Trucks aren't rolling stones
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I've just spent seven hours trying to roll a truck and I didn't have to try very hard! I was on Mercedes-Benz's anti-rollover CPC course, and the artic tanker I was abusing had been fitted with stabilisers to prevent it from rolling. As well as offering plenty of practical experience, the course included a few hours of classroom training. The instructor told us the number of roll-overs on UK roads is increasing, and
is likely to reach 1,000 this year. While he came up with several reasons for this (which I'll be sharing with you in the 28 November issue of CM), there's one he missed. With the arrival of the CPC, a rising number of drivers are attending fuelsaving courses, which encourage them to avoid braking and to carry as much speed as possible, thus avoiding the need to accelerate and drop gears.
As a result, there's a temptation to roll-up to a roundabout and try to get across with the minimum of intervention which could have disastrous consequences! I would recommend the course to every artic driver. At £390, it isn't cheap but with the average roll-over costing in excess of £1m, if it prevents one on your fleet, it will pay for itself many times over. Will Shiers Editor