Whats the chance of someone recording it and putting it on this site somewhere?.
I will be at work Friday night and in bed Saturday morning 
:(…
Why is it,that we in this industry always get bad press from the media. 
There are X number of vehicles in this country,and you can’t tell me that sleep apnoea,is unique to the haulage industry.
Look at what is on our roads:
Coaches/Buses
Taxi’s
Car’s
Vans
Motorcycles
Cranes
I wonder what percentage of the above,also suffer from sleep apnoea?
I remember the original request from the production company,and I also remember giving my account of my best friend,who does more miles in a day in his company car,than the average truck driver.
Sadly,I missed the programme,but from the feedback given on here,then I’m probably pleased I did,otherwise my comments may well have been edited by Rikki and Lucy.
A balanced opinion?
Do me a favour.
Ken.
Make the point that what is more likely to contribute to the tiredness of a HGV driver is the 15 hour days, 60+ hour weeks, parking up in laybys at the side of the road due to the lack of parking and the joke that is the UK Motorway MSA - fine for a pitstop in a car but no good nighting out.
Make the point that nobody in the media is interested in making a programme about the ABYSMAL conditions we have to endure because there’s no sensationalism to be gained from it.
Make the point that we’re the whipping boys for everyone and that they should remember we deliver everything they consume and you can only keep whipping someone so long before they say enough and that if we say enough, the country is in a whole world of hurt.
Cranes
Dont you need an HGV licence to drive one of those to the site? 
dennisw1:
Cranes
Dont you need an HGV licence to drive one of those to the site?
You didn’t used to a few years back, but now you do.
Rikki, I think it important you should try & ask the question, what was the cross section of drivers that were interviewed: All/any LGV driver at random including young ones & females? Or did they just approach obviously over weight middle aged men who it is known have a higher than average occurance of the condition?
If the latter was the case (as i suspect) then obviously any figues mentioned are absolutely meaningless.
I Agree with all the points above and would suggest adding the jibe when they start being shirty on the interview
" none of the bbc will suffer from this sleep apnea as they all use taxis, which is well documented as a waste of money just like the real story show"
I thank you
OK, i’m going to end up repeating myself…a bit, anyway.
marcustandy:
Save repeating ourselves, my thoughts are exactly as Rikki posted i.e. this is not a truck driver problem; it is a driver problem along with any other industry or walk of life where falling asleep without warning is a danger!
My biggest gripe with the programme was how it singled-out HGV drivers! I am not disputing that Sleep Apnoea is a problem on our roads, but for all drivers!
If the BBC was making a program about (for example) crime and they dared to say house-breakers are mostly (statistically, of course!) __*__black/homosexual/disabled etc etc, there would be absolute uproar!! So how can one minority group of drivers (i.e. HGV) be singled-out by the programme?? 
* Just some random examples of minority groups! 
dennisw1:
Cranes
Dont you need an HGV licence to drive one of those to the site?
Not if it’s a little one There are quite a few cranes under 7.5t, and I drive a platform access truck which is under 7.5t.
Also for the list is recovery wagon drivers. They’re not even on Tacho’s are they?!
Quinny:
CranesI wonder what percentage of the above,also suffer from sleep apnoea?
very few on the big cranes as they don’t get any sleep to get interrupted - work all day travel all night! now make a programme about them boys 
jj72:
Quinny:
CranesI wonder what percentage of the above,also suffer from sleep apnoea?
very few on the big cranes as they don’t get any sleep to get interrupted - work all day travel all night! now make a programme about them boys
Yeah, ok, we’re free from tacho’s and driver hour regulations, but I for one still stop and take a rest when I’m tired. I have worked long shifts, and I have also seen cranes parked up with drivers sleeping.
Occasionally it is difficult to squeeze an 8 axle Ainscough into a layby with its HGV entourage of weights, but they manage.
Despite “Driving all night, working all day” a lot of that is spent waiting. I spent 10 hours today on one site, and of that over half of the day was waiting for other people.
If I really want I could have gone to the cab for a 20 minute doze before continuing, but I do try not to drive tired at all, however, some times it cannot be avoided and I, like everyone else, just have to get on and do the job.
According to the statistics more than 20% of M/Way crashes are caused by drivers falling asleep. It is also claimed that 80,000 of the population suffer from sleep apnoea.
I drive nights, and from experience can say that the M/Ways are populated by far more LGVs than cars over-night. However, in my experience the vast majority of crashes I see do not involve LGVs. Therefore, a disproportionate number of car drivers must be falling asleep whether due to sleep apnoea or general lack of sleep/tiredness.
I did record the show and still have it on my computer except it is a very big file! If I can shrink it I can send it to anyone who might want a copy.
gardun:
According to the statistics more than 20% of M/Way crashes are caused by drivers falling asleep. It is also claimed that 80,000 of the population suffer from sleep apnoea.
