Soldato
I'm not trolling, i'm asking an honest question. If you hadn't noticed, this is a discussion forum.....
Just had a good night with "Barbara Hilary" - 56k No.
- Thread starter Scania
- Start date
I'm not trolling, i'm asking an honest question. If you hadn't noticed, this is a discussion forum.....
It's interesting to see pictures of a lorry from somone who drives one on a daily basis and hear their opinions, it broadens my knowledge on the matter and I think it makes a nice change on this forum to see something different and I thank R124/LA420 for the interesting insight.
Associate
I agree. Many of us will never get to see the inside of one of these things, so I liked reading the thread.
Soldato
Trucks rock, looks nice and shiney thanks for pics 
Browsing OcUK in your truck
No mate, alas I have no laptop otherwise I'd never get any work done! - I post from home after I finish my night shift, hence the silly time of day that I post this stuff.
Vinyl stickers mate, and, just to confirm, Stobart have bought James Irlam logistics, not the other way around as you seem to think.
Fall asleep? not as bad as doing the same when driving one!
This a truck thread & no, its not much different from the many many trucks on the roads,but its my first chance to get up close & personal with a Scania R series & I thought I'd share it with my friends (& foes) here, it being a Motors forum & all that. - you don't have to read the thread you know!
I bring home roughly £430 - £500 per wk depending on hours & days worked.
Yes mate, Tesco's distribution centre in Weybridge, Surrey. - Just around the corner from the Brooklands museum.
Yes, it has A/C.
The trailer ABS warning is simply a common issue with regard to modern HGV's & older trailers, the ABS control units don't speak to each other properly hence the warning light. The ABS still works however!
Air brakes are great. They can feel awful if a driver forgets to regularly drain any condensation out of the air tanks when the vehicle is cold, if not done, this results in a strong tendency for the brakes to grab sharply, which would go along way to explain his description of awful.
The vast majority of Irlams trailers come from Boalloy in Congleton, Cheshire - Themselves recently bought by somebody closely related to the Stobart group - Edward Stobart !!!
http://www.boalloy.org/
Trucks rock, looks nice and shiney thanks for pics
Cheers guys, I assume this is of interest to some here hence me posting.
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Just to help gurdas off to sleep completely, here's some more of the piccys I took, including a piccy of the a/c switch! 
a/c switch in far right corner, the red button is an anti hi-jack device - it triggers an alarm at the depot that alerts the owners to a problem and allows the truck to be tracked by satellite. In a nutshell, if somebody wants the truck, you hit the button & let them take it, the Police will do the rest.
The vehicles "plate" that gives overall design weight capacity & axle design loads - not the same as the law in a given territory may allow for mind. E.g. the UK weight limit for artics is 44t yet as you can see the Scania has a design weight of 46t.
Outside storage locker.
Smoke alarm & map light.
The alarm is nothing to do with current anti smoking regs, its more to alert the driver if the truck catches fire overnight!
More storage space including....
A little tool kit with spare bulbs - Scania do little touches so well.
Like this, a fold away wallet for your paperwork, built into the dash above the driver.
Foot operated exhaust brake, which on Scanias can be operated automatically with the vehicles main brakes, it activates as you press the pedal, or, you can use the floor button which will still activate the brake lights to warn those behind that you are slowing, something earlier models did not do!
a/c switch in far right corner, the red button is an anti hi-jack device - it triggers an alarm at the depot that alerts the owners to a problem and allows the truck to be tracked by satellite. In a nutshell, if somebody wants the truck, you hit the button & let them take it, the Police will do the rest.
The vehicles "plate" that gives overall design weight capacity & axle design loads - not the same as the law in a given territory may allow for mind. E.g. the UK weight limit for artics is 44t yet as you can see the Scania has a design weight of 46t.
Outside storage locker.
Smoke alarm & map light.
The alarm is nothing to do with current anti smoking regs, its more to alert the driver if the truck catches fire overnight!
More storage space including....
A little tool kit with spare bulbs - Scania do little touches so well.
Like this, a fold away wallet for your paperwork, built into the dash above the driver.
Foot operated exhaust brake, which on Scanias can be operated automatically with the vehicles main brakes, it activates as you press the pedal, or, you can use the floor button which will still activate the brake lights to warn those behind that you are slowing, something earlier models did not do!
