cieranc:
.This is a problem for us. None of these HATO’s are fitters…
Correct ! They are employed as HATO`s and therefore their jobrole does not qualify them to be fitters/mechanics.
Although I am aware of 1 or 2 coughEx Mechanicscough - (see how i changed that for ya cieranc )
CAE - MIMI within their midst. In Medias Res.
I had heard, that once upon a time ,-
there was something quoted by one of their Management and it apparently went along the lines of :
" You (said to the womble/s) are NOT qualified to make a mechanical assessment and judgement, as such, your (the womble/s) role is as a Traffic Officer and anything you (they the womble/s ) did in a Past/Previous role No Longer equates to the current position/role".
… and this was to a person who had over 20 years experience in the Motor Trade /Haulage Industry.
cieranc:
.Sure, these guys are just trying to be helpful and they’re always friendly, but if you’ve broken down, FFS don’t try to drive it unless you’re sure what the problem is, and you know it won’t cause any further damage.
Correct and fully agree .
Get yourself some breakdown cover in place - you know it makes sense
Thats what “cieranc”`s role is for == To come and recover you safely and properly
I sadly had the opposite experience, right up their own arses the two that I had to request when I broke down near j47 on the A1 one night last winter.
Was on the exit of a shallow bend around 23:00 parked on the very narrow hard shoulder, was freezing cold that night and very busy with other trucks coming past within inches of my mirror, was quite scary actually and after a few close ones I elected to leave the cab and face the wind and cold for my own safety.
Used the SoS box to inform control where I was and the situation and had to virtually plead with control to send some Wombles along to provide rear cover, maybe even force traffic into lane 2, they eventually roll up with an arrogant attitude an hour later asking what the problem was and why did I need them, basically trying to make me feel like a drama queen, they had been on scene five mins when my recovery/repair van arrived and they ■■■■■■ off leaving mr repair man to brave it out with the inconsiderate [zb] skimming by us in lane one.
Very unprofessional IMHO, must have distirbed their ■■■■■ break or something ■■?
Phantom Mark:
… they eventually roll up with an arrogant attitude an hour later asking what the problem was and why did I need them, basically trying to make me feel like a drama queen, they had been on scene five mins when my recovery/repair van arrived and they [zb] off leaving mr repair man to brave it out without the inconsiderate [zb]
Very unprofessional IMHO, must have distirbed their ■■■■■ break or something ■■?
You wasnt impacting on the National /Geographic Economy it seems to warrant special attn ,
thats the way forward it seems
I’ve had a few meetings with them and had no problems but did have a chuckle at 2 of the meetings, 1, after a coach failed to stop in stand still traffic on the m1 and hit the back of my trl we stopped to exchange details on hard shoulder, they turned up pretty quick but then made me laugh when they advised me to pick up my speed on hard shoulder before returning into lane 1! I put my indicator on and waited for the ‘stand still’ traffic to part! 2, was following a rolling road block so they could clear debris from 2 lanes, once it was clear the 4x4 pulled onto the hard shoulder and the women clearing the lanes
Moonwalked from lane 2 back to car, made us all laugh as we carried on!
limeyphil:
i saw one once. he was underground, or was it overground? no, no, no, can’t remember. but he was definatly wombling free. he appeared to be making good use of the things that he found.
Meathauler:
Broke down on the M4 with a snapped fan belt pulled on hard shoulder and within a few minutes they were behind me , gave me water to top the rad up advised me to creep along hard shoulder with them at my rear with their hazards on and to pull off at next Junct . These guys were more than helpfull .
they gave me 2 hours to get off the motorway when i broke down or they would orgainse a tow truck at my expense
You obviously weren’t near to an exit, or unable to make it to one. The 2 hour rule applies to everyone that breaks down on the motorway. It was brought in well before HATO’s were ever thought of. The problem was that various police forces had their own take on it. I believe the wording actually says something like “a reasonable time allowed” with 2 hours being the maximum. Some police forces used to have BDV’s recovered after 30 minutes (I kid you not!) the HA (with guidance from ACPO) said that they’d apply the 2 hour rule as standard throughout HA roads. There are some locations /or/ times were it doesn’t apply.
