The question is why is that specific bridge getting hit by trucks when the M6 is obviously the default choice of route ?.The drivers are clearly in must avoid the M6 at all costs mode from the start nothing to do with sat navs.You can see similar problems all along the alternative 515 and 523 routes artics struggling to stay on their correct side of the road through the slalom course of the dales.
Iām not even gonna try to defend bridge strikes, but offer a (weak) mitigation in the case of the A5 Hinckley bridge; every single sodding night without fail the M6 is closed around Brum from 8pm until (allegedly) 5am. The reality is that it often overruns and as the official diversion is via the A5 you get lots of sat nav reliant drivers following the diversion and just hoping for the best. The bridge itself is at the end of a long run of roundabouts and traffic lights which are probably taxing what little ability these drivers possess.
Itās the perfect storm.
Unless theyāve been waiting for hours for the recovery operation to start it looks like these are daytime collisions not over night ?.Which ties in with my observations of daytime anywhere between the A43 and Macclesfield and Stockport.
Always rammed with bimbling trucks often obviously driven by very average car drivers with an HGV.
If not the M6/A5 junction slip roads and roundabout being gridlocked by stopped artics trying to leave or rejoin the M6.
Obviously the M6 toll stopping printed receipts isnāt helping matters.
Itās no suprise drivers are hitting bridges if there using car sat - navs is it , Iāve only every tried mine ( snooper ) when I first got it to see what reaction I got by turning towards a low bridge ( in my car ) , all sorts of warnings went off ,
So not having this is down to using a sat nav unless your daft enough to use a car one .
I suspect he was a new driver or maybe new to this country & he was just chucked in at the deep end , i know thatās how that happens with agency , but if he was a tesco driver Iād of thought theyād of made sure he was ok to go out , did he have a week / two with a tesco driver whoās done the job for years , was he trained on d/d.s ,
Itās along time ago but I thought tesco had routes for d/d and you had to ring up for new route if road was shut / or confirm route you were going to use .
I just canāt see this is sat nav related ( assuming he had a lorry one ) as it wouldnāt route you away from that bridge , and if you did go towards
That bridge all sorts of warnings would go off , and donāt Tesco ban sat - navs ( or they did ) .
Iām still suprised itās a tesco lorry , and I think itās come from tesco Hinckley , I just canāt believe if Iām right heās not been warned of that bridge .
Thing is doze (it is dozy is itā¦Ady?) you are assuming that ALL people are thick and stupid enough (stopped short of saying ādozyā enough btw ) to use a sat nav as a command rather than a guide.
We went for bloody years before sat navs came out with no dramas.
I bought my first one about 15 years ago only to find āBack streets in Berlinā and the like.
I aint anti sat nav by any stretch, I love it, it has revolutionised the job in terms of finding dodgy back streets, farms and the like.
I now have the facility to use a factory fitted truck one, but as I have said, it has proved useless in at lrast 3 occasions, 2 of which tell me there is āNo suitable truck routeā to certain remote farms, when I know there isā¦cos Iāve been there before, another trying to send me via a route with a totally impossible left turnā¦could just as easily been a bridge if it is not that fit for purpose.
Guess what?..I ignored the advice.
So the car sat nav stays.
So being as you put it ādaft enough to use oneāā¦guilty as charged mateā¦hang me now.
BUTā¦ the ādaft enoughā bit only applies if you are some bumbling inept half wit buffoon, who has not got the initiative or common sense to realise it is only meant to be a GUIDE.
YOU are the driver who makes the decisionsā¦
NOT the bloody sat nav.
Hope that clarifies.
Yes rob it is dozy , I had to change my name as not only did those incompetent moderators put me on moderation for life they then withdrew my posting rights , the bloody childnish is never ending on here at times !!
Any way im off back to the health forum , they leave me alone on there , even they couldnāt stoop to the level of attacking someone with major Heath issues , or could they
Anyway now your new lorry has a sat nav Iāll stop worrying about you ha ha
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Cheers dozeā¦nice to hear from ya.
