Well did anyone else watch this? I thought it was an awful program trying to build up the excitement of things like pulling a hose off a petrol tanker!
Pat, would be interested in your thoughts on this. Having previously watched a program like this based on my line of work and cringing at every aspect of it trying to make it good for tv I would be interested what your take is on it.
Anyone else see it?
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Yes, they did over stress the danger of a tanker of diesel. 'Could go up like a bomb'.
I don't know what the manager of the driver filmed swigging from a water bottle whilst on the move would think.
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One spark could send it up!
Not diesel me old fruit, probably why you never had to use the earthing straps.
Where do they get their diesel from BTW?
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At their local Tesco! They buy new lorries with their clubcard points :)
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Well, I've just sat and watched this because I missed it last night.
I have to agree with you Bobby, and it always happens when they want to film any 'real life' programme.
The people being filmed end up cringing when they see just how it's been put together and how the important bits are left out.
I can't imaging why it takes Stobarts six months to train a tanker driver, no other firm takes that long and the risks were over dramatised.
Mo was a typical tramper though, and the sight of him pulling his curtains and settling down in bed, in the cab made me miss it sooooo much!
I have so many mixed feelings about Stobarts.
Traditionally lorry drivers hate them unless they actually work for them, and to an extent, I can see why.
It's usually envy of the new lorries and the working conditions that they have as most of us don't have those luxuries.
I can write this here but not on our forums!
Stobarts are a firm we should be thanking, as they set the bar some years ago in the Industry. It's down to them that we all have uniforms supplied now, and that most employers have begun to think that image is an important part of the job. Stobart drivers are expected to be professional, and I don't mean in just the way they drive.
The whole aspect of the job, from dealing with customers to handling the public, both on and off the road, is included in that and I think that's an excellent example to us all.
I also have a lot of admiration for William Stobart and Andrew Tinkler in the way they've developed the firm over the years and have now manged to corner the market in containing all aspects of the business 'in house'.
Apart from over egging the tanker bit, and the forced posing, it was pretty accurate!
Pat
It's not good for other haulage firms who used to do that work, but it's certainly a good business decision.
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It was pretty much a repeat of a similar programme on the Eddie Stobart company which was aired some considerable time ago.
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Stobart drivers are expected to be professional, and I don't mean in just
>> the way they drive.
>>
Didn't see the program but i'm staggered at that comment, you should be on the M6/A14 hell junction on a Friday late afternoon.
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I can't see the reason for that comment GB, I think we're all expected to be professional in the way we drive.
I thought you would realise exactly what I meant, simply that it's only a very small part of the job for us.
My experience of the M6/A14 junction usually involves the box jockeys as I'm sure yours does too:)
Pat
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>> I can't see the reason for that comment GB, I think we're all expected to
>> be professional in the way we drive.
I know exactly what you meant in the post Pat.
However high profile big on image trucks stand out like a sore thumb when they continue down the M6 till the very last moment then stops in the M6 causing a dangerous situation for several miutes (not one isolated idiot either unless the one does it frequently), and then proceeds to force their way into the outside of the 2 A14 lanes at that point, many car drivers understandably take umbrage and won't them them in.
They are not alone in this some car/van drivers do this together with a thankfully small minority of trucks and this behaviour has resulted as you well know in some serious accidents at this point and further back as the stop wave works it's way back.
Good packaging does impress, but when the package doesn't live up it disappoints as you expected more.
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>> Didn't see the program but i'm staggered at that comment, you should be on the
>> M6/A14 hell junction on a Friday late afternoon.
Thank you, I haven't had to go near the Catforth interchange for nearly 6 months, and you bring all the awful memories flooding back,
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>> Thank you, I haven't had to go near the Catforth interchange for nearly 6 months,
>> and you bring all the awful memories flooding back,
>>
Miss it do you Z?...boil on nethers springs to mind, luckily since packing the cars in i don't use it often either, it used to be every day.
On a Fiday afternoon i don't usually use that junction, take the fairly obvious but slightly longer (distance) diversion.
