Interesting sequel to Hume Highway accident

[Grunter]

A few truckies speeding!! Lower the speed limiters to 90. That will fix all the problems!

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by Grunter

A few truckies speeding!! Lower the speed limiters to 90. That will fix all the problems!

That will only make the problem bigger for everyone else.

At least at 100 they should flow with the traffic. At 90 they cause an issue (bit like the Caravan fraternity).

[Feathers]

It's no surprise Lennons finally got caught again.
Just sad people had to die before they got more than a slap on the wrist.

[Jim Goose]

Originally Posted by chevypower

If nobody else is around, how can you be putting others at risk?

How would you know no one else is around?

Plenty of cars which have been pulled over on the sides of the road broken down (fixing a flat tyre etc) have been hit by cars and trucks over the years.

Some moron driver maybe driving around at night with no lights on..... (seen that plenty of times too)...

What about a farm house near a highway in a 100kmh zone?

Worst excuse i have ever heard of...

In an article yesterday, two of the trucks from this company were found abandonned as their drivers had done the bolt....

Truck drivers with Sydney company Lennons have been warned they face heavy fines if they attempt to avoid investigators.

Two of the company's trucks have been found abandoned since yesterday, one in Victoria and the other overnight at a truck stop on the Hume Highway at Glenfield, in Sydney's south.

Another two trucks were escorted by police after they bypassed a heavy vehicle checking station at Marulan, in the New South Wales southern highlands.

A fifth truck was found overnight in the yard of a rival trucking company at Wetherill Park.

Police say they found a mobile phone in the truck at Glenfield with a text message telling the driver to abandon his truck.

Inspector Phillip Brooks says the two drivers intercepted at Marulan will be questioned.

"Both trucks bypassed the Marulan checking station. It's apparent that we have no actual reason for one truck bypassing. Those inquiries will continue throughout the day," he said.

"The other truck may have been inadvertently diverted from the checking station, however Roads and Maritime Services investigators are yet to speak to the driver."

"Certainly if trucks attempt to avoid police or Roads and Maritime inspectors, heavy fines will apply."

The trucks will be examined to see if their speed-limiting devices have been tampered with, a practice police say is widespread among Lennons vehicles.

Police and Roads and Maritime Services began their operation against Lennons Transport Services yesterday, when they raided the company's headquarters at Enfield, in the city's west.

So far more than 20 Lennons trucks have been intercepted, but officials are still searching for another four.

Serious safety breaches have been found, including at least 10 trucks that had been tampered with so they could exceed the truck speed limit of 100 kilometres per hour.

Police believe logbooks have also been falsified, while a driver yesterday was allegedly caught with cannabis.

Superintendent Stuart Smith told 702 ABC Sydney this morning that in several cases a device called a pulse wheel had been tampered with.

"Around the drive shaft there's a pulse wheel that sends a message to a speed limiter preventing the truck from travelling in excess of the speed limit," he said.

"When they change that particular wheel it allows the truck to travel far in excess of the speed limit and certainly without evidence that the truck's been over-speeding.

"There were other devices that we did locate and we've taken a volume of evidence."

As for speed limited to 100kmh.... I have on REGULAR occasions driving on the highway come across semi's doing in excess of 100kmh.

Having said that a work mate of mine also works as a delivery driver from Townsville to Mackay in a HR truck which is 100kmh limited.
A few weeks ago he was pulled over by Police as their radar had showed him doing 126kmh.... he told them it was impossible for him as the truck was governed and also GPS tracked and recorded by the company. Police took his word (as they knew him anyways!) and he called his bosses and got them to get a printout of his truck and its speed.

[351EL]

Originally Posted by new2ford

They are most certainly interested in bulk long-distance freight but the infrastructure isn't up to it for them.

They arent interested in anything but coal. I contract for 2 rail companys up here doing truck freight for them the only reason why one of them does general freight is they use to be govement owned and had to provide a service for the people of the state. The other one sends all of the freight away in trucks.
When people see a train running down the coast of queensland heading south most of the containers are empty the ones that are full are mostly the refrigerated ones.

[TheSneakiness]

Trucks along the Bruce and Pacific Motorways regularly do more than 100km/h. I sit on a GPS measured 110km/h and the numbers of trucks that go past you makes it seems like you're standing still.

Don't tell otherwise that all truckies are good and abide by the rules at all times. What a crock of ****.

