Tuesday 12 April 2011

A Complaint Relating to HGV Driving

The following is a letter sent to ASDA in relation to one of their HGV drivers.

Unfortunately I have a complaint, and it relates to the driving of one of your HGV delivery drivers. My complaint is that I am annoyed that other drivers don't always drive to his/her standard!

I am a cyclist and I commute daily to work on my bike. This week I am off on holiday and I decided to go out on a training run which would take me along the A803 towards Queenzieburn (the road to Kilsyth). Whilst cycling west on this road I noticed an HGV approaching behind me. There was traffic on the opposite carriageway so a safe overtake would have been impossible. Sometimes in this situation I find drivers drive far too close behind.

Not this driver.

He kept an excellent distance behind me, for a good 40-50 seconds, never placing me under undue pressure. He was also at a distance where had something happened to me, he would have had ample time to stop. Then, only when the road was totally clear, did the driver advance and overtake. Again drivers can often pass far too close.

Not this driver.

He overtook with plenty of space and did not pull over until he was safely past. I was very impressed with his driving and wanted to show my appreciation. This was a particularly good interaction between two very different road users. This is the way it should always be!

Not all drivers are as skilled as this driver in this situation. When I commute I film my commutes with a helmet camera and place any incidents on youtube. This video is a recent example of a poor pass. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ6QtxSX4Kw

I wish I had a video of this mornings pass to post on my channel showing an excellent example of an overtake. Unfortunately, as it was a training ride I didn't have a camera on.



I wonder, if possible could you pass this message onto the driver in question? He passed me at about 9:50am this morning (12th April) on the approach to Queenzieburn. I would love to think that my appreciation had been passed on.

I also write a blog about my cycling experiences (www.magnatom.net), and I will be posting this letter into my blog. I assume you won't mind as it is good publicity for your company and for one of your excellent drivers.

Please, keep up the good work!

Best regards




Brilliant!

9 comments:

  1. Had a similar experience with a local HGV firm myself, I emailed the company and had a response from the director who was a cyclist himself so that might have helped with driver education. Nice to know that such a big transport concern has drivers like this working for them. I think Asda drivers have generous schedules and don't need to rush to their next delivery, even parking up to kill time.

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  3. I recently had a well done letter given to me by my line manager for getting a txt message with this sort of positive feedback.

    These positive messages do get back to the drivers you know.

    Keep up the good work.
    Best regards from a fellow cyclist and National Express Coach Driver.

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  4. Good to know I'm not the only person who writes letters of thanks, and that the thanks is passed on. I hope ASDA do in this case. :-)

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  5. Brilliant idea. Often thought about it myself, as I've been in the same situation as you with HGVs behind, but have never got off my bum and done it.

    Now I shall.

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  6. "Good to know I'm not the only person ...."

    Me too!

    You get a "feel" for companies (and their staff) who take pride in keeping high standards; round here (Leeds), it's the bus companies I see.

    Arriva, Coastliner and Transdev drivers are consistently courteous and protective of cyclists.

    By contrast - look over your shoulder and see a FirstLeeds bus, and you have to be on your guard. Anything from one of their highly conscientious drivers ------ to one of their cowboys who thinks he's playing dodgems.

    All best

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  7. I don't think that it's a matter of skilled driver, there are many drivers that are skilled but still are not the same as this driver was. The driver was good man and he knows what his duties and responsibilities are.

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  8. Good to see the HGV industry being given a pat on the bavk when they do something right.
    Keep uo the good work,

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  9. It's good to know that there are still at least a few decent drivers on the road. More power to that HGV firm.

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