Long truck with overhang

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

hi everyone

passed class 2 jan08 second time thanks to good hints on trucknet

not been getting much work due to just starting part time.

recently starting to get agency work at coop :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

first day was a shock, 7 drops in a 57 plate triaxle fridge motor, got in and looked in mirrors and thought on ■■■■ or words to that effect :astonished:

its plated to 27tonne and very long :confused:

drops vary between loading bays to little shops in housing estates :unamused: :unamused:

main things causing me grief :angry:

1

overhang when turning 90% turns in housing estates,

keep thinking i am going to pick up a parked car :cry: or something. would it be best to leaving reasonable space for tailswing and turn sharp or leave less space for tailswing and turn gradually :question: it hard to judge if the taillift has passed the car before you give it lock

2

backing off high street to lanes for shops back doors

if i go back drivers side to shop side i can hang out window and see a post or wall to turn towards, trouble with this there are often parked cars parked opposite these lanes and you got to watch them in the mirror that points down at passenger side

if i go in passenger side to shop i can only see one side of the opening in passenger mirror but can see parked cars easier as the now on my drivers side

would it help me to lift rear axle to as my tail would swing into lane more so would get better angle.

tried phoning first and asking how its normally done but its a lottery who you speak to :unamused:

managed to get in these places so far but having to take cuts, i am causing traffic jams to the point where i think i will get mention on radio traffic report. got my first dirty look from a fellow lorry driver other day :imp:

or maybe he just angry cause my lorry better than his(old scania cattle float) :laughing:

any advice would be appreiciated

thanks again :smiley:

kiw

2

1 find a quiet place and turn truck 45 degrees - get out and look at the amount of swing out

2 what ever works for safety - as you have found out, each senario is different - fun this learning, ain’t it :wink:

3

I thought I was the only one who thought that those co-op wagons have an unusually large overhang . You’ll soon get the “hang” of it :laughing:

4

moving_on:
. You’ll soon get the “hang” of it :laughing:

very good i like that :laughing:

5

I’m fairly certain that the max overhang when a vehicle has a lifting rear (tag) axle is 14’ / 4.2m. If you apply full lock the tail will swing out 1m, so if your tyres were tight to the nearside kerb and you gave it full lock then you’d be collecting pedestrians, bus stops, bins etc.

The tail swing is less severe when the tag axle is lowered but the vehicle will need more space to manoevre (unless it’s steered)

If you are going to have to make a fairly tight turn with the axle raised, try to get out from the kerb to give the tail some space, if you are turning right at a traffic light where there are 2 lanes, sometimes it’s best to take both lanes to prevent tailswiping someone in th enearside lane if it’s narrow.

As for reversing in off a main road, I adopt the following approach.

Mirrors, obviously

Indicate to the direction that you’ll be reversing

Slow down plenty

When there is no opposing traffic, hit the hazards and pull right across the oncoming lane so that you are now

a, blocking the road
b, already half way towards the right direction.

This gives most people the opportunity to see what you are trying to do and hopefully will keep everyone out of your way.

It doesn’t always work like this but it’s a good starting point.

6

You should be alright as you’re aware of your tail swing, it’s when people are clueless to it that they start destroying stuff.

7

kiw:
hi everyone

recently starting to get agency work at coop :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

first day was a shock, 7 drops in a 57 plate triaxle fridge motor, got in and looked in mirrors and thought on ■■■■ or words to that effect :astonished:

its plated to 27tonne and very long :confused:

drops vary between loading bays to little shops in housing estates :unamused: :unamused:

main things causing me grief :angry:

1

overhang when turning 90% turns in housing estates,

keep thinking i am going to pick up a parked car :cry: or something. would it be best to leaving reasonable space for tailswing and turn sharp or leave less space for tailswing and turn gradually :question: it hard to judge if the taillift has passed the car before you give it lock

2

backing off high street to lanes for shops back doors

if i go back drivers side to shop side i can hang out window and see a post or wall to turn towards, trouble with this there are often parked cars parked opposite these lanes and you got to watch them in the mirror that points down at passenger side

if i go in passenger side to shop i can only see one side of the opening in passenger mirror but can see parked cars easier as the now on my drivers side

would it help me to lift rear axle to as my tail would swing into lane more so would get better angle.

tried phoning first and asking how its normally done but its a lottery who you speak to :unamused:

managed to get in these places so far but having to take cuts, i am causing traffic jams to the point where i think i will get mention on radio traffic report. got my first dirty look from a fellow lorry driver other day :imp:

or maybe he just angry cause my lorry better than his(old scania cattle float) :laughing:

any advice would be appreiciated

thanks again :smiley:

kiw

Are you working for NAS Recruitment? :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

