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Stuck behind a slow lorry on the way to work

I'm sick and tired of getting stuck behind a slow lorry in the morning on the way to work, and those Tesco delivery trucks are the worst!  Actually its not so much the lorry that is the problem, rather the queue of cars poking their nose out to have a look every five minutes only to realise that they can't do anything about it.

I know some car drivers get fed up because they can't get past slow moving traffic particularly lorries and tractors.  As you might have guessed, I ride a motorbike to work and for the most part would probably just shoot straight past the lorry as they go so slow and we can accelerate quickly.  Unfortunately it isn't that easy when there is a long queue of cars behind them.  It kind of reminds me of big metal snake with the lorry being the head and the cars making up the body and tail.  What a nightmare, and I'm sure its no picnic for the people trapped behind their cars.  It would be really nice if a few more of them kept an eye out behind and moved over though.

Stuck behind a lorry I had this crazy idea the other day about banning all the HGV and farm traffic from the road during peak hours, say between eight and ten in the morning and then four to six in the evening.  Okay it probably wouldn't be very popular with the truckers or the haulage companies, but just imagine how much easier it would be to get to work in the morning.  All we'd need to do then is remove the school run mum and hey presto! - congestion problem solved.

No seriously, probably not an ideal solution but with the rising cost of fuel, more cars and more toll roads it will be interesting to see just how things are going be in the future.  I doubt that there is anything that can really be done about growing congestion problems not just in the cities but on the suburban and country roads as well.  At the end of the day people need to get to work and the shops need to be stocked with goods.  We'll just have to live with the snakes in the morning!

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Deano are you commenting about what I have written?

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Dingo - 3-Jun-11 19:53 

The lorry should be doing 40mph max, the car should overtake this safely and quickly. If the car is not overtaking PULL BACK a little and allow the next car/motorbike to overtake safely. Don't blame the lorry (don't blame anyone actually, we've all be there) but let people make progress if you don't want to.

-13

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Deano - 2-Jun-11 13:50 

Wile reading most off the winging comments from us car drivers about slow lorries on our roads, lorrie drivers always make the same comments. The speed limit for hgv lorries on a A ROAD IS 40MPH.Remember it is a heavy goods vehicle which take longer to stop .what happens on our motorways when we have two lorries side by side WHAT happens about the argument about stopping on a wet road driving at 60 mph? cant have it both ways and I am all for road safety .

+5

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Dingo - 22-May-11 11:53 

Yea I know what you mean about the lorries holding up car drivers but what actually makes up the traffic? The hundreds of cars on the road, or the odd lorry now and again? Anyway,you're not stuck in traffic, you are the traffic. Motorcycling is the way forward so if you've got one of those, stop riding like you don't know how to and ride it like a man!!

+8

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p - 3-Apr-11 18:08 

do not blame the driver for going slow.i drive for tesco and they have recently had all the truck speeds reduced from 56mph to 49.5 mph max.supposedly for fuel economy but truck manufacturers say 56mph is the most economic speed.tesco should stick to what they do best selling food.

-3

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happy driver - 20-Feb-11 15:29 

Robblue I for my part gripe about wagons overtaking other wagons when they only have a marginal speed or power advantage. Somebody mentioned cruise control, in a post, could this be the cause of their bad driving?

-4

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Boblet - 23-Jan-11 13:43 

I am a tesco driver and I think most of the car drivers complaining are the ones that dont no the highway code.the speed limit for hgv lorrys on a A ROAD IS 40MPH.Remember it is a heavy goods vehicle which take longer to stop .be patient it is better to get there late than dead.

-4

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robblue - 23-Jan-11 13:20 

Greybeardedloon. You cannot educate cabbage.
I have had to add a few words in order to comply with the rules of the site, a pity realy when the one liner is sometimes the best way of getting your point across, so here goes again.

-8

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Boblet - 21-Jan-11 14:04 

Thurrock Tesco. When a truck leaves a good space in front of us from the vehicle in front of this our breaking distance????

-5

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Boblet - 21-Jan-11 13:50 

car drivers should drive better and make our jobs easier on the roads. They drive round blinkered with their heads up their backsides. when a truck leaves a good space in front of us from the vehicle in front this is our BREAKING DISTANCE not for car drivers to drive into then slow down. you dont know if the truck is empty or loaded and 44 ton takes hell of a lot to stop. but if we hit your car for your not thinking and driving like IDIOTS, we still get the blame for the accident.
so before you idiots comment about truck drivers learn to drive a car first. we are all proffessional drivers who have gone through years of on going training. some of you car drivers havent even got licenses or insurance. so lesson to learn for you. ENGAGE BRAIN BEFORE OPERATING MOUTH'S

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THURROCK TESCO DRIVER - 21-Jan-11 04:01 

