Trucking Heroes ?

[anonymous-user]

Just been looking on a trucking site about blowovers, someone reckons he's just passed 6 and then on http://www.trafficengland.com/map.aspx?long0=-208....
presently there are at least 5 ongoing incidents with trucks blown over.

Is it just me or hasn't it been on the weather and news most of the day about strong winds, looks like some of the chancers won't be delivering the goods after all.

How many blowover's does a trucker pass before thinking 'might be best to park up for a bit before i kill myself or someone else' ?

[davepoth]

It's different for each truck. A hard sided vehicle with a dense heavy load packed low to the floor will be much better than a tautliner filled with loft insulation.

[Nickyboy]

Problem its not so much the strong wind but the gusts that get you, by the time you realise its normally too late. I got caught coming home tonight, passing another truck doing 60 and as i got level with his cab i hit a strong headwind which knocked nearly 15mph off my speed. Few hundred yards down the road, i passed him swiftly.

[anonymous-user]

davepoth said:

It's different for each truck. A hard sided vehicle with a dense heavy load packed low to the floor will be much better than a tautliner filled with loft insulation.

Yes. But shouldn't a competent driver be aware of those factors along with the general handling of the vehicle and take that into account as to whether to continue with the journey in the conditions.

The conditions were well forecast and to continue surely is being 'negligent' at best or 'driving without due care' ?

[Big Rod]

I remember driving up the M74 a few years ago in November.

You could'a done your weekly shop on the hard shoulder, there were literally dozens of rigs on their sides.

[slipstream 1985]

more than likely its a "wont happen to me attitude " also imagine phoning your transport boss and saying you are parking up. it just wouldnt happen

[davepoth]

Nickyboy said:

Problem its not so much the strong wind but the gusts that get you, by the time you realise its normally too late. I got caught coming home tonight, passing another truck doing 60 and as i got level with his cab i hit a strong headwind which knocked nearly 15mph off my speed. Few hundred yards down the road, i passed him swiftly.

This. You can get an idea of this driving over a big suspension bridge. The wind is constant, and you'll be holding the wheel at a bit of an angle. When you go behind the support the wind drops and you have to quite violently correct the steering to stop the car from veering out of lane.

If I drove an HGV for fun I would probably stay at home, but most truckers don't.

[mp3manager]

speedyguy said:

Yes. But shouldn't a competent driver be aware of those factors along with the general handling of the vehicle and take that into account as to whether to continue with the journey in the conditions.

The conditions were well forecast and to continue surely is being 'negligent' at best or 'driving without due care' ?

What has a 'competent driver' got to do with anything?

If a driver parks up and calls his boss saying 'it's too windy', he'd be on the dole PDQ.

FWIW, this is what I've been driving this week. (Not that exact one, as that was blown-over on top of the A66 two weeks ago.)

A 16' curtain double-decker and last-night was damn scary, no matter how tight the curtains are ratcheted, they always end up acting like a sail.

[Cock Womble 7]

davepoth said:

It's different for each truck. A hard sided vehicle with a dense heavy load packed low to the floor will be much better than a tautliner filled with loft insulation.

I drove from Northampton to Huddersfield today with a full, heavy load (curtainside) and no dramas - a bit blustery, but nothing too scary. Dropped the full trailer at Huddersfield and hitched up to an empty one to take to Castleford. Scary. Passed three lorries on their sides. Swapped the empty trailer for a full one at Castleford and drove back to Northampton. One slight brown-trouser moment on the A1(M) when I was "swiftly guided" onto the hard shoulder, but otherwise no real problems.

Planning ahead, looking for the exposed sections and acting accordingly does help.

slipstream 1985 said:

also imagine phoning your transport boss and saying you are parking up. It just wouldn't happen

It can and it does. One of our guys who was returning from the Scotland run today (and who had previously suffered a 'blowover') did just that. He's in charge of his vehicle and if he doesn't think it's safe to proceed then that's that.

The response from the transport office to his call was "fair enough".

[rhinochopig]

Perhaps I'm missing something, but why not just take the curtains down? The few I've ever seen on their side have been empty curtain sides.

[General Price]

rhinochopig said:

Perhaps I'm missing something, but why not just take the curtains down? The few I've ever seen on their side have been empty curtain sides.

You can pull the curtains to the back and strap them to the doors.Sensible in very windy conditions.

[Tunku]

rhinochopig said:

Perhaps I'm missing something, but why not just take the curtains down? The few I've ever seen on their side have been empty curtain sides.

They don't look as cool.

[Cock Womble 7]

General Price said:

rhinochopig said:

Perhaps I'm missing something, but why not just take the curtains down? The few I've ever seen on their side have been empty curtain sides.

You can pull the curtains to the back and strap them to the doors.Sensible in very windy conditions.

Saw a lot of this today. Makes sense in an empty curtain-sider.

[Cock Womble 7]

Cock Womble 7 said:

It can and it does. One of our guys who was returning from the Scotland run today (and who had previously suffered a 'blowover') did just that. He's in charge of his vehicle and if he doesn't think it's safe to proceed then that's that.

The response from the transport office to his call was "fair enough".

Although, obviously, for weeks to come he will be called a "big pouffy girl's blouse" for not ploughing on, despite "a bit of wind".

[Fun Bus]

One of my drivers was heading into central Birmingham this afternoon and refused to go further so turned round and came back to base. Another driver took the load and, despite it causing the contract a 'failure' (2nd driver arrived at customer gone 16:00) nobody batted an eye-lid as the first driver was being sensibly cautious and I don't mind that.

[mp3manager]

rhinochopig said:

Perhaps I'm missing something, but why not just take the curtains down? The few I've ever seen on their side have been empty curtain sides.

Tieing back the curtains may blow the roof off and may even blow the rear doors or rear panel out distorting the whole trailer frame.

Had my 16' double-decker lifted a good 3 feet last night around Boroughbridge. Overall a very interesting night.

[jbi]

why do so many trucks in the UK use the soft sided trailers?

Working over in the USA most trailers are 53 feet long with metal sides. They have the same weight limit as we do (80,000lbs), yet blow-overs are pretty rare out there.

Are their trucks wider or something?

[thinfourth2]

Extra ballast in the tractor unit.

[Engineer1]

At a guess curtain siders are more popular over here as they are easier to load and unload and they have the full width of the trailer plus a little more to load. Rigid sides you can only load and unload from the rear.

[jbi]

Engineer1 said:

At a guess curtain siders are more popular over here as they are easier to load and unload and they have the full width of the trailer plus a little more to load. Rigid sides you can only load and unload from the rear.

Not sure I would say they are easier to load/unload.

I used to load trucks for a living at a printing plant in the USA, and loading trailers was a simple drive forklift on/drive forklift off affair.

Very quick

EDIT: of course that is assuming you have loaded everything in the correct order