Thank you for the big welcome!
With a bit of luck i’ll become one of those posters that just has to stick his nose into every topic!
Glad to be here 
stagedriver:
With a bit of luck i’ll become one of those posters that just has to stick his nose into every topic!
Are you ROG in disguise? 
stagedriver:
Glad to be here
Glad to have you, welcome.
stagedriver:
With a bit of luck i’ll become one of those posters that just has to stick his nose into every topic!
Coffeeholic:
Are you ROG in disguise?
@ Coffeeholic 
Steve-o:
… one of these vans came screaming round the bend and swerved in front of me and stopped dead causing me to seriously stomp on the brakes. Guy was a [zb] and I told him so as I drove around him to pull onto the wide open bit. What ever happened to a couple flashes of the lights to get my attention? No lets just pull into his path and stop because I am oh so cool with all my look at me lights flashing
Not the way it should be done; however, Abload escorters will need to stop or ‘park’ oncoming traffic (on opposing carriageways) for safety depending on how much the load overhangs the opposite carriageway. It’s a highly dynamic situation but it certainly shouldn’t happen as you’ve described.
so we now know that these guys are exempt from certain traffic laws (so long as they dont cause an accident…) that ordinary joe has to comply with on a daily basis. my question is do the police also “look the other way” if they catch one of those ■■■■■■ drivers on his hand held phone while escorting a wide load 
just out of curiosity is all… 
But surely,if you are at the scene of an accident and there are no police about,someone is always expected to “Direct traffic”.
Stagedriver,i can assure you HATOs do not ‘‘do as they want as long as its safe’’.
We have very strict procedures,as approved by ACPO,and working outside them has to be documented in pocket notebooks,which are signed by team manager,and recorded on incident log.Of course,different officers do things differently.
Whilst I feel ■■■■■■ vehicles are trying to assist general motorists,they do not have power to stop traffic,as far as i am aware,so the question i have,if you drive round an ■■■■■■ blocking a roundabout,and the ab-load collides with your car,the ab-load driver is in the wrong for not giving way??
Rear reds for HATO should only be used in live lane.AVRO,along with many others,are campaigning for rear reds to be used on hard shoulder.I strongly believe that more flashing lights does not stop vehicles getting struck on the h/s.
Ambers only should be used on h/s and rear reds in live lanes,so ■■■■■■ vans,when travelling behind ab-load on m/way,should be allowed to use rear reds,especially at lower speeds.
extrucker:
Whilst I feel ■■■■■■ vehicles are trying to assist general motorists,they do not have power to stop traffic,as far as i am aware,so the question i have,if you drive round an ■■■■■■ blocking a roundabout,and the ab-load collides with your car,the ab-load driver is in the wrong for not giving way??
An Abnormal Load is a legalised obstruction on the highway (hence the notifications, permits etc) and, by very nature, will present variable risk(s) to road users along its route. That means normal rules of the road have to be compromised and, as Escorters, we have tactics we use to maximise safety as well as minimising congestion. Escorts should, in my view, only ‘reverse priorities’ (eg in extrucker scenario) where it is SAFER than doing otherwise. If the ■■■■■■ communicates itself properly (vehicle presence/positioning, warning lighting, hand signals etc…) and has made a proper assessment supporting the action then; in the event of an incident, the onus may infact be on the other road user to explain to a court why they chose to ignore such an obvious warning. That said, I always advise the Abload driver to exercise extreme caution and to watch for possible incompliant motorists actions.
It would clearly be much better for everyone if such actions were enshrined in law — the facility for this actually already exists (Police Reform Act 2002) albeit there appears to be a reticence to provide the necessary training, accreditation of Escorters to do their job safely; leaving us in the insidious position of risking prosecution in order to protect the safety of other road users. Hopefully no roads user would deliberately ‘test’ the scenario you’ve outlined — we all need the consideration and good will of fellow road-users; Abnormal Loads ‘proportionally’ more so I suspect!
extrucker:
Rear reds for HATO should only be used in live lane.AVRO,along with many others,are campaigning for rear reds to be used on hard shoulder.I strongly believe that more flashing lights does not stop vehicles getting struck on the h/s.
Ambers only should be used on h/s and rear reds in live lanes,so ■■■■■■ vans,when travelling behind ab-load on m/way,should be allowed to use rear reds,especially at lower speeds.
