Some Van advice needed

[Toby_HDi]

I know it's not French car related and you may call me silly etc however,

Next month I am going to be taking on a new role at my work place. I will be driving the delivery van for them. Now its not too bad, only a smallish one (Mercedes Sprinter 311 CDI) but having not driven a van previously I just want some general advice that I may not know only having driven cars. Reversing will thankfully be made slightly easier with sensors fitted. But what else do I need to know?

And now for the silly question:
What is the ideal position for the wing mirrors to be in (I know so I can see behind but optimum postion to minimise blind spots)

*ducks down and waits for abuse *

Thanks in advance

[MikeT]

I think you'll do just fine Modern vans have pretty good mirrors but it's still a personal choice so just try different angles. Personally I like to see the completer edge of the vehicle or at least the rear wheel and the road. Moving your body, as you do in a car, allows a wider field of view and is good exercise because you'll be doing a lot in town.

My only advice offering is to make knowing the height a priority. There should be a label in clear view or behind the visor stating what it is. Make sure you know it off by heart.

I think Colin might also have some advice, doesn't he do something similar professionally? Is it HGV? I've only experienced up to 7.5tonnes on the road.

[np]

Try not to cut corners,allow a bit more of a wider swing when turning as you`ll have the rear wheels up the kerb.More so on longer wheelbase vans.
And on a lighter note,remember to drive eberywhere flat out,with your foot as hard down as it will go .Most vans i see are driven this way

[reblack68]

When approaching a "y" shaped junction to turn right remember to position yourself so you're at right angles to the road you're joining, you won't be able to see anything coming from the left otherwise.

Reversing is a bit of a memory game, when you approach the area you're going to reverse in you get used to checking the area out so that you will have a rough idea of what's in your blind spot.

The biggest thing is the speed limit though. Vans are restricted to 50 on single carriageway roads and 60 on dual carriageways. This still isn't as widely known as it should be and a few people have been caught out.

[reblack68]

Speed limits above rule 124 here.

[AndersDK]

May I add with my humble observation ?
Its becoming so very frustrating "normal" to see these city distribution vans (long wheelbase mostly) cutting corners - starting off quite a lot of "silly, dummy, quarkhead" signalling with hands.

Often in T's waiting for free traffic - I get one of those drivers cutting in on me - trying to make me back off - juts because he is too lazy to turn his wheel.
They are such a nuisance in traffic these days

No matter LHD or RHD traffic rulels - its just the same.

[admiral51]

this is only a personal opinion so here goes

modern vans are as easy if not easier to drive than a car the elevated driving position is a real bonus. height-width and length are the main factors to take into account along with the all important overhang the distance from rear axle to rear of vehicle ive seen many a car swiped as the van/lorry turns sharply
as for the mirrors its more a case of what you feel comfortable with you will always have a blind spot unless you make it look like a vespa the thing i find is narrow the blind spot as much as possible and try to keep it on your side if poss much easier to look out your window than the passengers

not too sure on the rules for vans but i think you will need to keep some kind of record of driving/load/unloading/breaks im sure it will come under the EU working time directive

on another point ignorance is no defence in the eyes of the law so whilst you are driving it YOU will be held responsible for the following
1.Overloading of the vehicle even if you didnt load it
2.General roadworhiness of vehicle ie tyres/lights/bits hanging off anything that you would notice on your own car
3.You will NOT be held liable for things that you would not reasonable be able to detect ie cracks in chassis rust holes underneath cracked discs etc
4.Make a list of who your firm uses for breakdowns/tyres etc with numbers lot quicker for you to phone and sort it cos you know where you are

One final piece of advice is to have a play with it in your yard/carpark get yourself used to how it handles and move mirrors around until you are happy see if you can find something soft like a hedge/bush and try reversing up to it without hitting it--get out and see how far away you are from it (or in it ) to get used to the length

And you will be fine cos its just common sense and you showed you have that by asking questions before you start have fun and keep a little black book of burgerbars/snack vans most essential for that quiet snooze

Colin

[Toby_HDi]

Excellent admiral. Thanks very much.

Thanks to all of you

[admiral51]

one major piece of advice i forgot to give Toby
its your licence at risk whether its a company car or van or lorry so if you think its not right to be driven on the road DONT. i know its easier said than done but again its common sense would you risk driving your car on the road knowing its got a serious fault
i have worked for many a firm over the last 15 yrs with what can only be described as a "cavalier" attitude to maintanence
nothing worse than requesting a tyre be changed on a friday night returning to the yard and being given promises that it will be done only to turn up at 3am on monday to find it hasnt
that would then involve a short journey of say 15- 20 miles and then find i had a "punture" and cost the firm an out of hours call out and an hours kip
as the old saying goes if you dont cover your arse who will

Colin

[lexi]

All good advice from the boys All I would add is take your time till you get used to reversing etc. If at first you aint sure what the mirrors are telling you when reversing .............stop the van and walk around it for a look. This will help you no end to relate to the space you actually have and relate it to what you see in the mirror.

I`ve always had vans and aint had a bump....you`ll be fine. Iremember feeling the same way when first driving them. ATM I have an old Trafic 2.1d

[Toby_HDi]

Excellent advice from all. Thanks very much. I will let you know how I get on.

[ACTIVE8]

Hi Toby_HDi

Have they given you a new Sprinter to go out in?

The instrument layout on the recent ones look like this.



If you need some extra storage space then take a look at the door bottoms as there is space to store items in the passenger side. This is in addition to the other normal places to store stuff, but like the door storage in the Xantia is not obvious at first sight. The storage in the doors is a feature found on new and recent Sprinters.



Hope you enjoy driving it, good luck, mate.

Don't forget your Yorkie bar.

If you have any more questions please ask?

[Toby_HDi]

Yer brand new Sprinter. £35,000 worth of van lol.

Didn't go too well. Think the size got the better of me. So they want me reassessed. It's better than an outright no I guess.

I think the main thing is the anticipation, didn't seem to good at that when I went out in it.

[Gregg1100]

As a addition to what NP said, make sure it is all white
Just watch height, width and length.
I have driven these for 36 years;

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v676/ ... or1843.jpg

so I guess I am used to it, lol.


Greg

[ACTIVE8]

Yer brand new Sprinter. £35,000 worth of van lol.

Didn't go too well. Think the size got the better of me. So they want me reassessed. It's better than an outright no I guess.

I think the main thing is the anticipation, didn't seem to good at that when I went out in it.

Well I wish that I had been given a Sprinter to use recently instead of the van that I had to use.

It was too small, too slow, and a pain to load, by comparison a Sprinter would have been SO much better!