Since the A42 and A511 bypasses took heavy traffic out of the centre of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, a lorry in trouble near the town is far more likely to be on one of those two roads than on Market Street. The A42 picks up where the M42 ends at junction 11 near Appleby Magna and runs north-east as a dual carriageway to the M1 at junction 23A, where East Midlands Airport is signed. The A511 crosses it on the way between Coalville and Burton upon Trent. They are very different places to break down.
Telling us where you are
The A42 is built like a motorway but doesn't carry motorway status, and drivers who don't know it well often can't say exactly where they have stopped. Junction numbers fix that quickly. Junction 12 is where the B4116 leaves for Measham and Snarestone; junction 13 is the A511 junction signed for Ashby, Burton and Coalville. Give us the last one you passed, the direction of travel, what the vehicle is and whether it is loaded. The A511 is mostly single carriageway, so a stopped artic there can block the road for everyone behind it; tell us that too, and name the nearest roundabout or village.
Before any of that, the driver should be out of the cab on the side away from the traffic and behind the barrier if there is one. We can take the details a few minutes later.
Repaired at the roadside first
Our technicians leave expecting to fix the fault, not to hitch the vehicle up. A chafed air line, a trailer brake that won't release, a dead lamp circuit, a flat battery or a tyre that has let go can usually be put right where the vehicle stands, and the load carries on to wherever it was going. When a roadside repair isn't safe or isn't possible, we recover the vehicle with equipment rated for heavy commercials rather than gambling on a patch.
Recovered vehicles come to our workshop at Calke Mill Farm, Melbourne, which is among the places within 10 miles of Ashby, or back to your own yard if your fitters would prefer to finish the job. Before the technician leaves, you are told what failed and whether the repair is permanent or just enough to get you home.
Ring 01332 916028. It is answered through the night, at weekends and on bank holidays, for tractor units heading for the M1, rigids on the A511, coaches, minibuses and vans alike, including specialist and emergency-service vehicles. You don't need to be an existing customer to call us out, and nobody will pass you on to a call centre.
