Hardest Places to Deliver a Load

Each time you travel along the motorway, you are bound to see lorries lining the inside lane. However, what we often tend to forget, is that these lorries do in fact have a final destination. This could be down a narrow country road, up a very steep hill, or even in a place where lorries are not allowed, and yet their delivery work must be completed.

Where People Shall Not Be Moved

One thing not mentioned in the delivery work job description, is what to do when somebody disagrees with what you are delivering. One of the hardest places to deliver is one where there are people in protest. A driver discovered this for himself as he navigated the narrow, winding lanes in Devon to deliver wind turbine components to the highly contested wind farm site. As the driver found himself jammed on the muddy, rural road, he was observed by disgruntled locals, who made it very clear that the load he was delivering was not wanted there. As this driver can verify, it is very difficult to deliver something to a place where people do not want or approve of your load.

Bumps in the Road

Lorry drivers tackle a variety of road surfaces while doing delivery work, encountering potholes and bumps all the time. However, the real nemesis of the lorry driver is the speed hump. There are many incidents of lorries shedding some of their load as they go over speed humps, however the most infamous story of all belongs to Boris Johnson. As the Mayor of London rode his bike through the city, accompanied by fourteen other cyclists, he narrowly missed a collision with a lorry. As the vehicle went over a speed hump, the rear doors of the lorry flew open. The door then caught a parked car which was propelled into the path of the cyclists. Luckily, injuries were avoided but the incident proved that lorries and speed humps do not mix well.

No Lorries Allowed

Perhaps the hardest place of all for a lorry driver to complete his delivery work, is one where lorries are no longer welcome. The most recent example of lorries being disallowed from using a road is the town of Yate in South Gloucestershire. Despite police opinion that a weight restriction could not realistically be enforced, the South Gloucestershire council have banned lorries carrying over 7.5 tonnes in weight from using three roads in Yate, due to the large volumes of pedestrians in the area. With many businesses located in this town, there are regular deliveries being made. But with new weight restrictions in place, this has certainly become one of the hardest places to deliver to.

Haulage drivers often make delivery work look so easy, that we forget that some places are much harder than others to deliver to. Hearing about these places that are particularly difficult to deliver to might just make us stop and spare a thought for the haulage driver next time we are tapping our feet and waiting impatiently for a late load.

Lyall Cresswell is the Managing Director of Haulage Exchange, the leading online trade network for the road transport industry across the UK and Europe. It provides services for Delivery Work to buy and sell road transport and freight exchange in the domestic and international markets.