Car Transporters

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

I’ve been reading this forum for several months now and enjoy reading about the trials and tribulations experienced in different sectors. Have been a little lax in contributing myself, however :blush: . I recently started a job on car transporters and seeing as it doesn’t seem to get much of a mention, I thought I’d share my experiences.

First of all, being a newbie, I’ve got one of the older style ‘peak deck’ articulated transporters, as opposed to the drawbar units now used universally. For anyone unfamiliar with these as there aren’t that many on the road anymore, the car over the roof of the cab is linked to the trailer, not the cab. Hence when you steer the cab, the front of the rig ‘splits’, which if you don’t perform the correct steering maneouvres, the vehicle is 20 foot wide going round corners :open_mouth: .

Now if you think getting round a modern traffic light junction is challenging in a normal artic, try one of these. The deck (loaded with expensive, delicate car), is at perfect level to demolish traffic lights, lamp posts, road signs, trees, buildings(!), high-sided vehicles (why do trucks attempt to overtake me on approaches to and on roundabouts??) basically anything over 10 feet high that sits close to the side of the road when the cab is turning. You name it, the lads at my place of work have hit it! Two that come to mind include slicing down the side of a double decker which attempted to get around a colleague on a roundabout, and a hotel in coastal resort which had a porthole built in the side. In the few months that I’ve been doing the job, I’d clipped three traffic lights, smashed a belisha beacon and walloped a road sign. Apparently that’s not a bad record for a newbie. :open_mouth: I’ve heard a rumour going around that these particularly types of vehicles have been banned (by the EU!) and this ban comes into force next year. I can understand as the peak does provide a hazard to road furntiure, but personally I love the challenge offered by driving it. Does anyone know if this is true or not?

Apart from the joys of the peak deck, the pros and cons of the job are:-

PROS

  • Get to mess about with some expensive and swanky cars

  • Money isn’t too bad

  • Start times to suit, you can only work when the dealer is open

  • You load, stand back, and then think “Bloody hell, I did that!”

  • A car transporter is basically a big toy for adults!

CONS

  • The peak deck makes the majority of service station truck bays hard to get into, and impossible to get out of. You have to park around the edges of truck parks and then some drivers get annoyed because they feel you are being ‘aloof’. We park there because we have too!

  • The cabs are similar in size to puddle jumper cabs, not ideally suited for a weeks tramping. In fact, they’re hopeless!

  • Whatever the weather is doing, you’ve got to work in it. Having worked on a deck this morning that had turned to sheet ice, this is not always fun! Was dreaming back to my days on containers. Now that is a cushy job in the winter time…

  • It bloody hurts when you fall off!!

  • Although you get to drive swanky cars, you also get to damage swanky cars! Generally the more expensive the car, the lower the front valance, the wider it is, and the more low profile the tyres are, removing any protection from knicking the alloys. And vehicles DO get damaged. Regularly!

Enough from me for now, does anyone else have any interesting stories or experiences with these vehicles?

2

I don’t think I would be alone in hoping you might do a diary with pictures of your working week. :smiley:

3

Yes, do a diary :smiley:

4

Cars are the best way to make anything like a decent wage in the N>East & ive a few mates that do it but to much agro for me dont fancy it at all

5

I was on transporters for 5 years before i packed it in for an easy life. I worked for Walon on a Toyota/Lexus contract out of Portbury docks in Bristol.

The only way I can describe it is:- the best paying, most intresting, fun, arse-twitching, dirtiest piece of crap job I’ve ever had!!

It really was all that. I did a couple of years with an artic with a peak & can honestly say I never hit anything with it. :stuck_out_tongue: I then had a 9 car wagon & drag which was easy & very quick to load. Then I got an 11 car wagon & drag which was a pain.

I can confirm that it hurts like hell when you fall off. I only fell from a few feet & managed to rip my cruicate ligaments out of my knee & spent a year out on the sick.

It would be great to see some pics of your truck.

6

you often see ecm advertising in the trucking press and often thought about giving it ago but was put off by liviing in a wendy house all week.

go on lank give us a diary with photos :smiley:

jon

7

Lank:
You load, stand back, and then think “Bloody hell, I did that!”

That’s so true. :sunglasses: :sunglasses:

8

Will perhaps consider doing a diary when I’m back at work. I’m off now until the New Year as the motor industry basically shuts down for Christmas :laughing:

Will try and take some photographs as well to show the effects of the peak deck and how interesting it can be seeing a car slicing through the air next to the cab, heading straight for another traffic light :open_mouth:

For now, Happy Christmas to all. Methinks it’s time to start on the Christmas alcohol stocks that have been building for a few weeks :laughing: