BadRoads.org.uk

I've been meaning to do this for some time. One thing I have learnt whilst out driving artics is that the people who design roads blatantly don't think enough about the larger vehicles that need to travel on them. So, if you have experience of this sort of work, head off over to www.BadRoads.org.uk and submit a report...

Snow on the Pennines

Yes, really about 2-3" when I went over the M62 yesterday evenning.
Today, going up past Sheffield, there was plenty of snow on the hills
there too!

New toy:-)

My first container! Maybe a tanker next? Or a low loader?

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Flat tyre

Now wherever did that come from? I thought things were getting a bit "squishy"! At least it didn't go BANG!

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Security.

Funny how different places have such radically different views on security. For example, this week i have been one place where you are not allowed out the cab. Today i am not allowed *in* the cab! The maddest place of all tho is united biscuits whose paper trail is massive but whose procedures are really bad. This is costing them so much money compared, say, with argos whose paperwork is much simpler but whose stock value is relatively huge!

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P-P-p-p-pick up a pallet of Penguins!

Tight fit

Hartlepool monday. Thats about 5" each side with the dock all the way round 3 sides at trailer height. Got in in one. Slowly tho!

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Last week i is mostly driving

Self unloading on the wirral. We get these electric pallet trucks to play with:-)

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Cyclists on major roads.

The recent death of an experienced cyclist on the A50 was of course tragic. The conviction of a lorry driver for careless driving appears to have been solely because he was exceeding the 50 mph limit. What was not mentioned was the fact that all large goods vehicles are limited to 56 mph. Whether those 6 mph would have made the difference between life & death is a moot point - but I doubt it. A couple of days later I was on the A14 on a friday afternoon. This is a very similar road to the A50. Suddenly up ahead there was a lot of lane changing and breaking. A real mess up. Yes, you've guessed it. A cyclist. This idiot had a full set of front and rear panniers AND was on the main carriageway - not even in the 'protected' zone on the verge side of the solid white line! Just because it is legal doesn't make it right. Or sensible. Or safe. As it says on the A46 south of Coventry, 'cyclists are advised to use the signed alternative routes'. Not that I am against cycling, but i don't do base or bungee jumping or potholing either!

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Bagpipes

I love them - but they are probably the least social instrument to practice on - closely followed by drums and the sort of electric guitarist who equates volume with quality:-) Anyway, up until this week the most obscure practice place was under a railway bridge in carlton, notthingham about 40 years ago. This week tho there was a bloke leaning on his car and playing in a layby just off the M42 near solihull. :-)

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Motorway services signs.

Without any exception i can remember, they are always unclear. The wording is often good - but the little arrows always look like little squares - at least until you get up right close. This is often too late. Perhaps it also explains why there are often caravans in the lorry parks? Admittedly a few services do combine the two, but most have separate areas and so caravan owners risk a fine - like the 3 parked at Hopwood at the moment:-)
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Snow, Sleet, Rain, Wind...

Not really motorbike weather is it? A few poor b***s out there tho!

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I thought it was a thing of the past - at least in this country. However, journeying up the M1 on Monday I was surprised to see smog above J29 near Bolsover. I was further surprised to see the whole of the Rother/Don valleys near Sheffield filled with the stuff!

Yesterday I was near Melbourne in S. Derbys and took this shot towards Derby and environs; overlooking the Trent/Derwent valleys. The thick 'nicotine stain' brown line between the green stuff and the blue stuff, stretching from left to right, is smog.

Smog is an indicator of bad industrial pollution associated with certain weather conditions. In the 1960s smog was produced by the combination of heavy industrial and domestic coal use with valley fog. The name is even a combination of the words 'smoke' and 'fog'. On the other hand, 'modern' smog is the result of more complex chemical reactions - typified by the Los Angeles smogs of the 1970s. So why are we getting something similar here now?

Minor problems

First there was the faulty power socket for the tail lift which meant a change of truck. Next was the bolt that sheared on the trailer legs - fortunately just as i finished with it. Last so far is that transport office seems shut to report previous problem...

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Loan trailer.

Its not just a Somerfield trailer, its an m&s Somerfield trailer! :-)

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Slow start to the year.

Is it just me or is this year very much slower to get working after xmas than anything previous? Hardly any work about atm. Still, at least i am getting plenty done at home:-)

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Breakdowns.

2 in just over a week!? The first was my fault. Mostly. Doing a trailer separation the yellow airline got tangled somehow and snapped - or rather shattered. We couldn't find all the pieces and as it was white rather than yellow, consensus was it was time expired. Today though, all i may have done wrong was turn the key too fast? Either way the starter seems to have jammed and i'm waiting for the green flag cavalry...

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Lots of strange police cars...

Originally to be posted 8-2-11!

On Saturday, I went to do a trailer swap at Stoke on Trent. Along the A50, just before Uttoxeter, I was overtaken by a black Lexus 'blue-lighting' at speed. This was immediately followed by a black Vauxhall and a black BMW. A few minutes later there was another pair of black cars 'blue-lighting'. Reaching Stoke there was even more police activity. Is this what happens when somebody 'important' passes along the way? Or just coincidence?

Dirty linen....

This is what happens when an M&S (or Next?) 'loose load' goes over speed humps (or similar) - so check what you are buying and moan like the blazes if its grubby!  Its not the store's or the driver's fault, its just a naff system :-)