yes that was me friday leaving the yard with the hiab 30 foot up in the air… was loaded up ready to go and usually put the crane back down, had to run in the office, got distracted , came out jumped in the cab and off i went thinking i had already put it down, just thought i was i popular with all the lights being flashed at me, luckily i only made 500 yards down the road before i realised but , just goes to show how easily it is done, has anybody else suffered momentary lapses like this?..
kemaro:
yes that was me friday leaving the yard with the hiab 30 foot up in the air… was loaded up ready to go and usually put the crane back down, had to run in the office, got distracted , came out jumped in the cab and off i went thinking i had already put it down, just thought i was i popular with all the lights being flashed at me, luckily i only made 500 yards down the road before i realised but , just goes to show how easily it is done, has anybody else suffered momentary lapses like this?..
Left the rear shutter up once after being distracted and my the time I got to the next delivery (less than a mile away) a couple of cartons were right on the edge. Make a point of touching the catch before I head off and havn’t done it since.
not quite as dangerous i know but i set off with trailer legs still down last week , got coupled up then got talking to a shunter and forgot to wind them up . luckily i only went about 20 feet before said shunter gave me the warning 
i’d also forgot to reset my suspension so i was still high enough to not make contact with the ground so no damage this time .
kemaro:
yes that was me friday leaving the yard with the hiab 30 foot up in the air… was loaded up ready to go and usually put the crane back down, had to run in the office, got distracted , came out jumped in the cab and off i went thinking i had already put it down, just thought i was i popular with all the lights being flashed at me, luckily i only made 500 yards down the road before i realised but , just goes to show how easily it is done, has anybody else suffered momentary lapses like this?..
One our drivers was unloading, blocked up a busy one way system, police were called and told him to hurry up etc, so started rushing. Finished unloading jumped back in the cab started to drive off… Bang! Crane was left out to the side and went straight through the side of someones out building.
I’ve watched someone drive off with it up before, i started shouting OI, then he realised. Easy done sometimes if your in a rush, nearly happened to me before, but always check my mirrors to make sure its down, but we do have buzzers inside if the legs or crane is up.
kemaro:
yes that was me friday leaving the yard with the hiab 30 foot up in the air… was loaded up ready to go and usually put the crane back down, had to run in the office, got distracted , came out jumped in the cab and off i went thinking i had already put it down, just thought i was i popular with all the lights being flashed at me, luckily i only made 500 yards down the road before i realised but , just goes to show how easily it is done, has anybody else suffered momentary lapses like this?..
Do you not have an alarm in the cab??
The crane should not have passed it’s yearly inspection without a cab alarm.
alfa man:
kemaro:
yes that was me friday leaving the yard with the hiab 30 foot up in the air… was loaded up ready to go and usually put the crane back down, had to run in the office, got distracted , came out jumped in the cab and off i went thinking i had already put it down, just thought i was i popular with all the lights being flashed at me, luckily i only made 500 yards down the road before i realised but , just goes to show how easily it is done, has anybody else suffered momentary lapses like this?..Do you not have an alarm in the cab??
The crane should not have passed it’s yearly inspection without a cab alarm.
Sometimes there not very loud or if you leave the pto on then turn the igntion off with out turning the pto off, then start up again they dont buzz. Or they just get un-plugged because sometimes they buzz even if nothing wrong (say if the legs move about abit).
What do you use a crane for?
so u drove away in a hurry , yet had time to put the legs up but not crane away 
the legs should be the last thing to be stored away after the crane.
dazaster:
so u drove away in a hurry , yet had time to put the legs up but not crane away
the legs should be the last thing to be stored away after the crane.
Some lorries you have to lift the crane up for it to be loaded, so legs dont need to be down. Although some new cranes have to have the legs down for the boom to raise.
dazaster:
so u drove away in a hurry , yet had time to put the legs up but not crane away
the legs should be the last thing to be stored away after the crane.
Possibly a builders merchant situation where the crane is lifted out of the way to allow loading by forklift.
I got a call off a builder merchant customer of mine “could you pick our crane up off the road”, “where?”, “do you know the rail way bridge in queensferry”.
I wast keen to go thinking local paper head lines of crane lorry hit bridge and then pics of my wagon! I went no reporters, so no bad advertising 
found their lorry parked one side of bridge, and the crane in the road on the other side of the bridge and oil all over the place!
