sammym:
Certainly was my last shift at a builders merchant. I have a lot more respect for the hiab men - but I shall not becoming one of them. Give me a fridge or a curtainsider anyday.
Life is a learning curve. With these sorts of things, there are many varieties of truck mounted cranes/hiab.
It is always worth getting familiarised on those vehicles, but as you said, there is usually no one around to help you when you need it most.
At least one company I worked for sent me out on my first day with the regular driver to learn his truck. I spent 8 months there and that 26t with a rear mounted remote operating hiab was pretty awesome.
Most of us have had these sort of problems in the past, Learnt the hard way, and had our ups and downs.
Do not let it dishearten you.
I have had plenty of bad experiences with various manual handling equipment, such as cranes, tail lifts, cherry pickers, trucks and their ancillaries.
My mistakes have usually come about through lack of knowledge of those devices, coupled with rushing by being late for whatever reason, or just not being told about the correct way of doing things.
Do not give up. But likewise, do not overstate your knowledge.
If you are doing something like this again, double check, and as per this thread, make sure you know how to operate it before leaving the yard.
The license is there to show that you have been trained on the basics, on one specific model.
When I got my license, it was on a Beavertail rigid with a hook and lever controls option. But I had more experience using brick grab and remote With those particular builders merchants. And they are always pushing you on time.
The last full-time job I tried for on an atlas. Had me commuting an hour to get to work, they put me out in the worst vehicle in the fleet, where the gearbox was literally falling apart, and the boom only operated when a piece of wood was jammed on the accelerator pedal to lift the revs too 1000.
One of the pneumatic hoses let go and sprayed oil everywhere. Plus I was on a “training wage“ that was at national minimum wage. And this was only 6 years ago.
I had not lasted a month, and then they refused to pay me. So yes, I ended up moving elsewhere entirely.
I had my class 1 by then and moved onto reefers.
There are quite a few companies out there that are after hiab operators And some will train you, so you learn their specific procedures.