[new2ford]

Originally Posted by blk6t

You should see the truck cowboys in my area, they use Bells Line of Road as a race circuit and even worse on the Putty Road.
.........
I have done alot of driving in the US over the years and what I like seeing is on several of the big highways they have dedicated truck lanes, where trucks must drive with no cars. The government could apply a tax to truck companies to fund truck lanes on the Hume and possibly the F3, thinking as I write, but it would keep the cars and trucks seperate.

Putty Rd has been like that for decades!

When I was living in Europe a couple of years ago I noticed the trucks were limited to 90 (even though the roads were up to 130) and had to stay in the kerb (our left) lane and religiously did so without resorting to those double and triple lane overtaking circuses we see here. Obviously the Europeans don't consider that trucks will hold up the traffic if they are speed limited and they have some pretty fast traffic. They also have a peak hour curfew in the city and you see lines of semis queued at the outskirts during peak. Here they're let loose to increase the congestion, while in yet another of those wonderful political double standards rail freight trains are not allowed to run through Sydney in peak hour!

Originally Posted by pottery beige

go and sit back in your big comfy train on your big fat salary.. choo.. choo..

The guy's considered post doesn't deserve that response. It's an interesting discussion, let's not have the thread prematurely locked eh?

Originally Posted by 351EL

They arent interested in anything but coal. I contract for 2 rail companys up here doing truck freight for them the only reason why one of them does general freight is they use to be govement owned and had to provide a service for the people of the state. The other one sends all of the freight away in trucks.

That's Queensland. On the SE standard gauge states they most certainly want to do freight, there's plenty of money in it for them but they can't get the track capacity or favourable alignments.

[EDManual]

Problem with speed limiting them is that you are saying at that speed "100" they are safe! nope, thats not right!

Drop them to 90, that makes them safe? No that doesnt help either. Where do they normally crash? on corners where they should do less than 90ish, or straights where they fall asleep, and not usually on safeish roads like the hume.

Speed limits are a joke. Make no sense apart from in busy areas.

In all my driving, I can use my eyes and see where there are other cars, houses, towns, people etc etc, and slow down to appropriate speeds here. Lots of you people must never have driven on real country roads where you are luck to see one car an hour!

Just out of interest, a number of times I have driven for over 700km at night, and counted cars. Often less than 10! And where have i driven from and to? Outskirts of Geelong to Tailem Bend SA (missing highways)!!! Try that between 11pm and 5 in the morning! Who am I going to hurt at high speed apart from myself?

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by EDManual

Problem with speed limiting them is that you are saying at that speed "100" they are safe! nope, thats not right!

Drop them to 90, that makes them safe? No that doesnt help either. Where do they normally crash? on corners where they should do less than 90ish, or straights where they fall asleep, and not usually on safeish roads like the hume.

Speed limits are a joke. Make no sense apart from in busy areas.

In all my driving, I can use my eyes and see where there are other cars, houses, towns, people etc etc, and slow down to appropriate speeds here. Lots of you people must never have driven on real country roads where you are luck to see one car an hour!

Have you driven a truck before??

They are speed limited to 100, they have to be to be ADR complaint. Changing the speed limiter or making it null is illegal in all states, and there are hefty fines attached for doing so. The only way to change the speed limiter in modern trucks is to adjust it in the computer or change the gearing in the truck, which makes the truck think its doing 100 when in reality its doing 120.

[EDManual]

No i havent driven trucks with limiters, I know its illegal to change limits etc. What i am saying is "so what".
Who are you going to hurt if there is not a soul on the road but yourself on a desert highway.
Drivers should use their eyes and brains.

[max_torq]

At least a 100km limit stops them drag racing each other, taking up both lanes, makes them easier to pass in a car without having to exceed the limit, and less likely to crawl up your rear if you are doing the limit. It made the highways alot safer compared to what it was like before the blanket limit.

going to sleep is a difficult issue as it is for any long distance road traveller, apparently the new trucks have blink rate detectors that sound alarms and call up the base supervisor if it looks like you might be asleep... not that stuff like that will help with an outfit like Lennons.

