Are parking spaces just for cars?

timogen

Parking spaces are for cars this is what i was told today. I was delivering to a shop at about 7.10am this morning, I had turned off the main road on to a side street which is a one way street it has three parking spaces,I took up two spaces with the truck with the tail-lift dropping on to the double yellow lines. I dropped in the first pallet only to come out to a car that had pulled up at the back of the truck i asked her politely to move back so i could drop the tail-board again when she went on her rant that i should not be parked in the parking spaces as they were only for cars.I then asked her did she want me to park on the double yellow lines and break the law she got in a huff and sped off only to pass the free space that was in front of the truck.
On a side note about 15mins later a garda car pulled up behind the truck parking on the double yellow lines but did leave room for the tail-lift while they went in to the shop to get their lunch,they hadn't a problem with were i parked.
Should delivery drivers only park on double yellow lines?

whyulittle

Having done some delivery work now and again, private cars don't think twice about parking in loading bays so I wouldn't worry about it.

Dardania

Double yellow lines are there for a reason - any vehicle would be causing a traffic obstruction. Unless there is a dedicated set down or loading area, you are forced to use carpark spaces I reckon...

Kevvv

Dardania wrote: »

Double yellow lines are there for a reason - any vehicle would be causing a traffic obstruction. Unless there is a dedicated set down or loading area, you are forced to use carpark spaces I reckon...

Ahah, so you too think their only for cars

Back to the point, if the guards didnt have a problem, dont see what wrong with it then.

Dardania

Kevvv wrote: »

Dardania wrote: »

Double yellow lines are there for a reason - any vehicle would be causing a traffic obstruction. Unless there is a dedicated set down or loading area, you are forced to use carpark spaces I reckon...

Ahah, so you too think their only for cars

Back to the point, if the guards didnt have a problem, dont see what wrong with it then.

They're typically sized for cars...

johnos1984

Dardania wrote: »

They're typically sized for cars...

In fairness the vaste majority of truck drivers dropping off a load are far more conscious of the parking than most motorists

timogen

Well i'd reckon if they're no unloading bays around i'm sure the next port of call would be parking space,I always try to go with the least obstructive.

Tea drinker

Yeah, just sounds like you ran into someone very unreasonable, and I don't mean to be sexist but many women are not so understanding of other people, especially if you happen to be in their way :-)

Just do your best if there's no bay, otherwise a lot of shops will have to close or put up with deliveries on a piagio or donkey like they do in the Medina in Arabic and some African countries. I saw on TV one coastal village in UK uses some sort of sleds to bring goods down a hill into the town as there is only pedestrian access. Maybe she would like her Latte and Hello magazine delivered like that ?
;-)

Buffman

timogen wrote: »

I then asked her did she want me to park on the double yellow lines and break the law.....

Should delivery drivers only park on double yellow lines?

Well, you can park on double yellows if you need to.

http://www.dublincity.ie/RoadsandTraffic/Parking/Pages/WhereToPark.aspx

Double Yellow Lines

No parking on a double-yellow line at any time.
Exceptions

You can park on a double yellow line for a maximum of 30 minutes while actively loading or unloading a vehicle.

Slig

The vast majority of streets in Irish towns were never designed to take HGVs or LGVs so you really have to make do as best you can. I now drive a truck aswell but before that I worked in the LA roads department for a while and the only truck that was considered when designing roads, turns and junctions in urban centers was a fire engine or bin lorry. The sizing of parking spaces is so that car drivers park responsibly between the lines and so everyone can see that a bay is designed for 3 cars not 2 or 4.

Basically, you have to ues your judgement as a professional driver to navigate and park safely and responsibly, if you need both sides of the road to progress then you have to take them, if you have to use or not use a filter lane at a junction in order to take a turn then you do. You cant be expected to damage your vehicle or public property if it can be avoided.

The Gardai, in general, know this and there is usually no problem but if someone has no experience driving a truck (Garda, cyclist, pedestrian or other driver) then they can see these actions as bullying and often act stupidly, agressively or dangerously around trucks.

Usually if you are civil and apologetic its enough to calm most people, maybe, if they are very difficult then some b-s about having a permit to unload between the hours of 10pm and 8am or that the owner of the premises you are delivering to is the one to take the comlaint will shut them up........................or else just start dropping the tail lift and see how long it takes them to move:D

corktina

i never had a problem with a gard or a warden in parking to unload....noone is going to be there one second more than they need to be.

I have had trouble with people parking too close though like the OP and I have had trouble with cars in loading bays.

TrailerBob

Had this argument with a parking warden last year. Was delivering some stuff in my commercial jeep. 2 cars parked in loading bay, had to use the space in front, he wanted to give me a ticket, I showed him the ignorant car drivers efforts.. didn't seem to care. I know I was technically wrong too, but it was such a pain in the ads, not to mention the back.

timogen

Buffman wrote: »

Well, you can park on double yellows if you need to.

http://www.dublincity.ie/RoadsandTraffic/Parking/Pages/WhereToPark.aspx

Yes there is times when i've had to park on double yellows but try not to if at all possible, my question is with free car parking spaces there i would use them as it would cause the least obstruction, even as it was if i parked on the double yellows i would have been closer to the entrance.