Lorries, how quick are they without the trailers?

[Scania]

hehe, that might be counter productive though - we'd end up with stationary trucks on the motorways then.

When was the restriction brought in, I don't know how long ago it was or how old you are - did you drive HGVs before the limiter was brought in, and if you did, what was it like before that?

1994 mate. (I'm 36)

I've been driving HGV's for 12 years, so I just missed the old non-limited trucks.

That said, I've driven a few un-restricted trucks and its a lot more enjoyable.

Sitting @ 56MPH is extremely boring after a while, not for nothing imo, did HGV drivers deaths increase in 1995, the year after the limiter was introduced.

The ABD has long been concerned about the number of road accidents that involve vehicles, particularly HGV's, running into the back of stationary traffic, straying onto the hard shoulder or leaving the carriageway altogether. These accidents are all sleep related, and we believe that forcing drivers to travel at one steady speed, especially one that is slower than they would otherwise choose, turns them into what Traffic Officers call "Cruise Missiles", waiting to make a lethal strike.

"The biggest factor in these accidents is not the amount of sleep the driver had the previous night, but boredom," says the ABD's Mark McArthur-Christie. "When a driver is travelling at a steady speed which is too slow to require him to make regular decisions and control inputs, he is lulled by the monotony of the passing scenery and the steady drone of his engine into a kind of stupor, which makes him vulnerable to missing obvious hazards or lapsing into full sleep."

HGV drivers have been afflicted for the past ten years with speed limiters set at 56mph - below the HGV motorway speed limit of 60mph. This means that an HGV driver will inevitably drive on the limiter rather than looking at the road and making decisions. HGV and PSV related fatalities make up 50.4% of all motorway deaths in 2002, and deaths of HGV drivers increased by 24% the year after limiters were made compulsory (1995 vs 1994)

http://www.abd.org.uk/pr/392.htm - Source.

 

[Dogbreath]

Race trucks are madly tuned. For a start they replace the standard diesels with v8 petrols (and what ever else tweaks they have,)

Racing trucks (as in BTRA) still use diesels.

 

[BillytheImpaler]

They're not very fast, if this is indicative of performance

 

[helpimcrap]

1994 mate. (I'm 36)

I've been driving HGV's for 12 years, so I just missed the old non-limited trucks.

That said, I've driven a few un-restricted trucks and its a lot more enjoyable.

Sitting @ 56MPH is extremely boring after a while, not for nothing imo, did HGV drivers deaths increase in 1995, the year after the limiter was introduced.



http://www.abd.org.uk/pr/392.htm - Source.

jesus.... that's a hell of a stat if its all true!

 

[Scania]

jesus.... that's a hell of a stat if its all true!

Absolutely.

deaths of HGV drivers increased by 24% the year after limiters were made compulsory (1995 vs 1994)

Not sure how I can verify that figure, its sobering reading if true.

 

[fozzy]

This time of the year can be a nightmare when unit only. It doesn't take much to lose it on roundabout, I've had a few brown pant moments.

Most of the Irish don't bother with limiters, they roar past you at 70+ regular, I presume the law is different over there? Still, how do they get away with it on our roads?

 

[Scania]

This time of the year can be a nightmare when unit only. It doesn't take much to lose it on roundabout, I've had a few brown pant moments.

Most of the Irish don't bother with limiters, they roar past you at 70+ regular, I presume the law is different over there? Still, how do they get away with it on our roads?

Quite simple, they are not registered over here and the Police seem to not be bothered, much easier imo for them to nab a Tax paying British haulier than those Paddys who use the M6 / M1 as a Rat run.

Fwiw, Most Irish trucks are limited to 60MPH iirc, trouble is, 60 on a calibrated HGV tachograph seems like 70 when the HGV is passing a car with an optimistic, non-calibrated speedo.

As I've said, the gearing in a modern HGV (UK or foreign) is optimised for max torque at around 60 MPH so theres little chance of finding one going considerably faster (apart from down hill, fully freighted with a loony behind the wheel! )

 

[fozzy]

Quite simple, they are not registered over here and the Police seem to not be bothered, much easier imo for them to nab a Tax paying British haulier than those Paddys who use the M6 / M1 as a Rat run.

Fwiw, Most Irish trucks are limited to 60MPH iirc, trouble is, 60 on a calibrated HGV tachograph seems like 70 when the HGV is passing a car with an optimistic, non-calibrated speedo.