Just make sure you look after your health mate.
You retired now?
heres the thing all maps satnavs etc are a guide only yes some are more suited than others but they all take skill in interpreting them However none of them replace a set of eyes and a brain.
The reason i got a truck satnav is because i was doing multi drop in london and the amount of width restrictions etc are too many to deal with and i would end up going in circles trying to get to different places. even then at least once a day i would need to detour because there were parked cars or some other obstical
We had a agency driver who hit that bridge with a 16.4 high trailer.
I work for high street chain and we are given a risk assessment/route maps which
tells you the route from the depot to each store, but you have to use your own sense to work out a route between stores.
Being a bit of a old grunter (like Rob) i dont use satnav but like he said i check bridge height map if i on a route i not sure of.
When the lad hit the bridge he had a night run with a first drop cannock then Leicester and he followed his satnav.
When they checked the tacho, he was flat out on the limiter when he hit the bridge and he got right through and out the other side. He cut the top deck off.
He wasnāt offered anymore shifts 
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Yep I too would make sure I had one in those circumstances, not just to find routes but to counteract the ridiculous virtual āchallengeā the likes of Khan sets you guys to carry out your job.
I was lucky when I started,.after a few weeks I knew my ways right through London, from and too most directions, after doing tramping on a Transit pick upā¦a lot easier to turn around than an artic when you f.up.
Those were pre M25 days when you HAD to go through it no other choice.
Not been through that sh hole for ages, nor do I want toā¦in fact these days I would get lost in there.
ā¦Old grunter?
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He was coming back to Hinckley from Stoke. By the sounds of it, the Tesco investigation found that he had ignored the alert warnings and the printed risk assessment/maps.
Hope you are OK dozy good to hear from you!
16ā4āā is marginal for motorway bridges let alone 15ā A road ones.Itās verging on STGO territory the things are a liability to all concerned.Especially stressed out drivers on a mission and in avoid motorway stoppages at all costs mode.
To be fair Rob they invented routes like Norf Orbital and A25 and Norf and Saf Circlers among uvvers.
But luckily what they did generally do was put a trailer on an 8 wheeler rather than load the thing 16ā high.
Yes but their are 1000ās of trailers on the road which are over 16ā, they are used by supermarkets pallet hubs etc and i been using them for 20+ years. It would be great if you can stick to the motorway but the motorway network isnt that big.
Bottom line is we all got smart phones with google maps on, download low bridges app and its easy to check routes you not sure of, it all about common sense.
I hear all the while about depots should plan you route but surely we can think for ourselves. I remember back in the dark ages when i past my test, trying to do multi drop with 15ā3 trailers around london with only a a-z on my knee, now that was fun.
I do work for a company where we are mirco managed but you see how it can turn you into a brain dead driver. In life you need to exercise your brain or you end up a moron.
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Why would anyone need to āplanā between using the A5 v the M6, at that bridge location, with a 15ā >, let alone 16ā >, high vehicle.
Unless they are in avoid M6 at all costs mode and so stressed out that theyāve totally forgotten about the height issue.IUsing the A5 was a choice and a plan which never existed from the point of coupling up the trailer in the yard.
Logically the question has to start with why was he using the A5 from the start ?.
^^^^^ probably because his depot (or sister depot) is less than a mile from that bridge.
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Perhaps if drivers insist on going their own route, and get it so very very wrong, they might pay more attention if they had to share the costs of their decisions. Much of the consequential costs are not covered by insurance.
^^^^ surely they can read the signs LOW BRIDGE 15.0
This day and age people got their bluetooth headset on and live on the phone, they are not thinking what they are doing.
I watched the young lads at work hitching up the trailers, filling up with fuel, doing their checks and driving off while busy on their phone. They wonder why they end up making mistakes.
Carryfast i dont think stress is the main cause, firms like tescos dont put much pressure on their drivers. It just not paying attention to what they are doing.