HGV mirrors, Not as easy as it looks.

[Mr_Kipling]

So today I had my fridge freezer delivered it cost me £400 and the guys that delivered it seemed professional as they carried it up the stairs. I asked the driver if I could sit in the driver seat of his stationary HGV Rigid just to look in the mirrors. He agreed (£10 tip) so I sat in the driver seat & had a great view in the mirrors, but there were 6 of them. I briefly take my eyes off the road to look in my one rearview mirror when cycling. How does this guy manage to look at six mirrors while driving at higher speeds then I can ride?

 

[DaveReading]

How does this guy manage to look at six mirrors while driving at higher speeds then I can ride?

Well they must be able to manage it. How often do you ever hear of an HGV being hit, from behind, by a bicycle ?

 

[smokeysmoo]

We're obviously trained to drive the things, and I do believe that most of us understand the possibilities that multiple tonnes with great inertia could do damage wise.

Awareness is obviously a massive part of any driving, all HGV's do is amplify that to a greater degree.

You'll know if you ever encounter me at work while your riding, you'll be given more space and time than you ever thought possible

 

[Globalti]

Experienced and vigilant drivers know what's around them all the time, mirrors just help to build the picture. In a truck the mirrors come into their own when reversing, in fact it's remarkably easy to reverse a truck with good mirrors into quite tight spaces like warehouses.

 

[I like Skol]

Experienced and vigilant drivers know what's around them all the time, mirrors just help to build the picture. In a truck the mirrors come into their own when reversing, in fact it's remarkably easy to reverse a truck with good mirrors into quite tight spaces like warehouses.

THIS^^^^

But it is also a trap, because just when you think you have it all covered something can suddenly appear where you thought you knew it wasn't. Assume nothing because if you do it can be fatal, as we know too well.

 

[Alan O]

Experienced and vigilant drivers know what's around them all the time, mirrors just help to build the picture. In a truck the mirrors come into their own when reversing, in fact it's remarkably easy to reverse a truck with good mirrors into quite tight spaces like warehouses.

One of the most impressive bits of driving I've seen was an articulated vehicle reversing off a narrow winding road in Scotland into a work site with a narrow entrance. Initial opposite lock and all that, done smoothly in one go - well worth waiting and watching.

 

[Globalti]

Using a short vehicle to reverse a long trailer is relatively easy because the vehicle out-manouvers the trailer. However using a longer vehicle, say a Transit, to manouver a short trailer, say a compressor, is well-nigh impossible because the trailer out-manouvers the vehicle.

Reversing a box-truck into a space is pretty easy if you use the mirrors to judge proximity; I worked as an industrial temp at the age of 21 and the first job I was given was to drive a 3 ton truck. My first delivery was to a warehouse where I had to reverse up to the door then turn sharply so as to line up the truck with a loading bay that was at 90 degrees to the door. It was actually much easier than it sounds. The problems started when I reversed down beside Stafford Hospital and found that for some reason the truck didn't want to go any further back. Jumped out, did my delivery then glanced up and saw that the top of the truck had come to rest against a scaffolding pole sticking out with the scaffolding co's nameplate on it, bending it at 45 degrees and in danger of pulling the scaffolding off the building. I jumped in the truck and drove off, smartish....

 

[glasgowcyclist]

One of the manoeuvres I recall from Class 1 HGV training was to line up alongside two parallel lines of cones, slightly wider than the lorry's wheels. The task was to reverse the artic, in a single move, and guide it smoothly into the coned space. A bit like this video only starting outside the cones.

View: https://youtu.be/nLTDef0oeuA?t=22s

 

[T4tomo]

Having grown up driving tractors and trailers, I have great respect for how good some of the HGV drivers are when you see them manoeuvring into some of the tight site entrances around London.

Agree with above, a short trailer is a sidding nightmare, as you can't follow it around quickly enough having set it off in the right direction with opposite lock.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

To add to my earlier post, I've just remembered that the instructor would showboat by performing the same manoeuvre but he'd climb out of the cab, close the door and stand on the step, steering the artic through the open window. Bloody show off!

 

[classic33]

So today I had my fridge freezer delivered it cost me £400 and the guys that delivered it seemed professional as they carried it up the stairs. I asked the driver if I could sit in the driver seat of his stationary HGV Rigid just to look in the mirrors. He agreed (£10 tip) so I sat in the driver seat & had a great view in the mirrors, but there were 6 of them. I briefly take my eyes off the road to look in my one rearview mirror when cycling. How does this guy manage to look at six mirrors while driving at higher speeds then I can ride?

How big a fridge, £400 delivery!, and how many did it take to carry it?

 

[PeteXXX]

I posted a topic quite a while ago with pics of what I can see from the drivers seat of an HGV.
I do hope that this sensible thread doesn’t degenerate in the same way!

 

[Drago]

I did my hGV2 bitd so I could drive the mobile command unit. I hated it. I'm a naturally a confident but careful driver, and driving it gave me the heebie jeebies. Covering the mirrors at all time was fine, but only because I was a careful and competent (!) Driver to begin with.

 

[slowmotion]

I have nothing but admiration for the vast majority of HGV/ big vehicle drivers that I encounter. A very few of the rest have nearly killed me, but they don't pop up too often.
Here's driving skill...

[media]

]View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umzbB0dEZSo[/media]

 

[MartinQ]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV-rhiGRFTE

Did the rounds a few years ago. Apart form saving the OP a tenner, its sobering to see things for the driver's point of view.