Endeavour wise how far do you as consumers expect ........................................

[dark_castle1]

the delivery drivers to go i.e. when the roads and weather are bad or maybe even quite dangerous ?

I personally as a delivery driver go out in any weather to try and get through and only if say the police put me off the road or another driver has an accident and I cannot get past or if I really cannot go any further will I stop and sleep in the cab until I can try again as do many drivers. In fact I know of none who said they would not go out on the road on Thursday when the conditions were extremely bad in Scotland.

Just a question that has cropped up many times in conversation about just how far consumers would expect drivers to go to get deliveries through.

[ilove2patch]

Personally if I had been expecting a delivery & was in the area of the dreadful storms recently I would not have expected a driver to risk life I limb to get to me. There is always tomorrow for the delivery but perhaps not for a driver who risks his life & others on dangerous roads.

[dark_castle1]

so basically what you are saying is that us as delivery drivers should not be out on the road in bad weather because we put other peoples lives at risk !

Would that also apply to the drivers of cars who do not need to be out in such conditions but still do go out ?

[ilove2patch]

No. I am saying that I would not 'expect ' a delivery in very extreem weather if it meant a delivery driver risking his safety. I don't think anyone should be driving in very extreem weather realy. I can't help thinking of that poor truck driver whose lorry blew over onto three cars. So sad.

[dark_castle1]

I saw that accident but things like that we as drivers must put to the back of our mind as we supply supermarkets etc even oxygen to homes where people rely on drivers at least trying to get through.

Maybe we are foolhardy going out in weather like that but in our eyes we must do our best to get through.

[ilove2patch]

A worthy sentiment Corgi but do be careful out there.

[rose2008-2008]

I feel for all Van Drivers whatever company as it seems they are pushed to carry on when others may have been told to go home in other jobs in the bad weather!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. I have utmost respect for them. Delivering our goods and working maintenance wise for factories ,shops, offices ect. BUT there should be a limit, and they should not be put in danger!!!!!!!!!. Listen up company BOSSES PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

[**towery**]

i often wonder how full those lorries are

are they always  rammed to the top or is there a sort of  headheight clearance

personally i wouldnt want anything bigger than a  transit van out if its the slightest bit windy , having seen the wind hit a canvas sides hgv and move it 4 ft across a lane

i would expect that money could be saved by not having  tall van / trailers in use

the khune nagel lorries totally p me off as i can see that they are highly stocked, and in summer they have a sort of topless trailer doing some of the runs

if anyone is  so desperate  for a fresh loaf or toilet roll then our society has to step bavk and look at other options 

id want everyone to stay as safe as possible on the roads these days

[dark_castle1]

towery not full all the time as you do multi drop and drop some of the load at different locations but you usually run back empty which makes it worse as you are light at the rear and can be blown about.

Looks like by the responses or lack of the majority expect delivery drivers to keep going and get through no matter the conditions. Good thing that is what we try and do then .

[guardpig]

I expect professional drivers to be able to drive in conditions where I would not be happy on the road.  However I do feel it should be a matter of every driver asking themselves whether it is safe or necessary for them, their vehicle and their load to be out there.  If the answer is no then do not deliver.

We sail. Once with 2 young kids and a new boat we left boat and travelled home by ferry.  A sailing school instructor laughed at us and said the weather was not that bad - hmm. Maybe not with their boat and their crew.

So if you don't think it is safe stay home but that is easy to say when you probably don't get paid and neither does your boss.

[fishpieface]

As a professional driver myself (coaches, I admit, not lorries), I would say that

each situation needs to be assessed for what it is, where it is.  As professional drivers

we cannot make excuses for any little bit of slightly dodgy weather out there and say we

aren't going out.

I've been driving coaches for almost 26 years and only twice in all that time have we

been told by our boss that we are not going out.  One when the snow had drifted

halfway up the coaches in the yard and the little roads were virtually impassable.  The

schools were closed anyway as most of the teachers couldn't or wouldn't drive in

it and the school buses couldn't get round.  That was extreme, especially for Essex.

