Bridge bashing

[kevinlms]

On 17/11/2021 at 07:33, johnb said:

As I understand things, passangers claim for any delay from their relevant TOC. Then there is a system whereby the TOC then if appropriate claims from NR. I presume then NR looks at the claim(s) and decides whether they are liable for the delay, if not then presumably it gets charged to the culprit. Must be quite an office somewhere sorting all  this.

The higher the cost to the insurance company (assuming there is one), the more premiums ought to go up. To the point where the insurance company, is going to pressurise it's customers to take better precautions.

Precautions should be better software on GPS/phones, advising of low bridges and training of drivers as to better tracking of the height of their vehicles.

In other words, price them into doing the right thing. Not that the issue is ever going to be eliminated.

 

Edit to add

 

In Melbourne it was a regular occurrence for trucks to 'breakdown' on the Westgate Bridge, causing chaos.

The problem was virtually eliminated overnight, when they introduced a system, where if trucks were 'broken down' because they had run out of fuel, then a stiff financial penalty applied.

Edited April 3, 2022 by kevinlms
More info

[corneliuslundie]

Have bridge bashes been abolished? Months since the last one reported here.

Jonathan

[rab]

43 minutes ago, corneliuslundie said:

Have bridge bashes been abolished? Months since the last one reported here.

Jonathan

There was another one in Plymouth last week, but it happened while the forum was down, so I couldn't post the link.

[PhilJ W]

Here it is, bridge 1, lorry nil.

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/pictures-show-lorry-damage-after-6871525

[boxbrownie]

1 hour ago, corneliuslundie said:

Have bridge bashes been abolished? Months since the last one reported here.

Jonathan

No, there was a bash at the bridge in Plymouth (the usual one) last week, luckily no serious damage and trains weren’t disrupted. I assume after the bash last year where it was closed for a period they used better mortar 😉

[duncan]

After the quiet period we recommence in a small way -

 

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-61283163

 

& google map view the driver had before !

 

www.google.com/maps/@56.4673858,-2.8692652,3a,75y,231.87h,94.08t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s0ZfS2xKgX_HJwqcSkkNVxQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

 

 

Ok, for some reason I couldn't post the picture without the whole article.  Highlight, right click & "go to" the web address.

Edited May 1, 2022 by duncan
more info

[rab]

11 hours ago, duncan said:

After the quiet period we recommence in a small way -

 

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-61283163

 

& google map view the driver had before !

 

www.google.com/maps/@56.4673858,-2.8692652,3a,75y,231.87h,94.08t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s0ZfS2xKgX_HJwqcSkkNVxQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

 

Links not working for me ???

[Hobby]

Didn't for me, though if you copy and paste them they do!

[SamThomas]

On 03/04/2022 at 10:47, kevinlms said:

Precautions should be better software on GPS/phones, advising of low bridges and training of drivers as to better tracking of the height of their vehicles..

HGV's should be fitted by law with vehicle specific GPS - after all, even some of the really penny pinching logistics compananies spend serious money on software/equipment to monitor the drivers but very little on anything that improves a drivers life.

 

All the technology in the world will be a waste if the driver does not enter the vehicles statistics into the GPS or goes a differnt way "because he knows a better/quicker way with a flatbead" forgetting he pulling a diouble decker.

 

Unfortunatly, many logistics companies are woefully lacking in facilities to enable the driver to actually verify the weight & height of his vehicle. I once checked the manifest of an 18 tonner and it was on the paperwork just under 18ton, but as soon as I got onto the road just knew (exsperiene & gut feeling that it was overweight so I immediatly returned). The transport manager said "even if it is that wagon will take it & as soon as you do the first drop it will be OK". Undeterred, I insisted on going to the public weigbridge down the road, booking it in (to stay legal) & it turned the scales at just over 22ton. It was the last time I worked for them (my choice).

[johnofwessex]

All these cases say a lot about the prevalance of poor practice in the road haulage industry that should not be tolerated

[cessna152towser]

On 10/09/2020 at 19:13, Oldddudders said:

On 10/09/2020 at 19:01, pH said:

Where else did buses run under a bridge this low?

London Transport 227 comes to mind. At Chislehurst. Single deckers, forever. 

This is on a school bus route which I covered for a time before I retired.     A low arch under the closed St.Boswells-Kelso line near Rutherford.

[pH]

4 hours ago, cessna152towser said:

This is on a school bus route which I covered for a time before I retired.     A low arch under the closed St.Boswells-Kelso line near Rutherford.

That bridge is 2’ 6” higher than the Sinclair Street bridge in my original post:
 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/129036-bridge-bashing/?do=findComment&comment=4113252

 

Having said that, the bus does look as if it would go under 9’ 3”.

Edited May 1, 2022 by pH
To add link to earlier post.

[cessna152towser]

30 minutes ago, pH said:

That bridge is 2’ 6” higher than the Sinclair Street bridge in my original post:

Yes, I was born and raised in the west of Scotland and I recall well the Sinclair Street bridge.  I believe the pins were installed in more recent years to stop larger vehicles attempting to go through that way.

