izwozral
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This numpty tried to drive through the ford, which is five minutes walk from us, despite the fact it is clearly very high. He managed to drive about 40' before the inevitable happened - engine died! Had he gone any further he would have been in about six foot of water. His 'marshall' came down to assess the situation and told me the driver is on probation and was in his third week of driving for Ocado, however, he doesn't think he will be driving for them after today.
When I got there the poor fella was crouched on the drivers seat, freezing cold as he had been there for three hours. The marshall said he would have to wade out of the van but the driver was clearly terrified at the thought, being a none swimmer. I offered to fetch a ladder but the marshall said he cannot allow it in case the driver falls and breaks his leg, I would get sued and the marshall would lose his job too. Bollox I said, the poor bloke is frozen stiff and I was fetching a ladder and if he [the marshall] tried to stop me from helping the guy I would push him in the friggin ford.
Anyway, managed to get the driver out with lots of bluster coming from the marshall, silly pompous prick.
Next came the recovery vehicle who couldn't get round the tight bend to drag the van backwards. Pulling it forward was out of the question as the van would start to float and likely damage the footbridge given the fast current of the River Weaver which forms the ford. Nobody was prepared to get into the water and attach the winch to the back axle and talk was of getting a diving team in. :lol-053::lol-053:
After much conflabbing, it was decided to smash both windows to the doors and feed straps through, take them over the roof and attach to a winch cable. Another hour or so waiting for a Landrover with a winch. Eventually the van started to be dragged out, unfortunately, it was tight up against the bank trees so the side got badly damaged. If it wasn't a right off from the beginning, it was now.
All the food inside will be destroyed, even the food well above the water level, due to company policy.
The other stupid rule the company have, is, the drivers have to follow the satnav and not a map. I asked if the satnavs could be set to avoid low bridges, narrow roads etc, he didn't know!
What makes the whole thing unnecessary, is the fact the driver was driving from Whichchurch to Nantwich on the A530, had he stayed on the A530 he would have arrived in Nantwich 4 miles down the road. Instead his satnav directed him down quiet country lanes and eventually to the ford, total distance 6 miles.
What a palaver!
When I got there the poor fella was crouched on the drivers seat, freezing cold as he had been there for three hours. The marshall said he would have to wade out of the van but the driver was clearly terrified at the thought, being a none swimmer. I offered to fetch a ladder but the marshall said he cannot allow it in case the driver falls and breaks his leg, I would get sued and the marshall would lose his job too. Bollox I said, the poor bloke is frozen stiff and I was fetching a ladder and if he [the marshall] tried to stop me from helping the guy I would push him in the friggin ford.
Anyway, managed to get the driver out with lots of bluster coming from the marshall, silly pompous prick.
Next came the recovery vehicle who couldn't get round the tight bend to drag the van backwards. Pulling it forward was out of the question as the van would start to float and likely damage the footbridge given the fast current of the River Weaver which forms the ford. Nobody was prepared to get into the water and attach the winch to the back axle and talk was of getting a diving team in. :lol-053::lol-053:
After much conflabbing, it was decided to smash both windows to the doors and feed straps through, take them over the roof and attach to a winch cable. Another hour or so waiting for a Landrover with a winch. Eventually the van started to be dragged out, unfortunately, it was tight up against the bank trees so the side got badly damaged. If it wasn't a right off from the beginning, it was now.
All the food inside will be destroyed, even the food well above the water level, due to company policy.
The other stupid rule the company have, is, the drivers have to follow the satnav and not a map. I asked if the satnavs could be set to avoid low bridges, narrow roads etc, he didn't know!
What makes the whole thing unnecessary, is the fact the driver was driving from Whichchurch to Nantwich on the A530, had he stayed on the A530 he would have arrived in Nantwich 4 miles down the road. Instead his satnav directed him down quiet country lanes and eventually to the ford, total distance 6 miles.
What a palaver!