In the dark without lights but usually HATO will put cones and flashing beacons behind the vehicle instead, providing recovery is arranged.
Broken down in a dangerous position; This can include blind bends (sliproads etc) or in a live lane when the brakes have seized on and can’t be moved.
Vehicles that have been in an RTC and are so damaged would cause drivers to “rubber-kneck” or keep calling 999 with it if left for normal recovery to attend especially if that recovery would be a drawn out time.
If the driver of a vehicle involved in an RTC is taken to hospital and been unable to arrange their own recovery.
The other one is if stopped on a “Nodel point” These are predetermined locations that are noted as possible terrorist targets. (Think about large viaducts, motorway interchanges, places where if the c/way was blown up, it would be more than an inconvenience, more like impossible) At these locations the police 9/10 INSTRUCT use to have the vehicle removed after 30 minutes.
The proceedure say as soon as the 2 hours are up, the statutory organised HA recovery should be on scene to remove it, in practice, HATO will return to the vehicle after the 2 hours have expired, check on any progress with drivers own recovery and make a decision.
If you guys want to put pressure on your transport dept to get recovery to you, when you break down, call us on the SOS box with your details, we’ll call your boss/ Transport dept and inform them that they have 2 hours to attend, you’ll be surprised just how it focuses them into action, we don’t let up until we get confirmation that recovery has been organised and will get there in a reasonable time. we’ll also keep you, the driver updated.
Romanian registered Magnum broke down with a burnt out Alternator M25 Junc 15 - Junc 14 at 1.00 p.m - We attended it just before 1.00 a.m (long story !! involves payment) so its been there almost 12 hours with no electrics - No one stopped to check it in all that time be it the Police or HATO’s - So the 2 hour rule
Patrolling is out of the window now under most cicumstances, so if they don’t know it’s there it can stay .
Trux is spot on it has to be interrupting live lanes or traffic flow before it really matters now,
Hato’s are being ‘told’/reminded of ‘policy’ at present & being reminded that they are ‘not social services’ anything they do outside this is on their own head.
Just remember to carry your own fire extinguisher if your brakes overheat, they were removed a couple of years ago regardless of possible consequences.
Hato’s are ‘told’ what to do they are not alowed to think, that is a decision from above, if hato’s follow it as they should look forward to the queues
You admit to just wanting a Hato to sit behind your BIG TRUCK in a smaller 4x4 so you don’t have to get out of the cab because it was cold .
You were on a hard shoulder (narrow) a place of ‘relative’ safety acording to the ‘powers’ that be.
Towing by Hato’s to next junction is a ‘nono’ under procedures, however they look at it (especially the recovery industry, money from their pockets ?) They do it outside of role @ risk of bollocking if ‘caught’.
Many Hato’s dont like some things but they have been told like it or lump it, there will be more compliance checks coming in to rein them in probably.
Only had one run in with them and that was for a blow out on my trailer which they kindly closed off lane 1 on the M4 for a safe tyre change to be done. Ok they wasnt happy as it was at the end of their shift but they were polite so no grumbles here.
On a diff note i found out that if you are away for more then 3 nights in your unit VOSA have to be ‘invited’ into your cab as it is classed as your home. Useful if get pulled by a jobs worth
taffytrucker:
Only had one run in with them and that was for a blow out on my trailer which they kindly closed off lane 1 on the M4 for a safe tyre change to be done. Ok they wasnt happy as it was at the end of their shift but they were polite so no grumbles here.
On a diff note i found out that if you are away for more then 3 nights in your unit VOSA have to be ‘invited’ into your cab as it is classed as your home. Useful if get pulled by a jobs worth
Sounds like the argument a few have used for smoking in the truck that… I wouldn’t put too much faith in that tbh, and why would they want to go in your cab anyway?
taffytrucker:
Only had one run in with them and that was for a blow out on my trailer which they kindly closed off lane 1 on the M4 for a safe tyre change to be done. Ok they wasnt happy as it was at the end of their shift but they were polite so no grumbles here.