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Left at M6 J1 to the higher junction on the M1 and down again you mean?
Before I die I wish to meet the person who designed the junction. I'm not a violent man, but I would make Peter Sutcliffe look like an amateur.
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 25 Sep 10 at 11:02
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>> Before I die I wish to meet the person who designed the junction. I'm not
>> a violent man, but I would make Peter Sutcliffe look like an amateur.
>>
What's really upsetting is that he's probably living the life of Reilly with his knighthood golden handshake and index linked pension when he should be doing time for every poor soul whose perished there over the years.
Yes that the divert i take with a truck, even if it's no quicker it's a sight safer and much less nerve wracking.
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>> One spark could send it up!
>> Not diesel me old fruit, probably why you never had to use the earthing straps.
Indeed so.
I have distant memories of being terrified watching a lighted match extinguished by being plunged into an open barrel of diesel, as the unspoken reply to my nervous comment "Is it a good idea to light a cigarette near that?"
>> Where do they get their diesel from BTW?
probably here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsbury_Oil_Terminal
near the joining of M42/M6 Toll
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>> I don't know what the manager of the driver filmed swigging from a water bottle
>> whilst on the move would think.
He was hydrating himself to keep up his levels of concentration. Well done.
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>> He was hydrating himself to keep up his levels of concentration. Well done.
>>
My cousin had been hydrating himself before he got stopped by the police on the A11.
He got a years ban.
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Glasses in the meeting room in a V formation, cups with handles on the left, all the window blinds at the same level and no coats on the back of seats ...
Just exactly how anal is William Stobart......?
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And if you look at every Stobart trailer you see going down the road, it will have every clip 'tucked in' on the sides of the taut liner.
Failure to do so can provoke a disciplinary offence.
Pat
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I would hate to work in that enviroment which basicaly becomes a blame game between drivers and managers. I suppose you have not take it personaly. I have probably just got used to having five years without any boss though :).
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I heard a tale that basically said that an E. Stob' driver got the sack for taking his tie off whilst attending to a tyre problem. True or false? Cos I've seen their drivers tie-less.
M
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Thanks GB... that's sorted the Mrs for a Christmas present.
www.stobartshop.co.uk/MoreInfo.php?Id=1006
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The last Christmas before we went our separate ways I asked my ex-wife what sort of thing she wanted for a present that year. She replied that she would favour something shiny, silver in preference.
I got her some new hubcaps for her Fiat Panda. Well, she'd kerbed the old ones.
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>> The last Christmas before we went our separate ways I asked my ex-wife what sort
>> of thing she wanted for a present that year. She replied that she would favour
>> something shiny, silver in preference.
Here's 50p for your bus fare?
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>> that's sorted the Mrs for a Christmas present.
Don't do it FL, by Boxing day you'll be communicating by solicitors letters, if you do it don't blame me.
Hump's amazing (for a clever chap) good idea is a prime example .
-:)
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Sun 26 Sep 10 at 07:22
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>>>Don't do it FL.
OK fair enough I don't want trouble.... I'll get a frying pan as planned then.
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The frying pan is a pad idea.
A nice new Vacuum cleaner is the way to go.
(she cant hit you with it)
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...she cant hit you with it...
I once heard a police interview tape of the comedian Chubby Brown who was being questioned about an allegation of domestic violence.
Police officer: "Come on, why did you hit your missus with the candlestick?"
Quick as a flash Chubby replies: "Because I couldn't lift the sideboard!"
Last edited by: Iffy on Sun 26 Sep 10 at 10:08
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That would be true Martin, although some time ago. They stopped wearing ties as part of ther uniform around seven years ago, and now wear polo shirts..
Pat
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...They stopped wearing ties as part of ther uniform around seven years ago, and now wear polo shirts...
Where Eddie Stobart leads, the police service follows.
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Many years ago the MIL received a toasted sandwich maker from FIL for xmas. She told him that if he ever got her a girft with a plug on it again then he would be single. No plugs since and still together!
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I was once bought a 512MB DDR1 SO-DIMM for ex's Christmas present because she kept complaining her laptop was too slow. It didn't go down too well, although it shut her up moaning about it being slow!!