I agree - to me, alternative flashing reds suggests a stopped, slow or blocked lane and additional caution/actions (eg changing lane) required by approaching road users
Cruise Control:
so we now know that these guys are exempt from certain traffic laws (so long as they dont cause an accident…) that ordinary joe has to comply with on a daily basis. my question is do the police also “look the other way” if they catch one of those ■■■■■■ drivers on his hand held phone while escorting a wide load
We are NOT exempt from any Traffic Law :
To do this Job it requires you to break the Traffic Law , Wether it be stopping or directing traffic ,we cant legally do it , running over double white lines because the load behind is 17ft wide and has 4ft approx into the other lane (A69 between Haydon bridge and Haltwhistle the climbing lanes )typical example if the ■■■■■■ stays in the law and drives down the A69 in his lane with his van with his orange beacons flashing away then the vehicle’s travelling other way see him and dont take any notice because they are trying to pass a truck they been stuck behind ,then they run into the load he is escorting then He has Failed in doing his job properly.
Now Some may say just stop and let then let the traffic coming the other way past then proceed , thats a never ending story , Then Because your load travels slower than the other traffic , the tail back behind gets longer and longer , Ok i hear you say pull into a layby and let the traffic past , Easier said than done have a look at the amount of deep layby’s that you can get the load of the road that are on any A class road in the UK ,there are plenty laybys but you still have the overhang in a live lane then you need to break the law directing traffic away from the load . Bottom line is to do this job require you to break the law ,Watch the video at the end this was all self-escorted loads and decide how you would deal with the situation when you meet one of these coming
As for holding a mobile while driving , 3points and fine Happened to me and the number i was dialing the police i had an ear piece in my ear and phone in hand they seen the number i had itemised bill and still got done , Strange thing your allowed to hold a two way radio or CB
youtube.com/watch?v=GaqIgT7ldks
trophyblue:
Cruise Control:
so we now know that these guys are exempt from certain traffic laws (so long as they dont cause an accident…) that ordinary joe has to comply with on a daily basis. my question is do the police also “look the other way” if they catch one of those ■■■■■■ drivers on his hand held phone while escorting a wide loadWe are NOT exempt from any Traffic Law :
To do this Job it requires you to break the Traffic Law , Wether it be stopping or directing traffic ,we cant legally do it , running over double white lines because the load behind is 17ft wide and has 4ft approx into the other lane (A69 between Haydon bridge and Haltwhistle the climbing lanes )typical example if the ■■■■■■ stays in the law and drives down the A69 in his lane with his van with his orange beacons flashing away then the vehicle’s travelling other way see him and dont take any notice because they are trying to pass a truck they been stuck behind ,then they run into the load he is escorting then He has Failed in doing his job properly.Now Some may say just stop and let then let the traffic coming the other way past then proceed , thats a never ending story , Then Because your load travels slower than the other traffic , the tail back behind gets longer and longer , Ok i hear you say pull into a layby and let the traffic past , Easier said than done have a look at the amount of deep layby’s that you can get the load of the road that are on any A class road in the UK ,there are plenty laybys but you still have the overhang in a live lane then you need to break the law directing traffic away from the load . Bottom line is to do this job require you to break the law ,Watch the video at the end this was all self-escorted loads and decide how you would deal with the situation when you meet one of these coming
As for holding a mobile while driving , 3points and fine Happened to me and the number i was dialing the police i had an ear piece in my ear and phone in hand they seen the number i had itemised bill and still got done , Strange thing your allowed to hold a two way radio or CB
youtube.com/watch?v=GaqIgT7ldks
WTF have you been. I have been stuck in this layby since May 16th
From an earlier post I doubt the bloke with the Ford Fiesta and a flashing lamp will succeed. He will still have to learn several foreign languages, and be willing to park up all day in Belgium and Germany but drive all day in France and Holland.
Trophyblue wrote
“As for holding a mobile while driving , 3points and fine Happened to me and the number i was dialing the police i had an ear piece in my ear and phone in hand they seen the number i had itemised bill and still got done , Strange thing your allowed to hold a two way radio or CB”
Yes and no. You wont (shouldnt) get done under the mobile phone law for using a two-way radio (Including CBs and Ham radios) BUT there is the old faithful “Driving without due care and attention” law.
