Motoring Discussion > Speed limiters on artics Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Iffy Replies: 97

 Speed limiters on artics - Iffy
I passed an artic today which bore a sign: "This vehicle limited to 52mph."

I understood the legal limit for artics on the motorway to be 56mph.

So is this voluntarily lower limit to save fuel?

Some artics seem to go faster than 56mph, are there any circumstances in which that's legal?

The artic with the lower limit was being operated by Kuhne and Nagel, and the trailer had the livery of Waitrose supermarket.

I wonder what impact the 52mph limit has on the driver and his schedule.

Not to mention poor old Zeddo, who might have to wait longer for his venison medallions in a cranberry jus.

 Speed limiters on artics - Pat
The legal limit on the motorway for a lorry is actually 60 MPH BUT it is illegal not to have a speed limiter fitted that doesn't restrict the vehicles speed to a maximum of 56 mph.

Sainsbury, and a lot of other firms are now having the limiters reduced to 52 mph in an effort to appear to care for emissions, and appear greener to their customer base.

They also claim they save fuel, but how that fuel saving balances against the longer it takes to do a run, the possible need for a break where previously there wouldn't have been, and driver boredom and inattention, I really don't know.
The feedback we get is that it causes difficulties when a lower limited lorry wants to pull out of the nearside lane on a motorway to let someone off a slip road, and can't do so because there is a constant stream of 56mph lorries overtaking them.

Having driven lorries for many years before limiters were introduced, we used to be able to cruise on the motorway at 64MPH and Plod would always leave us alone, so looking back over 20 years for example, a 10 hour drive from say London to Scotland on the M1/M6 has the potential of leaving you 140 miles short of where you would have been in 1981

That's supposed to be progress.

Pat
 Speed limiters on artics - Skoda
I think we'll continue down this route for a bit yet, but In a few years, a person will come along and they will be hailed a messiah of transport.

They'll rip the limiter out of a truck and they'll exclaim the efficiency increases and the reduction in transport costs.

Most people, that's the same "most people" who just now want trucks slower and confined to truck lanes and what not, will be of the new opinion that fast trucks are the best thing since sliced bread.

There will be a few other folks with incredulous looks saying things like I told you so, or I can't believe this about turn, can no one else see what just happened? Of course they'll be written off as bampots, there was no about turn, it's just that the road transport messiah had a vision no one else had and fast trucks were it, and isn't the future great.

If it's ok with everyone else, I'm going to put myself forward as the messiah of fast trucks because the numpties that perform roles of this ilk historically tend to get given tax payers cash by the wheelbarrow, and I think I'd like that.
 Speed limiters on artics - R.P.
Driving on "Motorways" in the states it was always a shock to be overtaken by giant trucks - don't think they are restricted there. On the other hand they didn't seem to cause carnage so why limit them to 56 mph which is some KPH equivalent anyway. Let them go at a heady 60 !
 Speed limiters on artics - Zero
Nevada seems not to give a Jot on speed limits of any kind.

I was doing an indicated 80 and got blasted into the tumbleweed by an overtaking Peterbild double trailer hauling aggregate. There was no way he would stop if anything happened in front. Mind the road was straight for 11 miles and you could see every one of those miles ahead.

Last edited by: Zero on Tue 11 Jan 11 at 19:37
 Speed limiters on artics - L'escargot
>> Mind the road was straight for 11 miles and you could see every
>> one of those miles ahead.

On a level road the horizon would be 11 mile away if your eyes were about 80 feet above the road. tinyurl.com/co3fpk6
Last edited by: L'escargot on Wed 15 Aug 12 at 07:06
 Speed limiters on artics - John H
>> >> Mind the road was straight for 11 miles and you could see every
>> >> one of those miles ahead.
>>
>> On a level road the horizon would be 11 mile away if your eyes were
>> about 80 feet above the road. tinyurl.com/co3fpk6
>>

You haven't been to the place in Nevada that Zero was referring to.

In any case, Zero is not coming back from his flounce just to reply to a thread from last year.

