There a customer services course that people who work with the public can go on?
First rule, never loose your rag with the customer.
Second rule, never generalise.
The rest you can make up yourselves 
Fatboy slimslow:
HATO = FAILUREand sub standard motorist who couldnât pass class one!
Wouldnât want to be a copper, Was a Hato after being a truck driver with a Class 1, as were 6 others of the12 blokes just on my shift so I think a fair few HATOâs have some idea of trucks 
.
At the Mo I sit in the office listening to how the FTA are seeing their @r$e because they âthinkâ hauliers are being unfairly targeted with enforcement.
But when you read Biffoâs post and see the pictures and evidence we have and the incidents you see frequently the FTA really havenât got a leg to stand on and the evidence base is building up.
I frequently try and stand up for the haulage industry but they really donât help themselves.
Anyway from being a driver to someone who now chats to decision and policy makers in the DfT which is a more positive step to âtryâ and change things than just ranting âin the yardâ or âon a forumâ.
Anyway following one of the posts further up I was sat through a presentation last week where I think there was approx 1500 rolling road blocks just to retrieve straps that had fallen off trucks.
Only on the BBC travel feed last week simultaneously there were 2 trucks broken down live lane and another stoved into the back of another all causing severe delays for thousands of people. I had a quick flick on earlier and another truck broken down live lane.
IIt would be interesting to see how it can all be explained away so we can try and keep the traffic moving. 
Fatboy slimslow:
HATO = FAILURE
Iâm certainly no failure, Iâve investigated more than my fair share of crime, Iâd had enough of being unappreciated for doing my job, so I moved to another job to be unappreciated! 
Well I never expected this
To be fair to Big Jase he does a very dangerous thankless job which is not helped by dodgy technology, red tape, everybody out to get them, substandard conditions etc (dew=fog, surely your joking, perhaps not nothing like a slightly misty morning to set off the Fog Warnings).
Anyway I canât think of another profession thats has to deal with so much poop, well apart from truck driving and the PoliceforceâŚLets face it guys we are all in this together its time to team up against are mutual cash grabbing enemy VOSA/DVSA (a turds still a turd no matter what you call it) âŚ
To be fair I do think the DVSA do a great job, how did we ever cope without them (just in case they trace my IP)âŚ
Oh and although the âFog Warningâ signs have an important job and I would hate to discredit them but they do cause a slightly annoying side effect problem with the buggers in their cars who instinctively turn their fog lights on then donât know how to turn them off for the rest of the day / duration of their ownership of the vehicleâŚ
Just to let you know that I also had a class one HGV licence for over 20 years, I was also the companies mentor to new drivers when gaining road time, I was also a qualified fork truck trainer and examiner on 3 different types of fork trucks. All this stopped when a heart problem appeared, the DVLA decided they wanted my class one, in fact I had to fight to retain the car licence.
I have never previously said anything about the standard of driving of HGV drivers, but this thread was the last straw.
There are a lot of good HGV drivers out there, in fact, Iâll agree that most are, but there is a growing number of your colleagues that shouldnât be let loose with a pram.
So, yes, a lot of us have done your job, have any of you done ours? NO! but you feel that you know how it should be done. Well donât be a keyboard warrior, make your complaint to the correct place, 0300 123 5000, remember to state time of day, location, junction / junction, and just what you thought was wrong.
Iâve posted numerous times explaining how the systems work, why things are done such a way,to give you a better understanding, but fine, you know best. goodbye!
The real Biffo:
Just to let you know that I also had a class one HGV licence for over 20 years, I was also the companies mentor to new drivers when gaining road time, I was also a qualified fork truck trainer and examiner on 3 different types of fork trucks. All this stopped when a heart problem appeared, the DVLA decided they wanted my class one, in fact I had to fight to retain the car licence.
I have never previously said anything about the standard of driving of HGV drivers, but this thread was the last straw.
There are a lot of good HGV drivers out there, in fact, Iâll agree that most are, but there is a growing number of your colleagues that shouldnât be let loose with a pram.
So, yes, a lot of us have done your job, have any of you done ours? NO! but you feel that you know how it should be done. Well donât be a keyboard warrior, make your complaint to the correct place, 0300 123 5000, remember to state time of day, location, junction / junction, and just what you thought was wrong.
Iâve posted numerous times explaining how the systems work, why things are done such a way,to give you a better understanding, but fine, you know best. goodbye!
