Highway maintenance vehicles

[McGraw]

Getting a bit sick of these vehicles on the whole. I actively avoid them now.

Mostly unmarked vans who seem to think speed limits don't apply and they can drive really inconsiderately as who really knows who they work for?

I've seen ton plus on dual carriageways, aggressive lane changing with no indicators, mobile use, swerving all over the place.

Let's say I wanted to provide some dashcam footage of one of them driving erratically, who would I even send it to?

I'm not going to but I do think they should set a better example to be honest.

I once ended up next to one at the lights after he'd absolutely flown past me on a slip road. He had a sticker that said restricted to 70.

When I would my window down and was laughing about the sticker with him he didn't even realise it was there.

Anyone else agree?

[HantsRat]

There are thousands of individuals / companies who work/are sub contracted to work on the highways. Having highway maintenance chevrons is not exclusive to 1 organisation. You would report to police if you feel the driving warrant reporting just like any other vehicle.

[McGraw]

HantsRat said:

There are thousands of individuals / companies who work/are sub contracted to work on the highways. Having highway maintenance chevrons is not exclusive to 1 organisation. You would report to police if you feel the driving warrant reporting just like any other vehicle.

Thanks, I realise that.

I guess what I should have said is should they not be forced to wear the livery of the company they represent?

[HantsRat]

McGraw said:

Thanks, I realise that.

I guess what I should have said is should they not be forced to wear the livery of the company they represent?

If they brought this law it it would cause all manner or problems. There are millions of plain vans out there working for themselves. The Police will be able to identify the owner/company if needs be.

[surveyor_101]

A lot of companies are using long/short term leasing of chapter 8 marked vehicles so many don't have the company name. My mate is area manager for Traffic Management company and they do a lot of Highways England works. They do have more than their fair share of crashes and the guys are alcohol and drug tested pretty regularly. They do seem more accident prone than some considering they work on the roads. Drugs are an issue in the industry, my mate took on an experienced supervisor for a large TM company the other week and failed his drug test day 1 for canabis!

Some old vans are driven by delivery drivers or private individuals who just leave the chevrons and beacons on.

Can't see how you can police it differently.


The worse vans or commercial in my area tend to be T4/T5/T6 transporters or Nissan Navara or Ford Ranger pickups.

Edited by surveyor_101 on Thursday 9th August 13:23

[IJWS15]

A past employer who did highways work took on an installer and put him in a van, he couldn't find his licence. After 2 months of failing to find his licence it was discovered that he was banned.

Would imagine it used to be quite common, not surprisingly many did not know their driver number or have a photocopy of their licence which they have lost when they come for interview . . . .

On another occasion they recruited staff from abroad and put them in LWB Sprinters. They had licences but not UK licences and no UK driving (i.e. RHD and driving on the left) experience. Was hilarious watching some of them trying to get the van off the site.

[S11Steve]

Oh.... you're one of them who ring me up with the following conversation.

"Your van has just clipped my car and driven off".

"What is the reg, and I will look into it for you"

"I didn't get the reg, but it's a white Transit with your name on the side"

"Ok, so that shortens it down to about 4000 of our vehicles - was it a long or short Transit....?"



If on the other hand you wish to purchase some Chapter 8 compliant chevrons for your own vehicle in order to join them, I have plenty in stock to fit a variety of vehicle types, or this guy may be able to help - http://www.ebaystores.co.uk/FleetDesignUK

[S11Steve]

HantsRat said:

If they brought this law it it would cause all manner or problems. There are millions of plain vans out there working for themselves. The Police will be able to identify the owner/company if needs be.

If only every vehicle had some sort of unique identifier on the front and rear so the relevant authorities could trace it.....

That would be a great idea.

[esxste]

S11Steve said:

If only every vehicle had some sort of unique identifier on the front and rear so the relevant authorities could trace it.....

That would be a great idea.

Can I suggest that they make it reflective so its easy to read at night?


I like to think outside the box you know...

[Mercky]

McGraw said:

Getting a bit sick of these vehicles on the whole. I actively avoid them now.

Mostly unmarked vans who seem to think speed limits don't apply and they can drive really inconsiderately as who really knows who they work for?

I've seen ton plus on dual carriageways, aggressive lane changing with no indicators, mobile use, swerving all over the place.

Let's say I wanted to provide some dashcam footage of one of them driving erratically, who would I even send it to?

I'm not going to but I do think they should set a better example to be honest.

I once ended up next to one at the lights after he'd absolutely flown past me on a slip road. He had a sticker that said restricted to 70.

When I would my window down and was laughing about the sticker with him he didn't even realise it was there.

Anyone else agree?

If you have a dashcam, you are by default a bellend who doesn't know how to drive.

