As a relative newbie to class 1 (2 years class 2 experience) ,well passed a couple of months ago . I would like to hear any words of wisdom regarding wide loads.
Last week i took a load into central london (London bridge area )3.7 m wide ,we had an â– â– â– â– â– â– vehicle in front, two artics behind both double manned .
The driver of the other artic behind (he was 4 m wide btw )does this work all the time ,anyway whilst on the M25 we straddled lane 1 and two pretty much all the time . im not sure this was really necessary and it certainly led to some abuse off an artic bulk tipper driver .
So straddle lanes or not â– â–
Today i took a 4.2 m wide load which was about 2 m overhang on the back as well .
This was from telford to heysham docks ,mostly on the M6 . I was in front with another load the same following ,double manned with no â– â– â– â– â– â– vehicle .
I didnt straddle at all , keeping in the n/s lane mostly and had no issues just keeping a keen eye for anything on the hard shoulder ,and moving across in good time I.e. indicate and move across very gently as no rear vision due to the overhang blocking the mirror view .
Personally the non straddle strategy worked for me today .
But id really appreciate some views from experienced wide load drivers
with restricted rearward vision and the obvious need to take unusual routes through obstacles, any ab load driver will tell you your only chance is to dominate the road, take more than YOU may need but that stops anyone else doing something stupid , no one else understands the road you need and will go for any gap they see, I never bothered about what other people thought but took up the amount of road I was comfortable with.
In the old days overhanging the hard shoulder to leave lane 2 and 3 free was the norm but is now frowned upon as dangerous.
Thanks for the reply , off the motorway thru lancaster to heysham and allso on the london job i/we did dominate to stop any cars squeezing past Doesnt stop the cyclists in london tho .
Im not sure how wide the running lanes on motorways are but im guessing about 4 m , roughly the width of todays load . i kept a good distance from any trucks /cars ahead to enable a good view of any possible obstructions on the hard shoulder .
Thanks for the comments guys ,seems like im going about it the right way .
Anyway i was on another job today ,they had a subbie in to take another 4.2 m wide load on the same run that i did yesterday .
To cut a long story short he decided to go a different way out of the factory exit , turning left instead of right(the approved route|) en route to the M54 ,gets to a roundabout and unknowingly crunches some street furnature …
A short while later the police pull him over
i dont know what the outcome was ,but no doubt an insurance claim involving the council !
The driver must of been having an off day ,as he is one of the better drivers around .can reverse a truck in pretty much anywhere .will allways help you with reversing , getting in tight spaces ,strapping down your load etc .
wouldn’t want to be the other driver going off route surely you would have had a movement order detailing the route big big trouble for him.
always stick to it no mater what. as for the lane issue do what you want and not what others do always choose the safest opion no cutting corners now your doing the wide stuff
Well the movement order ,yes he should of been following the correct route .
Thing is the driver who did the first load (we have taken 10 or more loads now) had the movement order ,and probably still has the only copy
I did ask the boss about the movement order before i left with my load ,as i knew it should of been carried /correct route followed. Luckily I knew the correct route as i was double manning on the previous run .
Its just sloppy /bad management not to have a copy available for each load ,as well as breaking the law
Im guessing the subbie who had the mishap /brush with the law ,didnt know or ask about the approved route .
I will update the thread if i find out what the police said !
I always work it like this, if I need the room I’ll take it
For the last month we have been taking 4.3 wide loadsto Hammersmith routed A1 M25 M/A4. Sectional building work so light. Early starts means light traffic so I’m not going to hold traffic up. lane one a a tad of lane two will do less I’m passing lay us etc. As its gets 4 lanes I’ll take two.
I passed a lad at 50 last week on the A1 Newark last week and woke him up from Alex Leicester won’t let my mate or the ■■■■■■van through.
Take as much room as you need but don’t over egg it. A lot of our second men are retired drivers and not just a bod on a seat to tick a box, makes a difference when your running the hard shoulder
Thanks marlow ,
Yea my second’ man’ on the 4.2 m wide load was the bosses daughter , so just a box ticking exercise . I did laugh to myself when we got to heysham port , the security guard said she would have to wait outside as she had no id (never mind hi viz bib or boots ) he asked how old she was as well … being only 20 was a problem apparently . I did think to myself she was going to say something like " Do you know who i am "
Luckily the central london run was with an experienced driver as 2nd man .
Did see on the m6 nr walsall a wide load ,maybe 3.5 m and he was’ semi straddling ’ ie the n/s of load was just off the hard shoulder , so just taking part of lane 2 . so no real need to monitor the h/s for obstructions . That load was a flat concrete slab tho so no rear vision problems for the driver .
That position seemed the best for that situation , but like you say take 2 whole lanes if there are 4 lanes available
our wide loads are usually , prefab buildings or pods as they are called .
Always take up two lanes rather than overhang the hard shoulder because if you come across a broken down vehicle you’re stuffed. You probably won’t be able to stop in time or move over.
The tipper driver was just a â– â– â– â– â– â– . Ignore.
Well done a few more wide load tips up the heysham,
Loving it to be honest
king of the road
I have found my ideal position now Offside tyres just running on the lane one rh white line , That way the near side edge of the load is just clear of the shoulder .
Shame a few truckers won’t run on the outside lane and insist on skimming past with 6" clearance
■■■■off into the outside lane and pass safely if you don’t want to stay behind .
I did have to laugh tho ,one of our drivers reckon its illegal to overtake with a wide load ( another rdc waiting room tail I think )
Sorry but I’m not going to sit behind a mobile crane going uphill at 35 mph
Cheers mike
Well done a few more wide load tips up the heysham,
Loving it to be honest
king of the road
I have found my ideal position now Offside tyres just running on the lane one rh white line , That way the near side edge of the load is just clear of the shoulder .
Shame a few truckers won’t run on the outside lane and insist on skimming past with 6" clearance
■■■■off into the outside lane and pass safely if you don’t want to stay behind .
I did have to laugh tho ,one of our drivers reckon its illegal to overtake with a wide load ( another rdc waiting room tail I think )
Sorry but I’m not going to sit behind a mobile crane going uphill at 35 mph
Cheers mike
. I would like to hear any words of wisdom regarding wide loads.
.
Doesnt stop the cyclists in london tho 
. I did laugh to myself when we got to heysham port , the security guard said she would have to wait outside as she had no id 
. I did think to myself she was going to say something like " Do you know who i am " 
