Just curious to know - I fairly often observe a lorry that has ground to a halt on a hill, leaving a queue of traffic behind it. The driver seems to know instantly that he is not going to get going again in a hurry, switches on the hazzard lights, and gets out and onto his phone.
Is there there some common occurence that makes a lorry just conk out on a hill? In my observation it is usually near the bottom of the hill, so it is not overheating.
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Needs more concentration to go up a hill, so wakes up, realises he hasn't told the wife what wants for tea, so...
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Is this a general observation or does it apply to a particular hill and/or truck? This one puzzles me - I can't think of a reason especially as modern trucks are so powerful they climb hills with ease.
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happens all the time on Birdlip Hill near Gloucester, they usually get 1/3 way up then stop.
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I must confess I have seen this happen and I think that they do it purely for the enjoyment of watching us muppets try and get round.
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I could be wrong, but if the lorry is going downhill and has to stop then it could be that it has a problem with the brakes. I don't want to insult anybody's intelligence, but lorries, buses and the like have air brakes and if a leak develops and is serious enough, then all braking power is greatly reduced. I know that we have a few vehicles in the fleet that seem to use the air in their tanks faster than others.
Obviously, if it is a steep hill, then there is more chance of a problem occurring. And, as one poster has mentioned, if the lorry is going uphill then it may well have overheated. Either that, or it simply isn't capable of climbing the hill!!
Rob
Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
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Nine times out of ten if a truck grinds to a halt on a hill then the clutch has gone and is slipping too much to get the truck up the hill.
The clutch is one of those things, especially on a truck that is almost impossible to predict when it is on its last legs until its too late.
Add to that the operators who will allow their fleet to basically run until they break down before fixing faults.
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A mate of mine was once being tailgated by an artic on a steep section of the M25. He was on his way home from Hendon where he was an instructor. His solution was to gradually go slower and slower, till he eventually stopped near the top. The truck, unable to get round him because of the heavy traffic was forced to stop as well at which point mate just roared off into the distance leaving the angry trucker flashing and hooting behind him as he struggled to get moving again, and no doubt took all evening to regain cruising speed.
Naughty, but nice.
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Don`t be mean to the truckers, everything in your house, the food you eat and the car you drive have all been delivered by lorries. So give them plenty of room and be kind, because there are far more bad car drivers out there, and if you had a HGV licence, then I am sure you would agree.
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Tom,
Presume this was before trucks were limited? Otherwise your mate was being a bit inconsiderate in going at less than 56-60 on the motorway and holding up the truck? Or was there another reason for going so slow? Safety perhaps? Though it can't have been very safe bringing a large artic to a standstill in heavy traffic on an uphill section of the M25. Did all the other motorists piled up behind see the joke especially the ones who concertinaed into each other due to suddenly stationary traffic ? Or have I missed the point?
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Phil,
It was a tale of an incident as described to me. I certainly would not have had the nerve to do it myself, and had my mate been on duty he would probably have nicked anyone who did the same.
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Thanks everyone for your observations. I am glad it isn't just me noticing this occurence. The failed clutch theory certainly seems the most plausible.
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Well as if to confirm yesterday's post about clutches being the main cause of truck breakdowns on hills, the two trucks that I recovered today (yes it is my actual job) both were clutch failures. Admittedly neither were on hills but there you go.
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