I drive nights, and from experience can say that the M/Ways are populated by far more LGVs than cars over-night. However, in my experience the vast majority of crashes I see do not involve LGVs. Therefore, a disproportionate number of car drivers must be falling asleep whether due to sleep apnoea or general lack of sleep/tiredness.I did record the show and still have it on my computer except it is a very big file! If I can shrink it I can send it to anyone who might want a copy.
this is why i try to travel at night. the professional drivers outnumber the numpties therefore, the trip is smoother and safer. i dont care what anyone says, i have total faith in you guys. i get on the motorway, flick the CC on and feel confident that the vast majority of the road users know what they are doing (although they do seem to drive faster at night )
i drove up to Stirling 4 weeks ago and i sat at 56MPH but i was still overtaken by almost every truck on the road. my wagon only does 55 unless im downhill
Well…i must agree that conor has said everything i wanted to…there are various reasons of why a driver is tired…could be from having a late night…and an early start…could be because the driver has spent a night in the layby…being rocked from pillar to post all night…then getting up to drive without so much as a drop of water on his face…to wake him up…the list is endless…and i too sufer from the above…and from a sleep disorder…but …i dont need a mask…although i would use anything to get a really good nights quality sleep…except drugs…i used to think that a few cans of lager before bed…would sort out the problem…and it did for a while…then it stopped working…and i left the condition to fend for itself…till my wife decided that she too needed her sleep…and my restless nights disturbed her so much…she decided to sleep in the spare room…and only joined me in the king size on saturday night…so lack of sleep can even break a marriage…but fear not…i wanted to do something about it…and went to the doctor…it took ages to get to see a consultant…and eventually i did…and he gave me a sleep box…bit like a lap top really…and with wires attached to my body…i slept conected to this machine, it recorded my sleep pattern, and also the oxygen levels…when i returned it to the hospital the next day, i had to wait a while to see the doctor once again.
He examined me, and the graphs from the machine, and told me that as i got older, bits of the body started to relax, and in my case it affected the skin at the back of my throat. So it seems that as i go into sleep relax mode, this skin vibrates, and wakes me up…so this happens hundreds of times a night, therefore depriving me of any deep sleep. So after a pre-op examination today, i finally go in for the operation on monday morning at 0700, and the doctor assures me that this op, although not being a cure for all, has told me that it will make a great deal of difference…i hope so…for there is nothing like a good nights sleep…and all this is hard to believe when i used to sleep for 12/14 hours every night…and still wanted more…perhaps i`ve exhausted my supply…
After much discussion it was decided that Lucy would do the TV programme
for some very good reasons…
One: to point out that the programme stereotyped truck drivers as all being middle aged overweight males
Two: After a number of trial interview technique role playing exercises this morning it was obvious that Lucy could put together a coherent arguement whereas I was slightly lacking in this dept
Three: I am a coward…
The interview/discussion went well over the time allotted for it and will probably be quite heavily edited, but we think Lucy got over the most salient points…
The clip will be shown
Tomorrow at
20.45 on BBC NEWS24
and on Saturday
07.45 on BBC1 Breakfast
In my earlier post I mentioned that the RMT leader being Jim Crow its not Jim but Bob silly me.
I hope I’m not going off topic here, but watching TV the other night when I was parked up but what came on at 2100 but ‘Little Britian’,
BBC,
I’m broadminded like a laugh and a dirty joke but that programme you put out was totally offensive to the people that you so blatantly took the ■■■■ out of. I can just imagine the reaction from the BBC if it had been some right of centre right wing organisation producing or publishing a similar programme or article. The BBC would of been shouting from the rooftops about Political correctness, but watching the TV news programme earlier this morning they showed an extract from the show and somehow they still find it amusing, I suppose it’s their Uni, Islington sense of humour which one must aquire to work for the BBC, can’t bloody stand them.
But what is the BBC’s agenda why do they have a go at one section of the work force or take the mick out of a certain section of the community being incontinent old ladies or paraplegics in wheel chairs and I’m paying the buggars wages.
Has anyone seen info on how the study of 940 hgv drivers was undertaken?
Link below is a bit of a long read — but it does seem to be comprehensive:-
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_rdsafety/documents/pdf/dft_rdsafety_pdf_504599.pdf
Shorter version here:-
http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/publications/the%20safe%20operators%20guide.pdf
Jump to Page 32
Its a different peice of research than the one quoted in the TV programme.
It is intersting to note that only just over 26% of sleep related vehicle accidents involved vehicles 7.5 tonnes or over and the average age of those involved was under 30, hardly middle aged 
What was interesting to me is that the campaigning drivers websites seemed quite happy to let a programme attacking HGV drivers in such an unfair manner just slide by and it was left to TruckNet to raise the issue.
I hope this doesn’t mean we are going to become a campaigning website, the fence is quite comfy thank you. 
Rikki-UK:
Its a different peice of research than the one quoted in the TV programme.:
Yup - and interesting that this one is on the DFT and VOSA sites. And includes the details and method of how the study was carried out.
I just wondered how the OSA / Real Story study was undertaken - was it just from the Questionaire on their website, or was it a bit more scientific?
I hope this doesn’t mean we are going to become a campaigning website, the fence is quite comfy thank you
make sure you have reserved your place on that fence, because on the whole that is where we are staying.
This wasnt ever a Campaign, and I am sure that we would have much prefered a campaigning organistion to do it instead of us, it was apparent that no-oe else was going to, and something needed to be said.
It was a direct response to that one programme and its sensationalist approach, not a general camapign to ensure fairness on the TV