Why Lorry drivers do this?

[NotTheFordType]

I do a lot of motorway miles. I've noticed recently in a few tailbacks I've got caught in, Lorry drivers pulling out from lane 1 to lane 2. Not just a few individuals, but what looked like 40% of the hgvs that were originally in lane 1.

Is there some sort of secret or widely held belief that lane 2 always moves faster?!

And they are always trying to overtake, going half a mile faster per hour than the one in lane 1

You said tailback..are they blocking traffic in lane 2 to ensure both queues move at the same rate?

I think they are often trying to control the traffic and stop people flying up the second lane so an ex wagon driver once told me

Because they have speed limiters but all very slightly different if a load of lorries slowed down slightly when they met a slightly slower lorry it wouldn’t take long for it to cause a complete stop on the motorway. I can’t remember what the exact numbers are but if everyone decreases their speed even slightly less than the vehicle in front it doesn’t take long for the traffic to completely stop

Lorry moving from lane 1 to lane 2 will be overtaking traffic in lane 1.

I think lorry drivers get a lot of stick .
Ok some are annoying and do drive like idiots at times but that isnt the same for all of them ..... just think whilst your casually driving your car they have all sorts of restrictions and time limits..... if stuck in traffic and running out of driving time they may just be going from one lane to the next to try and get somewhere ASAP to stop ! If lorry drivers get caught over their driving hours they get up to a £1000 fine ..... for trying to do their job and getting stuck out in traffic that’s out of their control.

I've often wondered wtf they're supposed to do if there's some massive tailback on a motorway and they reach the limit of their driving time, Bathtime. It seems really unfair to fine them for something caused by events that are completely outside their control, like when it snows.

Fairly sure it's to stop all the drivers whizzing down one lane and then trying to cut in further down. It keeps both lanes running. If that makes sense? It does in my head

LakieLady

They used to be able to turn the tachograph off if they were stuck in traffic.

When I started driving, I was really surprised at the number of bottles of apple juice that you see alongside the central reservation in the motorway*.

Not cartons - like Evian or other drinks bottles, refilled with apple juice.

Yeah... "Apple juice".

It took me far longer than it should have done to work that out. That must be truck drivers, surely. How gross!!

• seriously if you've never looked, check next time you're on the motorway. You'll see at least 5!

They move over to free lane one of incoming and departing traffic as they are longer and if moving slowly they hold other road users up.

As long as they can justify why they are over and it's an acceptable reason visa will accept if it's within a certain lmt. Basically enough to get to a safe place at the side of the road 🤔😣 wouldn't be the first time dh has had to go out to bring back a driver and a lorry or to be brought back himself.

It is really unfair ! Apparently they are supposed to take the journey ahead into consideration..... how can you predict traffic or bad weather!!

Tachographs are a thing of the past now..all digitally recorded on a card.

I do agree some drive with little respect for other road users, but most are just decent working people trying to male a living and they get all of the worries passed onto them about driving times/ breaks / hours .. on top of a working day trying to make deliveries on time . Lots of employers dont seem to care if their workers get fined as long as the job is done. They do get pushed to the limit.

But some are just arseholes @Bathtimebliss and think they're the only 'professional' drivers on the road, and know best.

I got caught in a motorway stationary queue/ tailback en route to see my dying Dad (hospital had called saying get family there). Total panicking, police agreed I could drive up the hard shoulder to escape. One lorry driver decided I shouldn't be allowed to do that and pulled across the hard shoulder and his lane. I asked him to move, he shouted at me a lot and then shouted whiningly at me some more when I explained why: 'well I didn't know that, did I'. Wanker. Thankfully lovely car drivers alongside him made room for me to get through. And I got there in time to see my lovely Dad.

Over taking can take a while as mist have speed limiters. So while one lorry may chose to drive 5mph under the limit another may drive at the limit so then takes ages for them to over take.

Also when traffic is joining the motorway they often force lorrys to slow down which them takes diver forever to gt back up to speed if dully loaded - so lorrys move lanes to avoid this

HGVs and buses should only be allowed to use the inside lane of a two or three lane carriageway. An overtake that takes minutes rather than seconds is usually an unnecessary one.

Chelle Lorries are limited but coaches aren’t. Doesn’t make sense really. 7.5t of pallets or boxes -56mph but 20t of people -70mph...

You are right .. some think they own the road and are very dangerous and inconsiderate.... it’s those that give the everyday hard working law abiding lorry drivers a bad name

Chelle Lorries are limited but coaches aren’t. Doesn’t make sense really. 7.5t of pallets or boxes -56mph but 20t of people -70mph...

Coaches are limited. They have different limits to most Lorries (60mph for motorway) but they do have limits.

Also there is a massive difference between the 3 as coaches are rigid and lorries articulated.

Lorries never seem to move out of lane 1 to let people pull from the slip road onto the motorway, there must be a reason for that too.

I do tend to think that lorry drivers have a reason for doing stuff on motorways and they know the rules because they do LOADS of motorway driving IYKWIM.

The 'lorry races' where they are side by side for miles must serve some sort of purpose.

The 'lorry races' where they are side by side for miles must serve some sort of purpose.

Yes. The overtaking lorry will have a higher limit.

There you go then, I knew there must be an explanation. See it all the time on my commute. Makes me laugh. I wonder if they are making eye contact.

No speed limiters on trucks where I live - nothing quite so terrifying as being overtaken by an 18-wheeler doing 75 in a snowstorm

Presume you mean when two lanes merge into one and there's a tailback? Don't they do it so the traffic in Lane 1 gets a chance to get there? Otherwise Lane 2 traffic goes to the front and expects Lane 1 to let them in so Lane one never moves? Did that even make sense?!

@Tainbri that's what I was trying to say in a roundabout kind of way 😂