Outragous driving by Eddie Stobart Lorry driver!

[aeropilot]

Coming back home south around the western side of the M25 this evening and I was subjected to one of the most outrageous pieces of driving I’ve seen in a long while. Had just been passed by a Police car on full blues and twos, and about a mile later just after J17, the traffic slowed down to a stop in all lanes. I was on the inside lane and we did the usual stop followed by 50ft of 15mph crawl followed by all stop etc. I was aware that there was an artic right on my rear bumper in ‘intimidation mode’. Quite why I don’t know, but he was really annoying me as he was at times less than 2 or so feet behind me as we crawled at 10mph or so. So, I pulled over slightly to see the driver in my door mirror and there he was shaking his fist at me!!!!
So, traffic crawls off and I release my foot off the brake and let the torque at idle pull my Saab Aero along at it’s usual 12-15mph level without needing to touch the accelerator, and as there’s now about a 50ft gap in front of me, but with the car in front’s brake lights already going on to stop, matey lorry driver is in such a rush that he pulls onto the hard shoulder and precedes to undertake me and then start to pull in front of me
WTF....
A little prod of the loud pedal and 350Nm of torque had me past before he even got half way across into my lane and before I had to brake to pull up behind the stopped car infront.
Should have just left him to it, but didn't want him to think that sort of intiminating driving could benefit him, but I so wanted to get out and clout the cretin...but it’s not the done thing.

However as it was an Eddie Stobart lorry I took his reg number instead and will phone Eddie Stobart up and report him.......not that it’ll make much difference I suppose.
As their website extols the virtues of their driver training I feel the need to tell them their training is clearly lacking......

[7mike]

"report him.......not that it’ll make much difference I suppose."

On the contrary, large companies take their image very seriously & the fleet manager will probably ask for a written statement from you as evidence for disciplinary action.
With a bit of luck this idiot will be visiting Carlisle job centre before the end of next week.

[aeropilot]

7mike said:

"report him.......not that it’ll make much difference I suppose."

On the contrary, large companies take their image very seriously & the fleet manager will probably ask for a written statement from you as evidence for disciplinary action.
With a bit of luck this idiot will be visiting Carlisle job centre before the end of next week.

I suspect it's a contract driver as it ws an unmarked white cab puling a Stobart trailer, but if it means the idiot won't get any more lucrative Stobart contract work then I'll be happy.

[RabD]

aeropilot said:

7mike said:

"report him.......not that it’ll make much difference I suppose."

On the contrary, large companies take their image very seriously & the fleet manager will probably ask for a written statement from you as evidence for disciplinary action.
With a bit of luck this idiot will be visiting Carlisle job centre before the end of next week.

I suspect it's a contract driver as it ws an unmarked white cab puling a Stobart trailer, but if it means the idiot won't get any more lucrative Stobart contract work then I'll be happy.

Sounds like one. In my experience (working in a supermarket) contract drivers are by in large st. Often late, often rude and none of them can drive worth a st. The Stobart drivers I've dealt with have been excellent.

[BOF]

"report him.......not that it’ll make much difference I suppose."


With Stobart - it will!

Do it - we have enough pricks on the roads that we cannot report?

BOF

[oggs]

I'd like to hear the other side of the story

[aeropilot]

oggs said:

I'd like to hear the other side of the story

So would I, I'd love to know what the hell he thought was a good enough reason to use the hard shoulder to undertake in a 38 tonne artic.....it wasn't going to get him anywhere stationary/crawling traffic.....

[matt0677]

oggs said:

I'd like to hear the other side of the story

Probably something like:

"I was driving my artic into a speed restriction area and this lunatic in a Saab came flying past, swung into my braking zone and dropped the anchors. My heart missed a beat as I struggled to stop my 30-ton load from killing him or anybody else. When I flashed him for it he decided to play the smartarse by slowing down to walking pace (on a motorway). I attempted to pass him so I would not lose my livelihood for exceeding the working times directive, which I should not have done but he made me so angry I made a poor decision."

[Jules2477]

When I worked for plod I always found the transport managers for reputable companies like Stobarts extremely professional and receptive to driver issues. I well remember one company where the manager said it was the third complaint in a month - He did not ask for any statements but the drivers P60 or whatever was waiting for him when he returned to the depot to be interveiwed for the police matter. Just to make his day, a summons followed sometime later.

Stobarts and many other professional haulage companies take their public image very seriously so always report instances of blatant bad driving. My only advice is not to do anything antagonistic yourself. It will stick in the drivers memory and could bite you in the bum by taking away your credability!

Edited by Jules2477 on Sunday 20th July 05:55

[Daaave]

From reading your side of the story it sounds like he was being an idiot. But, you shouldn't have let him get to you and you should have just let him complete his undertake rather than rushing back in front of him.

Easy to say I know, I've been in a few situations where I have reacted in a similar manner but always felt a bit annoyed at myself afterwards too.

