Truck Damage Posing a risk - Nothing can be done?

Tilt

You will find (as in most cases unfortunately) that things will only happen after someone gets injured. Then everybody will be interested. If it is such a dangerous place for a large vehicle to deliver, shouldn't you bring your concerns to the attention of the local police? After all, they are supposed to be there to 'protect and serve'.

Notmyrealname

misssarahleigh wrote: »

Thanks Notmyrealname.

I think whats gettinng up my nose is that the company or council don't seem bothered.

Its not that they don't seem bothered but there really isn't any other realistic option other than the bakers to close down and put the people working there on the dole. If they send in smaller wagons they'd have to send two to do the same delivery as one but that'll double the risk. And it'll take probably longer to reverse in and stick into the road just as much.

misssarahleigh

Notmyrealname wrote: »

Its not that they don't seem bothered but there really isn't any other realistic option other than the bakers to close down and put the people working there on the dole. If they send in smaller wagons they'd have to send two to do the same delivery as one but that'll double the risk. And it'll take probably longer to reverse in and stick into the road just as much.

Now, I would be perfectly satisfied with that reason, if the company provided that.

If they rang me up, explained that they had carried out a risk assesment and basically said what you have, fine, but they haven't, they have ignored me and the baker.

Although, I do have to point out I don't think nothing could be done,

Although a smaller vehicle would increase the frequency the issue is that due to the size the Cab is blocking half the road on a corner. Would a shorter vehicle not solve that?

Also, call me daft, but would it not be possible to park the vehicle in a safe location and offload by hand?

I understand bags of flour aren't the lightest things but dependant on staff, equipments and distance I don't see this as an impossibility.

But like I said, as the company has not responded to either of us, I will make the assumption that steps haven't been taken to assess the risk and thefor nothing has been done to reduce it.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Lots of these small bakeries are in such places, often been there for generations, and we manage perfectly well to deliver artic bulk loads without incident every day of the week.

As the poster with some nous above has pointed out, all drivers are not the same, most that drive the flour tankers are capable fellows, who can get their trucks into the smallest gaps perfectly safely.

Economies of scale mean the loads have to be delivered by large trucks, if you had smaller trucks delivering then there would be more deliveries, meaning more noise etc.
The way things are at the moment there's every chance this small bakery is just about hanging on by the skin of its teeth, flour is the most important of their deliveries and efficiency means they have to operate out of silos, they couldn't possibly work out of bagged flour, anything other than a high street small bakers use silos and auto feed to the factory.

Live and let live.

misssarahleigh

What does a Silo look like? I assume it's bagged flour they deliver as i'm next door and there doesn't look to be any storage for it.

The baker does well. He has a small chain of shops as well as other businesses and property as well. I'm sure he's doing rather ok for himself.

I wouldn't want the deliveries to stop, I just wanted to make them safer

Maybe if I post a picture it will help

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/705/85780084.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/831/38569103.jpg/

They fly round the corner as it is like plonkers, the silver car is where I park and I have to pull away carefully, but I can envisage one day a head on collision because the oncoming car has crossed onto the other side of the road to avoid the truck, and the person in the other direction won't be able to see

(hopefully that makes sense)

I understand your all providing very good answers to the issue I have raised, but it should be the company doing this with all the information.

s_b

while i feel sorry for you i can only suggest that if it is such an issue you shouldnt have moved there
is it possible these premises have been there longer than you and just like church bells that rang in the doomsday book have been silenced by incomers because it wakes them up
flour is a horrible commodity and would take them all day to handball

im afraid you are whinging about nothing and trying to cost jobs in times of 20% unemplyment

misssarahleigh

s_b wrote: »

while i feel sorry for you i can only suggest that if it is such an issue you shouldnt have moved there
is it possible these premises have been there longer than you and just like church bells that rang in the doomsday book have been silenced by incomers because it wakes them up
flour is a horrible commodity and would take them all day to handball

im afraid you are whinging about nothing and trying to cost jobs in times of 20% unemplyment

I'm not trying to cost jobs at all. Considering I've been employed (by chance only after 6 months unemplyed) for the last 3 years on a temporary contract I certainly know the importance of having a job.

I fail to see why you think my concern about an arctic truck partially blocking a blind corner is me trying to 'cost jobs'.

I was fully aware of where I moved to, but I don't think it's plausible I was able to foresee this issue. (and If I was able to predict the truck driver taking out the telegraph pole I would be making a lot of money as a psychic)

There is a co-op just a few meters down the road and by goodness thats a tight squeeze to get into. Bless I was sat waiting for the truck driver this morning. He made three attempts and then parked up to let us all pass before having another go.

What I want is for somebody to look at the situation, the site, previous damage and see if anything can be done to make it a little more safe.

I understand they have to deliver, I don't mind that in the slightest and don't want it to stop., I don't want the baker to go out of business, I don't want people walking up and down the road for three hours with bags of flour. I just want the company involved to risk assess the site and see if there is a potential to make changes.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Ah i see, they have bagged flour not bulk tanker, palletised for fork truck unloading.

By the looks of it there could be a car parking problem thats causing the difficult reverse for the drivers.
Lots of places we go have similar situations, the locals need to park somewhere and the company needs to get trucks in to unload.

Usually we muddle on and most locals park in a way that we can get in, bit of give and take for all concerned.

As it was so close to Christmas when the accident happened i would hazard a guess that a stranger had parked in a position to restrict the trucks approach, you don't mention it being a regular place for damage.

Does it really matter if the trucks nose is sticking out for half and hour whilst he gets unloaded, not as if you can't see the thing, so if people have to take their time getting round the truck it wouldn't be the end of the world surely.

I know the company who operate the trucks, most of their drivers have been there donkeys years and know their stuff.

At the end of the day its in everyones interest to keep these small employers going, and to help them to stay in business if possible.

misssarahleigh

Sorry, picture isn't great, trying to do it again

If you look at the picture I understand it's not an easy space. The truck comes up the knowle, pulls forward onto back knowle road and reverses in. The telegraph pole he hit was just on the corner where fox royed meets back knowle road. He pulled to far forward and hit it with the front of his cab.

I know I can see it, but people fly up the knowle (I tend to do it in secon gear as it's also up hill as well as a sharpe turn. Even if the cars were to see the front of the cab, there isn't an angle to see around it round the bend to see if it's safe to cross onto the other side of the road to go round.

Thats my perception of the problem anyway. I understand its not the worlds worst issue, but I see the potential for a nasty head on colission.

Ironically the car you see parked belongs to the bakers staff. Our row of houses starts at the top of nab lane. The staff don't park outside the bakery as thats for customers, so they park outside our houses (not to mention those wanting the co-op lol) so the residents don't really get a look in. Thankfully my grandma lives close and we park on her drive as there normally isn't space outside our home.

misssarahleigh

http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/3127/47904800.png

Thats better

My general point is the company should be doing this work and looking at their options, to see if there is a risk (or i'm just being a pain) and if they do identify a risk, is there something that can be done to minimize it?