 Speed limiters on artics - L'escargot
>> >> On a level road the horizon would be 11 mile away if your eyes
>> were
>> >> about 80 feet above the road. tinyurl.com/co3fpk6
>> >>
>>
>> You haven't been to the place in Nevada that Zero was referring to.

No I haven't, so I'd appreciate an explanation as to why Nevada is different from the general rule to which I referred.
 Speed limiters on artics - Lygonos
1. The road may have been across a shallow basin.

2. Zero may have a massively deformed head and neck.
 Speed limiters on artics - No FM2R
I'm going with 2).
 Speed limiters on artics - John H
>> so I'd appreciate an explanation as to why Nevada is different from the general rule >>

Just a couple of images to show you that Nevada roads are straight but not always level:

www.panoramio.com/photo/7221249
www.xsrider.com/xsrider/june07/day2/140-1.jpg

Last edited by: John H on Wed 15 Aug 12 at 08:48
 Speed limiters on artics - Lygonos
Looks suspiciously like the pics sent home by Mars Curiosity rover.

/Capricorn One.
 Speed limiters on artics - L'escargot
Thanks Lygonos and John H. Now it makes sense.
 Speed limiters on artics - Chicago
>> Driving on "Motorways" in the states it was always a shock to be overtaken by
>> giant trucks - don't think they are restricted there. On the other hand they didn't
>> seem to cause carnage so why limit them to 56 mph which is some KPH
>> equivalent anyway. Let them go at a heady 60 !
>>

They aren't and the trucks and cars all travel around the same speed as a result, so you don't get the annoying bunching up you get in the UK.

Unfortunately though there is no lane discipline here, so you'll be on a 5 lane road with all lanes doing the same speed.
 Speed limiters on artics - Fursty Ferret
SQ

>> They aren't and the trucks and cars all travel around the same speed as a
>> result, so you don't get the annoying bunching up you get in the UK.
>>

However, motorway deaths in the USA are far, far, greater than they are here (searching distant memory so may be completely wrong, but don't think so). On top of this, they only have cable barriers between carriageways.

It's an unnerving experience to have several trailers of articulated lorry blast past at 80mph+, and from my six months in Arizona there was a serious accident at the side of the interstate almost every day, though don't actually remember many lorries involved. Perhaps they're moved off since while the car is destroyed, the lorry is scratched.
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 13 Jan 11 at 00:38
 Speed limiters on artics - Westpig
>> It's an unnerving experience to have several trailers of articulated lorry blast past >>at 80mph+,

Quite agree. Having driven through a rain storm in Texas that i've never experienced before and really wouldn't wish to again...it was a lesser of the evils thing..i.e. drive too fast and ensure the lorries didn't catch you up or drive to the conditions and risk something huge rear ending you...not nice.

70mph in a biblical deluge seemed suicidal to me, but that's what the lorries did, all of them.
 Speed limiters on artics - teabelly
If we want people to get moving on the roads then change the motorway limit for cars to 90mph and raise HGV limiters to 70 and have a notional limit of 65 mph on motorways and dual carriageways with 50 mph on A roads. A roads would be much safer as cars wouldn't be held up at a stupidly low 40 mph and forced into overtaking or dying of boredom.

I'm sure HGV brakes are a lot better than they were when these limits were set anyway. If journey times and boredom is reduced then I'm sure any extra fuel cost will be more than negated by lower accident rates.

 Speed limiters on artics - Dave_
HGV brakes may be better, but so are cars'... If a car performs an emergency stop in front of an HGV, the lorry WILL hit it. Even if the brakes on a lorry are 20 times as good as those on a car, it weighs between 20 and 40 times as much - so its stopping performance will be no better than, and possibly only half as good as, the car in front.

Isn't there some law of fluid dynamics to do with air resistance which states that at speeds above 90km/h (56mph) air requires exponentially greater effort to shift out of the way? ISTR this was one of the main factors in using 56mph as a benchmark figure for fuel economy testing too.

