Thread: Harassment of truckies by Little Hitlers

Originally Posted by Bigbjorn

Can someone tell me how to accurately measure the width of a bale of hay, a most irregular object?

I reckon they might have measured from the edge of the trailer to the edge of the hay bail.....not overly difficult.

One would have to think that a hay bale would be a rather irregular object to get an accurate LxBxH on!
I cart them regularly on my 'tilly and they squash, the biscuits often come apart slightly and distort the shape etc.

The load width is measured, ie from 1 side of the truck to the other and possibly at several points along the length. The news broadcast this morning said 5 inspectors measured the truck.

Originally Posted by Graeme

The load width is measured, ie from 1 side of the truck to the other and possibly at several points along the length. The news broadcast this morning said 5 inspectors measured the truck.

And they could only come up with one centimetre each side of a load of irregular objects. Less than a half inch. Bloody marvellous. No wonder truckies hate them. I wonder how they would go in a machine shop measuring to a tolerance of .0001".

Originally Posted by Bigbjorn

And they could only come up with one centimetre each side of a load of irregular objects. Less than a half inch. Bloody marvellous. No wonder truckies hate them. I wonder how they would go in a machine shop measuring to a tolerance of .0001".

So how far are we allowed to be oversize before they do something??

Suppose we could just ditch all rules and regulations......

They were being clever because the permit that allows the extra 200mm becomes null and void if the extra width is exceeded, reverting to the standard 2.5m maximum. He was booked for being 22 cm over-width.

Whilst I wasn't aware of the width permits, the harvest time weight permits that allow extra weight (I can't remember the formula) but my 42.5T normal GCM becomes something like 43.4T but if exceeded then the over-weight is taken from the normal 42.5T, not the extra permitted weight. The politicians don't know how to make decent legislation, as is shown time and time again and the RMS (RTA) folk take advantage of it.

Hay may also settle in transit, losing height and gaining width. I'll bet the measurements were taken to the extreme widths of each stray straw.
There was a time that drivers were being knocked off for over-width because the dogs securing the load were 40mm wider than the trailer. The latest laws specifically exempt load securing devices, mirrors and blinkers/clearance lights.

Just as an aside,, watching a USA vid on whatever with a dual rear wheel RAM that was towing something or other,,, the offsider chided the driver on leaving his mirrors extended,,,, and the driver responded saying he had 24hours to turn them upwards,,
so even the Home of wide vehicles has rules about width

imagine these on a yankie RAM,,,,,,