I see trucks weaving on & off the HS all the time. Some of it is caused by driver not concentrating what they are doing (■■■■ around with the radio, sat nav etc), but most of it is due to fatigue.
Safety however is a secondary consideration in the haulage industry. vosa will bust your balls over a 5 minute tacho infringement, or you’ll be fined & buggered for doing 45mph on a deserted single track road in mid Wales, but a the same time it’s ok to work 15 hours in a day, & or drive 450 miles in a day have 9 hours break & do it again next day. 
ROG:
att:
If I do get tired, which is not very often these days, I do pull over and have a 10 - 15 minute sleep, don`t care about timed deliveries, closing times etcWhat if you needed a much longer break/sleep as a one-off, say a couple of hours, would you do that
I once did that Rog, only doing locals round Brum, parked in a layby coming from Halesowen up to j3 M5, asleep for 3 hours, couldn’t remember where I was or what I was supposed to be doing, nobody said anything, no mobile phones then.
Nodding off at the wheel due to working un-natural hours isn’t new, in fact there was recently a report saying that this very thing was the biggest killer of police officers in the UK. After a nightshift, nodding off on the way home.
Only burglers and prostitutes should work nights!!!
Unfortunately, It enforces the safety advice that we give to anyone stopped on the H/S, to get out of the vehicle and stand away from the traffic on the verge. etc.
Here is a link to a safety leaflet we hand out to motorists who have broken down on the hard shoulder. It comes in PDF format so it’s easily printed off for future reference. 
ady1:
couldnt be just tired could they
were wandering onto the hard shoulder because were knackered, getting up at midnight isnt normal, working 15 hrs this day and age isnt normal unless your a truck driver, but carry on and blame it on everything but the real reason which is tiredness
Completely agree!
It’s tiredness the vast majority of the time - and as ady1 says, it’s because of the silly hours we work - day or night. I work constant nightshift now and I see it regularly every night - artics swaying on to the hard shoulder and the middle lane. Many times they’re just missing other vehicles.
I’d be a liar to say I haven’t done it myself on the odd occasion, because I have.
If I get tired - I don’t care what any TM or Managing Director says - I stop at the nearest services, get out and walk about for about five minutes. That usually works.
RSPO recommend a break around every 2hs driving.
Control drivers hours
Set in-house limits for unbroken driving hours,including daily,weekly and monthly limits for all classes of
drivers. As a working rule,no driver should be required to drive continuously for more than 2 hours without at
least a 15 minute break.The drivers hours rules for professional drivers are the statutory maximum.
Breaks and break locations should be planned for in advance of starting journeys.
Might also help if the Prats in some of these Highway vehicles didn’t sit right out on the white line, giving anything a little leeway for error.
Also i have also seen them standing in between vehicles ogling at the traffic like plastic policemen.
Put there Red Amber lights on and it makes them look like PC Plod and the cars are hitting brakes
If they want to assist anyone why dont they throw a bar on the stranded vehicle (If possible) and get them to the nearest MSA or Slip Road ? !!!
i’m not saying this is right or wrong but just lately when i see someone on the hard shoulder regardless who it if its safe to do so i started to signal and move out in to the middle lane or even just half lane 1 and 2 for the few seconds that way i feel that the police HA or who ever is sat there know that i seen them and gives them 1 vehicle less to worry about wondering if going to drift… also they not going to open a door on me
bedgar047:
Might also help if the Prats in some of these Highway vehicles didn’t sit right out on the white line, giving anything a little leeway for error.
Also i have also seen them standing in between vehicles ogling at the traffic like plastic policemen.
Put there Red Amber lights on and it makes them look like PC Plod and the cars are hitting brakes
If they want to assist anyone why dont they throw a bar on the stranded vehicle (If possible) and get them to the nearest MSA or Slip Road ? !!!
You may need to aim your fire at the national recovery operators on point 1 as it is their procedure for a drifter to hit their vehicle before them, which was pointed out to remind them of the drifting numpties 
Point 2, speak to the recovery operator’s both national and regional who objected BIG TIME to losing money if a bar is thrown on a “stranded” vehicle, technically the only “stranded” vehicle is one in a live lane, the hard shoulder is laughingly 
called a place of safety if we can wangle it under safety reasons we will do slide it to the locations you mention or others,
As i’ve already stated there have been formal complaints by recovery operators about losing money, and investigations against staff, when H/A staff have assisted women with babies in apalling weather conditions change a wheel to get them to a safer place safe.
So would you risk losing your and your childs home just over a wheel change ?
bedgar047:
Might also help if the Prats in some of these Highway vehicles didn’t sit right out on the white line, giving anything a little leeway for error.
Also i have also seen them standing in between vehicles ogling at the traffic like plastic policemen.
Put there Red Amber lights on and it makes them look like PC Plod and the cars are hitting brakes
If they want to assist anyone why dont they throw a bar on the stranded vehicle (If possible) and get them to the nearest MSA or Slip Road ? !!!
Couple of suggestions then, if you see an HA vehicle parked out on the white line ring 08457 50 40 30 which is the HA info line and report it. That way the HA control room will have a look on their cameras, if the Traffic Officer is in the wrong they will have it pointed out to them.
Standing between vehicle, again report them. personally i can think of nowhere more dangerous to stand and in the TO training they are told to move drivers and passengers out of that area and behind a barrier if thats possible, then make sure the TO is facing the traffic to watch for people drifting over. Sometimes theres a delay getting people out of their cars, which may mean the TO will be looking at the traffic to warn his crewmate or preparing to help the driver out of the car.
Since when do the Police use amber lights? The HATO cars have amber and red lights, if the red lights are on when on the hard shoulder report it. They should only be used when in a live lane unless the TO has a justified reason for displaying them on the hard shoulder.