[peanuts]

On 01/05/2022 at 11:43, johnofwessex said:

All these cases say a lot about the prevalance of poor practice in the road haulage industry that should not be tolerated

in an industry where every penny counts what do you expect its dog eat dog at the moment . worked for a very well known catalogue shop some years ago first day we were to be sent out with just maps we asked for satnavs and were handed the most basic car satnav they could find in the warehouse with not unexpected results .luckily had my own truck nav in my bag so was able to programme in all the dimensions daft thing is my trucknav retailed at less than the junk from the warehouse but was from a rival company  

[johnofwessex]

I remember some years ago The Police & VOSA running checks on School Buses, the results wernt pretty.

 

My immediatee reaction was that there must be some sort of 'price point' that you just cant go below and expect to provide a safee service.

 

My suggestion might be to have some sort of 'minimum prices' set by law, or invstigation  into companies offering unrealistically low prices

[37114]

You get a better return putting your money in the bank than running a haulage company at the moment so every penny counts. The sad reality is the situation is because of over supply in the industry, volatile cost bases (namely fuel and drivers) and customers screwing every penny out of the rates meaning the average haulier has little money to invest in sophisticated bridge detection systems. Add in the fact the driver shortage means that some of the drivers who would not get a look in due to poor driving record are being kept on/finding work.

 

While bridge strikes are high profile they are rare in the grand scheme of things, they sit way down the list of HGV health and safety issues with Uncontrolled vehicle movements (truck moves without the driver in, usually when coupling up a trailer and the tractor handbrake is left off) and red light pull offs from loading bays are much more frequent and equally dangerous and a bigger issue for the industry to fix/minimise.

[peanuts]

20 minutes ago, 37114 said:

You get a better return putting your money in the bank than running a haulage company at the moment so every penny counts. The sad reality is the situation is because of over supply in the industry, volatile cost bases (namely fuel and drivers) and customers screwing every penny out of the rates meaning the average haulier has little money to invest in sophisticated bridge detection systems. Add in the fact the driver shortage means that some of the drivers who would not get a look in due to poor driving record are being kept on/finding work.

 

While bridge strikes are high profile they are rare in the grand scheme of things, they sit way down the list of HGV health and safety issues with Uncontrolled vehicle movements (truck moves without the driver in, usually when coupling up a trailer and the tractor handbrake is left off) and red light pull offs from loading bays are much more frequent and equally dangerous and a bigger issue for the industry to fix/minimise.

from experience red light pull offs have largely been eliminated with the practice of company holding keys and drivers held in a " waiting room" until vehicle is fully loaded/unloaded and ready to go .

[37114]

1 hour ago, johnofwessex said:

I remember some years ago The Police & VOSA running checks on School Buses, the results wernt pretty.

 

My immediatee reaction was that there must be some sort of 'price point' that you just cant go below and expect to provide a safee service.

 

My suggestion might be to have some sort of 'minimum prices' set by law, or invstigation  into companies offering unrealistically low prices

Yes, the school bus world does seem to be a cut throat market, lots of operators seem to rely on end of life vehicles which point to low margins.

 

Minimum pricing will be great but there are loads of way to get round it with "Procurement team rebates"..

[37114]

2 hours ago, peanuts said:

from experience red light pull offs have largely been eliminated with the practice of company holding keys and drivers held in a " waiting room" until vehicle is fully loaded/unloaded and ready to go .

Yes but unfortunately there are still exceptions.

[corneliuslundie]

All this points simply that you get what you pay for, and the British public has been trained to believe that cheapest is wonderful.

In construction, 15 years ago when i was still involved as a technical journalist, it used to be said by many people that when one tendered for a job one should dismiss the highest bid because he didn't want the job and dismiss the lowest one because either he had made a mistake and couldn't do it for the price or he had deliberately underpriced expecting to make his profit on variations/extras. I suspect that the same general principle applies in many industries including road transport.

Jonathan

[Fat Controller]

14 hours ago, 37114 said:

Yes but unfortunately there are still exceptions.

As in the incident in Dartford Tunnel yesterday? 

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/m25-delays-after-detatched-trailer-blocks-tunnel-266835/

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, Fat Controller said:

As in the incident in Dartford Tunnel yesterday? 

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/m25-delays-after-detatched-trailer-blocks-tunnel-266835/

Poor maintenance rather than poor driving. 

[peanuts]

17 hours ago, 37114 said:

Yes, the school bus world does seem to be a cut throat market, lots of operators seem to rely on end of life vehicles which point to low margins.

 

Minimum pricing will be great but there are loads of way to get round it with "Procurement team rebates"..

From following dvla and nwmp twitter feeds it still no better regular posts shared from all over the country where stop checks on PSV has revealed poor tyres brakes bodywork and steering that should be getting picked up in drivers walk around and regular garage checks 

[PaulCheffus]

On 02/09/2021 at 11:19, Hobby said:

I feel that health and sight tests done on a regular basis would be much more useful than a re-test. Age-related sight loss is a known issue, but can happen at any age, young or old, but isn't checked until you are a 70 when it's unlikely the driver would be doing as many miles per year or driving as fast...

Hi

 

Unless you are a type one diabetic then it gets checked at each licence renewal.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[peanuts]

1 hour ago, PaulCheffus said:

Hi

 

Unless you are a type one diabetic then it gets checked at each licence renewal.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

Or a hgv /PSV  licence holder when it is part of you 5 yearly medical after age 45