Also, I understand that EU regulations require HGV limiters to be set between 80 and 90 km/h (50 and 56mph), although in the interests of expediency the majority of vehicles' limiters are set at the upper end of this window. I may be wrong, but I'm sure an HGV technician told me that once.
 Speed limiters on artics - IJWS14
>> If we want people to get moving on the roads then change the motorway limit
>> for cars to 90mph and raise HGV limiters to 70 and have a notional limit
>> of 65 mph on motorways and dual carriageways with 50 mph on A roads.


Totally wrong as borne out by the variable speed limits on the M25 and M42, soon to be on M6

There will allways be drivers who don't want to go at or just above the speed limit and, when its busy, that means there will allways be bunching if you let those who think their time is more valuable than anyone elses charge around at higher speeds. It is the bunching that causes the problems.

Believe it or not a road has its highest capacity in vehilces per hour at somewhere between 12 and 16 mph so to get traffic flowing expect LOWER limits. (Who hasn't been on the M1 leaving London at 17:30)

To get it flowing QUICKLY you have to limit the amount of traffic on a given road, and that might just mean that it is YOU who is not allowed to travel that day!

As the saying goes - carefull what you wish for, you might just get it!
 Speed limiters on artics - Pat
I agree with your statistics IJWS, specially on the M25 and M40, but for those who are on the road all day, or all night and not just in the morning and evening rush hour, Teabelly has it spot on.

There are thousands of miles of motorway and dual carriageways that are never affected by the rush hour and are not even busy, so to increase the speed limits would mean that the vast amount of commercial traffic ( both car and lorry) could work more productively.

Pat
 Speed limiters on artics - teabelly
The big problem with variable limits is that they actually cause bunching when combined with enforcement. The m42 is thoroughly dangerous as traffic doesn't move freely as everyone sits together at the same speed so if anything happens there is nowhere to go. If you have freely moving traffic then all 3 lanes are changing and moving and there are less likely to be 3 of you in a row for very long.

Traffic naturally slows down when the traffic is heavier Doesn't take variable limits to make that happen.

Employers are the problem. Most want everyone to be physically in work for pre defined and regular office hours. If they were more flexible and allowed people to work from home there wouldn't be the congestion.
 Speed limiters on artics - Statistical Outlier
Disagree about the M42. It used to be a nightmare traffic jam just about all the time. Now it is a bit frustrating, but actually being in a jam is very unusual. And I've not really seen any accidents when I've been using it.
 Speed limiters on artics - IJWS14
Variable speed limits don't cause bunching, it is large variances of speed that do.

On most motorways you do not get three freely moving lanes - you get the speed merchabnts who NEVER move out of the thirds lane, the idiots who NEVER move out of the middle lane (both apart from joining.leaving) and hence no freely flowing lane. It is not an ideal woreld out there and never will be.

I don't actually remember much bunching ont eh M42 since the VSL come in, and I am sat 50 yards away from it as I type.

PDA is correct, but where on our motorway network will you never get bunching - I have seen it in some remote spots on the M6/M74 in the last few year
 Speed limiters on artics - IJWS14
One further thought - if all artic limiters were set at the same speed would it put an end to elephant racing?
 Speed limiters on artics - Pat
No......think about it!

Tyres wear and have an effect on speed also a loaded lorry will go slower than an empty one uphill but faster downhill.

Sorry to dissapoint you:)

Pat
 Speed limiters on artics - Zero
Well I tell you what, I had the nastiest fof journeys on Wednesday morning, traffic hell every where I went, but the delight was trailing, for miles and miles, on two separate roads, two separate lorries, that were incapable of travelling at more than 40 mph.

One was bad enough, but two?

I am sure the lorry driver was pretty miserable at being lumbered with such crap, but I could cheerfully have put him out of his (or her) misery.

Dunno about speed limiters, it should be an offence not being able to power to the NSL!
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 14 Jan 11 at 14:12
 Speed limiters on artics - Pat
NSL for lorries on single carriageway roads IS only 40MPH Zero.

That's why we're always in everyone's way.

