Big Ben:
Anything over 3.5 metres needs an ■■■■■■. You should have a red and white striped reflective board 500mm square on each corner and preferably a flashing beacon on each protruding part of the load, ie each corner. On the front and rear of the truck you will need a sign WIDE LOAD in reflective and if your going over the pond the signs should read CONVOI EXCEPTIONAL
Good Luck
Ben. Retired International Heavy Haulage Driver
I was running at 3.8m wide. Had the beacons and markers, but no sign on the front/rear and no ■■■■■■. I did have the permit and route card as well. Was half of the double manned crew as well.
Hopefully it won’t a regular occurrence. Quite often run at 3m, but that was the first time I’ve run at that width.
harrawaffa:
edd1974:
Don’t forget the over the top.flashing beacons as many as humanly possible seems to be standard
Followed some clown in a rigid up the A9 one night last week doing 46 mph. No word of a lie he had an over hang on each side of about 10 cm but still had a full grill and roof of beacons going and one on the back for good measure blinding anyone who was unfortunate enough to be stuck behind him. Oncoming wagons were slowing down and hugging the nearside expecting it to be a tight squeeze passing. Causing a complete inconvenience to everyone.
That whole 4mph below the speed limit makes him a clown? If that whole 4mph made such a significant dent in your day then you probably need to look for another company to work for if you or they are bothered about the minutes wasted, or think about a change in career if you don’t have the patience to slow by 4mph. It’s a speed limit, not a target.
Big Ben:
Anything over 3.5 metres needs an ■■■■■■. You should have a red and white striped reflective board 500mm square on each corner and preferably a flashing beacon on each protruding part of the load, ie each corner. On the front and rear of the truck you will need a sign WIDE LOAD in reflective and if your going over the pond the signs should read CONVOI EXCEPTIONAL
Good Luck
Ben. Retired International Heavy Haulage Driver
Sorry to correct you Ben- but there is no requirement in the UK for a wide load sign…In Europe yes a Convoi exceptionel sign must be displayed, front and rear- also in the UK the wide load markers can be trianagular not square- in fact if the load is under C&U regs then they have to be Triangular- not than any one bothers as long as they are well marked
I use these boards I made using this modern 2 inch reflective tape ,2 mm Aluminuim with self adhesive foam on to protect the goods and a sleeve bolted on to slide a strap through also the good old rubber light on red to rear white to front trailer lamp.
The law requires loads above 3.5m wide to have a attendant either sat next to the driver in the cab or in a ■■■■■■ vehicle (the latter being the most beneficial, but also the most expensive).
In addition to the above when you submit your route via Esdal, the police forces will come back to you with their requirements. The majority of police forces will require a ■■■■■■ vehicle above 3.5m wide on single carriageways, above 4.1m wide on dual carriageways and above 4.6m wide on motorways. Some forces will require a ■■■■■■ at lower widths on certain roads (I was required to have a ■■■■■■ at 3.2m wide in Devon recently).
I personally always run with a ■■■■■■ vehicle when above 3.5m wide. The police have been clamping down on abnormal loads recently. My colleague recently got stopped and parked up for running at 3.6m wide with no attendant.
