1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228 
Overloaded Arties Causing Cross-Pennine Hold-ups
Page 76
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
FROM ASHLEY TAYLOR
MANCHESTER, Wednesday.
INCREASINGLY sluggish traffic conditions on the 18-mile stretch of road over the Pennines by the Woodhead route are becoming the subject of widespread complaints by operators and their drivers. The route (which is the main link between the east and west coast via Sheffield, Barnsley and Manchester) has long carried much commercial traffic, but transport managers say that a change in the character of some of the freight has been the cause of trouble, rather than the admitted increase in the number of vehicles.
All the way from Hadfield to the Penister district the road, climbing right over the back-bone of England, is steeply graded, with many sharp bends. As the highway is two-lane, the pace for miles back is regulated by that of the slowest vehicle and the complaint is that in recent months there has been a considerable increase in the number of lorries that have to grind up long stretches at walking pace.
Articulated vehicles are stated to be among the principal offenders, but carriers of steel bars and metal ingots have also exhibited a tendency to overload. One transport manager told me that at times as many as 40 vehicles were to be seen running nose to tail.
He said that the trouble was entirely attributable to overloading, for what was a permissible weight in the dispatching and reception areas often proved nearly impossible for a vehicle crossing the Peak district.
On a recent morning his drivers had encountered two breakdowns, both of which considerably increased the delays by necessitating the introduction of single-lane working. Those who overloaded might save themselves money, he commented, but the resulting delays threw added cost on to operators who loaded reasonably.