HGV and gatso

[TexMex]

Superstore chains are no angels though. I briefly did some weekend work as a Baker, (my brother was the manager there). We did Hot Bread all day. Directly opposite in the shopping centre was a superstore (I think it was "International"). Our bakery was offered a contract to start supplying the superstore with bread at a Loss!

When the offer was turned down, they started getting their bread from "Bartons", just up the road (still at a loss). The then sold it on at a loss themselves. After about a year of this, guess what. Both the Bartons branch and the Bakery that I was working for were gone. International then stopped selling hot bread, and resumed business as usual (selling thier prepackaged cardboard stuff).

 

[AdamW]

Right, so that means we are all getting a hundred quid off our tax bills next year... doesn't it?

"Loss leaders" are a classic supermarket technique. Remember the baked bean wars? When the price just kept dropping and dropping, until it was 1p a can, then supermarkets started paying you to take them away? Bread is another one. If you think about it, a loaf of a "premium" sliced bread is about 80-90p. But they sell their "***** brand" bread for about 10p a loaf. If you take into account the price of ingredients, making it, then transporting it to the store then they are making a loss on each loaf.

With petrol, I find I get more miles out of a tank of "branded" petrol than I do out of a tank of supermarket petrol. So perhaps Masona's guys are selling the top of the (oil) barrel to the supermarkets, and the good petrol to the forecourts

 

[securespark]

Loss leaders....Yes. They rely on customers not being an@l like me, and driving from one to another JUST for the BOGOF's....

Actually, I don't. But if I drive past one, I'll pop in to see what SO's they've got.

 

[pipme]

Secure .... Just look here :-
Supermarket offers NOW

Will save you some journeys I am sure ... Definitely worth a few minutes exploration from the 'fools lantern'

Medals ?? You gotta be in it to win it .... So far we aint been in it !! As usual !

P

 

[securespark]

Wow!

I'm going out now - I may be some time.

If I never return, let my family know that I am safe and well and in retail heaven!

 

[masona]

With petrol, I find I get more miles out of a tank of "branded" petrol than I do out of a tank of supermarket petrol. So perhaps Masona's guys are selling the top of the (oil) barrel to the supermarkets, and the good petrol to the forecourts

I hear this many time

Did you know you cannot buy Shell petrol on their forecourt anywhere in South of England !

BP sell petrol to Shell, all superstores including Tesco, Safeway, Jet and Esso when they are low in demand. I'm think you may have BP petrol in your tank Oh dear, I think I said too much

 

[AdamW]

[Fonz] Eeeeeeh! [/Fonz]

The masona man is back!

 

[pipme]

Quote from :-
sect 103

Goods vehicles Speed limits for Built up areas*; Single carriagway; dual carriagway ; Mo-way.
(not exceeding 7.5 tonnes maximum laden weight) 30; 50; 60; 70.
(exceeding 7.5 tonnes maximum laden weight) ......30; 40; 50; 60.

I am amazed that there are any HGV drivers with a license given 40 mph on single carriageway .... some well lit / straight and wide having no preceding national speed limit sign main-roads come to mind !! 30 or 40 ???
* The 30 mph limit applies to all traffic on all roads in England and Wales (only Class C and unclassified roads in Scotland) with street lighting unless signs show otherwise. Used to be a min distance definition for the lighting ... from this, it looks like that has gone !!

P

 

[AdamW]

I have noticed that some HGVs (the last one I saw was an Irish one) that don't have the 56mph limiter. On a flat road, maintaining speeds of 60mph+.

I once saw an Irish 41-tonner going 75mph on the M23, and that is an accurate speed as I was reading it from my GPS, accurate to 0.1mph.

Is the limit on HGVs still 45-tonnes for un-escorted driving?

 

[david and julie]

Adam...here are the weights and dimensions to which you refer

www.rha.net/public/rha/services/ales.shtml

The vehicles covered by these regs have a plate on the front bumper or grill with the letters STGO followed by the relevant number.

I used to be in the recovery industry and these regs were always a grey area. Imagine the situation where a 40 tonner is broken down and is moved by a 40 ton breakdown truck, strictly speaking this would be STGO 1 or 2 and you are supposed to give 2 days notice for these movements.

The police had to overlook, but you were actually breaking the law. I don't know if it as now changed or not.

 

[AdamW]

Seems to me that in such a situation, it would be best to send for a new tractor to pick up the trailer and continue to the destination, and just recover the broken down tractor unit.

Especially if you are shifting food!

 

[AdamW]

Category 2 and Category 3 limits stay at 80 tonnes and 150 tonnes respectively.

I wonder if there are any "normal" goods where it would be more cost effective to run a 150 tonne abnormal load as a regular hauler, instead of several guys with 45 tonners? Think about it, you would need to pay an escort, but he would be relatively unskilled compared to a fully-qualified HGV driver. You would only need one truck, instead of 4.

So, perhaps oneday someone will figure this one out and we will see escorted 150 tonne HGVs delivering goods to the white goods depots? Unlikely.

 

[david and julie]

Could you imagine going through that, on say the north circular, in the rush hour? Plus a 6 or 8 wheel rigid caused the same problem. Really it was a one of those silly laws that most sensible coppers ignored. I believe it was some council jobsworth that brought it into the public domain.

 

[AdamW]

I suppose the NC, in rush hour, you just want to get it out of the way as quickly as possible!

I will remember this next time I see a big rigid being towed!

What is the maximum weight of a rigid lorry anyway? Is it the same 45 tonnes? And how much does a tower weigh (the big ones where the front wheels of the vehicle being towed are on the back but the rear wheels run on the road).

 

[pipme]

So if involved in an accident with one of these monoliths ... ensure all details recorded ... if weights are in grey area, then most at the extremes will probably be illegal !!

P