best way to complain about lorry driver

[gemstevecarder]

I experienced a very dodgy bit of driving by a Marks and Spencer lorry driver whilst cycling today.
M & S themselves (of course) have no section concerning driving complaints on their website.
What would be the best way to go about a complaint? I have the registration number.
(I complained about a similar situation previously - not M & S - and it was not looked into properly).

many thanks

Steve

[Barrowman]

Unless you have put video evidence or a truly independent third party witness and you can go to the Police you are wasting your time.
I know how frustrating these things can be but it's a 'he said/ she said ' otherwise.
(As in you say they did x , they say I didn't do x. Stalemate.

[awavey]

Id expect M&S to have outsourced their trucks to some haulage firm thats not them, so they probably wouldnt be able to help you anyway, crazy really considering its their brand on the truck which impacts how customers view them, but thats the reality of many commercial vehicles you see on the road.

and a shame they dont do those "Hows my driving" contact lines for things like that if youve no cam footage

but if you do have video footage I would always leave it with the police to resolve, of course it helps if theres a reasonable chance the police will do something about it.

But its following a time when I tried to deal with the company of the truck directly, as I just wanted them to acknowledge the bad pass and that theyd educate their driver about it, but they completely ghostlit me and then blocked my attempts to contact them further, consequently I vowed never to give a company that opportunity again.

[deeferdonk]

After multiple close passes by vehicles in the livery of a local construction company, I left a google review commenting on their employees attitude to health and safety, accompanied by a picture of one of their vans parked in a disabled spot at our local tesco metro (they weren't displaying a badge and the car park was effectively empty - so they had just parked in the closest spot to the door). Therefore every time someone googles the company and clicks on the one star review they'll see my comment.

I haven't had any close encounters with them at all since, best case is they saw my review and had instructed their drivers to do better, or its just a coincidence - but made me feel better.

Realise this is probably not an appropriate response in your case due to the size of a company like M&S. Maybe contact them on social media, like twitter saying you have a complaint? Some of these companies can be quite good at responding, and may provide details of who to direct your complaint to.

[PH]

Id expect M&S to have outsourced their trucks to some haulage firm thats not them,

M&S logistics, including distribution, is handled by Gist Logistics Ltd, who were an independent contractor, but are now owned by M&S.
I'm sure the OP can find the contact details online, if they feel the driving bad enough to warrant reporting, then I'd suggest doing so regardless of the expectation of action.

[Pebble]

Difficult with a company like M&S as the wagons won't be operated by them, it will be one of the giant contracting companies operating wagons in their livery. Everything is hidden away in convenient layers.

But in general I would go for a letter to the transport manager, details can be found here.
https://www.vehicle-operator-licensing. ... plications
And send a carbon copy to the Traffic Commissioners. If you run a haulage company (like I once did) there is nothing more scary than the traffic commissioners. they have the power to do what ever they like, restrict your licence into how many trucks and trailers you are allowed, and to the driver they can suspend the vocational part of the licence, which means the driver can't work for weeks or months, and they don't do plead stories about hardship, they would just say you should of thought about that before committing the crime. They can be very ruthless and as such very scary to anyone in the industry.

On an unliveried wagon, I would still write to the TC's and ask if they could forward my letter of complaint to the relevant transport manager. And I would do this for the M&S wagon.

[Pebble]

Id expect M&S to have outsourced their trucks to some haulage firm thats not them,

M&S logistics, including distribution, is handled by Gist Logistics Ltd, who were an independent contractor, but are now owned by M&S.
I'm sure the OP can find the contact details online, if they feel the driving bad enough to warrant reporting, then I'd suggest doing so regardless of the expectation of action.

Yes that could be them, 1500 wagons 2000 trailers, sounds about the right size, spread over 6 operators licences covering all the traffic areas
https://www.vehicle-operator-licensing. ... nce/89896/
It would be good to get a letter on the relevant transport managers desk - none of them would welcome being invited in for tea and biscuits with the TC's, or even worse, a site visit and inspection.

[Jamesh]

I'd write to the managing director,
Press department, and the logistics director.
If a missive comes from high up it's likely to be acted upon.

[Steve]

I don't suppose it had one of those "how's my driving" stickers on the back, with a telephone number?
Has anyone here reported bad driving elsewhere that way?

[Cowsham]

One post -- it would be nice if these peeps or even bots or whatever would take the time to at least introduce themselves.

[Bonefishblues]

I'd be going to the brand owner - the retailer. They will have well-established processes of escalation and it will be harder for the operator to avoid if it comes from their customer.

[eileithyia]

I was nearly run off the road by a Palletline truck last week, I found an online form to complete where I detailed time date and approximate place of the incident. I am informed it was passed on to the local depot to for the transport manager to speak to the driver. Even if it wasn't it flags to the company that we are not necessarily a voiceless community and we are watching what their drivers are doing .

Personally I would employ some detective work, presumably M&S have some sort of head office / website point of contact to see if the details can be ascertained or passed on to the relevant party.

[Jdsk]

...
presumably M&S have some sort of head office / website point of contact to see if the details can be ascertained or passed on to the relevant party.

https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/contact

Jonathan

[PH]

If the OP is a facebook user - I notice that Gist Logistics have a facebook page and a thread about their acquisition by M&S. A question on that thread politely asking where to report bad driving might get a response. There's no guarantee of course, but companies dislike poor publicity and unlike the other possible channels facebook is very public.

[andy753]

I am sorry to hear this. I think this is why so many cyclists wear helmet cams these days for exactly these reasons. One idea might be to contact the DVLA, they can release vehicle ownership information in the right circumstances https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... isters.pdf