As a multi drop class 2 driver delivering to household adresses (Ikea furniture) i am having to constantly drive down roads that have wieght limit signs on. My porter who is a more experienced class 2 driver than me but at moment portering cos he’e waiting on sleep desorder medial report says, “just ignore the signs cos they all mean except for access” so i’m ok. There are signs which say except for access but others DON’T. Sometimes my delivery point isnt on such a road, but to get to it my porter dercts me down roads as a short cut that too have weight limits of 7.5 tonne which i’m exceeding, which is a bit of a worry.
My understanding of this is that unless there is an ‘except for access’ sign underneath then you cannot go down it in a class 2, you also cannot go down it to take a shortcut even with an except for access as you don’t actually need to access the road and should take a different route (no matter how long)
I was stopped a couple of weeks ago on a single track road with weight limit, I just happened to meet a police car coming the other way! He pointed out that this road had a weight limit so I showed him my delivery ticket & explained there was no other route to that address… his response “not a problem mate”.
The way I see it (with my limited experience) is that if you need to go thro a weight limit to reach your destination then the cops are ok. If you use a weight limit as a shortcut when other routes are available then they may not be so understanding.
Thanx for the replies. I’m not so sure of the total weight of my truck as only been working there though agency a couple of week. Its a Daf 05 like royal mail use for there class 2. They tell me the weight of truck is lighter than most class 2 and designed with home delivery use in mind. I’m gonna see the gaffer about it on tuesday, and there policy as we do have to deliver to a lot of silly little places.
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was stopped a couple of weeks ago on a single track road with weight limit, I just happened to meet a police car coming the other way! He pointed out that this road had a weight limit so I showed him my delivery ticket & explained there was no other route to that address… his response “not a problem mate”.
Last friday i had to deliver to a farm down a very long single track road with so called passing places hmm, at 7am in the FOG. Me and my porter was ■■■■■■■■ ourselves big time thought we wouldnt get out alive. Anyway i gave the tree branches a good trim with my wing mirrors.
I had to tell the other HGV driver at work about how weight limits work the other day, even though he’s got more experience than me.
His attitude is to ignore them. Then he asked if it mattered about being loaded or not as his 18t is under 7.5t when empty…so I told him it didn’t matter the plated weight is all that matters.
Here’s the story of what happened when I was pulled in a weight restriction…
Even though I’ve been pulled before, I’m never shy about running through them. In our line of work and in our area we’d never get the job done if we worried about every single one.
The best advice in my opinion is to try your best to avoid them if there is another way round that you know, but if you think you need to go through for access to your delivery just do it.
But like mrpj said, a weak structure is different…in that case don’t go over it under any circumstances…take the goods back or stop short and deliver on foot if the distance and size of the goods permit.
Many weak structure limits do actually have exemptions for unladen vehicles.
I would never dream of going over a weak bridge, but as regards to other roads, if i need to go down for access, so long as i have the paperwork to say i have delivery there i should be ok i hope. Thanx for the advice. I have a different porter next week anyway so wont be bulled into going down a road i think looks a bit dodgy.
look in your passenger footwell, there is normally a ticket telling you your weights etc in that area on an A5 sized piece of official paper. it may even be the MOT, im not sure
the weight limits apply to the MGW of your vehicle, not the actual weight at any given time
if it says, 7.5 ton then that is the maximum allowed
if it says, 7.5 ton except for access/except for loading then you are allowed to enter the zone providing you have no alternative.
at the end of the day, this other guy doesnt give a flying monkey if you get in trouble. he will send you down these roads but YOU are responsible for the vehicle and it will be YOU in trouble if you get caught
scanny77:
look in your passenger footwell, there is normally a ticket telling you your weights etc in that area on an A5 sized piece of official paper. it may even be the MOT, im not sure
Today i had a different porter with me who was much more sensible, hes got a class 1 licence from the army but dosent want to drive in London lol Whenever we needed to turn into a street and it said 7.5 tonne he directed me down a different street so i’m now learning the right way from someone much more sensible We only went down a 7.5 tonne street when we had no other alternative as our delivery was on that street. I will have a look at the plate tommorow at work, and check it against the weight on the paperwork for the load we have on from now on.
i got my licence in the army but i only starting driving artics properly this year (passed 8 years ago) and guess where i was yesterday? LONDON
I havent drove a class 2 for 6 months until this contract with exel, and was thinking of doing a refresher course, but once you throw yourself back into it, all comes back to you. I hate doing multi drop in London, its worse with us as we have to deliver kitchen units, and can you find a place to park in the big smoke? Havent had a day where i havent had to block up a road in middle of rush hour for 15 mins at a time, and we get a lot of abuse cos of it.
Anyway i gave the tree branches a good trim with my wing mirrors.
We only went down a 7.5 tonne street when we had no other alternative as our delivery was on that street. I will have a look at the plate tommorow at work, and check it against the weight on the paperwork for the load we have on from now on.