I may be wrong but it runs in my head that a person in control of livestock can stop traffic
So can a young lady with a short skirt and a pair of Charlies 
I remember doing a wide one into Kidderminster a few years back. Police ■■■■■■ days and we had two coppers on bikes escorting us (two identical loads) one copper behind, one in front…
They were the curved roof sections of steel for a new sports complex and about 16 foot wide, plus 75 foot long. It made it that there was 4 foot overhang each side, but front and back offside and nearside just in the middle. You cannot believe how stupid some people are, trying to force their way past the police bikes and hang in the middle of the trailer waiting for the next gap in the traffic with one even diving into the trombone gap. The police were incensed with one who actually dented his roof on the load and then wanting our insurance details and pretty much told him to **** off.
The problem was that they stopped for the police but then as soon as the police moved forward, the daft sods set off again.
I feel sorry for the lads doing the wide load escorts without any real authority, it was hard enough when the police did it.
I may be wrong but it runs in my head that a person in control of livestock can stop traffic
Maybe so but Livestock and Abloads are slighly different
Personally i think the power that be thought that the self escorting would fail , because we hadnt the powers they gave the police , But we didnt fail we blossomed , we overcame every obsticule they threw at us , we became adept and proffessional at the job…
The problem I have had when encountering wide loads or farm machinery, is that the ■■■■■■ vehicle is far too close when warning oncoming traffic. They seem to think that you can stop and remove yourself from the carriageway within seconds.
A little bit of, dare I say it, common sense would make life easier all round.
On Monday evening at 2015hrs I meet a sugar beet harvester on an unlit A road without any kind of ■■■■■■.
waddy640:
The problem I have had when encountering wide loads or farm machinery, is that the ■■■■■■ vehicle is far too close when warning oncoming traffic. They seem to think that you can stop and remove yourself from the carriageway within seconds…
Generally speaking, the faster/straighter the road, the further ahead the ■■■■■■ should be to effectively warn oncoming traffic; HOWEVER, understandably, the public tend to react best when they see the load ASAP after the ■■■■■■ - so too far ahead and the warning effect becomes compromised. Speaking as an Abload escorter, it is a dynamic situation - if the ■■■■■■ encounters a hazard - eg a bunch of oncoming traffic, side roads/junctions, narrow/winding section or road etc, the gap will between will inevitably reduce but so should the speeds as well (really wide loads travelling on narrow roads will have 2 forward escorts). Good comms between load and ■■■■■■ should also ensure a suitable gap is maintained.
waddy640:
…On Monday evening at 2015hrs I meet a sugar beet harvester on an unlit A road without any kind of ■■■■■■.
Sounds familiar!
Is everyone mad I done STGO escorting in the army and I know for sure, if there is something like an ■■■■■■ vehicle blocking my way there MUST be a good reason for it.
As for who can stop traffic if a person was stood in the road holding up their hand in a manner asking me to stop I would, again theres a reason for it, a person in the road, a wagon reversing out of a side road ect.
Here i go again !.Now we do abnormal loads, i drive them, plan them and also ■■■■■■ them, so i do like to think i know a bit about them, here is the unoffical truth, my trucks driving down the road, 4.5 meters wide, roof beacon, 4 strobes on the front, marker boards, you just would not beleive how many people dont see it coming, truly unbeleivable,So we get the ■■■■■■ vehicle, marked and beaconed up the same, to run at the very edge of the white line, on our side if the road, mainley to wake the oncoming traffic up, it works.!How ever you would also be amazed at how many times i have to swerve out of the way too, another favourite is when some car hassles a truck for ages, then overtakes and gets stuck behind the ■■■■■■ vehicle, that a personal favourite !.A good ■■■■■■ driver should also be able to drive the truck thats carrying the load, that way he knows which part of the road the truck will need to use, we 80ft plus loads, we need all the road, especially on bends, Me, i will put my ■■■■■■ van anywhere as an obstruction, normally it will be easier and cheaper if you smash into my van rather than the load, we have had it happen!Legally we have no power to stop traffic, how ever we also have a duty of care to stop you driving into it, and on another note, we are allowed legally to use walky talkys, which we do,.For me, escorting your own loads is ace, no waiting for cops, i can get to site with out waiting for them to arrive, down side, people pooped themselves when they saw a blue light, and nobody arguees with a cop when he says get out of the way…