Neil, do you work for a National Newspaper in your spare time?? Blimey, what a great read, you even reassured me of how good we can be!!! 
Just like to say thanks for a fantastic post and I am delighted you enjoyed your ride out! I hope this thread and the few posts I made last year have helped many of your colleagues understand our role a little better 
Just a pity you were not around my area, I would have bought you a coffee!!
Well done 
Flash:
Just a pity you were not around my area, I would have bought you a coffee!!
Mark did buy me a coffee when we took our break at junction 14. I must stress that did not influence my account in any way, even I need more than one cup for that.
enjoyed thatâŚgives a insight into the work they do.
great read as usual Coffee. interesting stuff. thanks.
Very good read, informative and worthwhile.
Following a recent encounter with a HATO crew perhaps I should withdraw one of my earlier comments.
In an effort to avoid causing embarrassment, I will not reveal the location except to say it was on a three lane Motorway.
Gantry signals were warning of a vehicle stranded in Lane 1 but as it was shortly before a busy exit, drivers were still travelling down that lane.
As I approached the scene in the dark I saw a car stranded in Lane 1, which had rear-ended a van, which was now safely on the hard shoulder. Two persons standing safely in the vicinity, and it became one of those, âWill I, wonât I?â type of situations.
Having time to spare, (and being hourly paid) I decided to stop. I pulled onto the shoulder and then angled the headlights of the unit to illuminate the stranded car. And, as I was driving a Scania, just for good measure, and also in the hope that âJammyâ might be passing in the opposite direction, I also switched on the front fogs. 
I spoke to the two people and although the driver of the van had smacked his head up the windscreen, he was lucid and coherent.
I then had a go at moving the car. With modern construction methods incorporating âcrumple zonesâ it is often amazing how frequently an apparently extensively damaged vehicle can simply be driven to the side of the road, assuming of course, an absence of any leakage of volatile fuels.
Had I been in possession of a spare load strap, then I might have hitched it up to the unit and âhoickedâ it backwards onto the shoulder. But that course of action was not available.
In the meantime I suggested to the van driver that he moved his vehicle another 30 or 40 yards down the shoulder so that when a crew arrived, they had somewhere to tow the car to. This suggestion seemingly passed him by. 
Eventually a HATO crew turn up. Not that they took a particularly long time. As always, it just seems like it.
Whilst one member sets out âprotecting the sceneâ, Iâm met by Mr Super Efficiency. After introducing myself, does he await an Incident Debrief? Does he hell. Heâs off with his torch checking the vehicles for âresidual casualtiesâ. A laudable and necessary action, but does he not realise that this eventuality may have already been addressed and dismissed. Admittedly, I hadnât checked the boot of the car for the presence of any Murder victims, but neither did he. 
That done, he then addresses his attention to the motorists involved. Noticing that one has a âhead injuryâ, he gets him to sit down in the muddy verge alongside the shoulder with his back resting against the barrier. Legs extended towards the roadway. This poor driver is now in a position that, should the stranded vehicle get âpuntedâ by an errant road user, he is in a situation where he is also likely to lose both his legs. 
By this point Iâm shaking my head in utter disbelief. Although not currently âqualifiedâ, I was initially trained in First Aid some two score (and a bit more) years ago, and, having already been at the scene for some ten or fifteen minutes, had this person been on the verge of âkeeling overâ, then perhaps I might have already recognised the fact.
Mr SE, on returning to his colleague, then asks me to âstand behind the barrierâ. Iâm there, 20 feet in front of an artic running at 30 tonne, and he wants me to stand behind the crash barrier. What planet is he on? 1. I donât fancy slipping and injuring myself on the sharp edge of a barrier or one of the stanchions. 2. I donât want to be trailing mud back into the truck, and 3. If something drove into the back of my vehicle, then it âainât gonna moveâ. Or if it does, then it isnât going to move far. You could fly a bloody aeroplane into the back of it and Iâd be more likely to meek my maker from burning fuel than from âimpact traumaâ. And HE wants me to stand behind a barrier in wet mud and slippery grass. He gets told to depart in a copulating fashion. 