On a diff note i found out that if you are away for more then 3 nights in your unit VOSA have to be ‘invited’ into your cab as it is classed as your home. Useful if get pulled by a jobs worth
Sounds like the argument a few have used for smoking in the truck that… I wouldn’t put too much faith in that tbh, and why would they want to go in your cab anyway?
havent a clue why they would want to but just a bit of useless info that might come in handy one day. They say you cant smoke in your cab incase within one hour of you finishing a ■■■ someone who dont smoke may get into it. or something like that we all know its BS but there you go we live in a nanny state now
Patrolling is out of the window now under most cicumstances, so if they don’t know it’s there it can stay .
No Patrolling - Not much point of having them then
Steve
As far as i know nearly the entier motoway network is monitord by CCTV so incidents can be seen from the control room, the cost of fule for officers just driving up and down would be huge. I also see HATOs sitting on those high up viewing points at some locations
Patrolling is out of the window now under most cicumstances, so if they don’t know it’s there it can stay .
No Patrolling - Not much point of having them then
Steve
The Government have decided that we have to cut the fuel budget, so patrols no longer routinely patrol, but are told to base themselves at locations where historically the most incidents occur (this data is checked on a monthly basis for changes) this is why you’ll see more of them on Police perches, or over-bridges near to junctions.
They now are deployed to reported incidents that need them to attend for what-ever reason, ie Debris, live lane BDV’s, fires & RTC’s.
Vehicles reported broken down on the H/S with recovery arranged will not be deployed to unless there are special circumstances.
Vehicles we see on the H/S from CCTV, will be monitored, if there is something obviously unsafe, then a patrol will be deployed, otherwise it’s assumed the driver is awaiting for recovery that he has arranged, we will allow him the 2 hour rule, if the vehicle is still there, then a patrol would be deployed.
This does save patrols driving all over the motorway to incidents that have cleared themselves, or where everything is in order and there is no requirement for them.
The larger recovery companies will call the RCC if a driver has called them to arrange his recovery, but the recovery operator believes that it’s not straight forward and there could be a requirement for a patrol to attend, this could be due to the location, disabilities, young children, no lights during darkness etc.
Whilst we’ve got a few HATOS looking in at this thread, was anyone working M6 Staffordshire on the snowy afternoon of Saturday 4th Feb. & saw a yellow Dolomite Sprint on its roof? PM ok if you prefer.
I heard from a contact of mine who is a HATO that the government realised that the vehicles they have got on “lease” have a mileage restriction on them, and after that had been exceeded they would be paying a premium rate, hench the instructions to “Park Up” in prominent positions. Could be BS, but he has worked since the inception of this scheme.
yonmons:
I heard from a contact of mine who is a HATO that the government realised that the vehicles they have got on “lease” have a mileage restriction on them, and after that had been exceeded they would be paying a premium rate, hench the instructions to “Park Up” in prominent positions. Could be BS, but he has worked since the inception of this scheme.
The vehicles have always had a mileage restriction on them, they are regularly shuffled around so that it’s not the same group of vehicles working the busy parts clocking up the mileage, and others not clocking it up as quickly.
The latest restrictions are purely to the reduce the fuel bill, it will also help the mileage cap, delaying when they need to be swapped out.
green456:
i dont want my taxes spent paying people to sit in laybyes, might as well make hatos redundant and get rid of the vehicles too
I dont want My Taxes spent on road resurfacing /repairs etc due to exceess weight bearing on road surfaces either, empty freight carriers running unnecessary everywhere, let more go by Rail and makes the “rates” fixed /better to stop undercutting empty space travellers planners . But thats another argument.
Speaking to one of them wombly geezers the other day, and they said they are now told when -where- and how + what '. Something said along the lines to them : " Get with the new program - ship up or ship out - or face disciplinary ". Seems they are clearly *guided* from levels above and on strict instructions . So guess you cant really blame the workers on the ground’.
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2, was following a rolling road block so they could clear debris from 2 lanes, once it was clear the 4x4 pulled onto the hard shoulder and the women clearing the lanes
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