[ph123]

Yep, two wrongs never make a right.
Typical Saab driver IMHO.
Can't put up with someone maybe making a mistake.
Yes, let's cost him his job.
Nice reasonable rational approach.
And pro-drivers have to put up with this antagonistic stuff all day long.

[GreenV8S]

ph123 said:

And pro-drivers have to put up with this antagonistic stuff all day long.

If you can't deal with that sort of situation without shaking your fist out the winder and undertaking on the hard shoulder, I'd suggest you have the wrong temperament to work as a professional driver.

[gazza_3]

Not great driving there, I don't know why truckers get pissed off sitting in traffic, at the end of the day I'm sitting there getting payed for doing fk all. Stobart truckers are a good bunch, contractors though aren't as such. Sometimes there mantinance can be a little slack.

A note to the O.P if something like that happens again don't fk with the lorry, I know he was in the wrong but it could go horribly wrong for you in the car.

[falcemob]

The OP sounds like a complete arrogant nob head

aeropilot said:

........he was at times less than 2 or so feet behind me as we crawled at 10mph or so. So, I pulled over slightly to see the driver in my door mirror and there he was shaking his fist at me!!!!

So you're totally unaware of what you'd done, drivers generally don't get stressed on the road without reason.

aeropilot said:

So, traffic crawls off and I release my foot off the brake and let the torque at idle pull my Saab Aero...............A little prod of the loud pedal and 350Nm of torque had me past before he even got half way across into my lane.

Yes, you have a Saab, very nice but who the fk gives a damn about what torque it has apart from a gricer in an anorak. You sound like you may be an engineer.

aeropilot said:

However as it was an Eddie Stobart lorry I took his reg number instead and will phone Eddie Stobart up and report him.......not that it’ll make much difference I suppose.
As their website extols the virtues of their driver training I feel the need to tell them their training is clearly lacking......

Two sides to every story so hopefully they will listen to his side and probably come to the conclusion that you may need a driver awareness course.

[cornishgirl]

I understand your annoyance with the lorry driver but don't you think you were putting yourself at risk?

If he had just pulled out in a rage he could have crushed your car and seriously injured you.

[alphadog]

I agree that you get some idiot drivers on the road, but try not to not engage them in any way if they behave badly.

I had an incident a while back where I was overtaking a closely spaced convoy of 4 trucks, approaching the end of a dual carriageway - 40 limit where there was plenty of room to complete my overtake and move into a very generous gap in front of the lead truck.

As I was half way past the lead truck, it accelerated slightly, but we were still under the limit and I managed to complete my overtake with a little use of a hatched area - broken lines to avoid entering into its braking distance and moved back into onto a still generous gap with plenty of space.

We continued along the SC section, the truck then proceeded to approach until right on my tail - horn and lights. When we stopped at a set of lights by a roundabout I was subjected to a tirade of verbal abuse. Once the lights changed I drove towards the local police station - in a 7.5 tonne weight limit and the truck didn't pursue.

My point is that it is easy to to let the red mist decend, and try a retaliatory manoevre - like the 'loud pedal' incident, but it is better to accept that you will sometimes end up on the wrong place in the wrong time and be subjected to someone else's unreasonable behavior. Having said that it has taken a few years for me to take a deep breath and not react visibly under such circumstances.

[Big Fat F'r]

ph123 said:

And pro-drivers have to put up with this antagonistic stuff all day long.

Perhaps they ought to realise that Professional should mean more than "gets paid for it".

BFF

Edited by Big Fat F'r on Tuesday 22 July 12:38

[heebeegeetee]

Jules2477 said:

When I worked for plod I always found the transport managers for reputable companies like Stobarts extremely professional and receptive to driver issues. I well remember one company where the manager said it was the third complaint in a month - He did not ask for any statements but the drivers P60 or whatever was waiting for him when he returned to the depot to be interveiwed for the police matter. Just to make his day, a summons followed sometime later.

Stobarts and many other professional haulage companies take their public image very seriously so always report instances of blatant bad driving. My only advice is not to do anything antagonistic yourself. It will stick in the drivers memory and could bite you in the bum by taking away your credability!

Yep, if you phone Stobarts they will do something about it. Even if you've done something earlier to upset him, he was well out of order.

[supermono]

aeropilot said:

:...let the torque at idle pull my Saab Aero along...A little prod of the loud pedal...350Nm of torque had me past...didn't want him to think that sort of intiminating driving could benefit him

These key points and that you've posted this in advanced driving are making me judge you as someone with a superiority complex and reading between the lines I honestly believe the truck driver (and god knows I'm no fan of truck drivers) would have some things to say which would balance the story...

SM

[10 Pence Short]

In my opinion Stobart are no longer anything like the organisation they once were. There has been a change of ownership behind the scenes and I don't think it's for the better.