Lorry versus car at rush hour

Have you been to Hereford lately, On a weekday morning, on a schoolday, it can take up to 45 minutes to travel approximately 1 mile. And it's not lorries which are the problem, it's all the mums taking the brats to school. So do all of us hard working truckers a break and let us get to our destinations on time for once-put the little darlings on the bus and as for the fat kids, make them walk!

The car is a positively evil thing. Petrol prices should go up to get manufacturers to start thinking about green alternatives. The technology for clean cheap transport is out there so what is stopping it?

I cycle to work,I walk to the supermarket and to the Town in which I live, My wife walks my children to school EVERY day but yet I am to blame for road congestion!!.

My job,,,, Im a lorry driver.

Is it me?.

EB are you willing to work at night to accept your deliveries! are you going to wait up till 3am to take delivery of your new argos bed ETC. no thought not.
by the way I havent seen a train outside a shop in milan or barcellona yet delivering goods.

I've been a night freight driver now for twelve months and it's bliss. No jams. No BMW driving morons. No caravans or campers. No Volvo estates with bible basher fish symbols on the back. No school run bimbo mothers in Hummers. No knackered old LDV minibuses hogging the 1st lane doing 45.
While the Great Unwashed are asleep in their beds, dreaming about things they shall never acheive, and worrying about their bills and loan payments, I'm hauling their everyday objects through the night, to be in their shops the next morning.
I have no 'targets' to meet. No 'deadlines to hit'. No 'must work harder to get a bigger pay rise so I can afford to have a bigger house and more consumer electronics'.
I have nothing in common with you.
Just me, my music, my thoughts, my phillosophy,and an air conditioned cab.

Karma.

Figures from the UK's Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders huge and wide-ranging vehicle data-base show that in 1950 the nation's van and truck fleet was at 1.5m, while the nation's car fleet stood at 2.3m. In 2005 the UK van and truck was a little over 3.8m while the nation's car fleet was 30.7m.

So who say's theres more trucks on the road !!!! Its the nearly 31 million cars registered in UK are clogging up the roads.

The truck is just a soft target used to shift the blame on increased congestion away from cars, We would all soon complain when the shops ran out of something if we didn't have trucks, and by the way Europe does use railways and waterways, but still 95% of there freight goes by road, its simply more efficent !!

If you think about it, employers can easily play their part in reducing vehicles on the road at rush hour. Shift systems, flexitime and home working would help immensley with this problem. Unfortunately most companies would not consider it on two main grounds. 1, there would be a cost associated to the changes that would result in lower dividends to shareholders etc. 2, there is a general lack of trust from employers toward employees.
I only need to go into the office a maximum of two days per week. The rest of the time I could easily work at home provided that my pc is connected into the works system. As it is I have to travel everyday to work from a rural area at times of the day when public transport is not an option. If my employer gave me the option of flexitime combined with working from home then my car would only be used at weekends to carry home the groceries.
Maybe President Tony and vice president fatty should look to encourage employers to impliment such schemes!

P.S. Can you imagine working in your own back garden on a summers day? Bliss!

Although a certain % of hgv's do indeed travel at night, the powers that be have limited the hours allowed on this, to a point where it is not always viable, given the distances they are required to travel. The idea of using the train, has in recent times become more attractive, but it is limited to goods that are non time essential. The other problem of course, is that you still have get the goods, to & from the train depot. This causes it's own problems, as the repeated loading & unloading of goods is far more labour intensive & damage control is less effective, thus the bill for all of this is passed down down to us, the consumer.
For items such as foods, they are made, stored & supplied from a temperature controlled environment & could not be safely handled in this manner. The good news is though that many food logistics company's do take advantage of nightime hours to do their trunk runs, depot to depot, but the shorter depot to shop, resurant, cafe runs etc need to be done during the day.
Supplies to building sites require daylight hours on the grounds of health & safety & Mrs Smith on main st, does not want her new cooker at 3: 00 am thank you very much. So all in all, I remain of the opinion that the movement of goods should take priority over that of people, should it come to hard decision time.

Why dont the lorrys transporting goods make there journeys at night? There is nothing on the motorways and it would clear up traffic in the morning. Or why dont we transport our goods via train? they do this on the continent.

There has been a vast increase in the number of lorries on the roads, am I to believe that each and everyone of them is essential to my way of life? The solution to the congestion on our roads is to get freight onto the railways, particularly as it is now far to dangerous for passengers to travel by rail.