THATâS what they all say! Iâve got my class one yawn yawn yawn! No motorist in a car cut you up? No never! Failed copper, bullied at school and wanted flashing lights to be important! do gooders
The real Biffo:
HATO here! Traffic Rat is correct about âqueuesâ anything that says âqueuesâ is controlled automatically by MIDAS, they system checks each location approx every 4 minutes, if he average speed has increased it will switch off.Motorway closures, The Regional Control Centres are responsible for setting signs & signals in the immediate vicinity of an incident, up to a max of 2 junctions prior. The Nation Traffic Information Centre will set messages further afield. (They also set the campaign messages) they work on setting up to 60 miles away for something that may take an hour to clear, multiply that if itâs expected to take longer. (Too many are set IMHO)
They rely on the information that the road has opened being passed to them from either, HATO/Police on scene - Regional Control Centre -to the NTIC.
HATO/Police will usually call up once theyâve cleared all their gear and are about to leave the location, then the RCC will cancel the signals theyâve set (can take up to 3 minutes) they then call the NTIC to clear theirs, this can take a few minutes also.One of the big problems is with night-time roadworks, the roadworks crew will only ask for the signals to be cleared once theyâve removed all the cones, exited at the next junction, driven back to the previous junction and then removed their hard signage. So physically the cones are gone, all lanes are usable, but the overhead signs for the closures, and the pre-warning signs about the closure are all still showing until the hard signage is cleared and the foreman of the roadworks calls up to say theyâve finished.
One other possibly is a system failure, now and again but not often, One of the computer systems for setting these signs and /or messages can crash (just like any other PC system) if itâs the NTIC system, then we have to use our system to go around our region and âForce offâ anything they canât clear (can be loads, especially on nights for roadworks) If itâs our system that crashes, we have to get the systems guy in to reboot it (or what-ever they do!) depending on time of day etc, that can take anything from 30 minutes +
You can rarely also get the odd sign/signal thatâs gone âoff-lineâ this usually means that whatever is showing is stuck until either the engineer resets / repairs something out on the side of the road, or switches it off completely if no spares are available straight away.The next bit Iâll have to be very careful how I word it!
If you call up on one of the motorway SOS boxes, it brings up the number of that phone on one of the systems, you will also be asked to confirm the number of the phone. When that SOS box number is put into the Command & Control system, it will give a general location, Ie, between J12 and J13, on the M6, A c/way.
The powers that be are now switching the SOS boxes from the RCCâs to a national centralized control room, where operators answer the SOS phones from all over the country, so donât have the intimate local knowledge that we do.
Once theyâve taken all the information from the caller, it is sent to the correct region RCC (press of a button) we then work from that information and deal with it appropriately.
cheers for that,nothing against the guy who answered obviously did not know the area
Big Jase:
Dipper_Dave:
be warned they donât cope well with critique and in fact get a right strop on at times.Too right we donât. Just for doing my job I get âOh youâre those idiots who look like Police cars and every one slows down forâ, I get called a c$%t as people drive past as Iâm attempting to help them, yesterday I got a coffee shake from a passing trucker for no other reason than he was a â â â â yet I never get answers from you guys why you feel its ok to drop steel scrap from your trucks and cause untold damage to cars behind you or to leave trucker tizer in my office or put my life at risk by stopping in an era for a pee and then we get hit by a car that was clipped by a truck (M25 a few weeks ago) or why you feel it necessary to leave a closed lane until the last minute almost hitting my cones or feel that it is ok to do 56 through a mandatory 50 for roadworks or do 56 on a 40 A road but then hey ho. Guess weâre all just as bad as each other.
point taken chap,i agree with a lot of what you say,we are all as bad as each other,i have made a fair few mistakes in my time
truckman20:
The real Biffo:
The next bit Iâll have to be very careful how I word it!If you call up on one of the motorway SOS boxes, it brings up the number of that phone on one of the systems, you will also be asked to confirm the number of the phone. When that SOS box number is put into the Command & Control system, it will give a general location, Ie, between J12 and J13, on the M6, A c/way.
The powers that be are now switching the SOS boxes from the RCCâs to a national centralized control room, where operators answer the SOS phones from all over the country, so donât have the intimate local knowledge that we do.
Once theyâve taken all the information from the caller, it is sent to the correct region RCC (press of a button) we then work from that information and deal with it appropriately.cheers for that,nothing against the guy who answered obviously did not know the area
Iâll think youâll be seeing a fair bit more of that in the name of efficiency Truckman,
Letâs just say âthe powers that beâ have been told on many occasions that their drive to âefficiencyâ will lead to more than likely an increase in the time it takes to set signals, send assistance etc.
But heyho itâs cheaper to stick an extra cog in a process that works reasonably well given the size of it 
truckman20:
Dipper_Dave:
be warned they donât cope well with critique and in fact get a right strop on at times.point taken chap,i agree with a lot of what you say,we are all as bad as each other,i have made a fair few mistakes in my time
manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ⌠os-7170126
Never mind a few ropey signs these Truckers really ainât helping themselves and their image are they ?