The wagon was still drivable just minus the crane but was written off by the insurance, train were not delayed for too long, and luckly for them hardly any damage to bridge.
As said above a warning in the cab is part of the crane test. You get a head ache off mine from out side the cab near enough inpossable to stay in cab with it going, even had complaints when operating crane about noise of buzzer
When I used to deliver to coffee shops in London, I’d had one small delivery not worth draging a cage out on the tail lift so I’d stacked the stuff on the lift at the vehicle floor height so I could carry it in from there. Came back out with delivery nots signed and drove straight off! Caught sight in a shop window reflection and put it away before damage done.
pig pen:
I got a call off a builder merchant customer of mine “could you pick our crane up off the road”, “where?”, “do you know the rail way bridge in queensferry”.
I wast keen to go thinking local paper head lines of crane lorry hit bridge and then pics of my wagon! I went no reporters, so no bad advertising
The wagon was still drivable just minus the crane but was written off by the insurance, train were not delayed for too long, and luckly for them hardly any damage to bridge.As said above a warning in the cab is part of the crane test. You get a head ache off mine from out side the cab near enough inpossable to stay in cab with it going, even had complaints when operating crane about noise of buzzer
I remember seeing that!
had to put a one of our old rigids on the bay earlier before i went off this morning… looking in left mirror for the trailer to swing round and thinking well where is it?? …when there was a bit of a bang! reversed into the rsj post on my right hand side! completley forgotten it wasnt a trailer! no damage really just a blue dent up top… boss just smiled and said wake up will ya! 
I’ve driven some HIABs that only have a light in the cab and no siren/tone. What I’ve also done is left a side locker open. It was only having gone around a roundabout when I saw something flap that I pulled in to check. Didn’t lose anything but worrying even so.
I’ve been distracted and rushed after a drop and ended up going back to the drop to collect the pad left on the ground 
Some of the trucks won’t let me put the boom up without dropping the legs and others won’t even lift the boom until I have extended BOTH legs either side.
Mistakes happen, remember to do the walk around before departing or even a glance over the load bed to make sure it’s all stowed properly…
Saratoga:
.I’ve been distracted and rushed after a drop and ended up going back to the drop to collect the pad left on the ground
I’ve painted my pads bright orange and still sometimes have to get back out of the cab to pick them up.
8wheels:
Saratoga:
.I’ve been distracted and rushed after a drop and ended up going back to the drop to collect the pad left on the ground
I’ve painted my pads bright orange and still sometimes have to get back out of the cab to pick them up.
Dont think there’s a hiab driver in the country that has’nt had to go back to a site for a jack leg pad
Me included
alfa man:
8wheels:
Saratoga:
.I’ve been distracted and rushed after a drop and ended up going back to the drop to collect the pad left on the ground
I’ve painted my pads bright orange and still sometimes have to get back out of the cab to pick them up.
Dont think there’s a hiab driver in the country that has’nt had to go back to a site for a jack leg pad
Me included
True! once got given a leg pad, the last hiab wagon there had left them and never came back for it (weeks before) so the bloke on the site gave it to me.
Most of our drivers use bits of wood for pads. When i was given my lorry will had to cut the pad lock off as no one had a key and it was so rusty wouldnt of come off anyway… Same driver for 5years lol.
I have a routine of putting the crane, legs and pads away then strap the load back down, then deal with paper work. I couldn’t give a toss if i’m holding someone up, they can get the paper work themselfs if they wish. The govner dosnt mind to much if we hit something reserving on to site but a crane accident would be major serious.
Never left the crane up, outriggers out, or pads behind. The last thing I’d do is a walk round.
I once had a collection of drainage pipes from that concrete place in Wishaw, bound for the then new Tesco in Annan. The only problem was, they were expecting an artic. There was so much stuff on the back there was nowhere for the crane to be rested on the bed. On the way back I was on the hard shoulder doing 10mph more often than not, because of some safety feature built into the system that cuts engine power if the crane’s raised over a certain height.
Done two stupid things with a crane truck. First was driving off with the PTO still in and wondering what the ■■■■ is wrong with this poxy gearbox. Second was not putting the locking pin in the n/s leg (manual on my truck) so it slid outwards. The first I knew was when I heard a huge thump and looked in the n/s mirror to see a wheelie bin full of rubbish go hurtling through the air, spewing crap all over the place. I was in the middle of nowhere, so no harm done, but I must admit I had a chuckle at the site of it.