HGV drivers............

[steve50]

I have recently had cause to travel between Halifax and Manchester on a fairly regular basis mostly at night, there are currently roadworks (lane widening) on both the M62 and the M60 with speed restrictions to 50mph and average speed cameras.
On every occassion of driving these motorways at night I have witnessed some appalling driving by some of the hgv drivers, I regularly see them "tailgating" other vehicles, driving intimidatingly close to the rear of the vehicle in front of them whilst repeatedly flashing the headlamps forcing the vehicle to pull over then the hgv will accelerate rapidly up to the rear of the next vehicle and start the process all over again.
I have witnessed this a number of times now when driving through the roadworks and I have been on the recieving end of this treatment myself, it is very intimidating having a 40tonne hgv bearing down you so close all you see in the rear view is the headlamps flashing madly at you trying to force you to pull over.
These sections of the motorway are more often than not very busy and you do not always get the opportunity to pull over straight away for these motorway bully boys, i consider their driving nothing short of bullying and downright dangerous.
To any hgv drivers reading this, I know you are not all in the habit of driving in this manner, i am also aware you have a job to do and schedules to meet etc but is that an excuse to intimidate and force other drivers to possibly make lane changes that could cause an accident due to being temporarily blinded by your headlights!
I have witnessed this dangerous driving on several occassions now and if I see it again I will have one of my passengers take details of the offending vehicle and i will be contacting the haulage company with the details of the vehicle quite possibly with footage from my onboard camera, those guys are supposed to be professional drivers but are driving like rank amateurs, bullying and intimidating, placing other road users in danger.

rant over!!!

 

[Levo-Lon]

It happens in the daytime too..

 

[mark st1]

With drivers in short supply apparently (since the introduction of the pointless CPC qualification). They seem to be dishing out licences to anyone and everyone nowadays. I see shameful driving on a daily basis and things will only get worse from now on imo.

 

[pplpilot]

it's the 56.001mph overtaking a 56mph ones that really boil my p1ss. Must feel great to get there one lorry length sooner. Then the ones that insist on 55mph in a 50mph contraflow, not taring all with the same brush but i firmly believe it's the majority.

 

[Globalti]

In the hope of redressing the balance, I once had a temporary job driving a 3 ton delivery truck with air brakes and it was the most stressful, exhausting job I've ever done. In the first couple of weeks I nearly crashed three times and almost demolished the scaffolding on the outside of Stafford General Infirmary. On the whole I believe truck drivers do an excellent job and having seen the horror and frequency of truck smashes in Africa I think we have one of the highest standards of driving in the world.

 

[mark st1]

it's the 56.001mph overtaking a 56mph ones that really boil my p1ss. Must feel great to get there one lorry length sooner. Then the ones that insist on 55mph in a 50mph contraflow, not taring all with the same brush but i firmly believe it's the majority.

I do see your point but it's a bit like cycling if you were 2mph quicker than the cyclist in front would you sit behind them on a stretch of road for 40 or 50 miles ? A lot of it is down to cruise control ime. Some are set at 55 or 56 some at 52 or 53 depending on manufacturer.

 

[Drago]

The haulage firms pay peanuts, and monkeys drive their vehicles. The resulting road behaviour is a consequence.

Im a firm believed in speed limit being rigidly enforced by GPS, with stiff, compulsory, non-negotiable penalties for those that bypass them.

The 10%+2 prosecution threshold is what causes this phenomenon - law abiding drivers do 50, the truckers know they won't get pinged until they do 57, and as most of their trucks at restricted to 56 they don't feel the need to be as cautious as other drivers. Bin 10%+2, or GPS speed enforcement, problem solved.

 

[Levo-Lon]

Also they are under too much pressure..so that extra 5mph on a 400 mile run for 80 miles is uping there chances of hitting target..or making the rest stop..
id hate to do the job...

 

[pplpilot]

Also they are under too much pressure..so that extra 5mph on a 400 mile run for 80 miles is uping there chances of hitting target..or making the rest stop..
id hate to do the job...

assuming a very constant 55 mph over 80 miles = 1h 36m V's 1h 27m , not including speed ups and slow downs... show me where you can maintain 55 mph for 80 miles. My brother is an HGV driver and he comes out with this hitting targets nonsense, when you hit him with the numbers he soon changes his stance..

 

[Levo-Lon]

For 80 miles in a 400 mile trip..its just a figure to show the need to push on..

i have 2 mates who drive trucks..so what,id think your brother has learned to ignore you ..