8

8wheels:
I’m fairly certain that the max overhang when a vehicle has a lifting rear (tag) axle is 14’ / 4.2m. .

it’s not quite that simple :wink:

the maximum overhang for a rigid vehicle is 60% of the distance between the centre of the front axle and the point from where the rear overhang is to be measured. On a two axle vehicle this point is the centre of the rear axle, On a vehicle with three or more axles ( of which 3 are at the rear) you measure to a point 110 mm to the rear of the centre line between the two axles

there are some exemptions for street cleaning and refuse collection vehicles provided the overhang is not more than 1.15 m

9

i used to drive them for co op halesowen for 4 years we had 52 plates then they changed them to 56 plates massive overhang but you get used to them becomes second nature …dont ever drive back into a coop yard with the lift axle up they will do there nut

10

dont ever drive back into a coop yard with the lift axle up they will do there nut

Why? Do they want to wear the tyres or what?

If they don’t want it lifted they should isolate the switch. Daft though it is.

11

One day I was driving down a narrow side road with cars parked on both sides.

I thought I was doing ok until I notice I was approaching a 90degrees right turn.

In my judgement ( beginner’s judgement ) the only way I could make that turn was take the kerb on the driver’s side.

I look at the nearside mirror as I turned to watch if the overhang would hit the cars parked on my nearside.

I felt pretty clueless. I could not make a judgement if the overhang would hit the car or not.

Luckily my colleague asked if I wanted to swap over so he could finish the manouvre.

But I am still to understand how he managed to put full lock and miss those cars.

12

ive just passed my artic. how am i supposed to judge tail swing when i cant even see the tail after i start to turn :confused:

13

joedwyer1:
ive just passed my artic. how am i supposed to judge tail swing when i cant even see the tail after i start to turn :confused:

Experience will sort out the judgement but in the meantime - If in doubt - GOAL and I don’t care if it upsets a few other drivers if you do that.

14

biggest overhand ive had tbh

never even noticed though


15

Sometimes just to make sure, i’ll tend to straighten the wheels up as im turning to give myself an extra 15 inches or so as i continue to swing round. But if its really really tight 90 degree turn, i’ll drive sort of diagnally as if im driving straight on, then reverse back as if im going to reverse straight into someones car then it minimises the rear swing. its difficult to explain though as everywhere is different, even the same places are different everytime with different hazards in different possitions, bins,cars, there all not in the EXACT same possition as when you went there the week before.

With an artic if im doing a full tight U turn then i leave a gap the same or actually greater distance than the length from the back of the trailer wheels to the rear of the trailer as the trailer is just pivoting basically on its wheels, the trailer will eventually start going backwards aswell if your cutting it but i havent actually done that yet as im to scared i will ping the red airline :laughing: … By the way im not an expert and i havent even had my licenses a full year yet, just saying what i do :grimacing: :wink:

16

FarnboroughBoy11:
the trailer will eventually start going backwards aswell if your cutting it but i havent actually done that yet as im to scared i will ping the red airline

Gotta really watch for the trailer going backwards! We do this job (below) and screw a 45’ round in the yard out the back (the bit that looks like you can drive in and back up is always full of bins/containers etc so a no go) Back end of the trailer is literally half a ft away from wiping the facias off the building!

maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=cobbler … 6&t=h&z=20

Luckily we don’t have to worry about airlines going, airlines on the units are on booms, and the trailer links are on sliders.

17

when i did tesco there was one store we used to screw a 12m trailer round in doing a 180 and driving back out again.
i only ever did it once and it was about 6am on a monday morning, during the winter so it was still pitch black outside and their was some snow around still.

anyway got it almost round when i noticed the trailer going backwards towards the building lol, never checked how close i was to the building but this is the way tesco tell you get into the yard…even though at that time of day i could have easily reversed off the main road and into the yard no problem.

the yard doesnt show it but they also use it as a staff car park…even though the main car park is big enough to park everyones car and the staffs.

maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc … 3&t=h&z=19

wrong blooming link before

18

That does look very tight, there looks like there is room for widening the loading area though but i suppose like every loading area that free space will soon be taken up by cages bins, skips, cars, whatever lol

19

FarnboroughBoy11:
That does look very tight, there looks like there is room for widening the loading area though but i suppose like every loading area that free space will soon be taken up by cages bins, skips, cars, whatever lol

ignore this i screwed my link up haha

20

FarnboroughBoy11:
That does look very tight, there looks like there is room for widening the loading area though but i suppose like every loading area that free space will soon be taken up by cages bins, skips, cars, whatever lol

lol yup, everythin apart from loading!