Was riding home from work late last week and it is my misfortune to cycle past the Royal Mail Heathrow Worldwide Distribution Centre in Langley near Slough. As I pass the entrance and climb a narrow bridge over the M4, a 44 tonne Royal Mail lorry pulls out and follows me over. Now the driver is clearly impatient and is feet from my wheel sounding his horn 😯 . He proceeds to overtake where it isn’t safe and cut me up. Of course I catch him at the lights for the A4 and M4, so how exactly was I holding him up?

Not standing for this, the following day I head to HWDC and make a formal complaint. First security tell be through the locked gate (the site has airside security) that I should report it to the Police. Then as I turn to leave, I’m called back and invited in. I’m met by Head of Security and Head of Transport operations. They take all my details and the registration of the lorry and promise to get back to me.

Suffice to say Tim, the head of transport operations at HWDC, called me to say they have reprimanded the driver (a contractor in a white hired tractor unit) and apologised profusely (again). I didn’t want to take it further (this time), but wanted to them to know that a) all their drivers are representing RM and b) the standard was far below the of a professional driver.

Anyway good outcome. And if you commute along the A4 near Langley, watch out!

and another example of why you should report things like this, it will make a difference.

It used to be the same every night heading home along the North Circular around 22:00 past Park Royal as the RM trucks were all heading out for the start of a night shift. Absolutely terrible driving by most of the truck drivers, I think the only reason they never had many accidents along there is that the road was fairly quiet by that time of night.

I’ve got to say that it’s the minicabs that I find to be the worst drivers around Heathrow. Basically if a car has the yellow disc of death in the window I avoid it!