Kevwall:
My “story” hasn’t changed, I came on to ask advice and that was that. Like I said the indicator stork was broken off, but weather it had of been exhaust , indicator or wiper wouldn’t of made a difference in what action I would of took, so if you think taking it out the road with a broken exhaust brake stork or wiper stork is fine then that’s your decision, my decision was that I personally didn’t think it was worth the risk taking it out and that’s upto myself and my own judgment , weather it be different to anyone else’s or not, I couldn’t care
Was the indicator impossible to use, or was it snapped off halfway?
I don’t get why you wouldn’t take a truck out if the exhaust brake didn’t work.
Kevwall:
My “story” hasn’t changed, I came on to ask advice and that was that. Like I said the indicator stork was broken off, but weather it had of been exhaust , indicator or wiper wouldn’t of made a difference in what action I would of took, so if you think taking it out the road with a broken exhaust brake stork or wiper stork is fine then that’s your decision, my decision was that I personally didn’t think it was worth the risk taking it out and that’s upto myself and my own judgment , weather it be different to anyone else’s or not, I couldn’t care
quoting this so that you can’t change it later
serious point now though, indicators and wipers are a major defect if they are not working, and as such, the vehicle should be fixed before going out on the road, but the exhaust/engine brake is not, and will not be a problem for the driver or the company IF the vehicle is pulled by VOSA
the main thing that VOSA are looking for when doing roadside inspections are MoT items, and the engine/exhaust brake is NOT part of the MoT
just another quick note, as it seems that you may need a little more ‘advice’
if there are no rear light units on the tractor unit, but are driving with a trailer which does have rear lights, this IS LEGAL, and VOSA can’t give you a prohibition for it
re rear lights funny rules on times …can rememeber taking erf for mot, b series with 3 wipers nearside one not working but still passed as they “ministry” did agree there was enough clear vision from drivers seat…
As a non smoker I have refused to drive trucks which are in a tip and stink of smoke and with the backing of my company, they can’t be seen to condone an illegal activity you see ask yourselves if the office bods would work in such squalor? Then why should we.
What would VOSA chap say to a stinking cab and over flowing ashtray as they is clear evidence of illegal activity, or is it local councils who enforce smoking in the workplace?
we are talking todays stricter rules and guidelines, alot of us have turned a blind eye and broken the rules/laws to get the job done in the past, but if today i was sent to a customer to drive a truck like the op describes then i would also refuse! ok the faults may not render the vehicle unroadworthy but i would be suspicious of the roadworthiness of the vehicle, similar to an interview first impressions count…
bear in mind that folk who work there may know that the vehicle as been serviced/inspected ect and it is just a rough “looking” truck, but walk into a spot blind you make your mind up on first appearences…
btw i have worked amongst mixers some of the roughest looking trucks about but i knew the servicing and any work was up to date.
chester:
As a non smoker I have refused to drive trucks which are in a tip and stink of smoke and with the backing of my company, they can’t be seen to condone an illegal activity you see ask yourselves if the office bods would work in such squalor? Then why should we.
What would VOSA chap say to a stinking cab and over flowing ashtray as they is clear evidence of illegal activity, or is it local councils who enforce smoking in the workplace?
right its been a long day so i’ll try an make some sort of sense
first heard about this early on this morning whilst having my daily gossip with a good mate of mine amongst other things he mentioned about an agency driver refusing to take a wagon out due to the exhaust brake stalk being broke off he told said driver that it still worked but the downside was that the cruise control didnt work … anyhow he said said driver was not a happy bunny and was not happy about the seat ( which was sorted when the air built up ) and the state of the cab again fair point…
i then gets a heads up about this post so me being a nosey bugger has a quick shufty now then i have also made some enquiries to see if any indicator stalks have been replaced today i think we can guess the answer to that one
i have worked for said company on and off for a fair while now and take umbridge to people unfairly slinging mud in thier direction
in the 16 years on and off years i have worked there, the fleet whilst not the newest or shiniest in the business has always been roadworthy and never been let out of the yard being anything less than such.
so i asked the op a couple of questions so i could do some digging
a few things are puzzling me about this
you said you had done a full walk around check of said vehicle and i asked you for the reg which should be on the tacho that you filled in including start mileage start point date etc yet you couldnt tell me the reg
in this 15 minute walk around you check the lights etc ermmmm how if the indicator stalk was broke off and on the floor which is at eye level more or less when you open the door ?
