Tips For City Driving with Your HGV in the UK

There’s no denying that city driving is a challenging aspect of life as a HGV driver, with narrow streets and road closures making it a less than straightforward task.

Ultimately, driving an HGV in a city in the UK requires skill, patience, and a thorough understanding of the rules and regulations governing commercial vehicle operations.

With the right training and experience, however, it is possible to navigate urban areas safely and efficiently.

In this blog, we explore the tops tips and tricks for navigating city streets with ease from planning your route to making sure you’re aware of parking restrictions.

 

Make sure you plan your route

Before you embark on your journey, it’s important that you take a bit of time to plan your route carefully as this can help you to avoid any issues on the road.

Using a GPS device or app such as Waze and Google Maps is a great way to plan your journey as it can help to identify the best route by taking into account any restrictions such as low bridges, narrow roads or weight limits.

These apps can also provide you with estimated journey times so that you know how long it’ll take to get to your destination.

 

Stay alert

When you’re city driving, you simply have to expect the unexpected. Navigating the streets of Britain’s cities can be rather hectic at the best of times so it’s important that you stay alert at all times.

Make sure to keep an eye on pedestrians crossing the road or cyclists pulling out and be prepared to react quickly to any irregular driving from other road users.

 

Manage your speed

While you’re driving through any large city, it’s vital that you keep an eye on your speed to make sure that you’re adhering to the speed limit. So, stick to the speed limit and adjust your speed according to the road conditions!

If you’re in a residential area, especially around schools, you should reduce your speed to keep other road users and pedestrians safe.

 

Use your mirrors

As we explained in our previous blog, HGVs have significant blind spots so you should always use your mirrors to keep an eye on the traffic around you while you’re city driving.

Before you change lanes on inner city dual carriageways or you turn into side streets, it’s essential that you check your mirrors to ensure that there are no hazards or obstructions.

 

Keep a safe distance

Compared to other vehicles, HGVs require a much longer average stopping distance so make sure you keep a safe distance between your vehicle and the road user in front of you.

To mitigate the possibility of a collision, leave plenty of room to brake and avoid making sudden movements. This will provide you with time to react to any unexpected actions from the vehicle in front.

 

Plan for Clean Air Zones while city driving

Many cities now have Clean Air Zones (CAZ) in place, which require vehicles to meet certain emissions standards. When drivers travel within CAZs they may have to pay daily charges depending on the emission output of the vehicle and its classification.

There are currently 5 active these zones in the UK Bath, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, and Portsmouth and Sheffield is also set to join this list in the coming months. So, when planning your journey through these cities, make sure you factor in these zones and check the criteria.

 

Be aware of parking restrictions

 Many city centres will have restricted parking zones, where loading and waiting restrictions apply despite there being no yellow lines painted on the road. These areas will be signposted, and the zone entry times will indicate when the restrictions are in force.

So, before you set off its worth checking the areas where you’re able to park up in your HGV.

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