How frustrating do you think that is for the driver knowing he has the power, ability and is full competent at going faster. Seeing a line of frustrated car drivers behind and knowing he is in their way?

Pat

 Speed limiters on artics - DP
Back in the 80's my dad drove coaches for a living, and typically within a week of a new model of coach appearing on the fleet, every driver knew how to disconnect the speed limiter (and reconnect it afterwards).

Some of the better stuff could crack 90 on the flat, thus liberated. ;-)

Wouldn't happen now.
 Speed limiters on artics - BobbyG
>>Wouldn't happen now.

you reckon not??
 Speed limiters on artics - DP
>> you reckon not??

I would imagine it's a lot harder in these days of all controlling ECUs than it was when the restrictor was a plug in box.....that could be unplugged once you knew where it was.
 Speed limiters on artics - Zero
>> NSL for lorries on single carriageway roads IS only 40MPH Zero.

Is it?

They must be the only two that ever stuck to it then because I never noticed before!

 Speed limiters on artics - Pat
Ah yes, I see...the rest of us must be doing wrong then:)

Pat
 Speed limiters on artics - Harleyman
>> They must be the only two that ever stuck to it then because I never
>> noticed before!
>>
The usual clue is to look for a Tesco logo somewhere. ;-)

I've said before that the easiest way to bring the UK to a grinding halt within would be for HGV's to stick rigidly to the 40 mph limit.

It would either cause a helluva backlog in the supermarkets' distribution depots (because whilst their own lorries stick to the limit, their suppliers' are pushed to the hilt by unrealistic planning) or block every A-road with the resultant carnage from impatient car and van drivers who overtake where they normally wouldn't.

Unfortunately, it'll never happen. Too may have too much to lose; drivers' jobs, companies' contracts, etc.

I tried doing it for a couple of days recently when our planners went a bit too far. It works; but trust me it is mind-numbingly boring, and I saw more bad overtaking in those two days than I'd normally see in a month; even though i was driving strictly within the law!

Last edited by: Harleyman on Fri 14 Jan 11 at 15:24
 Speed limiters on artics - Dave_
I get enough of it in a 7.5 tonner HM, and my NSL on single carriageways is 50mph! Amazing how many car drivers think that 60mph is a target not a maximum.
Last edited by: Dave_TD {P} on Fri 14 Jan 11 at 21:37
 Speed limiters on artics - Westpig
Amazing how many car drivers think that 60mph is a target not a maximum.
>>

It damned well should be a target. The road laws have been dumbed down so much and the swathes of solid white lines etc are so prolific, that if our namby pamby state thinks you should actually be allowed to reach 60mph...then car drivers should crack on and achieve it.
 Speed limiters on artics - nyx2k
well said westpig

the least these slow people could do is once in a while pull over and let others pass by as i dont like being kept prisoner behind some super slow person
 Speed limiters on artics - DP
I would actually find it embarrassing if I were tootling along at the head of a queue of frustrated drivers. Yet these people don't even seem to notice.
 Speed limiters on artics - Harleyman
Okay, so they pull over into a lay-by. They wait for the queue to clear, start off again, have to repeat the same process a few miles down the road.

How much time does that add to that driver's journey; and how much extra fuel from all the stops and starts?

Remember; these guys are respecting the law. Thewy're not driving faster than 40 to annoy the unfortunates behind them, they're doing it to stay legal; I find it somewhat ironic in view of previous "I hate lorries cos they drive too fast" threads that posters now wish to pillory them for observing the limit.

Another excuse to hate truckers, of course! ;-)
 Speed limiters on artics - Manatee
We're at cross purposes. The lorry drivers have no choice unless they break the law. There are usually few places in practice for them to pull over anyway, and whilst they could try to 'help' folk overtake most drivers are so slow on the uptake there's no point. What's needed is for the car drivers to appreciate that if they don't want to overtake, they should allow those behind them to do so by keeping left and leaving a space in front.