[lyonspride]

McGraw said:

Let's say I wanted to provide some dashcam footage of one of them driving erratically, who would I even send it to?

The Police via their own reporting system, search your local force website.

OR

https://www.nextbase.com/en-gb/national-dash-cam-s... (but be warned, those Nextbase c*nts include "small print" that gives them full rights to your video once uploaded and can sell it to media/news outlets for profit or use it for promotional material).

In the case of livered up vans, first contact the company directly, or via twitter/Facebook and post on Youtube with the company name in the video tags. Companies hate bad publicity.....


As for the type of vehicle you mentioned, yes they are disproportionately driven by complete wkers.

TBH for as much as German car drivers are usually self absorbed, self important tits. Van drivers are by far the worst, especially now that it's so easy to modify/double the power of a diesel engine, they're driving around in a highly unstable 3 tonne vehicle, pretending to be F1 drivers, bullying their way through traffic without even the slightest consideration for road safety. Not to mention the fact it's really stressful just being stuck behind one, you can't see past them, they're all over the damn road, they rarely indicate to pass parked vehicles, tailgating the vehicle in front and they get their arse in a sling if you pass them.

[caelite]

esxste said:

S11Steve said:

If only every vehicle had some sort of unique identifier on the front and rear so the relevant authorities could trace it.....

That would be a great idea.

Can I suggest that they make it reflective so its easy to read at night?


I like to think outside the box you know...

They could even make them some sort of standardised font, size and spacing. Making easily automatically recognised by a computer controlled camera.

As someone who drives a liveried van for a living, the volume of complaints my company experience that stem from the complainers bad driving or lack of road knowledge outweigh the genuine complaints by at least tenfold. Many fleet managers, contrary to their outward claims, really don't take these complaints seriously anymore.

[S11Steve]

lyonspride said:

In the case of livered up vans, first contact the company directly, or via twitter/Facebook and post on Youtube with the company name in the video tags. Companies hate bad publicity.....

Unless it's a rental company liveried vehicle.
I need to point that out because typically a weekly experience tells me people are that stupid.

[McGraw]

Mercky said:

If you have a dashcam, you are by default a bellend who doesn't know how to drive.

You do realise it's perfectly possible to be in accident and for it to be 0% your fault yet go 50/50 without witnesses or footage?

You are the bellend in this thread and I sincerely hope someone totals your car and it goes 50/50.

[McGraw]

I guess I didn't make it very clear in my original post but I think that highway maintenance vehicles should be contractually obliged to display the name of the company operating them.

It would surely make some of these drivers a bit more considerate.

[DoubleD]

McGraw said:

Mercky said:

If you have a dashcam, you are by default a bellend who doesn't know how to drive.

You do realise it's perfectly possible to be in accident and for it to be 0% your fault yet go 50/50 without witnesses or footage?

You are the bellend in this thread and I sincerely hope someone totals your car and it goes 50/50.

What a lovely thing to say.....

[S11Steve]

McGraw said:

I guess I didn't make it very clear in my original post but I think that highway maintenance vehicles should be contractually obliged to display the name of the company operating them.

It would surely make some of these drivers a bit more considerate.

I only learned about the workings of that industry when I got into rental, but the way a lot of big civil engineering projects work is through the use of Joint Ventures and sub-contractors. I've dealt with the same transport manager for about 15-20 years, who has sat in the same office in Manchester all that time, yet has worked for around 30 different companies.

There will also be self-employed guys who have their own vehicle, but will be working for various contractors each week, or even each day.

A company name wont help either - it's a running joke in our industry that we have to repo a vehicle from some cowboy trading as "First Choice Home Improvements or First Choice Builders" at least once a month. Trading names are just that, and do not lead you to a single person or company.

[E36Dan]

I'm confused, is this the first time you've experienced van drivers?

[gazza285]

McGraw said:

Getting a bit sick of these vehicles on the whole. I actively avoid them now.

Mostly unmarked vans who seem to think speed limits don't apply and they can drive really inconsiderately as who really knows who they work for?

I've seen ton plus on dual carriageways, aggressive lane changing with no indicators, mobile use, swerving all over the place.

Let's say I wanted to provide some dashcam footage of one of them driving erratically, who would I even send it to?

I'm not going to but I do think they should set a better example to be honest.

I once ended up next to one at the lights after he'd absolutely flown past me on a slip road. He had a sticker that said restricted to 70.

When I would my window down and was laughing about the sticker with him he didn't even realise it was there.

Anyone else agree?

2/10 rant.

No swearing is probably the biggest omission, good use of sweeping generalisation though, but a disappointment in just about all areas.

[GC8]

What an epicly stupid post by the OP.