|
|
Post by kharnynb on Nov 29, 2014 9:39:09 GMT
I'm guessing the cone guys and the roadworkers are different people?
they probally just put em out at start and move on till it's done and they pick em up again?
|
|
|
|
Post by silverdragon on Nov 29, 2014 9:47:15 GMT
If you have seen how its done, you get one guy driving ***Slowly*** and another two on the back of the wagon, one to drop a cone at regular intervals, another one to hand him a cone from the stack.
They have to be told when to start and when to stop.
Its not exactly brain bursting rocket science difficult.....
Picking up is the reverse of that.
One to pick up, one to stack, one to drive.
My sympathies to those that do it, it cant be the best job on the books, and I bet they get their fair share of insults.
|
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Nov 29, 2014 16:31:46 GMT
because assuming they are cut from the same cloth as our road workers, it takes them 4 hours to set up the cones, and another 4 to remove them, which means they don't have any time left to work. So why dont they only cone off the part they are working on?... Six miles of cones, but only 200 yds being worked on at any one time, with 5 mile of un-needed cones..... like I said, they would take all night adjusting the cones and no work would get done. (we had one exemplary project I went past this summer - the work area actually moved about a quarter mile a day) |
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Nov 29, 2014 16:33:06 GMT
If you have seen how its done, you get one guy driving ***Slowly*** and another two on the back of the wagon, one to drop a cone at regular intervals, another one to hand him a cone from the stack. They have to be told when to start and when to stop. Its not exactly brain bursting rocket science difficult..... Picking up is the reverse of that. One to pick up, one to stack, one to drive. My sympathies to those that do it, it cant be the best job on the books, and I bet they get their fair share of insults. to be fair, there is a bit of technique involved - some guys are definitely better at it than others. |
|
|
|
Post by wvengineer on Nov 29, 2014 17:01:39 GMT
because assuming they are cut from the same cloth as our road workers, it takes them 4 hours to set up the cones, and another 4 to remove them, which means they don't have any time left to work. So why dont they only cone off the part they are working on?... Six miles of cones, but only 200 yds being worked on at any one time, with 5 mile of un-needed cones..... Someone in the project management have stock in the traffic cone manufacturer? |
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Nov 29, 2014 20:58:44 GMT
So why dont they only cone off the part they are working on?... Six miles of cones, but only 200 yds being worked on at any one time, with 5 mile of un-needed cones..... Someone in the project management have stock in the traffic cone manufacturer? and unless there is local traffic in a small portion of the stretch 5 miles of single lane won't restrict traffic much more than 50 feet - unless you have someone who shouldn't be on the road in the first place. (because they are slow) |
|
|
|
Post by mrfatso on Nov 30, 2014 9:04:46 GMT
It's the same where ever you go on any Motorway or A Road in the UK, there must be a Government rule book somewhere that dictates you shut off the whole length of the lane that you are going to be working on.
|
|
|
|
Post by alabastersandman on Dec 2, 2014 6:07:14 GMT
I think you are right sometimes it is easier to use the cross town roads rather than the ring road, and with local knowledge it is sometimes quicker to go your way than what signage might tell you as well. Yeah, it definitely varies. Are you going in to town? Or out of town? What time of day is it? During peak travel hours I often take side roads that I know are not overloaded with traffic. It is at the point now where you can do this even if you are in unfamiliar territory if you have GPS. It does amaze me how many people DON'T do this, there's a lot of people sitting in traffic jams with GPS hanging from the windshield. |
|
|
|
Post by silverdragon on Dec 2, 2014 8:53:07 GMT
Hence the now quite plentiful signage  and its brother  Because of this.   Sat nags can be dangerous, especially when they bring impatient idiots trying to make time up onto our estate, past children's play area's, at high speed and low tolerance for us the residents. |
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Dec 2, 2014 15:00:19 GMT
On the satnav topic - the highway I live on is length restricted to 40' trailers. yet one trucking company set its route (not gonna mention Swift's name) to take my highway on the grounds that it is shorter, and therefore uses less fuel. (it is exactly the same distance from my house to the terminal where they dump the trailer, whether I take my highway, or backtrack out to the main highway and down to the next city, where the highway that is not length restricted crosses over to the terminal.)
as far as saying ring roads are quicker - that is essentially like saying roads are paved with tarmac.
|
|
|
|
Post by silverdragon on Dec 3, 2014 9:18:43 GMT
Why is that?...
Is there a difference between 40ft and 60ft trailers on a highway?
Plus I know a 60ft trailer will follow you a hell of a lot better than a 40ft one.
I dont know why.
I dont know why I dont know either?...
|
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Dec 3, 2014 15:50:12 GMT
Why is that?... Is there a difference between 40ft and 60ft trailers on a highway? Plus I know a 60ft trailer will follow you a hell of a lot better than a 40ft one. I dont know why. I dont know why I dont know either?... radius of the corners. The limit is set because you can't get a longer trailer through the road without crossing the center line - unless you have a tillerman and rear steering, and there's a few corners you can't get around without the trailer spanning over the inside lane, even then. |
|
|
|
Post by silverdragon on Dec 4, 2014 8:54:28 GMT
...Ahh.. I get it.