The 35-40mph car drivers are another matter. I went to Oxford on the A418 from Aylesbury today and saw 3 potentially lethal overtakes ahead of me, where a potterer was doing no more than 40 with two cars following on autopilot with no room in between. The worst was an attempt by the fourth car to pass all three which ended with the overtaker on the wrong side of solid lines facing oncoming traffic necessitating barging in while the second overtakee attempted to prevent him doing so. Cue much horn blowing and flashing of lights.

I would certainly not be comfortable at the head of such a procession, though the problem was made much worse by the two nits behind.
 Speed limiters on artics - nyx2k
in no way was my tremarks aimed at lorry drivers.

but im a little fed up of spending mind numbing time behind car drivers doing 40mph on roads where it is perfectly safe to do 60mph.

the argument that some members put aross is i think my journey is more important than the much slower car in front is entirely wrong. the driver in front is thinking his journey at such a silly speed is much more important than his and is very selfish as i dont have any choice but to sit behind him for up to 1hr sometimes in my local roads aorund the south downs, and dont get me started on the slow speeds some drivers do when goiung up and down the hills around here.
 Speed limiters on artics - Netsur
Every dual carriageway road should have a minimum speed for cars and light vans of 60mph if conditions allow.

There was almost an accident on the M62 on Thursday afternoon because a Micra, driven by a not so elderly woman, was hogging the inside lane at 50mph. The HGVs struggled to get out of way and I swear one was considering ramming her, given how it was constantly speeding up and slowing down right behind her.
 Speed limiters on artics - -
was hogging the inside lane at 50mph.

Nothing wrong with that, why should anyone have to drive at higher speed than they want to provided they keep to the left when appropriate, which apparently she was, it's those who vary speeds but hog the overtaking lanes who are a pita.

The inside lane is not just for HGV drivers, though that's my permanent place now when truck driving as i set the cruise at 50.

The alleged driver you saw sounds like he was trying to bully this unfortunate woman into speeding up instead of overtaking her, that's not a HGV driver by anyone's description.
 Speed limiters on artics - paulb
>> ... in my local roads aorund the south downs, and dont get
>> me started on the slow speeds some drivers do when goiung up and down the
>> hills around here.
>>

Don't know whether you use the A280 Long Furlong regularly/at all, but just lately we seem to have regular contingents of folk who think you can only do 35 mph down the straight bits, and 25 on the bends. Exceptionally tedious.
 Speed limiters on artics - Iffy
...Exceptionally tedious...

He said neutrally. :)

 Speed limiters on artics - paulb
>> ...Exceptionally tedious...
>>
>> He said neutrally. :)
>>

:-)

Tedious because it is so unnecessary when the conditions allow for much more rapid progress.

I have been directly behind the leaders of a few of these processions and I have to say that if they actually used their cars' heaters/air-con to de-mist the windows properly, they might be able to see well enough to go a bit faster...
 Speed limiters on artics - -
South Downs, home to retired gentle folk.

If it should be a pimped up PT cruiser at the front of the winding snake, it'll be Armel taking his daily mimse.
 Speed limiters on artics - Zero
Absolutely, place is full of them

Talk a good drive, but at the end of the day its all brakelights and third gear.
 Speed limiters on artics - paulb
>> South Downs, home to retired gentle folk.
>>

...and folk like me who grew up round here and don't want to live in London.

We're normally the ones coming blasting past the mimsers.
 Speed limiters on artics - Stuu
I was driving my car along at 45 mph on an NSL this morning. It was the fastest speed conditions allowed for my car because it suffers in crosswinds and it was bobbing about even then.
The twit behind in their 3-Series didnt get this but was too stupid to make use of various overtaking opportunities. I felt no guilt.

You dont know why anyone is doing the speed they are doing, you just assume they are an idiot because their progress isnt as rapid as yours, but it seems unlikely given your tone that you have actually weighed up their situation with any balance. They are just in your way and dont have the self control to let it go or make an intelligent appraisal of their situation.
 Speed limiters on artics - Zero
who would drive a car they know to be unstable in crosswinds?
 Speed limiters on artics - Stuu
A person with a job, who needs money, pay bills...

