I would like as much information as possible
doing container work as I no very little about the
job. I would like to know how difficult the job is
and how things work at the docks ect. Also things
like getting the boxs locked on and adjusting the
trailer. The places you deliver to and what things
you might have inside the container.
Cheers 
convoy:
I would like as much information as possible
doing container work as I no very little about the
job. I would like to know how difficult the job is
and how things work at the docks ect. Also things
like getting the boxs locked on and adjusting the
trailer. The places you deliver to and what things
you might have inside the container.Cheers
Container work is very hard work and you should leave it to the professionals convoy. 
Itâs not something that youâll want to get involved in as there are far easier driving jobs out there.
Thanks for the replys and the link Krankee
Its pretty easy Convoy if you get on a good firm.
Locking you box on/off with twistlocks,basically turning a handle 90 degrees.
Depending which dock you go to its swings and roundabouts,sometimes its ok,half hour later its â â â â â â .you soon get your way around and some of the happier drivers amongst us will show you the ropes
skeletal/slider trailers areânt difficult either,its just a case of swapping airlines open/shut trailer swap airlines back and thats it,making sure the pin locates in the right place for 20â boxes Laden/Unladen and obviously making sure your trailers fully stretch for a 40â box.
I personally deliver all over the place,we have some regular tips,but mainly its different everyday,I also reload the boxes which some firms dont do,they go from dock,tip and then back again empty.
From my point of view the job is easy,and i like it ,but other drivers get bored with sitting on their arses,which from time to time annoys me a bit,but on the other hand i might do a tip and a reload in a whole day,sometimes i just tip and turn and thats it for the day,none of this 8-10 drops/collections a day which i wouldânt like,you also dont have to worry about loading the wagon up either,as the container is loaded and sealed,put on the lorry and all you have to do is drive it,most of the time you dont even know whats in it.
The only downside is if the japs or whoever load it badly,the wagon will go over,and you wont know it til it happens. 
Why the interest anyway Convoy,didnt think they had container work round your neck of the woods.
PM me if you wanna know anymore,but im sure there are wiser souls on this site than myself.All the best anyway 
If you do it, chat to other drivers if you can. A lot of container work is salaried and they can take the bloomin mickey - ie watch out for cowboysâŚSome firms may push you to the edge of and beyond if you let them the tacho laws.
Take a big hammer with you to help shut salt-eroded handles, and a decent boltcropper for when you go to a cash and carry or wherever and the seal is one of the metal core onesâŚYou need a torch for doing vehicle checks and replacing bulbs that get blown when the crane drivers bosh the box down too hard.
Make sure you have the box loaded with the doors at the back. Sounds obvious but you never knowâŚ
Docks work differently from place to place, always but always watch your back as those cranes wont see you before you are squashed. The decent ones, like Humber Sea Terminal (well was like this 2 years ago when I did containers) work something like this; Get box number off office, go to docks, book in office and get given a loadlist. drive into one yard and join the Q. Drive into a box when it is your turn (having made sure the locks are undone), have box lifted off. Drive into next yard, go into portacabin and book in, return to wagon, bossman radios crane to get your box, when you are signalled, drive under crane have box dropped on, drive away and get out and do up the twist locks. Q to get out and on your way.
Exxtors just down the road was awful in comparison though I believe it has changed practices since someone may or maynot have been killed.
There you drive in, and again using a reference number get paperwork, join a Q to have the box removed. Then you had to park up, get out the wagon and walk the isles to find the box. Then you had to get the attention of a crance driver and point to the one you wanted. and to your wagon, then have it dropped on.
All in all, I did enjoy containers in itself, but get a decent firm thatâll look after you. And donât let them pressure you, as they try to squeeze more boxes into the time.
Thanks for the information its very much appreciated.
I have been contacting companyâs looking for full time
work class 1 or 2 and knew Hanbury Davies as a
depot in doncaster which do container work which I
knew nothing about so asked before contacting them
just 1 last thought, most skellies have an extendable âunderrun barâ, which you adjust according to which length box you have on, 40 or 45 foot - make sure its at the correct length for the container you have one! (ie stops car drivers decapitating themselves by running under the back of a 45 foot box on a 40â trailer.)
convoy:
Thanks for the information its very much appreciated.
I have been contacting companyâs looking for full time
work class 1 or 2 and knew Hanbury Davies as a
depot in doncaster which do container work which I
knew nothing about so asked before contacting them
Have you tried Newell & Wrights at Templeborough? (opposite Magna)
I think most of their work is containers.
No not tried Newell & Wrights yet. I was looking
for there phone number ybs I think there called
based near bawtry I believe with blue wagons
Convoy i have been driving for 12 years on and off and i dont containers for the first time this year, a very daunting experiance until you do it a couple of times then you wonder what all the fuss was about .
Its actually quite simple just a few things i would warn you about.
Always make sure the trailer is extended fully when it needs to be I.E. 40;45 or 2x20 ft boxes.
It can be embarresing when the toploader comes along witha box and the trailer isnt long enough 
Dnt go throwing it around corners because you DONT know how well its loaded inside stick to less then 22mph on sharp corners and roundabouts.