[EDManual]

Originally Posted by max_torq

At least a 100km limit stops them drag racing each other, taking up both lanes, makes them easier to pass in a car without having to exceed the limit, and less likely to crawl up your rear if you are doing the limit. It made the highways alot safer compared to what it was like before the blanket limit.

going to sleep is a difficult issue as it is for any long distance road traveller, apparently the new trucks have blink rate detectors that sound alarms and call up the base supervisor if it looks like you might be asleep... not that stuff like that will help with an outfit like Lennons.

I agree, as mainly a car user, it is great having trucks not racing each other like they used to trying to pass each other all the time in passing lanes etc! Mainly keeps them to themselves.

[OzJavelin]

I've often come home from work (oncall) at 4am'ish .. and driven past highway patrol cars sitting in the dark on the side of the Alternate Calder just waiting for drivers who think they are alone on a road ... makes me smile

[EDManual]

Originally Posted by OzJavelin

I've often come home from work (oncall) at 4am'ish .. and driven past highway patrol cars sitting in the dark on the side of the Alternate Calder just waiting for drivers who think they are alone on a road ... makes me smile

Thats why drivers who like to move dont use highways! at least 50km plus out of towns ;-)

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by EDManual

No i havent driven trucks with limiters, I know its illegal to change limits etc. What i am saying is "so what".
Who are you going to hurt if there is not a soul on the road but yourself on a desert highway.
Drivers should use their eyes and brains.

Well in that case you have no idea do you.

90 tonnes doing 120 kms an hour is dangerous... Trucks are built to do a maximum of 100 kms an hour, manufacturers build them with this in mind.

[blownvn]

I drove south along the Hume yesterday and I can confirm that the only things sitting in Marulan RMS were two Lennons trucks.

Funny thing about speeding trucks though is that I was towing a car trailer south yesterday and I was on the cruise control at 100kph and got overtaken by quite a few trucks; both B-doubles and singles.

Mind you they don't like being overtaken by a Ford Wagon towing a car trailer. I had one B-double suddenly lurch a foot and a half into my lane when I came up beside him on a hill and I had to take evasive action to avoid him. Luckily the wagon and trailer are a great towing combo and I had no trouble keeping it under control.

[351EL]

Originally Posted by blownvn

I drove south along the Hume yesterday and I can confirm that the only things sitting in Marulan RMS were two Lennons trucks.

Funny thing about speeding trucks though is that I was towing a car trailer south yesterday and I was on the cruise control at 100kph and got overtaken by quite a few trucks; both B-doubles and singles.

Mind you they don't like being overtaken by a Ford Wagon towing a car trailer. I had one B-double suddenly lurch a foot and a half into my lane when I came up beside him on a hill and I had to take evasive action to avoid him. Luckily the wagon and trailer are a great towing combo and I had no trouble keeping it under control.

So what your saying is you were doing 95 km/h actual road speed holding everyone up and you had trucks passing you. When you came to a hill and the truck that just passed you slowed to 93 km/h because he doesn't have 700 hp to pull up and over the hill at 100 km/h you thought it was a good idea to pass him and slow him down again.

[blownvn]

Originally Posted by 351EL

So what your saying is you were doing 95 km/h actual road speed holding everyone up and you had trucks passing you. When you came to a hill and the truck that just passed you slowed to 93 km/h because he doesn't have 700 hp to pull up and over the hill at 100 km/h you thought it was a good idea to pass him and slow him down again.

LOL, let me guess you're a truckie?

I wasn't holding anyone up. The trucks that came past me weren't doing 100kph - it's was more like 110-115kph.

As for the guy I passed, he actually wasn't one of the one's who passed me, he just seemed to swerve into my lane suddenly. Once I passed him on the hill I left him behind and never saw him again. Obviously some are using their speed limiters, but it's just as obvious that many aren't.

Generally I don't like overtaking trucks when I'm towing but I shouldn't have to hit the brakes and turn the cruise control off every five minutes just to stay behind them either.

[dylancox]

Originally Posted by EDManual

Just out of interest, a number of times I have driven for over 700km at night, and counted cars. Often less than 10! And where have i driven from and to? Outskirts of Geelong to Tailem Bend SA (missing highways)!!! Try that between 11pm and 5 in the morning! Who am I going to hurt at high speed apart from myself?

Ah.. gotta love this big barren country of ours. +1 for long drives at night. No matter how much they try to enforce speed limits, I've yet to encounter anyone enforcing the limit down the pitch black, spooky backroads at 3am in the morning. But Skippy the bush kangaroo and poor quality roads do get in the way of a good run sometimes. I happily add an extra 100kms to the trip if it means I don't have to encounter another motorist or mobile tax collector for hours on end.