As I've said, the gearing in a modern HGV (UK or foreign) is optimised for max torque at around 60 MPH so theres little chance of finding one going considerably faster (apart from down hill, fully freighted with a loony behind the wheel! )

Ahh, i see.

They don't seem to keen on leaving a gap between them and the vehicle in front either.

 

[BigglesPiP]

They lock up the brakes on the trailers really easy with no load don't they?

 

[Scania]

They don't seem to keen on leaving a gap between them and the vehicle in front either.

Slipstreaming, you get very good fuel consumption when you sit in the wake of another HGV.... Its not a smart thing to to tbh.

They lock up the brakes on the trailers really easy with no load don't they?

Not really, unless you really stamp on them, and then the ABS tends to stop it.
On old poorly maintained trailers (i.e. non working ABS ) its easy to flat spot or, even pop a tyre due to lock up.

 

[BigglesPiP]

Paper wagons must be either old or poorly maintained then. The route in to the Paper Mill in Kendal is covered with long black truck tyre skid marks.

 

[Dogbreath]

The trouble with overtaking trucks is , in the main, the guy being overtaken would rather not lift off the gas a touch to let the other truck past,

The bottom line is he shouldn't have to. The overtaker should not commence his manoeuvre if he is not confident that he can get past the overtakee in a reasonable time. Continuously relying on other road users to fix your (not you personally) mistakes is just poor driving.

 

[--Mike--]

The bottom line is he shouldn't have to. The overtaker should not commence his manoeuvre if he is not confident that he can get past the overtakee in a reasonable time. Continuously relying on other road users to fix your (not you personally) mistakes is just poor driving.

Surely there should be some give and take though, as it's quite a regular thing on motorways and dual carriageways. All it takes is some courtesy.

 

[BigglesPiP]

I'm sure the only reason the overtake on the motorway is they want to drive on the limiter, rather than control their speed. But every trucker I know says it's the tight deadlines.

 

[Dogbreath]

Surely there should be some give and take though, as it's quite a regular thing on motorways and dual carriageways. All it takes is some courtesy.

The fact that it's a regular thing makes it that much worse. Responsibility lies with the person making the manoeuvre, they shouldn't be attempting an overtake unless they can complete it in a reasonable time. If they showed any courtesy whatsoever they wouldn't be causing huge tailbacks.

I have posted on here before with some typical numbers of the amount of time likely to be saved, and it really is very small even on a long journey.

 

[PiKe]

Paper wagons must be either old or poorly maintained then. The route in to the Paper Mill in Kendal is covered with long black truck tyre skid marks.

Maybe the trailer units are too old to have ABS?

 

[Scania]

Paper wagons must be either old or poorly maintained then. The route in to the Paper Mill in Kendal is covered with long black truck tyre skid marks.

Relatively bumpy roads iirc? bumps tend to cause the trailer to hop & jump about marginally, its enough when breaking to fool the ABS into activating hence the patch of rubber, slowing down is the only thing to do to try to stop this, that said, you don't have to be going excessively fast for such a situation to arise.

The bottom line is he shouldn't have to. The overtaker should not commence his manoeuvre if he is not confident that he can get past the overtakee in a reasonable time. Continuously relying on other road users to fix your (not you personally) mistakes is just poor driving.

Often if I'm passing a truck who's not willing to ease off a tad to help me past him , bear in mind if I wasn't going slightly quicker than him, I wouldn't have been able to gradually catch him up , I will glance over towards the driver, the other driver will do anything rather than acknowledge my presence and usually stubbornly keep looking straight ahead, oblivious / not giving a toss about the queue of faster HGV's forming a procession behind me as we all try to get past.

Surely there should be some give and take though, as it's quite a regular thing on motorways and dual carriageways. All it takes is some courtesy.

Couldn't agree more.

Maybe the trailer units are too old to have ABS?

Usually the older trailers ABS won't "talk" to the ABS computer on modern Tractor units (Scania R series for example, plug the same trailer into an older Scania 4 series and the ABS light goes out and the ABS functions just fine!)

I'm sure the only reason the overtake on the motorway is they want to drive on the limiter, rather than control their speed. But every trucker I know says it's the tight deadlines.

If your in a HGV doing 56 MPH and the one in front of you is doing 55, then you do tend to try to get past him,and get the cruise control back on again!
Tight deadlines (and the likes of Tesco who are very inflexible in their attitude towards late arriving deliverys) helps little and imo,encourages such behavior.