Two rather crap pictures, I tried to get my camera to catch the nice green LED's that illuminate the dash, alas, it did not come out as intended.
Another nice touch, the Tachograph tells you when its break time!
Back to earlier comments re the paint, as this picture shows, its just vinyl stickers.
Air suspension controls.
Bunk behind drivers seat, complete with net to store Porn mag , reading light & a remote control for the night heater, door locks, alarm clock & radio.
Yet more storage space above the driver.
Switches for activating the cruise control, lifting axles & load transfer and, the differential locks.
The bunk, with net to stop things falling off if you brake too hard!
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More storage space, under the bunk this time. n.b. theres a second bunk above.
Switches for automatic exhaust brake (as mentioned earlier), traction control, "White smoke emitter" which seems to do nothing, and a switch to kill the reversing bleeper as they are illegal at night. (Not that I ever bother to turn it off tbh)
Forgot this one, these are the controls for the cruise control and, the trip computer. Mounted at the base of the steering wheel for easy access.
Another pic of the dash area, showing the cruise control etc better than the previous pic!
And two more of the truck itself.
Thats enough piccys for tonight, I'm off to sleep now - hopefully, as soundly as gurdas.
Thanks for viewing.
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Man of Honour
Interesting read.
The modern Stobart livery looks very smart - both on the trucks and on the Focus rally car.
Shame they haven't integrated more of the Irlam livery into the new design, but I suppose it would have been very difficult to do.
I'm still trying to find out who makes our trailers - apparently because we use so many of them we either own or have an interest in the company that builds them. I think ParcelForce and Royal Mail use the same design:
The modern Stobart livery looks very smart - both on the trucks and on the Focus rally car.
Shame they haven't integrated more of the Irlam livery into the new design, but I suppose it would have been very difficult to do.
I'm still trying to find out who makes our trailers - apparently because we use so many of them we either own or have an interest in the company that builds them. I think ParcelForce and Royal Mail use the same design:
I'm still trying to find out who makes our trailers - apparently because we use so many of them we either own or have an interest in the company that builds them. I think ParcelForce and Royal Mail use the same design:
As far as I'm aware, it will be the Cheshire-based Cartwright Group who build them mate.
http://www.roadtransport.com/Articl...ghts-cheetah-claimed-to-slash-fuel-costs.html
Man of Honour
Cool, thanks for that. I didn't realise we put so much thought into our choice of trailer, though I should have known what with our huge carbon footprint drive at the moment (PlanetMe)
Associate
Real interesting read. Have you ever seen the program Ice Road Truckers? Get some real interesting views from truckers about their jobs. Also why is it that in the UK all the trucks are "flat faced" (not sure of the proper term) but in US/other countries they are of the design where the engine sticks out infront of the cab? Any benefits/drawbacks of either design??
I watch it quite often.
In a nutshell, the UK style / design of trucks is called "cab over" literally meaning the cab is mounted over the engine.
This is done for reasons of vehicle size, if you have the engine in front of the cab, obviously, the rig will be longer.
UK roads are designed for approx 60ft long Artics, any longer and you simply won't get round 90% of turns that you want to make! - Believe me, with a standard full size UK trailer (45ft) you have very little room for error.
Some people may have noticed Scania did a US style bonneted truck - the "T Cab" - a great piece of kit, looks the job, alas its simply too big to use with a 45ft trailer, which makes it a little pointless.
In the main, they are popular as rigid vehicles, but again, with restrictions on body length due to the extra size of the cab. You do see them pulling 45ft trailers, but, VOSA & the Police would be within their rights to pull the truck as its basically overlength and illegal without an escort - I'll check up properly on this later, I'm literally just out of the door to go drive my cab over for yet another shift!
http://www.scania.co.uk/about_scania/pressreleases/scanias_t-model_says_goodbye.asp
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Further to my previous post....
Most UK trailers are 45 feet (13.5 meters) long and, dependent on the position of the fifth wheel and kingpin, a coupled tractor unit and trailer will have a combined length of between 50 and 55 feet (15.25 and 16.75 meters). Although the Construction and Use Regulations allow a maximum rigid length of 60 feet (18.2 meters), this combined with a shallow kingpin and fifth wheel set close to the rear of the tractor unit can give an overall length of around 75 feet (22.75 meters), although combinations of this length are usually used only to carry steel or concrete beams. Providing certain requirements are fulfilled, a Special Types General Order (STGO) allows for vehicles of any size or weight to travel on UK roads. However, in practice any such vehicle has to travel by a route authorised by the Department of Transport and move under escort. The escort of abnormal loads in the UK is now predominantly carried out by private companies, but extremely large or heavy loads that require road closures must still be escorted by the police.
