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'Time pressure has risen with the need to maximise vehicle use

4th September 1997
Page 46
Page 46, 4th September 1997 — 'Time pressure has risen with the need to maximise vehicle use
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Modern lorry drivers are undervalued, argues David Dovey, head of corporate affairs at RTITB (Road Transport Industry Training Board).

LGV drivers deserve a better image. It is easy to underestimate changes since the 1970s. Advances in cab design, vehicle size and power have been dramatic. But the public often makes incorrect conclusions based on incomplete information, leaving professional drivers with an undeserved reputation.

In the early 1970s lorries were noisy, heavy to drive and often underpowered. The motorway network as we know it was incomplete and pallet traffics had yet to take the dominant position they hold today. Haulage lorries could leave home on a Monday and travel around the country from clearing house to clearing house, often only to return to base five days later. The roads were slower and the drops and pickups were much more varied.

This was the twilight of the age of ropes and sheets, and drivers were expected to take a significant amount of time with the load itself. Those who have roped and sheeted on a windy wet winter's evening will not want to repeat the experience. Hours were long and log books were often works of fiction. Sleeper cabs were rare and doss houses were a way of life.

To drive a pre-1975 LGV was demanding physically. Drivers tended to be deafened in the left ear—the one nearest to the engine. Getting out of lorries often required you climb down and wait a few minutes for your ears to recover. Many engine cowlings were adorned with quilts to reduce the din.

But to make a contrast to modern conditions without care undervalues the contribution LGV drivers now make. They do not 'have it easy". Many of the poor conditions have been cured. Vehicle design has advanced by leaps and bounds, roping and sheeting is almost a memory and flat-beds have become a specialist piece of equipment. But there is more than meets the eye.

Distances travelled have increased with road improvements. Vehicles work more and more. Average speeds are up, despite the speed limiters. Time pressure has risen with the constant need to maximise vehicle use and low stock holdings. In the old days a lorry was unloaded on arrival or the driver just waited—not so today.

Modern vehicles are larger and more comfortable, but with this comes the demand for greater discipline and greater productivity. It is arguable that the old ways permitted professionalism to shine because conditions were much less controlled, this could give greater satisfaction. In certain respects the modern driver is not as free as his forebears.

It is a mistake to underestimate how much driving conditions have changed. Long distances at high speeds with heavier loads on congested roads demand a special concentration. The roads frequently resemble a high-speed traffic jam. If you took a driver from the 1960s and asked him to deal with modern conditions he would be shocked.

Drivers are expected to know much more. Although they infrequently change wheels or handle loads as they once did, regulations such as hazchem, health and safety and many other proliferate. The loads can be far heavier, brakes may have improved but the skill to stop dead weight at speed has not diminished. Compared to their counterparts of yesteryear, modern drivers don't "have it easy". They should be valued accordingly.


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