ive got the day off 
& im bored!
so, why do you see the brick, & block trucks with 22 pallets of nice, tightly shrink wrapped bricks with a net over the top?
i can see why they were used years ago on loose bricks ( i used to help the drivers unload at the building site behind our house when i was a kid, & get 50p for my trouble! 
)
but why now?
im not stirring up trouble, im curious 
paul
It’s viewed as an insecure load if they’re not err, secured by some means other than it’s own packaging. Yes, I know, I know, the things didn’t move for years but people who know much more about these things than the drivers have decided and thats the end of it 
thank you
paul
When I did my first HIAB test, a few years ago, I rember being told, never rest the HIAB on the truck bed, as anything laying on the bed of a truck that is not secured, could be viewed as an unsecured load, so always fold the hiab.
A 500 pack of bricks = approx. 1.25 tons, anyone who accepts a plastic bag and a couple of plastic bands as a secure load restraint wants their head examined.
bob
Flat Back passed me on the M1 this morning with the 1Ton bags of Sand on the back, only the last 2 on the back end had a strap over them, even 4 perched on the top of the load along the middle were not fastened down
Then again, it would of took 10 mins or so to fasten the ratchets and there’s just not the time in the day for silly things like that now 
Davey Driver:
Flat Back passed me on the M1 this morning with the 1Ton bags of Sand on the back, only the last 2 on the back end had a strap over them, even 4 perched on the top of the load along the middle were not fastened downThen again, it would of took 10 mins or so to fasten the ratchets and there’s just not the time in the day for silly things like that now
Might have been the same bloke but I saw pretty much the same thing during the week sometime
Other shocks were seeing an unmarked unit and trailer carrying plenty of steel girders secured simply with ROPE 
I kid you not and a low loader tramming up the A34 with a biggish Cat on the back, secured with ratchet straps and not a chain in sight
I was always taught that if you’d be happy lifting the load with whatever you’re securing it with then you’re probably doing okay 
Therefore, lifting a 26 tonne bunch of steel girders with rope wouldn’t last long and trying to lift a 26+ tonne Cat with ratchet straps…
I agree with Rob K.
On low loader work about 10 years ago the boss taught me one useful lesson.
“If you can turn the trailer upside down and it doesn’t fall off,it’s safe.”
That lesson taught me that whatever load you are carrying,it takes a couple of minutes to throw an extra strap or chain over, but can save you countless minutes of looking in your mirrors for the security of the load or having nosey coppers looking to do you for an insecure load.
Going on that rule, I never lost a load, whether it was 1 ton or 40 tonnes.
All the best.
Niall:
I agree with Rob K.
On low loader work about 10 years ago the boss taught me one useful lesson.
“If you can turn the trailer upside down and it doesn’t fall off,it’s safe.”
So all those trucks that roll over on the road isn’t down to bad driving or being cut up, it’s the drivers testing their load security.
muckles:
Niall:
I agree with Rob K.
On low loader work about 10 years ago the boss taught me one useful lesson.
“If you can turn the trailer upside down and it doesn’t fall off,it’s safe.”So all those trucks that roll over on the road isn’t down to bad driving or being cut up, it’s the drivers testing their load security.
NICE ONE
I’m only trying to help here lads, the comment the boss made was useful to me at the time.
An accident can happen at any time, and if your load is secured to the best of your abilities with the equipment supplied at the time,it lessens the blame on you with the wheel tappers and the courts.
Niall.
Davey Driver:
Flat Back passed me on the M1 this morning with the 1Ton bags of Sand on the back, only the last 2 on the back end had a strap over them, even 4 perched on the top of the load along the middle were not fastened downThen again, it would of took 10 mins or so to fasten the ratchets and there’s just not the time in the day for silly things like that now
The guys who deliver in to our yard were told by someone maybe the quarry i dont know but they were told NOT to use flatbed trucks to transfer dumpy bags any more, so they all come in curtainsiders now.
Just being curious about nets but does anyone actually think a net would stop bricks going off the side of a truck?.
Niall: it is good advice,
it’s just I saw a funny side to it, No offence was meant, really, honest,
Rob, a GOOD rope and sheet man can tie anything down!! A guy where I used to work roped and sheeted a full load of drums … on the way back to the yard, he put the whole outfit in a ditch… over on its side AND HE NEVER LOST A DRUM!!! Mind you, he was one tough man… used to frightn the life out of me and I am 6’ and 17 stone… he was smaller than me but had that ‘look’ in his eyes. He was the yard man the last couple of years I worked there… and if someone had upset him and he was loading their trailer, he would rope their load so tight, the guys would more or less cry!!! His dollies were hard enough to undo at the best of times … gawd help you if you had upset him. Came from up your neck of the woods too…must be something about these Yorkshiremen
Hi Muckles,
No offence taken mate. The other half read the page and laughed.
The trouble is there is too many new drivers on the road these days with no experience and no - one to give them any advice.
All the best.
TheBear:
Rob, a GOOD rope and sheet man can tie anything down!!
Might be true, but if I was going to use a rope on a load of steel, I’d want the one they use to tie up the QE2 on the docks.
When you see a sheeted load and it is all neat and tidy with nothing blowing or flapping in the wind and the sheet tucked in level at the bottom, the odds are that the load underneath will be well secured.
I’ve been doing it for some time and I have nothing on my trailer (including timbers) that doesn’t have a rope, strap or chain securing it. Takes a little longer at drops but I don’t have to worry about corners and roundabouts etc.
Roping & sheeting is an art and should not be done in haste nor the cutting of corners to save a few seconds - someones life could depend on it.
flatbedman:
ive got the day off
so, why do you see the brick, & block trucks with 22 pallets of nice, tightly shrink wrapped bricks with a net over the top?
i can see why they were used years ago on loose bricks ( i used to help the drivers unload at the building site behind our house when i was a kid, & get 50p for my trouble!
but why now?im not stirring up trouble, im curious
paul
Cos if we dont net them we are not permitted to leave the brick / block plants, simple as that.
Nice one Dogmanbodie.
I cut my teeth on rope and sheet. (No jokes about dentists please!) . Nowadays the only drivers on flats seem to be the old boys.
Before curtainsiders with strong sides the only trailers were flat, with a pile of timbers and ropes, a fly and a top sheet or 2.
I remember trying to sheet a load at Immingham on a Friday night at 6-00 pm in a thunderstorm once.It took about half an hour and I was soaked to the skin.
I did it again years later in a curtain and it took 10 mins.
Progress or what?!
All the best.
Niall:
Nice one Dogmanbodie.
I cut my teeth on rope and sheet. (No jokes about dentists please!) . Nowadays the only drivers on flats seem to be the old boys.
Before curtainsiders with strong sides the only trailers were flat, with a pile of timbers and ropes, a fly and a top sheet or 2.
I remember trying to sheet a load at Immingham on a Friday night at 6-00 pm in a thunderstorm once.It took about half an hour and I was soaked to the skin.
I did it again years later in a curtain and it took 10 mins.
Progress or what?!All the best.