Most UK trailers are 45 feet (13.5 meters) long and, dependent on the position of the fifth wheel and kingpin, a coupled tractor unit and trailer will have a combined length of between 50 and 55 feet (15.25 and 16.75 meters). Although the Construction and Use Regulations allow a maximum rigid length of 60 feet (18.2 meters), this combined with a shallow kingpin and fifth wheel set close to the rear of the tractor unit can give an overall length of around 75 feet (22.75 meters), although combinations of this length are usually used only to carry steel or concrete beams. Providing certain requirements are fulfilled, a Special Types General Order (STGO) allows for vehicles of any size or weight to travel on UK roads. However, in practice any such vehicle has to travel by a route authorised by the Department of Transport and move under escort. The escort of abnormal loads in the UK is now predominantly carried out by private companies, but extremely large or heavy loads that require road closures must still be escorted by the police.
Soldato
All very interesting and thanks for sharing the pics. Does anyone else think that your name R124/LA420 reminds them of Rizla and the time 4:20?? Just me then...
How long and how much does it cost to become an HGV driver?
And would you recommend it to someone as a job? Is it possible to do a year or 2 to see how it goes?
Just me then...How long and how much does it cost to become an HGV driver?
And would you recommend it to someone as a job? Is it possible to do a year or 2 to see how it goes?
All very interesting and thanks for sharing the pics. Does anyone else think that your name R124/LA420 reminds them of Rizla and the time 4:20??
How long and how much does it cost to become an HGV driver?
And would you recommend it to someone as a job? Is it possible to do a year or 2 to see how it goes?
LOL interesting take on my username! - It actually refers to my old Scania R124 420 artic. Rizla @ 420 AM sounds interesting mind!
It took me a week to train for my Class 2 (Class C) licence and approx £900 - this was about 12 years ago mind you.
My Class 1 (Class C+E) was paid for by my employers, but usually is circa £1k for decent training - MyClass C+E was taken over two weeks with a re-test after a fail (artics are difficult to master after years in a rigid!) the cost to my employers was considerable.
In return for the C+E licence, I was contracted to work for my then employers for 3 years, had I left in the meantime, I would have had to pay a percentage of the training costs.
Thankfully, in my case, DHL took over the transport contract from my then employers so that went out of the window & I was free to leave & work elsewhere which I did.
Sure you could get your Class C, then the C+E & see what you make of it, but, its quite an outlay for a job that you can handle or can't, its not so much a job, more a way of life.
VERY Long hours !!!
I would advise anybody thinking of this job to give it serious consideration prior to any outlay on training, this job has cost me a marriage & a long term relationship - putting it simply, theres little time left for relationships of both friend & family, many truckers find this an issue.
Don't look on it as a job, more a way of life. Its a way of life you will be able to handle or not, many do many don't.
After 12+ years of HGV driving however, I honestly could not envisage myself doing anything else, I came off the road a few years ago and worked in an office as a transport supervisor, in charge of 30+ drivers. I stuck it for a month & went back on the road - more money, less stress.
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Soldato
im sure ive seen that truck before near thurock services...?
oh and......
<truck spotter>
EDDIE!!!!!
</truck spotter>
oh and......
<truck spotter>
EDDIE!!!!!
</truck spotter>
Soldato
Nice pics.. loving the cab mind. Quite a lot of thought seems to have gone into it
+1 on the long hours and it being a way of life. My dads been doing it for 20+ yrs its a way of life for him now.. You have very little time for anything else.
+1 on the long hours and it being a way of life. My dads been doing it for 20+ yrs its a way of life for him now.. You have very little time for anything else.
Soldato
- Joined
- 23 Nov 2004
- Posts
- 10,647
Saw an R series weaving about the inside lane today on the A826 from fife....looked like he fell asleep or something. Nobody would overtake! Then he random.....swerved sharply into the next lane to overtake and back into his lane again. Random as **** and rather scary.
Highland haulage for the lose!
Highland haulage for the lose!