any body else on brick and block work or hiab? been on it a good few years now and find it much better than rdc work but some folks hate it. love it or hate it?
Bricktrotter is on it 
shuttlespanker:
Bricktrotter is on it
so is monach of the highway.
And Grayham? I’ve done it in the past on agency and enjoyed it more than most other driving work.
So am I occasionally.
Ken.
Forklift drivers always the best friend of a hiab driver. Which says it all really, hiab works to be avoided. Saying that i’ve had some good jobs with hiab doing the roof trusses. More recently wagon and drag using hiab to deliver and sometimes fit concrete panels, floorings and stairs, had some good runs to the highlands and islands where to expensive for cranes using the ferrys.
Wintertimes not good for hiab work either. 
A nice tan in the summer though. 
Brick & block i find boring but so is most driving jobs i suppose. My Hiab ALLMI card has expired although still use hiab when needed. Not worth renewing myself, will wait till my employer like last time pays for it.
Hiya i had a hiab in 1977 there was not many about in those days. i’d go to a site
and it was arranged to tip other trailers… it was brilliant as sometimes if i was waiting for a
lorry to arrive i’d unload other trucks that was not my job but i got a back hander for.
many £5 notes changed hand…it’s a pitty we did’nt have mobile phones in those days.
in the late 70’s there was no fork trucks on site and not many JCB’s with forks so everything
was handball unless i was around…i did a job from Buxton to wolverhampton
it run for about 4 months…it was 7 million concrete commons i would do 1 load a day and tip 8 other
loads sometimes 10 loads a day i think i got £8 for every lorry i tipped… plus the odd load of steel or timber
i tipped that was back pocket money.
John
Nothing wrong with brick and block, aslong as your prepared to get you hands dirty, up to your ankles on muddy sites etc, especially now the winter is drawing in.
Pavaroti your wrong the hiab is really your best friend, the sooner the forklift driver signs your ticket and (zb) off the better, just let me get on with it. No hanging around waiting to be tipped either, just fire up the crane and get em off 
Mind you im not paid by the hour so maybe different for some folks.
I do brick & block work, great job, yes sometimes it can get a bit muddy and dusty but it takes me 12 mins to tip a full load of blocks (26.5t) no waiting at rdc’s or listening to drivers stories… And this time of year no tipping in the dark…
not done brick/block work, round timber and i enjoy the job.
anythings better than rdc work evern at this time of year,
rain snow daylight or evern in the dark get on the crane, however it does
get spooky in the woods after dark when your on your own
(i would of added a photo but ive no idea how to) 
Plant, storage containers and site welfare units I do.
Everyday’s different, then you get… ‘I want it over/under/through (fence/brick wall) there’!!! 
The biggest annoyance is the site’s not prepared and you run out of packing trying to level the unit. And they wonder why the doors don’t open!! 
I do brick and block work and i love it…i agree with graham,its a brill job in the better months but can be a bit mucky in the winter and i like the challenge…some of the sites you go too think trucks are 4wd when you see what terrain they want you to go over to drop things…you just have to be sensible especially in wet conditions…if they insist they want things in a particular place and you think it could be a bit dodgy…i carry an indemnity book which i ask the site manager to sign to say if anything happens they are liable…usually just asking them to sign it works and they tell you to drop them in a more convienient place…after all they have a forklift on site.
been on brick n blocks for 8 years 6of those as employed driver 2 as od wudnt want to go back to genral bein at the mercy of rdcs n lazy ■■■ forklift drivers its not every ones cup of t and can test your driving skills goin onto some sites even finding them can be a ball ache,but use yr noggin n stick by yr guns n if you think the grounds to soft to drive on dont!you mite get the odd groundworker saying its well solid under there drive you wnt get stuck but here be nowhere to be seen whn you do.theres genraly no weekend work n im normally parked up by 1600 on a fri why my mates on the boxes are stuck god nos where n running in on a sat for there 1.20 a mile the only downside is yes in the winter it can be muddy but spare boots n a boiler suit do the trick
yep i no bricktrotter very well. monach got me out of the ■■■ once trying to find a farm in middle of no where when i was on for bretts . im sure i must of come across graham in borough green or tilbury. i like the fact that alot of the brick lads no each other. and yes graham you are right, first job on site is get ticket signed . i think its more of a hands on job some times loading yourself, securing loads propely, unloading yourself, some really tight addresses, long twisty reversing excersises , mud, dust and heavy loads. plus being on percentage you feel like you really have earned your pay. it just seems more old school if you no what i mean. but i guess thats why its marmite work.
Grayham:
Nothing wrong with brick and block, aslong as your prepared to get you hands dirty, up to your ankles on muddy sites etc, especially now the winter is drawing in.Pavaroti your wrong the hiab is really your best friend, the sooner the forklift driver signs your ticket and (zb) off the better, just let me get on with it. No hanging around waiting to be tipped either, just fire up the crane and get em off
Mind you im not paid by the hour so maybe different for some folks.
Who for, big paddy O’ Flannery in the middle of a building site ? the mind boggles.
The winds blowing a gale and its pishing with rain, fun and games, beats doing a trunk, changeover anyday. If its a choice between an rdc an a building site, i’ll take an rdc, at least its clean and warm, and maybe some crumpet to look at, flirt with. 
I’m on it now and I would say its the best job ive ever had.
The only downer is trying to keep the inside clean.
If its not dust then its mud
archie79:
any body else on brick and block work or hiab? been on it a good few years now and find it much better than rdc work but some folks hate it. love it or hate it?
its an old thread this but any of you lads still on brick/block work,i notice just this last couple o months the jobs picked up a bit,claughton manor near Lancaster have started producing bricks again after a long shutdown,so Iv,e seen a few motors going in there
I collect from various brickworks, Ibstock at nostell was due for closure in June, the forkie driver told me just last week that the management had taken back there redundancy notices and that some bricks are now on 6 to 12 weeks back order. Meanwhile over at Hull dockside where the Terca Weinerberger bricks land , they have emailed the Terca dock office to send back the empty trailers pronto as Terca themselves have run out of them, Keedwells are running out of there everyday and apparently cannot keep up with demand. I spoke to a Bellways site agent a while back he said they had just ordered 65 million bricks for their new development and paid up front for them as they are apparently panicking they cannot get the full amount without being put on a waiting list.The rebound has taken everybody by surprise.
roadrunner:
I collect from various brickworks, Ibstock at nostell was due for closure in June, the forkie driver told me just last week that the management had taken back there redundancy notices and that some bricks are now on 6 to 12 weeks back order. Meanwhile over at Hull dockside where the Terca Weinerberger bricks land , they have emailed the Terca dock office to send back the empty trailers pronto as Terca themselves have run out of them, Keedwells are running out of there everyday and apparently cannot keep up with demand. I spoke to a Bellways site agent a while back he said they had just ordered 65 million bricks for their new development and paid up front for them as they are apparently panicking they cannot get the full amount without being put on a waiting list.The rebound has taken everybody by surprise.
The job has picked up and it seems to me there’s a lot people coming out of the woodwork with old crane trls tht have been parked up for a few years comin back on it the only problem now is it’s monopolised buy the likes of Wincanton norbert n kee dwells I’ve been doin it for a good few years and seen people come n go it’s the same old supply n demand thing again people jump back on it cos its bizzy and before you no it the jobs flooded with people trying to make a quick buck