How tall are you?
Discussion
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!
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!
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