Coming from the driver of a car only poor taxi drivers choose though, glasshouses ;-)
 Speed limiters on artics - Zero
the one that does more than 45 mph in crosswinds, hasn't got a sodding great hole in the sill, and doesn't need to go to the garage to be sorted you mean?
 Speed limiters on artics - Stuu
Mine hasnt got a hole in the sill, its got a whole new sill, hole free :-)

Did someone call a cab?
 Speed limiters on artics - Zero
At least I got a job if i need it.

Fares have to suffer the lab sticking its tongue in their ears tho.
 Speed limiters on artics - Stuu
Zero Taxis has a ring to it... Rattle needs a job too ;-)
 Speed limiters on artics - Zero
be first entry in the yellow pages

0 cabs
 Speed limiters on artics - Clk Sec
>>Zero Taxis has a ring to it...

Would it be a small fleet?

edit: I must type faster...
Last edited by: Clk Sec on Sun 16 Jan 11 at 13:16
 Speed limiters on artics - Zero
>> the one that does more than 45 mph in crosswinds, hasn't got a sodding great
>> hole in the sill, and doesn't need to go to the garage to be sorted
>> you mean?

And starts first time every time.
 Speed limiters on artics - Stuu
If I ever see a rather lost looking taxi with an irate fella behind the wheel, Ill know its you and mine will be the widest Wagon R you will ever see ;-) if I hit 35, that will be because my foot slipped.
 Speed limiters on artics - Zero
>> If I ever see a rather lost looking taxi with an irate fella behind the
>> wheel, Ill know its you and mine will be the widest Wagon R you will
>> ever see ;-) if I hit 35, that will be because my foot slipped.

If I see a car on its side in the ditch on a windy day, I'll wave as I pass. Might pick you up if you have the fare.
 Speed limiters on artics - Clk Sec
>>if I hit 35, that will be because my foot slipped.

Have you no thought for people more important than yourself?

Shame on you!
 Speed limiters on artics - Stuu
I know, im going to hell, in a blue metallic shopping trolley. Thats hardcore :-)
 Speed limiters on artics - Stuu
I might wave back, although maybe only with a couple of digits :)
 Speed limiters on artics - Zero
the dog will have one of them off as we pass then.
 Speed limiters on artics - Stuu
Dont tell me your Cherie Blairs personal driver? I thought she might atleast be driven in a real car.
 Speed limiters on artics - Zero
I dont take Catholics in my cab.
 Speed limiters on artics - Stuu
Dont tell anyone, but I think it was to get one of their little horrors into a school. Shh its a secret.
 Speed limiters on artics - Clk Sec
>> driven by a not so elderly woman, was hogging the inside lane at 50mph.

Why this should bother anyone is beyond me. If the lady wants to drive at 50mph, it's entirely up to her.
 Speed limiters on artics - nyx2k
its not in your best interest stu to call me less inteligent than you, this comes from a man who hasnt got a pot to pee in and gets defensive when people say new cars are better, its obvious you cant afford a new car or even a half decent one. if you waqnt to drive at 45 then you are totaly free to do so but another driver behind you is also totaly free to do 60mph, it certainly isnt his fault you drive a rubbish car that cant do more than 45

maybe you should spend more time looking for work and not throwing your toys from the pram and then you could afford a proper car
 Speed limiters on artics - Iffy
Maybe everyone should drive their own car and not try to drive somebody else's.

 Speed limiters on artics - Stuu
You dont know what pots I do and dont have, unless you have been in my kitchen...?

I dont mind someone driving at 60 or even 100, choice is theirs alone. What I do object to is some stranger wishing to dictate to me at any given moment out on the roads what speed I should travel at, unless their car has a blue light on the roof.
I never said others shouldnt go faster, just that Im not going to on account of the will of others. Zero will never get to all his fares if he doesnt speed abit :-)

The only pram short of toys is yours, Im a happy camper. I dont take all this banter too seriously, but then Im not uptight, lighten up.
Last edited by: stunorthants29 on Sun 16 Jan 11 at 15:53
 Speed limiters on artics - paulb
Aiming that at me, Stu?
 Speed limiters on artics - Stuu
Nobody in particular, just the usual sorts who arrive at a queue and believe they have the god given right to be at the front, so apply it at will :-) of course, if someone was a vicar, maybe they would have the god given right... must check the bible on that, is there a section on what to do in queues?
Last edited by: stunorthants29 on Sun 16 Jan 11 at 17:07
 Speed limiters on artics - paulb
No, fair comment, hence my q.