it seems to me that you had a view of said company before you drove through the gates oh and the two drivers that had to do thier own work as well as yours thank you for the late finishes they both ended up with because of your tantrum
Why you have not seen the lorry you have no idea what it was like or if it was legal, there is a difference with an alleged shed and a lorry thats not legal
Kevwall:
Got asked by agency to go to a certain general haulage firm. , got to the yard givin my keys to a unit, more like a shed on wheels, stunk of smoke, bits hanging off, more duct tape then plastic and a few more things I wernt happy with There was a stork that was also snapped off so was unusable .after doing checks for 15 mins and getting mithered to get a move on I decided that I wouldn’t be taking the vehicle out and handed the keys in, the fella said what do I expect a brand new truck, which I replied no but a roadworthy one at the least! Would you say I was right in not taking the vehicle out? It’s my licence and livelihood at the end of the day!
I remember years ago in a magazine article and the police were saying that when pulling in a lorry that looked an absolute shed most of the time they were in perfect nick. You see today people tend to want to pass there test and then want a lovely bright shiny lorry and dead easy work. Wake up, you start at the bottom and work your way up it took me 12 years to get the highest paid job i had £40,000, but i had to work like hell for that 13/15 hour sometimes six nights but it more than paid the bills, and in my current job well it took 20 years to get this job and nobody leaves money okay and only do 40 ish hours a week. It takes time time you start driving sheds and doing bad runs and when someone thinks you deserve it you get a break
Dafman:
I remember years ago in a magazine article and the police were saying that when pulling in a lorry that looked an absolute shed most of the time they were in perfect nick. You see today people tend to want to pass there test and then want a lovely bright shiny lorry and dead easy work. Wake up, you start at the bottom and work your way up it took me 12 years to get the highest paid job i had £40,000, but i had to work like hell for that 13/15 hour sometimes six nights but it more than paid the bills, and in my current job well it took 20 years to get this job and nobody leaves money okay and only do 40 ish hours a week. It takes time time you start driving sheds and doing bad runs and when someone thinks you deserve it you get a break
that £40,000 a year job, was that from the overtime for searching for your trailer that you lost?
New driver comes in to ask advice…self appointed company man driver from mentioned firm wades in to defend his company honour…forum stalwarts start getting on back of new driver…new driver disappears wondering why he bothered in the first place.
New driver comes in to ask advice…self appointed company man driver from mentioned firm wades in to defend his company honour…forum stalwarts start getting on back of new driver…new driver disappears wondering why he bothered in the first place.
Nothing will change though. Remember the advice i gave about Fuel theft which ended up with me getting slated and called a troll To many heroes on this forum
If I approached a unit and upon opening the door I seen a stalk hanging off and it stank of smoke and were in a dire state inside then I would not drive Said unit. You don’t need to insert a didgi or write a chart to come to that conclusion.
I would however approach the transport office and try and resolve issues, if not to my sattisfaction then yeah I would walk.
■■■■■ i am kind of hoping he replies tbh i am not here to ■■■■■ at the op merely trying to get to the root of the problem and yes i will defend the company as they are not here to defend themselves… as they gave me a job when i was a mere yoof with a new shiny licence
One of the companies I worked for in the past took the radios out of trucks because they thought it was a theft risk and might distract us whilst driving.
They were day cabbed vehicles, the heaters worked whilst running the engines. Most drivers smoked because back then it wasn’t illegal too, but those with something more than a day cab kept their wagons clean and tidy, and that included attempting to remove evidence of smoking in the cab.
Exhaust brakes? What are they then? Just be thankful the doors closed properly, there wasn’t much wind noise and they didn’t have trackers on board…
I saw the OPs post and the main issue he started with was the poor state of the truck, insinuating the nail of the fleet. It wasn’t long after that someone came along and revealed that they had spoken with the company rep that the OP also dealt with and got their side of the story.
Before you go taking sides; bear in mind we may never get the complete truth.
As a bus driver I had an occasion to record the instructions over the radio of an instruction to drive around a reported instruction where the Police had closed the road. There was no diversion that would result in me not denting the upper deck so I did as they said and parked up to await an inspector, that never came.
Passengers eventually walked off and I was taken up stairs for ‘tea and biscuits’. The traffic officers downstairs vehemently denied giving me that instruction and even tried to when I produced the recording. My union support had already heard it and those involved still tried to tell the management that they were innocent.
So. The upshot is, don’t trust both sides to always tell the truth unless you were there to hear it yourself.
he told said driver that it still worked but the downside was that the cruise control didnt work … anyhow he said said driver was not a happy bunny and was not happy about the seat ( which was sorted when the air built up ) and the state of the cab again fair point…