Most of the time we go out in it and recently, when the wind had blown trees across the

roads, it was us who got the children home from school round the lanes, often by

stopping the coach where we could and walking with the child/young person to their

stop or house.

A few years ago when the snow was thick on the ground one morning, I remember

getting the little bus that started at 5.00 am, 45 mins drive from our depot, through to

the remote villages.  It used to take the early commuters to the station and when I

pulled up outside one regular's house, he came out eating a bit of toast and totally

gobsmacked that the bus had got there.  He got his coat, made me a flask of

coffee and out he came.  I took the flask back the following morning.  Most of the

people were regulars on that bus and they were lovely, the four of us who drove it

used to get loads of presents at Christmas from them!

So yes, we have to make an effort, but not put ourselves or others in danger if

conditions are really treacherous.  Most deliveries can wait and we have to accept

that.  If they can't wait, like peoples' lives really depend on them, then usually a

way can be found to get things through.

[dark_castle1]

Fishie, I take my hat off to you because I do not think I could cope with driving a coach load. At least in the wagon it is only myself I need think about and I would much rather be dragging a curtainsider all over Scotland than driving a coach.

Oh by the way fishie I go on the 6th and 7th of January to finish my CPC as I already have my ADR and that counts as 21 hours towards my CPC. At least it will be only two days in the classroom   .

[fishpieface]

My hat off to you too Corgi, as I'm sure that in Scotland, extreme weather is

much more frequent and much more often do you have a "do I go or don't

I go" decision to make.  Great on the CPC too, I finished mine a couple of

years ago and don't have to do it again until 2019, I did it over five days in

classroom - it wasn't very exciting but it had to be done!

Apparently you only have to complete 35 hours for coach cpc,  and the

firm who shares our depot is putting its drivers through 35 hours of the

same module every time!  I think that's rather unfair as they aren't getting

all of it covered but I guess if it's one of those daft rules, then I suppose they

aren't doing anything wrong.

Back to the bad weather, it is also a question of what the vehicle you have to

drive is capable of, ie whether it'll go through flooded roads/ice and allsorts

of other stuff.  When I first began coach driving there was one old, heavy

coach that nobody ever wanted to drive - that is until there was extreme adverse

weather.  It gripped the road like no other, drove through ice, snow, you name it.

My old Astra is like that too, it'll drive normally on icy roads, with care of course,

whereas our much newer Meriva goes all over the place given half the chance!

Talking of bad weather, we have thick fog here this morning, can hardly see

a few yards.  I'm not working until this afternoon/evening though by which time

it'll hopefully have gone.

Happy, safe driving everybody.

[bankhaunter]

Back to the bad weather, it is also a question of what the vehicle you have to drive is capable of, ie whether it'll go through flooded roads/ice and allsorts of other stuff.

There have been occasions when the normal doubledeck bus I take to the market some miles away is replaced halfway by a singledecker which could get through the flood water.

This bus driver knew his vehicle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOkGibwBwa4

[dark_castle1]

Fishie, the drivers do not have a say in whether we go out or not ! Company policy is get out there and do your best to get through, if not by the usual route find one you can get through on. When the real bad weather struck here and the Central belt was at a standstill with people having spent the night in their car I was sent out to try and get from Glasgow to Inverness. Was out the yard from 0800 until 1720 and had travelled in total 12 miles, left the yard in the car at 1730 to come home 34 miles and got home at 2340.

I think the 35 hour thing might be because of as they say "grandfather rights", people that have shall we say more years out on the road than they care to remember or admit to  .

Please remember everyone the happy safe driving Fishie is wishing you means drive at the correct speed for the conditions with headlights on dipped beam if in dull conditions with rain and spray and remember your capabilities and do not go out if you feel unsure about it unless you REALLY need to.