Truck in the middle with you
Posted by Tom Ford at 4:30PM on Tuesday 29 January, 2008 11 Comments
Why do they do that?
Lorry drivers of the nation please answer me a question: why do you block secondary lanes at the approaches to roadworks?
Seriously, I'm not trying to provoke an argument, I just wonder why.
Typical one happened last Friday approaching the roadworks southbound on the A1. OK, so it looks as if the local council are systematically trying to delete the roundabouts and this requires some one-lane action for long stretches. No worries, one might assume.
Inevitably, the heavy traffic leads to a bit of queue and things begin to back up a bit. No worries again. Traffic was moving in both lanes, but slowing, and I continued in lane two until an artic pulled out and blocked the road. The traffic in lane two then stayed behind the truck - which kept station with its neighbour in lane one - for the remaining two miles to the actual one-lane restriction.
So what is the trucker doing? We drove past three or four giant signs that read: 'Queue both lanes'. We weren't speeding, being obnoxious or doing anything else likely to cause offence.
On the other side of the road (northbound) the same thing is happening. Trucks block, cars get frustrated. Cars begin to hate truckers. Talks break down, global thermonuclear war.
The only reason I can fathom is that the truckers believe that by regulating the flow through the lanes, that their brethren can get through the blockage quicker. But it isn't true. Get both lanes down to the blockage and filter with respect, and it's the better for all of us. That's the maths. It might make a truck driver feel better to block the lane, but it certainly isn't quicker.
I just wanted to hear a trucker's side of the story. Is there some reason why? Is there some benefit I'm yet to fathom? Answers on an electronic postcard, please...
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11 Comments for "Truck in the middle with you"
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I am a trucker. We do this blockage thing because we are sick to death of the arrogant people who come steaming up the outside of the road to beat the queue and then EXPECT to force their way in with less than 50 yards to go. Sorry, but it's the drivers of executive cars, and small women in huge 4x4s, that are the worst offenders here. Oh, and company reps.
When will these small-minded idiots get it through their thick heads that no one takes kindly to bad driving, especially when they have been sat in a queue for 40 minutes and some impatient bully tries to push his luck because he thinks he's more important than everyone else.
We truckers are doing the sensible drivers a favour by dealing a blow to the idiots out there by blocking them and forcing them to behave like people, not animals. It's not the idiot that will die because of his lack of patience - it's the innocent who he spears into!
Buy an Alfa 159 - good ride and good handling, plus it doesn't have Christmas tree lights on the front!
If I'm reading this right, what you're on about is not being able to race down the clear lane on approach to a bottleneck, then cut in at the last minute, right?
Well, Mr Wookie, three cheers for the knights of the road who do this, because people like you are one of the most common pet hates among reasonable motorists.
It may not work all the time, but it allows the queue in front to filter at a staggered pace, instead of miles of cars trying to do 90mph and getting into the filter lane at the last possible second. Trucks travelling at a constant speed of, say, 30mph allow a space to filter in without breaking or accelerating. Contact a haulier near you and go out for a week in a truck, then do a write up so you can see what we have to put up with.
As a trucker, I quite agree with you. There's no reason for it at all - it's mainly done by those truckers with a failed grasp of mathematics. It's just a shame they let them drive vehicles big enough to actually force the block. All they are doing is forcing people to merge sooner, a merge which has to happen at some point... On behalf of sensible truckers of the world, I apologise!
Tom, as a truckie, I can understand your frustration, and I have an answer, of sorts. You know how quite a lot of your fellow small vehicle motorists are complete clowns, and somehow feel that driving is their right and not a privilege? Well, you might be surprised to learn that many of my fellow truck drivers have the same opinion! I am ashamed to say that clowns drive trucks as well as cars!
On the same subject, can you please explain to me why, when I am travelling through roadworks at the speed limit of 40kph, I will always have a huge amount of cars up my bum, when there was no one there when I entered the roadworks? Why are they speeding and endangering the lives of the boys trying to fix the road?
If you w**king for wheelers (cars for you blokes) would show respect and take turns, instead of pushing in at the last second, then truckers (as we say here in the colonies) would not feel the need to block the lane. We do not get paid unless the wheels are turning, so if we are stuck waiting for a turn, we lose income. I can hold your keyboard away from you for a little while to give you the same feeling. WE ARE WORKING, GET OUT OF THE WAY!
I think your argument stands up well - right to the point where you say 'filter with respect'. British motorists are on the whole a fantastically selfish bunch of arses. Their overly defensive and thoughtless driving habits in most cases cause the queues they seem so single-mindedly intent on trying to barge through ahead of anyone else.
Having said that, there is also a unique arrogance that many HGV drivers tend to collect with their truck licences that makes it easy to believe they too are often tossers.
Hell, the whole world's an idiot, apart from me...
It's not often I disagree with my colleague Wookster, but in this case I fundamentally do, to the bottom of my soul. OK, he's saying he doesn't want to start an argument and that he doesn't understand, but by inference we can assume he doesn't like what the truckers do. I think that might identify my friend Wook as a last-minute-pusher-in barger type, whether it says 'use both lanes' or not.
The problem here is culture, Wook. In Germany, there is a culture of zipper technique, where it's expected that people queue in an orderly fashion in both lanes and then blend at the end in zipper fashion.
That just isn't part of the deal here in the UK. Here, there is a culture of barging by a selfish minority, and patient queuing by the silent majority. Self-obsessed, arrogant, pushy, annoying numbnuts, usually driving executive cars, overtake the longer queue and EXPECT (no, DEMAND) to be let in at the last minute by more orderly motorists who use the correct lane as a matter of course, because it's the polite, empathic thing to do. These arrogant numbnuts do the same thing when coming off a motorway - leave it at the last second - and whenever there's a queue to push in front of. They barge, and it's annoying. Until we change the way in which we merge, we should allow truckers to regulate this merging and keep everyone flowing into the blockage in a fair, constant way. It doesn't matter about the 'math'. What matters is stopping people flying down that outside lane and barging in. Having the truckers do as they please reverses the effect. That is, it leads to frustration for the bargers and calm for the people who respect each other and follow the normal way of things. Whatever you do, Wooklet, stick to your opening gambit of 'I don't want to start an argument' because down the argument path lies pain, misery and mental anguish for you. Sit behind the truckers and love it.So Hotrod, the truckers "are sick to death of the arrogant people who come steaming up the outside of the road to beat the queue and then EXPECT to force their way in with less than 50 yards to go".
So, you disagree with the highway code which states in rule 288, "where lanes are restricted due to road works, merge in turn"? This means not to queue up and leave the second lane empty, that means to MERGE IN TURN! Not to PREVENT people from doing this. It's not forcing a way in, it's simply following the rules.
I own a people carrier and take my hat off to those truckers who stop arrogant BMW and sporty cars from racing down the outside lane and hoping to pull in at the last second, they get away with it because there are too many weak-willed sissys who just give into them, and allow them to pull in.
I will not allow them to pull in front of me if they have seen the sign at 800yards then they have had plenty of warning, nothing is that important that you need to jump 10 cars in front of anyone else, because you can only do 40 down the single in most cases!
I salute you truckers and keep it up