Does a night heater have to be fitted to a vehicle?

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
21

i quite agree with her, you wouldnt sit round your house for 8 hrs with no heating on at this time of the year so why should she be expected to sit in a freezing cold cab :unamused: :unamused: :unamused:

22

Thank god for Ady 1.
i thought that i was the only trucker who doesn’t have tp prove how tough he is.
If you’re going to be sat for a couple of hours in a tin box without being able to run the engine then a night heater is a reasonable request AND it’s cheaper than running multi litre engines!
Why do do many drivers jump in and critisize anyone who tries to make the job better?
Haven’t done a night out for 14 years( no one does where I work) and every unit has a night heater.

23

Just curious - what is the difference in fuel consuption between a truck with engine running to keep warm and one with a night heater on?
Yes, I know its less on component ware & tear to use a night heater.

24

Quinny:
His shift is 8 hours possibly sat on a loading bay max 1-2 hours.

Quinny:
Err…

The he,is actually a she.

Make your bloody mind up. :wink: :smiley: :smiley:

Alright, so we’ve decided that it doesn’t come under Health and Safety per se.

But there might be something the HSE document “Driving at Work” whereby one might argue that the matters warrants attention.

:wink:

25

thank god mine has a night heater.
ive sat in boots at nottingham in jan at 2 degrees c. for two or three hours.
if i get cold, on goes the night heater.
its dificult to drive with hyperthermia.
i once got asked to night out in a motor with a bust heater, in febuary. i believe the second word of the answer may have been OFF.
agree tho , that a bit of polite asking if your heaterless, may get your keys back, or a seat in the canteen , even better.

26

ROG:
Just curious - what is the difference in fuel consuption between a truck with engine running to keep warm and one with a night heater on?

I think there was something about this in the SAFED training. IMMSMC, on tickover, consumption was 1/2 litre per hour, whereas a night heater used about a cupful a day.

Essentially, it is cheaper, when frosty, to leave the night heater on overnight than to use the engine to generate warmth to defrost the windscreen.

Cheaper still, is to park the vehicle facing East. :wink:

27

Krankee:
Cheaper still, is to park the vehicle facing East. :wink:

Is that so the truck can pray for better fuel consumption :question: :wink: :laughing:

28

ROG:

Krankee:
Cheaper still, is to park the vehicle facing East. :wink:

Is that so the truck can pray for better fuel consumption :question: :wink: :laughing:

No. It’s in the hope of the appearance of three wise men. :wink:

Something that would be difficult to find on here. :laughing: :laughing:

Where’s that ‘tin hat’? :blush: :blush:

BTW, did I not see you on the A46 Evesham by-pass last week. Can’t remember the day. About 1430 N/B. A Volvo FL? pulling a trailer with a phone number on the side which I ‘failed to clock’.

There was some ‘god ugly’ sod sitting in the passenger seat. :smiley:

29

Lucy:
Bugger. Bang goes my “Supermarket Strike” until you fit me a decent heater in the Landy then… :confused: :confused: :confused: :wink: :stuck_out_tongue:

Head to head on the board, and you’re married, and you’ve got landies. Must be the landies that do it :blush: :unamused: :laughing: :laughing:

You can have a heater in the LR when you’ve fixed the door seals, added some carpets and dried it out from the last time you went fording :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

I think Montana Man has my tin hat :unamused:

30

Air shift and power steering isn’t a legal requirement. Would any of you drive a truck without them?

31

who in their right mind would wont to sit in the truck when theres a usuable canteen on sight

in T&D some years ago they feature a small Bedford Coal lorry which had a night heater basically to keep cab warm in winter when doing early starts and at delivery points

a working night heater is a good idea

my opinion is if its fitted it should work properly

32

They are commonplace now, even my mate has one in his excavator.

When I worked with my brother, he was selling the new Chrysler Voyager people carrier 2.5 CRD and they got round the problem of warming the car up with a 12 volt eberspacher.

Because the CRD diesel took longer to warm up than normal diesels you got instant heat.

I remember anything with a ■■■■■■■ engine was awful in winter because they hardly put any heat out. You could warm your hands on the fuel tank because it fed back from the fuel pump :stuck_out_tongue:

33

ady1:
i quite agree with her, you wouldnt sit round your house for 8 hrs with no heating on at this time of the year so why should she be expected to sit in a freezing cold cab :unamused: :unamused: :unamused:

Right lets take it back a few stages …

  1. Quinny said that the “driver” had a “heated” converstaion with the TM about night heaters and H@S

It was said that the driver was doing approx an eight hour shift with canteen facilities etc and it was based on this information that I said the driver should get a pair of gonads…the fact that it is said to be a FEMALE driver has absolutely nothing to do with it in my view. The reasons for that for that are two fold.

  1. I know a couple of women who have bigger gonads (not in the physical sense) than some suposedly roughy tuffy men (see Lucy’s input above obviously got more bottle than a lot us :blush: :blush: )

  2. If a female wants equal rights etc DONT expect anything other than what a male driver would get. So in a nutshell if she cant stand the heat get out of the kitchen, or if she cant stand the cold go sit in the canteen :unamused: :unamused:

Now I like my creature comforts and would not stand being dumped on …but LETS KEEP IT REAL GUYS…OH AND GALS . :wink: :wink:

34

Keeping it real as Coder says, IMHO the answer to the original question is for the driver to go to the canteen. That seems fairly straightforward.