My way of dealing with those who wish to go slower than me is to overtake them as quickly and as courteously as possible, so that we can both go about our respective days in peace. Can't see anything wrong in that.

Don't think they'd invented queues back then, except possibly of donkeys....? :-)
 Speed limiters on artics - Skoda
Now see there's a thing Paul, I agree with you, but I've overtaken drivers who object to being overtaken, either rapid flashing after you've rejoined or starting to accelerate during the overtake.

No obvious reason, no intrusion on them before or after. I don't follow why someone travelling at 40 mph in otherwise good conditions would object to being overtaken.

Both times I can think of were elderly gentlemen, just no safe opportunity to stop and ask.
 Speed limiters on artics - paulb
Yes, we get a fair few of those round here. I go to particular lengths to make sure that my overtakes are as roomy as possible but have - as you have - been flashed at. Can only assume that this is because they Don't Approve.

Worrying impression I also get is that the first time they noticed me is as I pull back in, 100-odd yards in front of them and disappearing rapidly.

Have had the odd accelerate-to-block merchant but in the right gear the Bravo is nippy enough to deal with that safely.

The swervers, on the other hand...
 Speed limiters on artics - bathtub tom
I put it down to "why didn't I think of that first".
 Speed limiters on artics - Bob
Yes lets all hate truckers , the men and women out there who bringing the food to your table , the clothes to your backs and the fuel for your cars , everything you posses right down to the hankie you blow your nose on and the tissue you wipe your butt with has been dilivered on a truck , simple as that , remember the fuel protests and the panic buying !!! Maybe all the hard pressed British truckers should take a 2 week holiday at the same time and stand back while the country goes into melt down and come back to work when they are appreciated for the sterling work they do , just a thought !!!!
 Speed limiters on artics - No FM2R
What about all the "hard pressed" insurance workers? You do realise that you couldnt drive any new car, get anything repaired or replaced without them?

Whay about the hard pressed farmers who grew the food that truckers bring to my table? How about the supermarket workers who sell it to me? How about my employer who gives me the money to buy it?

What about all the hard pressed telephone engineers? The hard pressed nurses? the hard pressed shop assistants ? what about all the hard pressed credit card company employees? What about bank workers? etc. etc.

Truckers are doing a job they are paid to do. No more and no less. The same as many, many other people in many, many other lines of work.

This ridiculous belief that there is something special about that job is laughable. It is a job, and it is usually done well, it typically is not done by Mother Theresa or her big brother.

>>just a thought!!!!

But not much of one.

 Speed limiters on artics - MD
Wot 'bout bilders!
 Speed limiters on artics - Lygonos
Depends if they're wearing the white or black Stetsons.
 Speed limiters on artics - Pat
Welcome to this forum Bob, but what a debut post to choose.

Was it a wise choice, well I should know, I did much the same thing some four years ago and I'm still here, so it may not get the reaction you expect.

Of course, you may never return to read the replies but I hope you do.

I don't buy into this commonly held theory that without truckers the world would come to a halt.
Truckers who see themselves as special also see themselves as downtrodden and taken advantage of.....and allow it to happen by not having the balls to say no.
How would you ever expect to get them all to down tools for two weeks?

I agree with the reply by FM2R, why do they have a right to be appreciated any more than any other profession? They do a job of their choosing but that's as far as it goes, so do many others, with no appreciation.

As soon as truckers start acting in a professional manner, respecting themselves and the law and behaving like normal people they will begin to be appreciated.