I could do with some wheel trims for my panda too I have wrecked them already but parking was never my strong point. I have learnt how to do reverse parking though, providing I have 1.5 car length!
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Still catching up with this series, and finally saw episode 5 of 6 last night.
It's the one featuring "race" between their train and a truck.
There was a brief "over the drivers shoulder" shot which I did a double take on, went back and froze the frame - a just a bit short of 100 mph indicated.
As it wasn't the train driver, it does explain why I sometimes take longer to catch and overtake some HGV's than expected.
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If it was the lorry speedo it would be 100 Kilometers per hours which is approximately 62 MPH.
Fully loaded and downhill it is possible.
Pat
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I meant to ask this question in Cambridge but I forgot but this program reminded me again, if the limit on the motorway for HGVs is 60 why are they limited to 56mph?
And how does the limiter work? For example if you're going down hill does it automatically change the gears or applie the brakes to make it only do 56mph?
Also Pat on reflection now there has been more eposides would you say it is accurate or far too heavily edited?
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So many questions Rattle:)
The speed limit is still 60MPH on motorways for HGV's and I understand the decision to limit them to 56MPH was made to avoid them going over that speed when travelling downhill and to be more economical and less polluting.
It works by the diesel injection pump cutting the fuel supply off so no matter how hard you press on the accelerator, nothing happens. No brakes are applied at all and when going downhill fully loaded it is still possible to get well over the 56MPH limited speed.
As far as the Stobart programme goes, I only watched the first episode.
It's close to reality but short on truth!
IMHO, it's a very good piece of PR on Stobarts part and will have the desired effect, but it's not the world that the rest of us work in, I'm afraid!
Pat
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Thanks that is the bit I didn't get how it works with gravity - it dosn't.
Will explain why I have seen several lorries over taking each other on the downhill part of the M62 past the Saddleworth moors.
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Yes, the loaded ones will always overtake the empty ones.
The real test of nerves is coming down Beatock on the M74 fully freighted.
I remember telling myself 'come on Pat, don't brake, the scottish lorries never do' :)
I won't tell you how fast it will go though;)
Pat
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>>I won't tell you how fast it will go though;)
But still not as fast as it would in neutral?
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No difference really because you have 28 tons pushing you forward, making a gross of 44 tonnes relying on gravity!
Pat
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Once you exceed the limiter's limit, wouldn't the engine then be causing additional drag?
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>> The speed limit is still 60MPH on motorways for HGV's and I understand the decision
>> to limit them to 56MPH was made to avoid them going over that speed when
>> travelling downhill and to be more economical and less polluting.
I'm sure you'll correct me if I'm wrong but I believed it was due to the common use of restrictions across the EU in that all HGV's registered in the EU had to be fitted with a limiter restricting the vehicle to 90kph which equals, as near as dammit, 56mph, which leaves us with the anachronism of a legal limit of 60 mph but a EU regulation enforcing a lower limit of 56 mph; as we know, an EU reg will always override our laws........
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>> If it was the lorry speedo it would be 100 Kilometers per hours which is
>> approximately 62 MPH.
>>
Thanks. Yes, that makes some sense.
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Technically I don't know to be honest.
Practically I have reached in excess of 85MPH down Beattock and Saddleworth on the M62 and that was in gear.
There is too much at risk with modern engines and transmissions to risk Aberdeen overdrive.
I once followed a colleague down a long hill on the A30 at Redruth and he had knocked it out of cog, when he tried to get it back in he ended up breaking the crankshaft. He was young and thought he could go faster like that, but he didn't go far in the end.
Pat
Last edited by: pda on Thu 28 Oct 10 at 14:58
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>> Practically I have reached in excess of 85MPH
Had an F90 MAN in '87 that would cruise at 93/95mph, not as anyone would do such a thing.
Your later post about 'limited only' truck drivers never finding their's and the trucks handling limits is spot on.
On the roundabout rollover situation i avoid a certain Shrop's hauliers trucks like the plague, i've seen more of their trucks side on at Spittalls/Brampton than upright.