Be nice to the guys at the docks, get to know them and you might just get a quicker turnaround.
Iâve kind of not got around to posting on thisâŚmy apologies.
The only thing I can really add to the above is the distinction between Deep Sea and Short Sea container work.
Deep Sea is what everyone first thinks of as containers - weâre talking Maersk, K-line, Hyundai, Cosco, NOL, Hamburg Sud, P&O Nedlloyd, Hapag Lloyd etc. etc. etc. here. These boxes come in through Deep Sea Terminals - Southampton, Felixstowe, Thamesport/Isle of Grain, Tilbury Deep Sea, and Seaforth Deep Sea mainly (although some land at lesser ports) - and off the train at the major railheads. This is the blissfully easy work everyone talks about so far as lack of hands-on tipping is concerned, and an awful lot of the freight is handball - a standard width box is too narrow for pallets plus itâs an inefficient use of space in the box - so 3-4 hour tips are by no means unusual. Take plenty of books!
You also do a lot of empty running on Deep Sea. The Shipping Lines pay the hauliers round trip, so there is no pressure to find backloadsâŚplus there is less freight going out to the Far East and America than there is coming in! Youâll also find that some firms have the few reloads âsewn upâ, and youâll be, say taking a loaded Maersk to tip somewhere, then returning to port, then going back to the same town with an empty K-Line to load (for example). Itâs all very much âjobs for the boysâ, and an awful lot of what on the surface appears to be illogical planning will happen, and in reality be making your firm a fortune. (My favourite would be taking an empty box into a railhead, clouting it with a sledgehammer, then booking it back out and returning it to port as âdamagedâ. Daft, but worth a lot of money, believe it or not!!! )
Short Sea work is less well known but massively growing in this country, another reason why there is less and less Continental driving to be had. Lines include Geest, ECS, Kursui Linia, CMA, Containerships (us!), and many, many more. These boxes tend to come from the smaller ports eg. Hull, Teesport, Immingham, Harwich, Ipswitch, Grangemouth, South ShieldsâŚagain, the list goes on. Small ports generally means smaller queues, so thatâs a plus point unless youâre paid by the hour.
The BIG difference with this kind of work is that you WILL be expected to get in the back of the box from time to time (although how often varies) and you WILL be insured to do so by either your firm or the Shipping Line. This is a condition of contract for these Lines, and refusal may well cost you your job.
Most Short Sea freight is in the slightly wider âPalletwideâ boxes, and the terminology for the various sizes is often peculier to the Line eg. Containerships call what to the rest of the world is a 40ft Palletwide Hicube by the term âJumboâ, and a 45ft Palletwide Hicube is a âMagnumâ. These lines tend to be a bit of a law unto themselves, and hence their âlanguageâ is often out of step with the Deep Sea worldâŚwhich can be fun at railheads, ports and storage yards which deal with both, as Deep Sea jargon invariably takes precedence. It pays to know the standard term as well, in other words.
Again, because most of the freight is palletised, the tips are often (although not always) much shorter. An hour is average. Short Sea Lines are far more insular and efficient within themselves, so you will reload a lot more often - the majority of the time in fact, unless the box is damaged or dirty - and you donât get anything like as much of the âjobs for the boysâ-type stuff described above. Competition is fierce for Short Sea freight, so these Shipping Lines avoid talking to each other unless they have to! (Competition is also the reason for the whole âDriver Assistâ thing - one Line did it to get the edge, and the rest followed suit to keep their contracts from being poached. So long as you can handle a Pump truck, youâll be fine. )
Another kettle of fish entirely are 30ft bulk boxesâŚthe most notable being those owned by UBC (and which are also marked up IBC and IFF - both obsolete liveries which are being phased out). But Iâve waffled on for far longer than I intended to here as it is, so Iâll leave both those and Tank Containers for another day! 
Depending on the type of firm you go for, you may find yourself doing a bit of both/all of the above. (Hanbury certainly do from Doncaster) My previous firm, for example, did all 3 types of box as well as the odd bit of tilt work when things went slack. Itâs when you do a variety of work like this that you realise that there is far more to containers than meets the eye, and that it pays to learn/know your stuff. What ever sort of work you go for, a thorough working knowledge of Hours Law is vital - especially for trampers - as the hours will be long and you will be expected to use every âlegal loopholeâ in the book, including Split Shift Rules.
If you do decide to go for it, I have an Idiots Guide to Container Work which I could e-mail to you (it would take a bit of digging out, so youâd have to be prepared to wait for it!). It covers the different kinds of Deep Sea work, the different procedures at ports and railheads, operation of the different kinds of sliding skelly (there are several), and the different types of boxâŚplus a few other things.
It was written a few years ago so there are odd bits which are out of date, plus the Short Sea bit is yet to be added, but itâs still very relevant and should help you make sure you pick the right firm/job as well as save you a lot of hassle when you first start by telling you some inside âtricksâ which you will only otherwise learn through bitter experience. Give me a shout if you want it!
Hope that helps.
Thanks for all the information. I contacted
Hanbury davies but no jobs out of doncaster
or local to me yet so they have took my details
if anything comes up. I will let you know lucy
about that Idiots Guide to Container work if a
job comes up