I wish it was as easy as throwing a bar on, problem is that recovery agents invest a lot of money to work a section of motorway, if we tow people off we will take money out of their pockets which isnt fair.
Hope these suggestions help.
Mick.
Is there really a need for a HATO and or his vehicle to sit on the hard shoulder with a broken down motorist?
oscardog:
Since when do the Police use amber lights? The HATO cars have amber and red lights,
If you read the post again correctly you will see he said they put the RED lights on not Amber
I Live close to the A1 & M194 and regularly see the police sitting behind a car with their RED lights flashing not the Blue Lights they use to use, you dont know its a police car until your close enough to see it, whereas the Blue lights you knew at least a good half mile away it was Police or Ambulance etc
Mike-C:
Is there really a need for a HATO and or his vehicle to sit on the hard shoulder with a broken down motorist?
Of course their is Mike otherwise it’s pointless having them, C’mon Man they got to Justify their jobs
Mike-C:
Is there really a need for a HATO and or his vehicle to sit on the hard shoulder with a broken down motorist?
As a rule, no. We tend to pass all the details to our control., give safety advice and leave the scene. We only tend to stay if there are disabled occupants or families with very young children in extremely inclement weather. That way they can stay in the vehicle and we will sit behind and cone off the hard shoulder till their recovery arrives.
oscardog:
Couple of suggestions then, if you see an HA vehicle parked out on the white line ring 08457 50 40 30 which is the HA info line and report it. That way the HA control room will have a look on their cameras, if the Traffic Officer is in the wrong they will have it pointed out to them.Standing between vehicle, again report them. personally i can think of nowhere more dangerous to stand and in the TO training they are told to move drivers and passengers out of that area and behind a barrier if thats possible, then make sure the TO is facing the traffic to watch for people drifting over. Sometimes theres a delay getting people out of their cars, which may mean the TO will be looking at the traffic to warn his crewmate or preparing to help the driver out of the car.
Since when do the Police use amber lights? The HATO cars have amber and red lights, if the red lights are on when on the hard shoulder report it. They should only be used when in a live lane unless the TO has a justified reason for displaying them on the hard shoulder.
I wish it was as easy as throwing a bar on, problem is that recovery agents invest a lot of money to work a section of motorway, if we tow people off we will take money out of their pockets which isnt fair.
Hope these suggestions help.
Mick.
Jeeeeez Not really a help, at all what sort of communist witchhunt state do you want to live in ? where everyone is reported and investigated for every slighest misdeameanor (ok VOSA excepted )
Who is going to point it out off the cctv camera? An undesignated rcc operator ?, are you never sent to jobs where “it looks close to the white line” when in reality it is nowhere near, just the angle of vision from a camera 300 yards away.
Generally red light on the H/S are dra’d the odd time someone forgets to knock them off, wow real important issue.
How many times do you tell someone not to stand between vehicles ? Same as get out of the car ? 3 times 4 times before in despair, at the absolute thicko’s we have to deal with sometimes, We cannot physically drag them out however much you want to,that’s assault.
As for for throwing a bar on, there are all sorts of issues with Hardshoulder closures, further breakdowns, calls to jobs whilst doing it, not all jncs are yards apart anything up to 8-10 miles is common round here.
It’s an issue but we aren’t here to line recovery operators pockets but to serve the public as best as possible and keep them as safe as poss.
We don’t want to end up as another papershuffling civil/police service department forever sat in an office filling out reams of paperwork as to why you did something, we need to be out doing stuff and if that means sitting in a M/way service area so we can be told of jobs or assist people so be it.
And a BIG thanks to everyone who slid over a bit recently while we were stopped with one of your foreign colleagues with his fridge wagon, he wanted two days leeway on the h/s to await parts , from yesterdays Hato crew with over 50 years LGV 1 experience 
Oh and we didn’t report anyone for mad tailgating/using the phone or reading the paper
Davey Driver:
I Live close to the A1 & M194 and regularly see the police sitting behind a car with their RED lights flashing not the Blue Lights they use to use, you dont know its a police car until your close enough to see it, whereas the Blue lights you knew at least a good half mile away it was Police or Ambulance etc
There is a very good reason why trafpol use the red lights and not the blue in such circumstances -
Blue lights causes more rubbernecking than red ones which can cause more incidents.
Quite so Rog, they also cause harsher braking i’d think.
Re power naps: they ARE proven to work. I use them myself on occasions: lock the door, pull the curtain forward & just into the windscreen, lift the centre armrest (Merc EPS) turn sideways,head back against the curtain & feet up on my day bag between the seats. Quite comfy really.
However, if you sleep for longer, you then get into deep sleep & can feel very sleepy indeed after, whereas with power naps you don’t get into the deep sleep cycle.
As for the guy who mentioned he does this & leaves the engine running, have you ever given a thought to just how much you might be annoying/waking up those parked near you?
When i’ve been sat atop a truck engine for hours, i want some peace & quiet for my break thanks.
i work 6 nights delivering rolls for locol bakery starting 12 midnight often at 5am u have t understand your body as members have said i get tired at 5am stop i for 10 minute sleep works wonders
Just to bring this to every-bodies attention, the vehicle that was hit has now been made part of an advertising campaign, please be careful out there if you have to stop on the hard shoulder.
hitch:
if theres some thing on the hard shoulder use the next lane
That is one rule I always used when driving a truck and it’s often just as good when driving cars.We hear a lot about things getting hit but what about the idiots who pull up right on or over the line or who walk around the broken down vehicle often over the line or open doors etc…Why not just make it a rule that you’ve got to move over into the next lane and you’ve got to give way to traffic which needs to.However trucks wandering over the line is more likely to be caused by tiredness which is mostly caused by long spreadovers and slow speeds.