This is all down to your trailers having the wheels right at the back....?..
In UK, the wheels on a trailer are about two thirds along the length, so the back sticks out a bit and swings wide, but you get used to that.
In my experience, a 60ft follows you better than a 40ft, because the 40ft "nips" corners a bit quick...
What I cant get there is how you have a "Highway" that bad... I thought your highways were similar to our Motorways, of is highway the same as saying "Road" near you?.. it may be a translation thing?... are your highways single lane?..
|
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Dec 4, 2014 15:20:59 GMT
...Ahh.. I get it. This is all down to your trailers having the wheels right at the back....?.. In UK, the wheels on a trailer are about two thirds along the length, so the back sticks out a bit and swings wide, but you get used to that. In my experience, a 60ft follows you better than a 40ft, because the 40ft "nips" corners a bit quick... What I cant get there is how you have a "Highway" that bad... I thought your highways were similar to our Motorways, of is highway the same as saying "Road" near you?.. it may be a translation thing?... are your highways single lane?.. a highway is owned and maintained by the state. a road is owned and maintained by the county. a freeway is like your dual carriageways. some highways are built like freeways, but "highway" only denotes who is responsible for road construction. we do have some midaxle trailers, but they are usually specialty carriers - and limited in weight capacity because weight rating is adjusted by wheelbase. they also can't tow multiples without some very strange hitch configurations, whereas a rear axle trailer can just have a dolly hung on the back and another trailer dropped on the dolly. our local log trucks have a stinger sticking out the back of the truck and an adjustable drawbar on the trailer - then a bunk over each set of wheels - and a lot of drivers have it adjusted so that the trailer tracks exactly in the tire tracks of the truck.  but they still want the weight fairly evenly divided between the truck and the trailer. to avoid this.  |
|
|
|
Post by silverdragon on Dec 5, 2014 9:08:31 GMT
Ahhh I see...
There are some places where axle rating is important, namely bridges or similar where a certain axle limit exists to prevent damage.
But trailer loading here is all about balance.
If you put all the heavy stuff up front on the trailer, you gain a heck of a lot in traction, but loose trailer braking ability, and are liable to jackknife, if you put it all at the back, you get the above donkey as soon as you try to move, and zero traction....
We leave it to our drivers to decide ....
And mostly we all get it right, and by eye alone, can spread the weight around to get an almost "To the pound" equal distribution.... unless its the stuff I do when its all awkward weights...
Hence my limited speed.
This is also why I dislike muti-drop loads.
They weight distribution changes every time you stop.
|
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Dec 5, 2014 15:07:59 GMT
Ahhh I see... There are some places where axle rating is important, namely bridges or similar where a certain axle limit exists to prevent damage. But trailer loading here is all about balance. If you put all the heavy stuff up front on the trailer, you gain a heck of a lot in traction, but loose trailer braking ability, and are liable to jackknife, if you put it all at the back, you get the above donkey as soon as you try to move, and zero traction.... We leave it to our drivers to decide .... And mostly we all get it right, and by eye alone, can spread the weight around to get an almost "To the pound" equal distribution.... unless its the stuff I do when its all awkward weights... Hence my limited speed. This is also why I dislike muti-drop loads. They weight distribution changes every time you stop. most of our multifunction trailers also have an adjustable bogey that can travel its own length or more forward and back to adjust wheelbase or balance. |
|
|
|
Post by silverdragon on Dec 6, 2014 9:40:00 GMT
Thats novel... why cant they just load the thing right in the first place.
|
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Dec 6, 2014 9:52:54 GMT
Thats novel... why cant they just load the thing right in the first place. sometimes you want to change "right" because of extenuating circumstances. |
|
|
|
Post by silverdragon on Dec 6, 2014 10:01:46 GMT
Multi-function trailers...
Ok, I know a few of them, but only in the sense that they carry more than one type of strange load.
We have skeletons that expand, the wheels stay at the same distance, but the framework that supports the shipping crates can be expanded in and out to take different configurations of one or two different sized crates.
But multi-function s something there isnt a lot of here. Its a Minority.
I suspect because there will always be the right trailer near.... or near enough to be viable...
I suspect you have to have more variety on the actual trailer because of the logistics of having the right trailer in the right place?... you have a hell of a lot of country to cover over there.
Over here, if it all gets complicated, they get a low-loader and call me.
|
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Dec 6, 2014 14:06:59 GMT
Multi-function trailers... Ok, I know a few of them, but only in the sense that they carry more than one type of strange load. We have skeletons that expand, the wheels stay at the same distance, but the framework that supports the shipping crates can be expanded in and out to take different configurations of one or two different sized crates. But multi-function s something there isnt a lot of here. Its a Minority. I suspect because there will always be the right trailer near.... or near enough to be viable... I suspect you have to have more variety on the actual trailer because of the logistics of having the right trailer in the right place?... you have a hell of a lot of country to cover over there. Over here, if it all gets complicated, they get a low-loader and call me. I am referring to box (van) trailers, flatbeds, and the like. Trailers which get used for "whatever" - as contrasted with such as lowbeds, gasoline tankers, etc which have a specific kind of load they are used for. |
|
