The speakers were Nina Day, who is a HSE policy adviser specialising in road transport, DVSA Vehicle Enforcement Manager Steve Lyon and Sergeant Rob Simpson from the Cheshire Rural Crime Team. NFU Farm Safety and Transport Adviser Thomas Price also joined the call.
The legislation and laws surrounding agricultural machinery can be ‘grey’ in many areas, so it was inevitable that Sergeant Rob Simpson would need to field many questions from the farmers on the call.
Here are some of the questions our Cheshire members raised, with the answers obtained following the meeting.
Do hydraulic front loader attachments require pins?
Yes, it’s best practice too, as the hydraulics could fail.
Do HGVs carrying straw and hay require sheeting if they are transporting on a road?
No the legislation is only in relation to strapping them down on a HGV.
Salt spreaders, shouldn’t they be sheeted?
They have specific fillers that should ensure that the load doesn’t reach the top. As such they do not require sheeting and the content is due to be deliberately spread on the surface of the road anyway.
NFU Cheshire County Chairman Richard Blackburn, who chaired the session, said: “I would like to say thank you to Lisa Scott from Highways England who instigated this event and hopes to replicate it in various formats across the North West region.”