Is it just me or..

[Fortune117]

Does the whole of the UK go into a panic when we get weeks worth of snow!?!

I ordered a new rig from ocUK and it hasnt come when I was Guaranteed delivery today. Look on DPD and they cant deliver it from Newcastle to Darlington because of 'Unable to deliver, adverse weather encountered'

Discuss.

[Disturbedguy]

Discuss what? The fact that the icy roads make it dangerous to drive? There isnt really much to discuss is there? Yet again the government failed to realise just how badly we would be hit by the weather and did not get a large enough stock pile of grit.

[Jay]

lol, OCUK not on time? Thats not becuase of the snow mate.

[digit]

It does go into a bit of a panic yes, but if the roads aren't safe to transverse for delivery vehicles I'm happy to wait ... Driving a van in snow must be very challenging.

[Jay]

To be honest other countries have predictable weather, they know it WILL snow and plan for it, here we can get any weather at any time and so its really hard to plan for.

Also I know a girl who is from Russia and she said that cold in Russia is not like the cold here, she said its very very damp cold in the UK and so feel colder than in russia at the same temp.

[Fortune117]

Yeah. But if you guarantee somebody delivery the next day, (Over the phone aswell) you should arrange stuff first. The person im building it for isnt happy at all.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I heard that this is the worst winter for 30 years!!

If next day delivery cannot be guaranteed it should not be offered at all or at least offered with a big disclaimer and the extra postage cost refunded if the delivery does not happen.

[Fortune117]

If next day delivery cannot be guaranteed it should not be offered at all or at least offered with a big disclaimer and the extra postage cost refunded if the delivery does not happen.

Too right! Just rang them up and said im not happy. So they are refunding the delivery charge (Which was like, 13GBP) so I guess thats a bit better.

[scaryjim]

... other countries have predictable weather, they know it WILL snow ...

Very much this.

Nationwide severe weather like this is actually pretty rare in the UK - we tend to get localised freezes. The ones I can remember recently were the big one in the south west a couple of Februarys ago (first time I'd driven through snow - fun!) and one down around London. In both instances other parts of the country had no snow or severe weather at all. The last 2 winters before this one, I remember a total of about 5 days when there was any snow or ice at all in / around Manchester. Why on earth would anyone here have prepared for this kind of weather?

We simply don't need snow chains / snow tyres / snow ploughs / blanket gritting often enough to make it worth budgeting and preparing for. Far better to simply accept that occasionally really bad weather will hit and we may as well all take a short holiday

[Flibb]

Discuss what? The fact that the icy roads make it dangerous to drive? There isnt really much to discuss is there? Yet again the government failed to realise just how badly we would be hit by the weather and did not get a large enough stock pile of grit.

Do love the blame the Gov mentality, in many countries they dont grit country roads, drivers have to take responsiibility and use the correct tyres or have snow chains. In many places its a legal requirment to carry snow chains in winter or have winter tyres fitted.

As to the OP, in the past people planned ahead, carried spares and had backup kit, we didnt rely on next day delivery, and most mail order companys took at least a week to deliver. The palce you ordered should have warned you next day is likely to be a problem, but common sense should have told you the same. Its not a case of drivers panicking, its a case of not wanting to crash their vehicles, or even if you have a capable setup have somebody crash in to you. Unladen vans and lorrys will have less grip than cars, hence when driving forklifts around site today we dumped some weight on them..

[Lucio]

We use DPD at work and I know that they're struggling with a lot of deliveries, not because of the local conditions, but because of the routes from their Birmingham hub to the regional depots. A lot of their 40ft'ers are not coping very well aparently.

[Flash477]

As already said, we are not really setup to handle snow, basically becuase it tends to be such a rare occurance.

The thing is that you can put down tons of grit, but grit only works down to certain temperatures, not as low as we have been having. Thats why the countries that have lots of snow ploughs, so that the snow is pushed off to the side, rather than melting in place (which then freezes)

[shaithis]

It's always been the same afaic.

We need winters like this on a regular basis before people will adjust........and listening to the climate change doom callers, we may just have to start getting used to them

[eshrules]

Too right! Just rang them up and said im not happy. So they are refunding the delivery charge (Which was like, 13GBP) so I guess thats a bit better.

You've clearly never worked within a logistical role.

let's first of all, take into account the fact that one day's loss of operating time can lead (potentially) to weeks of delays.

then you've got the H&S implications of running vehicles/fleets/haulier operations on ungritted, icy and unsafe roads.

to get a parcel from one warehouse, to a customer can involve several journeys, hubs and types of vehicle, not all of which have the ability to handle the poor weather. not forgetting of course, that staffing issues have presented themselves at warehouses (and pretty much all businesses) nationwide, so half the time there isn't the staff to pick/pack orders, to get them out of the door in the first place.

consequently... how's the snow affected you personally? have you struggled to get into work?

some people understand the situation and appreciate there may be delays. Others do not.

'discuss'

[Terbinator]

Nationwide terrible wether = Its snowed south of Stoke-on-Trent.

[TheAnimus]

Also I know a girl who is from Russia and she said that cold in Russia is not like the cold here, she said its very very damp cold in the UK and so feel colder than in russia at the same temp.

When reading that quote I immediately heard the broken english in the accent of an russian friend of mine from a past life.

also the way a russian girl say wodka..... /OT