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 :-)

Loose loading

I have moaned about this before. This week i finally got round to writing down all the issues i thought were relevant and submitting it to my employer Since then i have had my biggest ever loose load. 38 bars for brum. I was not a happy bunny. Neither were they:@. Anyone wanting a copy of my 3 page missive, please get in touch. Having to go back on the road after 2 hours of physically demanding work just isnt sensible in this day and age. "Dont drive when tired" the signs say. Not really a choice i'm afraid!

----------
Sent from my Nokia phone

Glasgow

Long trip yesterday to deliver 1 of 5 trucks. Shame about the weather - reduced the pleasure of returning to my partial homeland for the first time in 40 years...

----------
Sent from my Nokia phone

A1 - Junc 17 (for 2-9-11)

Blogger doesn't seem to like my UbiSufer - so that's twice it failed!
Anyway, this was meant for last Friday...

My route from Bury St Edmunds back to Long Eaton doesn't actually go on the A1 - let alone near junction 17! However, the closure of that junction last Friday led to an 11 mile crawl along the A14/A11 joint section between Cambridge and Huntingdon because all the potential A1 traffic was diverted via the A14/M1(N). That wouldn't have been a problem in itself (although the A14 westbound was busier than I have ever seen it) - but it did mean that this same extra volume of traffic had to go through the traffic lights on the island in Huntingdon!

This was the problem - you would have thought that the 'traffic management plan' could have been better thought out really so that this light sequence was 'adjusted' to cope with the temporary biased demand!?

Or maybe that would be expecting too much?

In the rain..

..on Friday I saw the aftermath of no less than three separate accidents in the pouring rain. All were on/just off the A14. All had police and ambulances in attendance. Given that many motorists were just treating the roads as they normally would (insufficient time to brake, lane swapping erratically etc), I suppose they were all inevitable. Of course I expect they will all blame "the weather" not themselves and their lack of extra care in reduced visibility and poorer braking ability...

Timed deliveries

For some reason this didn't post before, so here is what I think I wrote earlier in the day...:-)

I quite understand why big companies (eg Tesco) don't want all their deliveries to arrive at once but why is it that when you have another delivery in the same area that they insist on not allowing you in the gate more than half an hour before time?

This is why I am sat for an hour outside the gates at Fradley...
Its just a waste of resources! (Yes, it does rankle that I am doing nothing - but being paid for it! Its nice, but its fundamentally wrong!)

Even worse of course is being sent away if you arrive minutes too late for a delivery. Who gains from that? Its really, really bad environmentally as well as (generally) not your fault!

It wouldn't be so bad if they were able to tip you efficiently once you got in there! But it seems different rules apply. A few years ago the 'team' at Middlewich were quite shocked when I threatened to leave if my 3 hour wait stretched to 4 (it didn't!)

(PS Today unloading two pallets took over an hour!!!)