disaster,then show me one that is.
And a HGV driver would take a stop out and take either 9 hours or 11 hours rest …
So say again urgent poll grace production’s …Which driver’s is it exactly you wish to target …
Maybe you should consider withdrawing your poll and posting it has obviously been a waste of your time. But maybe it has been a slight eye opener for you , A new angle perhap’s …
while waiting at tescos asda sainsburys morrisons and many more rdcs apart from aldi where i get off my fat arse and tip myself because theres no [zb] to do it for me
I had years ago a really Boring Job and stood often for hours on Truckstops or Truckparks in bed.
I never had that problem in falling sleepy,but somejobs let you feel bored.
My meaning in falling sleepy is a miss on concentration.
You can so much hear and feel during driving that i don’t think that a Lorrydriver must have that problem.
the mainproblem in some accident will i see in doing other at moment of action.
Will say that someone just watches in left Mirror when on his righjt side starts the Action.
little Bill say’s to the teacher that he will pass away in high Age silent during sleep like his Grand dad,and not like his Neightbour with a screeming in Panik on the Passengerseat
Grace Productions:
Scared of losing your licence if you tell someone?
We are making a BBC1 Real Story documentary looking at sleepiness and sleep apnoea amongst Britain’s lorry drivers. We know there are many lorry drivers out there who may have this problem, but DON’T want to go to their doctor or their employer, because they are afraid of losing their jobs.
If you are worried about how sleepy you are when you drive, we’d like to hear from you in confidence.
Please call Bethan on 01935 410566 or Lynn on 07736 412349 for a chat and we promise you complete anonymity.
One driver, Ron, took years to get help with his sleepiness:
"I am an agency lorry driver living in the Birmingham area. I suffer from a condition known as sleep apnoea, which means I snore at night, stop breathing for several seconds and then start breathing again. This can happen hundreds of times throughout the night. The next day I feel sleepy, which is obviously very dangerous as a professional driver. It took 15 years for me to be diagnosed but now I am on treatment and feel great and have continued with my job. I’m convinced this is a hidden problem affecting many, many lorry drivers. "
I do hope you can help. We look forward to hearing drivers’ experiences.
Post has permission. L.
Poll edited by Rikki to add another option: “I refuse to take part in this poll, as I have no confidence that the results will be used in a fair manner”
Famous Last Words
The National Transportation Safety Board recently divulged they had covertly funded a project with tow truck manufacturers for the past five years, whereby the tow truck manufacturers were installing black box voice recorders in tow trucks.
This was done why so many tow truck drivers get into accidents. The black boxes record the last 15 seconds before the crash. They were surprised to find that the last words of drivers in 61.2 percent of crashes were, “Oh, (edited)”.
Arlington County, Virginia was different, however, where 89.3 percent of the final words were:
“Hold my beer and watch this!”
Grace Productions:
Scared of losing your licence if you tell someone?
We are making a BBC1 Real Story documentary looking at sleepiness and sleep apnoea amongst Britain’s lorry drivers. We know there are many lorry drivers out there who may have this problem, but DON’T want to go to their doctor or their employer, because they are afraid of losing their jobs.
If you are worried about how sleepy you are when you drive, we’d like to hear from you in confidence.
Please call Bethan on 01935 410566 or Lynn on 07736 412349 for a chat and we promise you complete anonymity.
One driver, Ron, took years to get help with his sleepiness:
"I am an agency lorry driver living in the Birmingham area. I suffer from a condition known as sleep apnoea, which means I snore at night, stop breathing for several seconds and then start breathing again. This can happen hundreds of times throughout the night. The next day I feel sleepy, which is obviously very dangerous as a professional driver. It took 15 years for me to be diagnosed but now I am on treatment and feel great and have continued with my job. I’m convinced this is a hidden problem affecting many, many lorry drivers. "
I do hope you can help. We look forward to hearing drivers’ experiences.
Post has permission. L.
Poll edited by Rikki to add another option: “I refuse to take part in this poll, as I have no confidence that the results will be used in a fair manner”
how much would they pay for a good Story
I am sure after a few Glas Wine would the Fantasy ride with me around the Globe
Lucy:
I don’t feel tired an more than any other driver of any other vehicle. The difference is that as a Professional, as soon as I begin to feel tired I stop and have a break .
However, if an overtired amateur car driver with no regard for anyone’s safety drives into me, you can bet your life the media will blame the truck.
I gather this is for the BBC. After their recent spectacularly slanted and downright innaccurate radio programme where they concluded that 50% of HGVs in this country are running illegally, but failed to mention that the Authorities concerned were based at a checkpoint run specifically to examine FOREIGN[/i] trucks on what is one of the main through-routes from Ireland to Continental Europe, I would no more trust the BBC than I would leave my children with the dog as a childminder for three days. i mustn’t be tired to do a Break.I did many Breaks in the Past in sight of future You’re not after a “Britain’s Truck Drivers Are Dangerous” type headline, are you…MUCH[/i] [/quote]
A few months ago I wrote to a national newspaper asking them to highlight the problems facing the Haulage industry in this country. I received a reply from them which stated that they often take up the chance to highlight issues for various causes but were not prepared to take up the cause of the lorry driver.
just to add my bit if you have sleep apnea you have to inform dvlc and they will take your licence of you there and then.(if this has been posted earlier,sorry for that) but im going out and aint got time to read it all the posts)
a simple test can be done on the internet just google sleep apnea
how much would they pay for a good Story 