[dylancox]

Originally Posted by blk6t

The thing is no one can be sure that there is NO one around, trucks don't have radars.

With Flir infrared camera technology, you can be sure there are no living creatures ahead, or any heat-emitting objects (cars, bikes) even if they're hidden behind the bush. Maybe these should become compulsory.

[blk6t]

Originally Posted by dylancox

With Flir infrared camera technology, you can be sure there are no living creatures ahead, or any heat-emitting objects (cars, bikes) even if they're hidden behind the bush. Maybe these should become compulsory.

Maybe your right, but it still shouldn't give a truck driver the right to speed, it takes a truck a long time to gain control and slow down rapidly, compared to a car.

[351EL]

Yes I am a truckie I own 4 trucks also so I am copping it from both sides I get abusive phone calls from motorists that have done what I have just wrote and I have to listen to the drivers that are out on the road trying to get home to see their family. I also drive all day every day so I know what the drivers are saying is true.
Some people driving cars dont understand the person driving the trucks are at work not out on a leisurly drive. They are trying to put food on the table.
As for limiters on trucks 2 of my trucks have them and they wont go over 100 km/h the other 2 are too old to have them fitted and they wont go over 110 down a big hill with a strong tailwind.

[351EL]

double post.

[Miss_XR6]

I wouldnt say all Truck companies go aganist the rule but Ive seen trucks flying past me and Im doing 110km so they are easily doing 120km plus and they werent Lennons trucks

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by DASH GT

Have you driven a truck before??

They are speed limited to 100, they have to be to be ADR complaint. Changing the speed limiter or making it null is illegal in all states, and there are hefty fines attached for doing so. The only way to change the speed limiter in modern trucks is to adjust it in the computer or change the gearing in the truck, which makes the truck think its doing 100 when in reality its doing 120.

One of the other apprentices at TAFE was saying some truck manufacturers do it via controlling injector pulse, which is a bit tricky to change.

[b0son]

strikes me that they're looking for an easy scapegoat. the reality is, short of trucks being fitted with GPS tracking that's monitored independently, you're never going to be able to successfully combat fatigue-related crashes.

[G6ET8U]

Very interesting thread.

For those that aren't in the industry. Please don't under estimate what issues running only 30 minutes late to a major transport depot causes. Let alone an hour. Or 3 hours.

You are looking at mulit billion dollar businesses having their freight, and in the end your goods, towed around the country with linehaul transport. For those that have NEVER been in the industry you have no clue as to the pressure these blokes are under.

I personally have seen and spoken to a couple of 2 up crew's who can leave Clayton, Victoria on Friday evening and arrive in PERTH very early on Sunday morning for a timeslot bookin.

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

Hopefully the link works.

Nearly 3500kms in a day and a half. These guys do what are called hot stops. Call ahead, staff at the fuel station fuel the truck while the boys take a toilet break, take food with them and keep going. This is towing a fully loaded 90T rated B-Double. Not a 1600kg Falcon.

Jack

[G6ET8U]

There was also a story floating around a few years ago of a guy who could do Melbourne to Perth in 26 hours in a single.

Ended up stacking the truck. It was a Detroit Diesel V12 turbo. Apparently producing over 700hp and we are talking more than a few years ago now.

That is 11 hours quicker than you can do it non stop in a car.

Story goes the truck was capable of over 200kph, with a load on.

Jack

[pottery beige]

Originally Posted by G6ET8U

There was also a story floating around a few years ago of a guy who could do Melbourne to Perth in 26 hours in a single.

Ended up stacking the truck. It was a Detroit Diesel V12 turbo. Apparently producing over 700hp and we are talking more than a few years ago now.

That is 11 hours quicker than you can do it non stop in a car.

Story goes the truck was capable of over 200kph, with a load on.

Jack

floating stories.. thats what i love about the internerd....

[G6ET8U]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

floating stories.. thats what i love about the internerd....

This particular story is from a guy I used to work with who did interstate and it was his driving partner who died in the crash. So yeah mate... stories float around.

Try and do Melbourne to Sydney or vice versa in 10.5 hours in a fully loaded B-Double. That is what the major transport companies have as their KPI's.

Jack