How tall are you?

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershi...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-cen...

The above news stories have got me thinking. I’m a newly qualified Class 2 driver looking for my first job, and it has occurred to me that the issue of height limits is a good deal more complex than I had thought, and hasn’t really been covered in my training.

So the vehicle I trained on was a 12 tonner with rigid load space. It had a nice big placard in the cab showing our height. Nice and simple - no excuses for a bridge strike.

But there might be occasions when this is not the case. If you’re driving an open load that projects above the vehicle’s structure, what are the typical procedures for determining the height? How is it measured?

I assume that vehicles with, for example, a HIAB include it in the height - with it parked in a known position.

But the situation becomes even more complex for Class 1 drivers. They might be driving an open load (such as the car transporter in the second story) where the load determines your height. So again, how is that measured?

But even if you’ve got an enclosed trailer, your height will vary from day to day depending on which trailer. Presumably trailers also have placarded heights? But doesn’t that height vary depending on the characteristics of the tractor unit it’s coupled to? I can imagine that different tractors might carry the same trailer at slightly different heights, or is this standardised? Otherwise, how is your height determined?

Hopefully this thread might prevent me becoming another bridge strike statistic!

[normalbloke]

With a measuring stick.

[markymarkthree]

Measuring stick.
Tape measure and the fact that i am 6 ft 2" and the headboard was 6ft so i would stand on that for 12ft and measure above that. My loads were constantly changing. Worst machine was 16ft 3" loaded.

[Smint]

Enclosed vehicles, ie curtain siders tankers van bodies fridges etc will usually have the height stated, so we'll assume you are looking at flatbed type loads which can vary.

A proper height stick is an expensive item circa 90+, so i'd be more inclined to get a decent tape measure and do it the old way unless you can persuade the company to buy a height stick and issue it to you.
If you have a regular low bridge to pass under no harm in making your own height stick up, look at real height sticks for sale at truck supply stores online to see what sort of things is needed, the bar at 90' wants to be around 5ft long (so not heavy) so if you have a load that's triangular or circular in shape you can check the height is ok from either side of a typical truck body, fit a cheap spirit level to the upriight as its difficult to judge the top measuring bar is level at the time.
Car transporter operators always invest in proper height sticks for obvious reasons as the loads vary infinitely, as does plant work etc..

Look at your vehicle when loaded, where is the obvious highest point, measure from the floor to the bed, then get on the bed and measure from the floor to the highest point...note you might have been able to measure the load before it was put on in which case do so then add the bed height at its highest point...get fag packet and pencil out and start adding up then set your cab height display to that figure.
Keep a pocket sized conversion chart handy so you know your height in both metric and real figures, some bridges are in that weird foreign funny money some still in genuine imperial measurements.

Edited by Smint on Sunday 29th May 18:24

Edited by Smint on Sunday 29th May 18:28

[italianjob1275]

My Brick grab drawbar runs at 12” 9” so I’m rarely bothered by low bridges.

The crane has an alarm if it’s not properly stowed, but can be parked at 13” 2’ if you clamp around a pack

[anonymous-user]

I assume that vehicles with, for example, a HIAB include it in the height - with it parked in a known position.

A hiab will sound an alarm in the cab if the crane is not stowed away properly and you try to drive.

[towser44]

16 foot 3 inches. It's the only downside of the job for me, as the curtain siders we use have a raiseable roof and they have a tendency to stay stuck up, sometimes at the front, sometimes the back and occasionally just on a single corner! Much prefer the box bodies we have which are same height but without the raiseable roof, but unfortunately most of my trunks are with the curtain siders.

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Thanks guys, really useful insights!

[Its Just Adz]

Ex car transporter here, as said, measuring stick.

That said, I knew my truck was 13.2 empty at top of pillars.
So I could usually guess it once loaded.
Only ever really measured it if I had a van on top, or if heading in a city centre.

[944 Man]

Dr Mike Oxgreen said:

But there might be occasions when this is not the case. If you’re driving an open load that projects above the vehicle’s structure, what are the typical procedures for determining the height? How is it measured?

Height stick.

[Tekno]

BCA Tramper here (for my sins) and yes, I was provided with a new height stick. We’re forbidden to run over 16ft. As the other poster said, you know the pillar posts are 13,3” approx so tend to use the stick if I’m considerably over that.

As has been covered before, it’s the tree branches which are a total PITA. It all adds to the stresses of the day.