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>> If it was the lorry speedo it would be 100 Kilometers per hours which is
>> approximately 62 MPH.
>>
>> Fully loaded and downhill it is possible.
On long flat section on Interstate 15 across the Mojave desert, I was overtaken at 80mph by a Perterbilt 384 hauling two 25' trailers with large hoppers of aggregate.
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What we all forget is that before January 1994 we all did these speed anyway because there was no limiter fitted.
I bet he enjoyed it:)
Pat
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At the risk of being flamed Bobby can I change the subject line spelling to reflect a non-software programme ?
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You could just change the habit of a life time PU, and just ignore it.
Pat
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Ask yourself three questions
1) Does it really matter?
2) Can everyone understand the title?
3) Is it hurting anyone?
If the answers are no, yes and no respectively then use tact and diplomacy!
Simple....
Pat
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I've been overtaken a couple of times recently by empty, articulated car transporters doing well over 70MPH.
Should they all be 'limited' by now?
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Yes they should, but it's very difficult to judge accurately the speed of another vehicle.
We have to assume that your speedo is spot on and doesn't over read as most do for a start.
I would like to point out too that lorry drivers are human!
We ( most of us) like to put our daily vehicles through their paces, push the limits and generally hone our skills, when it's safe to do so. Just the same as car drivers enjoy doing the same with a car.
Some will say AAAAH but.....!
A lorry can do more damage than a car if it has an accident
A lorry driver should be professional ( but only when were doing something they don't agree with!)
It's against the law.
And yes, to a certain extent I agree with all the above BUT....
Since lorries have been fitted with speed limiters, we are now seeing the vast majority of drivers who have never driven one without a limiter, and some don't handle the vehicles so well. Could this be a contributory factor to the huge amount of rollovers we have now? At least we learnt where and when it was safe to do it, and it certainly wasn't while going around a roundabout.
Pat
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>>We have to assume that your speedo is spot on and doesn't over read as most do for a start.
I'm sure my speedo is optimistic (as indicated by satnav), but I would have been, erm, taking that into account when I was cruising at a speed not likely to attract the attention of the BIBs and still get overtaken by said car transporters.
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Pug, I watched it on my computer......... :)
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Haha that's OK then.... !
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One thing that Pat doesn't mention is that all these speeds are recorded on the tachograph; on the modern digital ones, if you inadvertently run over the limiter speed, after a few seconds it flashes up as "overspeed" on the tacho head, and in the case of my Volvo, on the dashboard display as well. Do it too often at your own risk, a properly-run company will discipline drivers who break the law.
One of the reasons why modern HGV's have such powerful engines is because of these limiters, the theory being that they run the same speed up hills as down. Those of us who drove back in the 70's and earlier will remember the queues which built up behind old ERF's and the like, running 32 tonnes GVW and powered by a 180 Gardner engine. Such vehicles were referred to by their drivers as "Rolls Canardlys".... rolls down hills, can 'ardly get up them!
Makes the common modern-day lament of being stuck behind two artics overtaiking one another, for half a minute, look very trivial indeed; but then again everyone's in such a hurry these days.
Last edited by: Harleyman on Thu 28 Oct 10 at 22:31
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I would love that model from Amazon that Rattle is putting together but I would want a Gardner 180 or preferably a Scania V8:)
Opposite ends of the spectrum but I have just as much respect for both of them.
Pat
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Hmm.. old Gardner..
Somewhere I have a very old book (belonged to my now deceased father in law) which explains at great length how to set up the injectors on on of those.
AFAIR refered to as a "high speed diesel engine", which I suppose it was at the time.
The book is one of many he collected at the close of WW2 as a vehicle mechanic.
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Pat, on one part they showed the different types of trailers they used, one had moving bars on it to sweep surplus grain out the trailer?
Seemed a complex piece of eqpt for that purpose?
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Time is money, I guess the idea of the electric sweeping is it means a quicker turn around time at depots and warehouses.
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Eddie Stobart Program - bathtub tom