His partner then appraises the scene and, after kicking a few bits of debris toward the shoulder, returns to their vehicle for the âtow kitâ. THIS Iâm intrigued with. There is a short strap and âDâ shackles, obviously designed to âspread the loadâ, which is affixed across a couple of fixed points on the vehicle, and then a âtow strapâ. Iâd already mentioned that I had a âtow pinâ on the front of my vehicle and that, perhaps, it might be easier to drag it backwards. After all, with 400+ bhp, shifting a car isnât even going to require depressing the throttle. But no. Another crew are attending. 
Seemingly, the âother crewâ then get sent elsewhere, and, for the present time, everything gets put âon holdâ.
Then the Blue Lights arrive, and, miracle upon miracle, I find myself talking to âsensibleâ people.
With the scene further protected, the HATO vehicle moves up to a towing position. Whereupon I enquire, âYou must have a broom in there?â Now remember. This is the person who had previously been kicking debris to the side. He had gone back to his vehicle for the âtow kitâ, but had not thought it appropriate to, at the same time, liberate the broom.
The âEconomy of effortâ course is obviously yet to be undertaken.
Everything hooked up and, remember where I suggested earlier to the van driver that he should move his vehicle. Mr SE, and the van owner, finding that it will not now start, are pushing it along the shoulder to make room for where the car is to be dragged.
Everything now organised, the stranded vehicle about to be âunder towâ, Mr SE, in the driving seat of the stranded vehicle, shouts from the door, âI canât get it out of PARK.â Strange that. Because when I tried to start the engine, I was able move the selector to ALL positions.
By now Iâve given up shaking my head. Iâve now come to the conclusion that, if there is a worse method of handling anything, then theyâll find it.
Some things were done correctly. Or rather, one thing was done correctly.
Protecting the Scene, which is the first priority.
Incident and casualty assessments were carried out, but in a somewhat strange manner.
But there were definite failings in
3. Assess and utilise additional resources at the scene. Both in terms of personnel and equipment. (Providing that it can be done safely).
Perhaps that is not so much a fault of the individuals involved but more so an issue of âTrainingâ. Certainly the subject of Inter-personal Skills needed more work.
And whatâs the idea of a âtow strapâ that looks like it has a âbreaking strainâ of about 10 tonnes? What use is that in shifting anything decent in size? Whatâs happened to the days of the large âDâ shackle and the one and a half inch nylon rope that could easily pull 30 or 40 tonnes, or more, and was a â â â â sight easier (and quicker) to use?
And in the context of the title of the thread, âKeeping the Network Movingâ. It reminds me of the entries my teachers inevitably made on my Skool reports, âCould do Betterâ.
And the powder that they use to lubricate those air bags âdoesnât half stinkâ.
Canât exactly see me being invited out for a day with them.
Nice read Neil, perhaps the new owners might like to have a little chat about becomming a regular contributor/columnist fot their mag, you certainly have the writing skills and experience
Krankee, I was told years ago by a traffic cop that âquietlyâ they relied upon truck drivers to do the kind of thing that you did, experienced truckers have just about seen it all while travelling the roads and therefore have a certain common sense when it comes to stuations like this one, the hato guys (some anyway) only have their training to rely on, so lucky you were there matey
Perhaps also you should send your idea regards the tow road to their head office
Krankee,if this was one of my crews,i would certaianly want to know about it.
At least they protected the scene.Whilst we are dis-couraged from using members of public in assisting within live lanes,i would always seek help from someone willing to help,especialy with 30+ tonne to help and protect him.I have had a hgv tow a hgv out of lane 1 in a accident tailback before.
As it seems thet didnt say it,thanks for your help,and i hope this experience doesnât deter you from helping in the future.
Please pm me with location details so i can look into it further,if it is in my area.
A very good read and very informtive.
Well done
I worked in recovery for a time and I agree, vehicles thundering past you at 50+ is not the most comforting feeling in the world.
A little more thought by drivers passing vehicles on the hard shoulder ( whatever the vehicle may be Police, HATO, VOSA, Recovery etc ) May mean a few less tragic road side incidents a year. And enable these people that do a sometimes difficult job to be able to go home to thier families after a shift.
Was this him Krankee?
Sorry Ex-Trucker The Hato Guyâs who came to my breakdown were very helpful and both enjoyed drinking my tea on the M2!!