 

[steve50]

The dangerous driving I refer to in my op is most prolific in the restricted speed zones where motorway repairs are being carried out. The speed limit in these zones is 50mph with average speed cameras in operation, it begs the question, do the truckers know something about the speed cameras that we don't because they seem to totally disregard the speed restriction and plough on regardless. Have they got some secret jamming device on their vehicles or do these asc's really work???? or do the truck drivers simply not give a damn.??

 

[Levo-Lon]

Unless the old bill enforce 50mph which they dont your ok 5mph over as @Drago stated earlier..
All speedos are wrong by a few % so you have leeway..your car may say 50mph but your more likely to be doing 46mph
my van is way off ,when following a truck at 55/56 my van reads 68mph..it does a ton easy lol

 

[Drago]

Why have leeway? If the speed limit is 50 and you're not 100% sure then drive at an indicated 45 instead. If you think your speedo ain't accurate then get it fixed, no excuses.

In reality speedos are somewhat pessimistic so manufacturers don't get their bottoms sued off.

There's no excuse, technical or moral - set the limit, and set the cameras to go off 1MPH higher. We don't let shoplifters get away with it if they only steal a little bit, so why do we let car drivers get away with it when they're piloting big kinetic weapons with the potential to cause death and injury?

The dangerous driving I refer to in my op is most prolific in the restricted speed zones where motorway repairs are being carried out. The speed limit in these zones is 50mph with average speed cameras in operation, it begs the question, do the truckers know something about the speed cameras that we don't because they seem to totally disregard the speed restriction and plough on regardless. Have they got some secret jamming device on their vehicles or do these asc's really work???? or do the truck drivers simply not give a damn.??

There no secret. They know the prosecution limit is 10%+2, which = 57MPH. They know that (most of) their trucks 're restricted to 56MPH so they can barrel through limit with impunity, while decent and thoughtful folk slow down.

But I have little sympathy with the posters tell is to slow down or we'll all slaughter workmen. Some of the vehicles working on the job are worst and they bomb through and warp speed knowing full well they'll be pulling off the road before the second set of average speed cameras.

 

[PeteXXX]

As a self confessed truck driver, as I've mentioned before here, I'm always amazed and disturbed how trucks travel so close behind each other sometimes.
I'm lucky that I work for a company that doesn't hassle me to get somewhere 'on time' that is virtually impossible to achieve, though I have done in the past, and have told them in no uncertain terms where to go! 'It's my licence, my responsibility and my life, and other's, so you can f*ck the f*ck off' was a conversation I had with one agency I worked for for a short, very short, time when they were hassling me to hit delivery schedules.

As to the OP, yes, intimidating other drivers through roadworks, speed limitations etc. is, in my mind, unacceptable. HGV drivers should be more aware how menacing they can appear in a rear view mirror if they're few feet off the bumper of a car, especially if there's actually no point in not sticking to a reduced speed limit for a mile or so.

 

[gavintc]

I have recently had cause to travel between Halifax and Manchester on a fairly regular basis mostly at night, there are currently roadworks (lane widening) on both the M62 and the M60 with speed restrictions to 50mph and average speed cameras.
On every occassion of driving these motorways at night I have witnessed some appalling driving by some of the hgv drivers, I regularly see them "tailgating" other vehicles, driving intimidatingly close to the rear of the vehicle in front of them whilst repeatedly flashing the headlamps forcing the vehicle to pull over then the hgv will accelerate rapidly up to the rear of the next vehicle and start the process all over again.
I have witnessed this a number of times now when driving through the roadworks and I have been on the recieving end of this treatment myself, it is very intimidating having a 40tonne hgv bearing down you so close all you see in the rear view is the headlamps flashing madly at you trying to force you to pull over.
These sections of the motorway are more often than not very busy and you do not always get the opportunity to pull over straight away for these motorway bully boys, i consider their driving nothing short of bullying and downright dangerous.
To any hgv drivers reading this, I know you are not all in the habit of driving in this manner, i am also aware you have a job to do and schedules to meet etc but is that an excuse to intimidate and force other drivers to possibly make lane changes that could cause an accident due to being temporarily blinded by your headlights!
I have witnessed this dangerous driving on several occassions now and if I see it again I will have one of my passengers take details of the offending vehicle and i will be contacting the haulage company with the details of the vehicle quite possibly with footage from my onboard camera, those guys are supposed to be professional drivers but are driving like rank amateurs, bullying and intimidating, placing other road users in danger.

rant over!!!

If you could pull over to allow a HGV past, you were clearly middle lane hogging. Drive in inside lane, unless you are overtaking.