Then the discussion was widened out to “nights out” in general, so I’ve read the arguments put so far. IMHO, I think Rikki-UK has a point with this: "section 7 of the Workplace (Health, safety and Welfare ) act 1992… " and the fact that it doesn’t mention vehicles.

However, and immediately confessing to bias in this subject, I’d say that there’s more of a chance for those of us wishing to have a night heater when doing nights away in this:

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regs 1999.

“Reg 3(1) Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of-
(a) the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work…”

I’d be asking the employer about the risk assessment for requiring me to “guard” his truck overnight.

Could the employer honestly say that there’s no significant risk to my health and safety if I remain in the truck overnight without warmth? Whilst considering this question, we might remember that a truck IS “a workplace,” and that drivers have died of hypothermia in the UK. IMHO, the employer might be on a sticky wicket on this one… Imagine how you’d feel, when contacted by your partner’s employer with an “explanation” of how they’d met an untimely end… Now put yourself in the employer’s shoes-- just how would you attempt to explain it away??

Since everybody is responsible for their own health and safety to some extent, isn’t it therefore a driver’s duty to refuse to remain overnight in a cab that’s not fitted with some form of heating?

Back in the dark ages, we liked it or lumped it- I can’t disagree with that, but do those of us who were there at the time all say how bad it was whilst easing our now painful arthritic and rheumatic joints??
I do, so sorry boss, but no night heater equals no Dave :sunglasses:

35

.The driver had somewhere to go that was warm. What’s the problem ?
Should have pointed out the night heater didn’t work and just sat in the canteen.
There are too many drama queen drivers in this game that engage their mouth before their brain. The same people that are too willing to shout and swear at the boss that allocates the work and pays the wages. Then wonder why they get the crappiest work/motor or least hours.

36

Ok, so this truck, whilst it doesn’t have a night heater, does the cab fan work either?

If it does then what’s the issue with telling the transport office that it’s winter and he’s cold in the cab and therefore may run the engine to keep warm or whatever.

Alternatively he could get a warmer jumper for the duration?

Me? I’d get a warmer jumper/coat for the duration and not make waves, but then again, I’m an Agency Driver so no one listens to me anyway… :unamused: :unamused: :unamused:

37

thecoder0:

ady1:
i quite agree with her, you wouldnt sit round your house for 8 hrs with no heating on at this time of the year so why should she be expected to sit in a freezing cold cab :unamused: :unamused: :unamused:

Right lets take it back a few stages …

  1. Quinny said that the “driver” had a “heated” (pun alert) converstaion with the TM about night heaters and H@S

It was said that the driver was doing approx an eight hour shift with canteen facilities etc and it was based on this information that I said the driver should get a pair of gonads…the fact that it is said to be a FEMALE driver has absolutely nothing to do with it in my view. The reasons for that for that are two fold.

  1. I know a couple of women who have bigger gonads (ladyboy alert) (not in the physical sense) than some suposedly roughy tuffy men (see Lucy’s input above obviously got more bottle than a lot us :blush: :blush: )

  2. If a female wants equal rights etc DONT expect anything other than what a male driver would get. So in a nutshell if she cant stand the heat (pun) get out of the kitchen, or if she cant stand the cold go sit in the canteen :unamused: :unamused:

Now I like my creature comforts and would not stand being dumped on …but LETS KEEP IT REAL GUYS…OH AND GALS . :wink: :wink:

Or do as most of us do and have to work for a living, I normally tip in shirt sleeves because even dragging pipes about and running up and down a tank ladder or silo steps can get you a sweat on.

What will happen when Winter arrives?

38

Saratoga:
Ok, so this truck, whilst it doesn’t have a night heater, does the cab fan work either?

We weren’t told that, but it’s fairly safe to assume that it does. Some places, particularly RDCs, make you hand in the vehicle keys for safety reasons, whilst loading/unloading takes place. Most trucks need the ignition to be in the “on” position so that you can make use of the fan. Most trucks need to have the engine running to circulate the coolant through the heater matrix, otherwise you’d be getting cold air in the cab very quickly.

Saratoga:
If it does then what’s the issue with telling the transport office that it’s winter and he’s cold in the cab and therefore may run the engine to keep warm or whatever.

I think a lot of bosses would object to that, because of the high cost of fuel. IMHO, a fair objection.

Saratoga:
Alternatively he could get a warmer jumper for the duration?

Me? I’d get a warmer jumper/coat for the duration and not make waves,

In the original question, that a good no-confrontational approach, but I feel it’s no good on a winter’s night out, or worserer (sic :wink: ) still- weekended.
Been there, done that-- got the disability.

Saratoga:
but then again, I’m an Agency Driver so no one listens to me anyway… :unamused: :unamused: :unamused:

Come off it Saratoga, your views, like your driving licence, are as valid as anybody else’s. :smiley:
I’ve got the agency “T” shirt as well (7 years ish,) it makes us no less of a person/driver.
Our boss is only our boss for as long as we allow it :wink:

39

Yes, you’re right there Dave, but you know how well some bosses listen.

40

Saratoga:
Yes, you’re right there Dave, but you know how well some bosses listen.

Yes Saratoga, that’s quite true.
The boss gets to choose whether to listen and I respect that, because he is the boss, but that then lets us choose. :wink:
He must also respect us :sunglasses: