Punchy Dan:
Yes the deliberately twisted straps
Yes I agree— very amateurish and I reckon you could have backed into that 5MPH sign as well 
I was told to put a twist in straps to stop them vibrating, happen that was wrong? 
Pete.
I came across this info when having a sort out of old work stuff, this rather poorly photocopied set of pages was given out to candidates attending their RTIB courses for the HGV Licence back in the 70’s when the rules came in. My father had to attend one of these as he was driving a four wheel tipper at the time and his boss refused to sign grandfather rights to those at the firm who had previously driven artics, this didn’t go down well and dad left shortly after to return to Class One work but had to do the week long course and test. I recall he chucked these pile of sheets over to me and said I don’t need these but you might at some point later, I was around 17 years old then. I must have indeed kept them but as he showed me the ‘ropes’ anyway I didn’t need them. I’ve only chosen a few pages but we’ll see what old hands on here think of the info given, I’ve cleaned up and retyped some areas as in parts it was barely legible, still its a piece of transport history I suppose so worth hanging onto, happy reading Franky.
Remember to click on the chosen page to enlarge it for easier reading. Franky.
Confession time! I have seen those before and tried to follow them, but just couldn’t get it right. Former drivers at the vintage events I exhibit at have started to show me, but then another ex driver comes and tells us that he did it a different way and what I have just been shown is wrong so then they start arguing and I’m none the wiser. I suppose every driver had his own way? I do know that I can’t fold or coil a rope to save my life, whenever we have to rope an enclosure up at a show they tell me to keep well away from it as I get in a right mess. At least I never needed to do roping in my working life, and thank goodness for that! I guess it comes naturally to some but not to me, at almost 70 years of age I can’t even tie a knot in a necktie.
If only I could afford ROF’s overpriced sheeting and roping course, I would know everything about ropes then as he taught both Dan and Dennis and they seem fairly good at it. Maybe he does a discount for pensioners?
Pete.
windrush:
Confession time! I have seen those before and tried to follow them, but just couldn’t get it right. Former drivers at the vintage events I exhibit at have started to show me, but then another ex driver comes and tells us that he did it a different way and what I have just been shown is wrong so then they start arguing and I’m none the wiser. I suppose every driver had his own way? I do know that I can’t fold or coil a rope to save my life, whenever we have to rope an enclosure up at a show they tell me to keep well away from it as I get in a right mess. At least I never needed to do roping in my working life, and thank goodness for that! I guess it comes naturally to some but not to me, at almost 70 years of age I can’t even tie a knot in a necktie.If only I could afford ROF’s overpriced sheeting and roping course, I would know everything about ropes then as he taught both Dan and Dennis and they seem fairly good at it. Maybe he does a discount for pensioners?
Pete.
Nearly 70 , you’re only a pup , plenty of time to learn the finer points of r& s .
Windrush wrote; Confession time! I have seen those before and tried to follow them, but just couldn’t get it right.
Yes the diagrams are the most basic and there was a lot more to it, and as you say many drivers had their own way which they thought was the right way! There was also the left handers who could only do it their way. Over time I developed a system of trying to use the least amount of rope as possible mainly because it would be quicker getting the sheets off at the other end. Dolly knots with the smallest head loop I could use (quicker to release the whole knot with one pull down of the hand) and positioning the knot as low as possible and a few other ways, sometimes it meant only using two not three or three not four ropes. Even after using a double dolly to get extra tight, the second knot could be removed and so on. There was folding the sheet on your own too and getting it on your shoulder using the least amount of effort when no body else or a forklift wasn’t around to help, fortunately I had this all passed down to me by Dad, some new drivers were not so well ‘apprenticed’ so learnt the hard way or relied on being shown by the more experienced which many were happy to do. Probably one of the skills I learnt in my lifetime that I regret not being able to still do today but then you recall the pouring rain, frozen and windy conditions and think mmm maybe not ha! Franky.
Oh! what bollox !!! When I started at Brady’s one Sunday morning on the Octopus & Trailer at 18 y.o. Eric Poss. ( Bless him!) said just watch and learn Son! I did ! and in a couple of weeks or so I got the hang of how to do the S & R correctly, and no, I wasn’t perfect for a good while but I persevered and I soon realised , as per my Mate Eric’s mantra " There is only one way to do it mate, and that is the right way" I can honestly say that every load , shape and size, we loaded on the Octopus and trailer was always sheeted and roped immaculately regardless of how many hours we had put in that day ! ( I believe the term is “Pride in your work”) This attitude/regime stuck with me throughout the years I built up Bewick Transport until S & R started to go out of fashion as Curtainsiders gradually invaded the industry which I suppose was just as well as it was accompanied by a general drop in standards. We did , at Bewick Transport, continue to operate platform trailers for a fair slice of our traffic and we were fortunate to still have Shunters of the “old school” who were well versed in the craft of S & R ! I accept that the art/craft of S&R is scorned upon nowadays but it is invariably by those individuals who are totally incapable of performing the task which is sad because whether they wish to acknowledge the fact or not , but that was how 90% of ( at least) goods were transported around the UK until the, probably the mid 70’s ! Cheers Bewick.
Well I never had any problems once been taught how to put Hitches in ropes , Single or Double no problem,My old Mentors were simply the best, Its todays hitches in life that bother me, What will the finale outcome of this awful virus I wonder, It cant be ropped & sheeted can it, 
Regards Larry.
windrush:
Confession time! I have seen those before and tried to follow them, but just couldn’t get it right. Former drivers at the vintage events I exhibit at have started to show me, but then another ex driver comes and tells us that he did it a different way and what I have just been shown is wrong so then they start arguing and I’m none the wiser. I suppose every driver had his own way? I do know that I can’t fold or coil a rope to save my life, whenever we have to rope an enclosure up at a show they tell me to keep well away from it as I get in a right mess. At least I never needed to do roping in my working life, and thank goodness for that! I guess it comes naturally to some but not to me, at almost 70 years of age I can’t even tie a knot in a necktie.If only I could afford ROF’s overpriced sheeting and roping course, I would know everything about ropes then as he taught both Dan and Dennis and they seem fairly good at it. Maybe he does a discount for pensioners?
Pete.
Unfortunately I have had to deny access to my famous Overpriced R&S Courses to those individuals and companies based to the North of Birmingham due to the unfortunate habit of my former customers in this area refusing to honour their obligations with regard to payment. I notice that, in Messrs Bewick’s last post, any mention of my part in his success has been completely overlooked. Never a word of thanks, never a friendly handshake and certainly NEVER A BLOODY CHEQUE!
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I will save my money then ROF, I can’t see me needing to learn about R & S now anyway? Ropes and me are totally alien objects alas which annoys me as others make it look so bloody simple, they can coil a rope neatly in seconds (once again they all do it in totaly different ways! 
) and I just end up with a mess! 
However I’m sure that my ex trucker neighbour will willingly tie a slip knot for me should I ever decide to ‘stretch my neck’ one day!
Pete.
Frankydobo:
Windrush wrote; Confession time! I have seen those before and tried to follow them, but just couldn’t get it right.Yes the diagrams are the most basic and there was a lot more to it, and as you say many drivers had their own way which they thought was the right way! There was also the left handers who could only do it their way. Over time I developed a system of trying to use the least amount of rope as possible mainly because it would be quicker getting the sheets off at the other end. Dolly knots with the smallest head loop I could use (quicker to release the whole knot with one pull down of the hand) and positioning the knot as low as possible and a few other ways, sometimes it meant only using two not three or three not four ropes. Even after using a double dolly to get extra tight, the second knot could be removed and so on. There was folding the sheet on your own too and getting it on your shoulder using the least amount of effort when no body else or a forklift wasn’t around to help, fortunately I had this all passed down to me by Dad, some new drivers were not so well ‘apprenticed’ so learnt the hard way or relied on being shown by the more experienced which many were happy to do.
I never saw that series of diagrams, the first day on my tramping job at Shaw’s my mate George Milner patiently ran me through it several times. Thank goodness I got it before going down the road with that first load, because sure enough my first backload needed roping and sheeting. All the way from London to Bath and Bristol…and nothing fell off or got wet. 
As to rolling and replacing the sheets on board I was pleased he let me into that secret too, because when I got to Midlands Storage they were 40 foot square (for Raleigh bikes) and very heavy, especially when wet. The secret is to roll it as tight as possible to give it rigidity, then stand it on end and quickly crouch at the knees allowing it to fall onto the shoulder exactly in the middle. Then lift in the time honoured safety fashion using only the thigh muscles to stand up straight. Ideally this should be done as close to the trailer as possible as you really do not want to be walking about with that on your shoulders, then a little jerk and sideways thrust and, hey presto, it is on the trailer.
Most important 2 points are rolling it tight and getting it balanced correctly, too far back and you break your back, too far forward and you fall on your face. Both can lead to years of problems. 
Probably one of the skills I learnt in my lifetime that I regret not being able to still do today but then you recall the pouring rain, frozen and windy conditions and think mmm maybe not ha! Franky.
100% agree with that, there was one flat trailer at Gauthier’s here, in 3 years I never saw it used (except by me as the only way to get my nervous Greyhound, Lira, out of my Magnum. The drop terrified her ) but i fantisised about one day coming to the rescue of the clueless Gauls wondering how to do it. ( I had seen returned flats at the docks and knew full well that roping and sheeting was not on their curriculum. ). However I have had a few chances to show off over the years, with my light trailer or securing a load on the car roof rack.
