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 
Reasons to be cheerful 1,2,3
Page 66
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Ray Dickson reflects ruefully on motorway madness, terminated tests and comatose cops.
1 t's official; the lunatics have finally taken over the asylum. Any lingering doubts were dispelled by the news that trucks are to be ban-ed from the overtaking lane of the two-lane M42 between Junctions 10 and 11.
It seems 1 kid you not that this brilliant idea was conceived by a "member of the public" no doubt enraged by finding a truck daring to impair his progress while overtaking a slower vehicle. While he's basking in the glow of his genius, his grandparents will doubtless be cruising the M42 in their N-reg Nissan at a steady 30mph to ensure that the gridlock is total.
If the queue spreads from the M42, via Me and M1 to the M25 roundabout, our motorist chums might finally grasp that the transport industry is the backbone of the country. It seems incredible that both the government and the Highways Agency are more inclined to listen to a motorist than they are to discuss real transport issues with the professionals within our industry. Meanwhile we remain isolated, marginalised and, unlike the goods we deliver, unwanted.
Croydon centre closed
Closer to home, what have the Driving Standards Agency done to encourage new people to join the industry? With another stroke of genius they've shut the local LGV training centre in Croydon, leaving us without a test centre in South London.We now have to submit drivers to Guildford where we have found examiners to be. in the main, surly and unhelpful.And training a driver from car to Class 1 now costs over £5,000.
It's become increasingly hard to find people with the patience, and the money, to survive the training process.The government, of course, gives us not a penny in support,to the extent that we are now closing down our in-house training centre. Unless the government wakes up we will be faced with a national crisis when the WorkingTime Directive further reduces the capacity of truck drivers. Our industry needs investment now!
A couple of weeks ago we had a trailer stolen from outside our depot (our own fault no pin lock`, and my security officer phoned rne to say he was in pursuit of the felon down the A23.
I joined the hunt at Godstone and the pair of us chased the vehicle around the M25 with three of us (one from home), constantly on the phone to the police. After a 40-minute chase and some extremely conspicuous, eccentric and foolhardy driving we were fortunately able to sufficiently disorientate the thief into dropping the trailer in a layby on the A21.
The police finally put in an appearance 20 minutes later after the chase was over.
After another hour, as our own tractor arrived to take the trailer home, they decided to take it 30 miles away for finger-printing. Four days later we retrieved it, having paid the recovery firm for towing our vehicle to their depot. •