TOUGH NIG
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*KEN DOLLMAN, Kr)op. HAULAGE, OWNER-DRNER Owner-driver KEN DOLLMAN was setting out for his first job after the Christmas break so he had not yet been troubled by the cold snap. "I carry a lot of steel from docks, particularly in the north," he says.
He hopes his background as a mechanic will keep the wheels of his Renault Magnum turning: "I look after it summer and winter. This time of year I make sure I have the right anti-freeze and the cab heater working. Every 200,000km it gets serviced by Renault of Reading."
COLIN HARRIS, AGENCY DRIVER FOR TESCO, WELHANI Tesco agency driver COLIN HARRIS says he encountered problems in the north of England where an apparent lack of salting made driving conditions difficult.
"They always wait to grit the roads until it's too late," he moans. Harris usually drives on the Continent and was about to set off for Switzerland the following week."I bet they have 10ft of snow but the roads are clear."
Despite the dangerous conditions on Britain's roads he has noticed other drivers, including lorry drivers, "driving like lunatics". He blames companies who pay drivers by the load, rather than a regular wage: "No one's got time."
Driving a Tesco vehicle he has no fears about winter maintenance: "If a light comes on you stop, just take it in and it's done. They are very good with maintenance—they have to be, they are running these 24 hours a day. When I finish, another driver jumps in." 146 BRAD WILLIS,OWBURN, DURHAMW CTS,
; Heading down to Austria with a groupage load, CTS driver BRAD WILLIS had experienced no major problems with the British weather. But he would like to see a Continental habit copied at British truckstops—the
provision of free windscreen washing to cope with the filthy weather. "The Germans provide a brush tied to a 45 gallon drum." He also believes Continental authorities have better resources for keeping roads clear. "Here you have two gritters down each lane, there they will have six in each lane."
BRYAN PARSONS, LANE GROUP, FELTHAM DEPOT
; Lane Group driver Bryan Parsons was looking forward to catching up with a delayed New Year break after working through the holiday. He delivered into Kent and found roads impassable near Maidstone. He has also noticed damage to road surfaces caused by the severe conditions: "There's a hell of a lot of roads cracking up with frost damage. The All is the worst—I've just come back from Bury St Edmunds, a few of the grooves in the road are full of ice and there have been a couple of occasions when the wheels have twitched."
The response of car drivers has not helped: "There are a lot of idiot motorists who touch their brakes at the slightest thing, which you should not do when you see a bit of snow— but you do put your lights on. I've worked in Germany for a couple of years and they are sorted: the difference is they do not panic."
4k. SIMON PHILLIPS AND PAUL 71,04,0„. JAMES-ELSON, GBE EXPRESS T Both SIMON PHILLIPS and PAUL JAMES-ELSON drive for GBE Express (also known as European Fast Freight) and we encountered them parked alongside each other.
Phillips had run into problems in Suffolk the day before when a three-lane stretch of road had only two lanes operating: "It was because of lack of gritting." We left him to continue his journey taking a load of breadcrumbs from Stevenage to Felixstowe.
James-Elson stayed to chat but had few good words to say for Kent, where two of the company's vehicles had become stuck in snow. "The council ought to get out and do more gritting—they wait until the snow falls which is too late.! blame the Government for privatising everything"
CLIVE KING, DAWN FARMS, NAAS, CO KILDARE
+ On his way home to Ireland after a regular run delivering beef to the Continent, driver CLIVE KING had no complaints about British roads and had encountered no problems because of the weather. "British roads are generally better than Irish roads," he points out, as he jumps down from his cab to grab a cup of tea at the truckstop cafe.
ERNIE GLOVER, EMERSONS, ibOrtg. COLVILLE, LEICS T Keeping the tyres well shod is a winter priority for ERNIE GLOVER, driving for Midlands operator Emersons of Colville.
He says he has had no problems on straightforward north/south runs but, "Once you get into Norfolk, they don't know what salt is! The night before New Year's Eve it was chaos on the A47 from Yarmouth down to Wisbech."