Ha aye Spardo I believe asking questions saves many a mishap, I recall Dad telling me about a young new driver at the company and the Transport Manager asked Dad to sort him some ropes so he could fasten down an already sheeted load, which he did and asked the lad if he knew how to do it, ‘Oh yeah’ he said full of confidence so off he went with the ropes, a bit later he came to my father and asked if there were anymore ropes, ‘Anymore, you couldn’t have used those I gave you surely’ , ‘Aye’ he said ‘but the bits I’ve got left aren’t long enough’. When dad went to see what he meant the lad had put the rope over the load once tied a dolly (which he at least knew how to do) fastened the rope then cut the rope off with his knife, he done that on every hook until he ran out of rope! Possibly why the RTIB decided to issue those rope n sheet instructions for those on their courses. 
Franky.
When I first started work for Baxters Road Services on the Quayside, One of the drivers used to very odd style hitches in, In the winter it was bloody hard work getting them loose, He was a canny lad but Cak Handed as the old saying goes, In later years he worked at Waughies when Baxters joined forces with them, Plus it was the old Sysal rope as all you Oldies will remember,The created Keens quicker than you could say Jack Robinson, I used pee on them as told by one of my mentors & It worked im pleased to say & of course hauling soap from Thos Hedleys as it was called in those days I used to use Camay to wash my hands , Plus I never wore gloves, The good old days, Regards Larry.
windrush:
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I will save my money then ROF, I can’t see me needing to learn about R & S now anyway? Ropes and me are totally alien objects alas which annoys me as others make it look so bloody simple, they can coil a rope neatly in seconds (once again they all do it in totaly different ways!Pete.
Call me sad, but I’ve got two decent ropes and a set of Spanset straps stashed in the shed on t’plot, “just in case”. I’ve also got a few sets of lightweight straps which I use on the trailer, much to my wingman’s amusement!
Frankydobo:
Ha aye Spardo I believe asking questions saves many a mishap, I recall Dad telling me about a young new driver at the company and the Transport Manager asked Dad to sort him some ropes so he could fasten down an already sheeted load, which he did and asked the lad if he knew how to do it, ‘Oh yeah’ he said full of confidence so off he went with the ropes, a bit later he came to my father and asked if there were anymore ropes, ‘Anymore, you couldn’t have used those I gave you surely’ , ‘Aye’ he said ‘but the bits I’ve got left aren’t long enough’. When dad went to see what he meant the lad had put the rope over the load once tied a dolly (which he at least knew how to do) fastened the rope then cut the rope off with his knife, he done that on every hook until he ran out of rope! Possibly why the RTIB decided to issue those rope n sheet instructions for those on their courses.
He should have been transported to the Colonies, namely Australia, that is the method they used down there. Not cutting them as such, but carrying loads of once over ropes hitched to a rail.
Spardo:
Frankydobo:
Ha aye Spardo I believe asking questions saves many a mishap, I recall Dad telling me about a young new driver at the company and the Transport Manager asked Dad to sort him some ropes so he could fasten down an already sheeted load, which he did and asked the lad if he knew how to do it, ‘Oh yeah’ he said full of confidence so off he went with the ropes, a bit later he came to my father and asked if there were anymore ropes, ‘Anymore, you couldn’t have used those I gave you surely’ , ‘Aye’ he said ‘but the bits I’ve got left aren’t long enough’. When dad went to see what he meant the lad had put the rope over the load once tied a dolly (which he at least knew how to do) fastened the rope then cut the rope off with his knife, he done that on every hook until he ran out of rope! Possibly why the RTIB decided to issue those rope n sheet instructions for those on their courses.
If you`ve gotta walk around the back of a road-train every time you chuck some rope over, I guess that stops a few miles of walking!
Spardo:
It is a LOT more difficult to tie a dolly anchored to a closed rail rather than a hook. 
Franglais:
Spardo:
Frankydobo:
Ha aye Spardo I believe asking questions saves many a mishap, I recall Dad telling me about a young new driver at the company and the Transport Manager asked Dad to sort him some ropes so he could fasten down an already sheeted load, which he did and asked the lad if he knew how to do it, ‘Oh yeah’ he said full of confidence so off he went with the ropes, a bit later he came to my father and asked if there were anymore ropes, ‘Anymore, you couldn’t have used those I gave you surely’ , ‘Aye’ he said ‘but the bits I’ve got left aren’t long enough’. When dad went to see what he meant the lad had put the rope over the load once tied a dolly (which he at least knew how to do) fastened the rope then cut the rope off with his knife, he done that on every hook until he ran out of rope! Possibly why the RTIB decided to issue those rope n sheet instructions for those on their courses.
If you`ve gotta walk around the back of a road-train every time you chuck some rope over, I guess that stops a few miles of walking!
Fortunately, in my case, cows did not need roping and sheeting. Just yanking upright every now and again.
It’s Dig who needed the hiking boots.
cav551:
Spardo:
It is a LOT more difficult to tie a dolly anchored to a closed rail rather than a hook.
We know that, cav, but you have to make allowances for the convicts down under!