I know this is the weekly gripe and I entered at my own risk but it gets very depressing to think how self-centred, short-sighted and intolerant most road users have become.If we all had a little more thoughtfulness and consideration then driving might be less fraught and stressful.What is clear is that the roads are inadequate for the burden of freight and passengers carried by them at peak times.Knowing that to be the case, I set off on most workday journeys a bit earlier than I'd really like to and with the expectation that there will inevitably be delays.I also expect to encounter every kind of stupidity and incompetence, selfishness and inattention by my fellow travellers.With this expectation, I usually end up quite pleasantly surprised by the skill, common sense and courtesy that still exists out there.The main thing that concerns me is the mass hypnosis that seems to occur when drivers bunch up too close to the car in front at high speeds.I wonder how concious people are of what they are doing when I see brake lights constantly flashing on and off in these trains of traffic behind a slow lorry.Drop back a bit, keep a safe braking distance and the whole thing starts to move faster and more smoothly, with less stress on you, less wear and tear on your vehicle and more time to observe and react.From such a vantage point, you can see more easily when there is an opportunity to overtake safely.Don't moan,don't give in to anger and impatience, instead, learn some strategy folks!

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greybeardloon - 1-Jan-11 23:21 

Elvis,

On behalf of all the people who are not going to thank you I would like to show my appreciation for you and all the other lorry drivers who have worked in these horrible conditions to bring us all the things we need in our supermarkets. Cheers mate to you and all the other professional drivers.

-5

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London Geezer - 21-Dec-10 14:18 

I'm A tesco lorry driver out of Peterborough & I'm sorry but it's the law for an HGV to do 40mph on single track roads, 50mph on dual carriageways & 60mph on motorways. All Tesco lorries are limited to 50mph now so they'll never even reach the motorway speed limit. I often get dissgrumtled car, van or even other lorry drivers & motorcycles pass me beeping their horns, making funny hand gestures & calling me names, I generally wave at them or blow them a kiss!

+5

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Elvis - 21-Dec-10 13:52 

If youre in such a hurry I have a solution for you leave your house earlier,solved

+5

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ride til i die - 1-Nov-10 08:55 

I have to live with a snake each morning.I have to live with a snake each morning.

+2

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Mrs John Holmes - 29-Oct-10 15:23 

I returned to the uk after 15 years overseas and am absolutely amazed at how british truck drivers tailgate each other in all conditions, I travel to work on the A17 which must be the most annoying road imaginable due to trucks and tractors, I can see why there are accidents on roads like this I put most of the blame on the truck drivers who dont leave a decent gap up front leaving the frustrated car driver into a risky overtake of a long line of trucks.

+3

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Alex - 15-Sep-10 21:17 

Hi I am a Tesco Hgv driver working out of Avonmouth DC.
With Tesco ALL speed limits must be adhered to. If we get caught speeding in a Tesco lorry we are literally in for a B--------g.
Also if we rush we loose hours working which means less pay. Put the two together we dont have any reason to rush.
Whilst we understand your frustration its worth remembering that we ourselves were caught in traffic when we were getting to work.
Tesco rely on a lot of agency and contractor drivers. These boys do go over the limits, but most Tesco employed staff wont speed.
Speed limits of HGV are 40mph single carrigeway, 50mph dual and 60 on motorways. All Tesco lorries are restricted to 55 or 56 mph.
Also all lorries have Tachographs. All police or VOSA have to do is check tachos and speeding will show up, so its not worth speeding. Its our hard earned licence at the end of the day.
If you know you get stuck every day why dont you all leave the house a little bit earlier. Less stress equals a better day.

-1

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Avonmouth driver - 16-Aug-10 18:52 

truck drivers must abide by the law and whatever the speed limit may be then whats the complaint, where it say national speed limit, on motorways its 56mph on dual carriageways its 50mph on single carriageways its 40mph for hgv's

0

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kim - 15-Aug-10 18:32 

Hi I would just like to thank the tesco lorry driver on the A36 on the warminster road who was driving at 57 MPH on an 56 plate, it was good all the cars driving at a safe distance between each other no one trying to overtake, well done that driver.

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Dingo - 12-Jul-10 21:32 

What I would like to see is all the Lgv drivers take one day off either as holiday , a rest day or as a sick day as long as its the same day then we will all have a rally in the biggest park we can find too discuss the lame points that are thrown at us every day of the year we will then discuss our low wages our hours our weekend work , then as we chat we will watch as all of the uk comes too a grinding halt. No fuel at the pumps. No food in the Shops. No wood that makes the pallets that alot of the goods are delivered on. No containers being moved from the ports. Now if we did this for 1 week the uk would be in melt down. ive driven them since I was 21 and I drive a car and a motor bike , we are viewed by so many people as the scurge of the uk so lets do it 1 day and lets watch. The French blockade one port and look at the result but we wont commit any crime just stay away from work just one day.

-3

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Driver - 1-Jun-10 12:20 

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