You may think this isn’t the nicest blog post in the world considering that it shows a head on collision between two HGV’s but stay with us here… This remarkable incident sees one truck lose control and veers across the centre of the road into another oncoming truck with spectacular consequences.

All this is being filmed by a following vehicle and whilst i could try and explain what happens, you’re best off just watching and deciding for yourself. Don’t worry, nobody gets hurt!

Three truckers take a wrong turnaunton’s Greenway Avenue was brought to a standstill last week when not one, not two but THREE HGV‘s became stuck!

The three truckers had driven up the narrow residential street amid hold-ups caused by work to upgrade water mains. The sharp right hand turn at the end of the road prevented them from turning right at the end of the street. Reverse was not an option either due to parked cars creating a rather tricky situation.

So, the police were called in and they took three hours to help the trucks out of their tight spot and on their way.

Unfortunately the red-faced truckers were not available for comment but a local resident moaned;
“There were signs for traffic, but the lorries and other traffic still came down this way.
“It’s obvious that Greenway Avenue isn’t suitable for larger lorries and heavy traffic.
“It was quite an operation for them to reverse out when the police arrived.”

Since the incident, the water company responsible for the water mains upgrades has put additional signage to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

However, if the lead driver had been using one of our dedicated Truck Sat Nav systems, they would have been alerted to the unsuitability of the road. Truck sat nav takes into account your vehicle dimensions and only sends you down roads suitable for HGVs. Find out more here.

In our latest “How To” video, we show you how to set up a multiroute on your Snooper S5000 Truckmate Pro. This feature lets you set several postcodes into your Truckmate and will take you to each one in turn. You are able to specify the order in which you are routed to each postcode or alternatively, you can press “Refresh” and Snooper S5000 Truckmate will route you to all your destinations in the most efficient way.

The Snooper S5000 Truckmate Pro offers truck friendly satellite navigation. In this video, we show you how to enter a postcode for navigation;

Here in our series of “how to” demo videos, we talk you through setting up your S5000 Truckmate with vehicle dimensions:

Source: www.hgvuk.com
May 22, 2012

The Freight Transport Association has voiced disappointment on behalf of its members at the news of the rise in charges to users of the Dartford River Crossing.

Following the announcement from Under Secretary of State for Transport, Mike Penning, who revealed the increases as part of the ‘plans to tackle congestion and to deliver future improvement at the Dartford-Thurrock Crossing’, the association was quick to back its members in saying that it considers additional costs at the tolls to be unacceptable to the freight industry.

The first rise in costs to be implemented will be in October 2012 when the toll charge for a heavy goods vehicle will jump to £5.00 per crossing, a significant increase from the present £3.70, with the second hike planned for 2014, resulting in a cost of £6.00 each way.

Operators who use the popular ‘Dart-Tag’ will not escape the price jump either, seeing that cost rising from £3.20 to £4.33 come October this year.

Malcolm Bingham, FTA Head of Road Network Management Policy said: “We are disappointed, as we feel that the government has not taken any notice of us at all. We had asked them to peg the Dart-Tag fee.

“Any toll increase is damaging to our members, but we welcome the process of bringing in free flow tolling.”

In response to the Department for Transport consultation on the proposals to revise the road user charging regime, FTA had voiced its concern at the planned rises, pointing out that ‘the Dartford crossing is an essential piece of infrastructure, vital to the effectiveness of the logistics industry for whom no efficient alternative route exists. Current levels of congestion – which we believe to a large extent result from the existing charging systems – impose significant costs on the industry and lead to increased emissions.’

FTA members have expressed deep concerns regarding the proposed increase in the charges for good vehicles. Quite predictably the new charges will increase costs for those that use the crossing by an appreciable amount and the current alternative crossing options available to fleet operators are expensive both in time and mileage.

In its consultation response, FTA added: ‘Goods vehicles do not have the flexibility that many motorists have to alter journey times and/or routes and more often than not freight journeys cannot be made in another way.’

FTA members maintain that the charging plazas themselves cause the majority of the congestion at the crossing. According to FTA figures, at present it already costs an estimated £1 per minute per hgv to queue and pay at the Dartford tolls.

It had been hoped that plans to introduce a ‘free flowing system’ would be introduced as opposed to toll increases, and these were welcomed by the association. The technological system (similar to some already being used across Europe and within the UK), was seen as the appropriate way forward to reduce a good deal of administration cost for industry in dealing with tolls, charges and queues at the crossing.

Source: Daily Mail Online
Published: 12th may 2012
By: Hannah Rand

A man is so baffled by the amount of trailer trucks that crash into his local bridge that he set up a video camera to record them. Although the bridge, in Durham, North Carolina, clearly states that it is 11 feet and eight inches high – a standard height – ten trucks in the past year have slammed into the structure.

The standard height for trailer trucks is 13 feet and six inches, as the drivers should know.

Jurgen Henn set up the camera in his office in 2008;

All footage copyright Jürgen Henn – 11foot8.com

‘The sound is almost earth-shattering,’ he told WRAL.com. ‘People jump out of their chairs when it happens.’
So frequent are the crashes that Mr Hunn set up a website, 11foot8.com.

Now his YouTube channel has hundreds of thousands of hits as web browsers click on to see the roofs of the semi-trailers peel back like sardine cans.

Many of the trucks involved are Ryder rentals, which might explain the amateur behaviour of the drivers.

While he says the websites and videos are just a ‘hobby’ to ‘have some fun’, Mr Henn also hopes that the videos alert authorities to the situation.

On his website, Mr Henn says: ‘Low Clearance can be a real challenge for a truck driver. I know that – one summer I drove a dump truck around Durham.

‘If you drive a truck, be sure you know how TALL it is and watch for the CLEARANCE signs. And slow down!’

However, the State Department of Transportation say they have done everything they can to alert drivers to the trestle bridge’s height, installing flashing lights. One thing that might get the drivers’ attention, however, is that most rental truck companies don’t cover overhead damage, reports the network.

Sat Nav Warehouse comment: Thankfully, here in the UK, TomTom and Snooper Truckmate save the day with their HGV specific Truck Sat Nav devices which will only send you down truck friendly routes, avoiding low bridges, narrow lanes and other restrictions that may cause you problems!

This weekend we will be hoping for some good weather as we head to East of England Showground in Peterborough for this year’s Truckfest. The first Truckfest was held 29 years ago, making the events throughout 2012 the 30th part of the organisation’s anniversary!

Many changes have taken place in that time throughout the road haulage and logistics industry and unfortunately many events have been and gone – with the premier trucking event still standing loud and proud.

As ever, there will be plenty of entertainment with Slingshot and Bigfoot powering their way through the main arena. This year should see more truck entries than ever before so it’s well worth a visit.

Most importantly of all, if you’re coming to Truckfest this year pay us a visit by the main arena to get your hands on the latest Truck sat nav with live demos and special show prices.