But what would I know? I've always tried to stay away from truckers, I was a lorry driver for 30 years, tramping on general haulage.
As it happens I was also female but never a lady trucker, just a genderless lorry driver who enjoyed the job, and never expected to be special or appreciated.
It worked for me, I found I got back from employers and the public exactly what I put into the job...respect and consideration.

Maybe you should try it.

Pat
 Speed limiters on artics - No FM2R
>>I was also female

Past tense Pat ?? Do tell......
 Speed limiters on artics - John H
>> >>I was also female
>>
>> Past tense Pat ?? Do tell......
>>
>>

see for yourself on the knobbly knees challenge:
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=10771&v=f

 Speed limiters on artics - Pat
No sex change this end FM2R, but I still can't do girly talk!

As I always told the lads, the only difference between me and them was that my two bumps were a bit higher up:)

I'll excuse the pedantry this time!

Pat
Last edited by: pda on Wed 15 Aug 12 at 16:18
 Speed limiters on artics - No FM2R
Pat, you're not from Oxfordshire are you? (no hidden message, I'm just wondering if I know you).
 Speed limiters on artics - Pat
No, originally from Leics/Rutland and now from Cambridgeshire.

Oxfordshire? I once had to ask a market stall holder to move his stall so I could get round the corner in the market place, in the middle of Wantage, does that count?
 Speed limiters on artics - No FM2R
If you'd said you came from Wantage you'd have scared the crap out of me.

But no, a different person.
 Speed limiters on artics - bathtub tom
>>If you'd said you came from Wantage you'd have scared the crap out of me.

If you'd ever met Pat you'd realise even scarier people come from places other than Wantage.

;>)
 Speed limiters on artics - Pat
;)

Pat
 Speed limiters on artics - Duncan
>> Yes lets all hate truckers...........

...... just a thought !!!!
>>


Welcome to the forum Bob.

What made you pick up an eighteen month old thread?
 Speed limiters on artics - Dave_
Yes, Hello Bob and welcome to the forum.

>> What made you pick up an eighteen month old thread?

Google, usually. I sometimes search for info, find myself so fired up by what I find that I feel I have to contribute, then realise that the original piece was written in about 2007 :(
 Speed limiters on artics - Bromptonaut
>> Google, usually. I sometimes search for info, find myself so fired up by what I
>> find that I feel I have to contribute, then realise that the original piece was
>> written in about 2007 :(

Ahh referred by Google?

Over the past few months we've started getting calls at work from lost souls looking for contact with one of the big department's of state (BDOS); the same one that funds us. Not a big problem for us, perhaps ten calls a day. Good exercise for the mind to work out who the punter really need to speak to and give them a contact. It's also good practice for staff who's main contact is with professionals and voluntary sector to deal with the 'real' public

Bit more probing elicits fact that they're phoning us because the internal navigation on the BDOS site is so poor they're not finding what they want. They ring us because we're a near match!!

So, being helpful I email BDOS's webteam. Apparently logical internal navigation isn't too much of a priority as most visitors arrive by searching on Google!!
 Speed limiters on artics - L'escargot
>> Yes let's all hate truckers , ...........

Having worked for 27 years for a company which made truck components, I have the utmost respect for truckers.
 Speed limiters on artics - Dave_
>> Maybe all the hard pressed British truckers should take a 2 week holiday

At least if we did that the motorways'd be pretty empty... :)
 Speed limiters on artics - Harleyman

>> At least if we did that the motorways'd be pretty empty... :)
>>



.... and so would the supermarkets, DIY stores, petrol pumps, pubs and restaurants.

On the plus side, your dustbins, skips and septic tanks would be nicely brimming. ;-)
 Speed limiters on artics - L'escargot
>> Amazing how many car drivers think that 60mph is a target not
>> a maximum.
>>

Some think it's a minimum.
 Speed limiters on artics - Westpig
>> >> Amazing how many car drivers think that 60mph is a target not
>> >> a maximum.
>> >>
>>
>> Some think it's a minimum.
>>

Been said before...but...it really ought to be a target. Most of our speed limits have been lowered and lowered, so if there's a 60 left, use it.
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