Hi. Can anyone tell me what the law/situation is regarding a receiving customer instructing a driver to get in the back of the trailer and tip the load using a pallet truck which is then lifted off the trailer with a fork lift truck?
I am going to have a stab at this - do not take this as the difinitive answer.
The load whilst on the trailer is deemed as the drivers’ responsibility so it would seem reasonable to expect the driver to put the load in such a place that the customer can get at it, however, health & safety must come first and if, as the driver, you feel that what they are asking you to do is unsafe, then refuse but do not expect some-one else to do it unsafely! You could ask them or your employer for a “risk assessment” of the task.
Once again, do not take this as gospel - better experts around this site on this subject than me
I am lucky we deliver shipping containers and do not under any circumstances get in the box, unless of course the guy who asks has a £20 note in his hand… 
do that every day of the week on collections ,pump truck put in back of truck with forklift, i move pallets which he puts on back of trailer with forklift,then he takes pump truck off again , forkie always gives me a free pack reject sarnies for my help.[didnt know they were rejects until he had another truck in and he said grab yourself a pack of sarnies from the reject box 
said you might as well have them as theyll only get binned 
Ok, points taken. However, how about a fridge full of frozen chips to a customer who says ‘we are not insured to get in the back of your truck’ to which I say ‘the people who loaded the truck were…’ and then I said ‘you can get insurance for anything, it depends on the quality of your policy…’ What I’m getting at is can, in this day and age of health and safety, cool chain, quality control etc am I expected to sit in the cab while its being loaded drinking a Klix coffee only to huff and puff at the other end because the receiving party cannot be bothered to unload it themselves as long as I’m about to do it. Remember, I don’t own the truck, I don’t own the trailer, or the load or work for the freight forwarder. I’m a self employed driver doing a job on a casual basis for a third party contractor…any more comments welcome…
I am sure i read this once…
The driver is under no obligation to provide plant or power in the loading or the unloading at a traders premises…
Mind you the bloke rufused the load cos i would not help and i was hauled over the carpet for my flippant remark!!
At the time i just didnt fancy pulling 25 ton of dog food up a trailer…
David H:
Ok, points taken. However, how about a fridge full of frozen chips to a customer who says ‘we are not insured to get in the back of your truck’ to which I say ‘the people who loaded the truck were…’ and then I said ‘you can get insurance for anything, it depends on the quality of your policy…’ What I’m getting at is can, in this day and age of health and safety, cool chain, quality control etc am I expected to sit in the cab while its being loaded drinking a Klix coffee only to huff and puff at the other end because the receiving party cannot be bothered to unload it themselves as long as I’m about to do it. Remember, I don’t own the truck, I don’t own the trailer, or the load or work for the freight forwarder. I’m a self employed driver doing a job on a casual basis for a third party contractor…any more comments welcome…
I think Rog has summed it up about right. But if it is a frozen place you are delivering to then surely you need thermal gear on to go in the back of the trailer into their warehouse?
You could pull the same insurance stunt they did and tell them you aint insured to be in their warehouse? Failing that i would just lie on the floor in their warehouse next to a pallet truck and shout out for a first aider tell them you’ve jusy hurt yourself. That should ensure a nice chair to sit on and a cup of tea whilst they get the stuff off!!! Then ask them for an accident report form and say you slipped on ice !!!
Mike-C,
if its a scheduled unload then unload it (freezer gear permitting) if it means getting out of there faster then unload it. The amount of agency boys we have who won’t handball or help out amazes me, its part of the job or at least it was(and still should be).
We work mainly tech and telecoms, so T/L and grunt its part of the job (Iam sure Coffee has had plenty of this 
) as long as you are working safe then do it, record it as other work to be squeaky clean then the next time you see them reap the benefits of having others muck in and help as you helped them.
AN hours physical work may do your ticker some good too!! 
N2N Transport:
We work mainly tech and telecoms, so T/L and grunt its part of the job (Iam sure Coffee has had plenty of this
Yep, cabinets, racks or frames weighing anything up to 1250 Kgs from the trailer to wherever the customer wants it. Down through the underground car park and into a basement below teh parking level. Up stairs, because they are too big or heavy for the lift, to the 9th floor on one occasion and 2nd or 3rd floor on countless occasions.
These days though it is the other extreme, I’ve been in the back of a trailer twice in the last three months. I know which I prefer.
N2N Transport:
. The amount of agency boys we have who won’t handball or help out amazes me, its part of the job or at least it was(and still should be).
the polish guys usually unload without any hassle
Smee:
I am lucky we deliver shipping containers and do not under any circumstances get in the box, unless of course the guy who asks has a £20 note in his hand…
Its worth noting that you must get the cash in your hand before you help. 
Some places slip me a few quid just for turning up, like the git who had me sit there for 6 1/2 hrs yesterday, but he did give me a tenner
Too Fat To Fly:
Smee:
I am lucky we deliver shipping containers and do not under any circumstances get in the box, unless of course the guy who asks has a £20 note in his hand…Its worth noting that you must get the cash in your hand before you help.
Some places slip me a few quid just for turning up, like the git who had me sit there for 6 1/2 hrs yesterday, but he did give me a tenner
i deliver container’s nd i have a standard rate of 25 for a 20 foot and 50 quid for a 40 foot and to this day they tell me o go and sit in the cab and it would be money up front i am paid to drive not unload the fluffin thing
Coffee,
you remember the old Nortel days with Simon at said transport company (Allport), 9 ton of cabinets at 350kgs and above each in lifts that they barely fitted without leaving the mate pinned against the lift wall on the off chance you get it out.
Glory days good money, hard graft and the benefit in your back pocket
Got 3 weeks berlin to andover top rates if your interested!!
Might add just back from geneva after T/L rectifier cabs at 1500KGS each (10 of) hard work but the norm £1.15p/h makes me laugh. You’ve got to specialise to accumualte in this game
David H:
…any more comments welcome…
Get in the trailer and do 20 mins semi physical work. If you dont like dont work.
The customer is a client, not your boss.
Your boss instructs you, a client requests.
A clients employees definitely request, put them straight immediately the first time they instruct you. Tell them where to get off after that.
(Different areas use different phrases, sometimes the words used sound like an instruction, I go by the tone of voice as much as the actual words.)
ROG:
You could ask them or your employer for a “risk assessment” of the task.
That all seems reasonable, except for this bit ROG.
You are your employers (and your own) representative, there on the spot.
Why don’t you do your own H&S risk assessment?
You are the one who’ll be doing the task, not some numpty from an office who’s never done the job and who has also got a vested interest in having someone else do it.
You can see the dangers involved just as well as anyone else, like - slipping on ice, pot-holes in the yard, piles of scrap or rubbish left in stupid places, the fact that your trying to maneouver heavy pallets close to a dangerous drop in a restricted space, etc etc.
You then take appropriate safety measures, like - putting sawdust on the ice so that you don’t slip, getting someone to guide you around the dangerous obstacles or getting them moved, getting help with the first few pallets to ensure you don’t fall off the back of your trailer.
You are a truck driver, part of the job sometimes means being involved in the physical loading and unloading. Make a safety assessment, take appropriate safety measures and get on with the job.
Why is it someone else’s responsibility to make sure that you are safe?
The person most concerned with your safety is you.
One of the things I like about this job is the independence of it
I don’t want anyone looking over my shoulder at my every move.
Making someone else responsible for every little problem that occurs whilst I’m doing my job wears away at my independence.
(OK, I know we have the boss, all the official bodies, like the Police, VOSA etc, who’s job is to look over your shoulder, but if you do the job properly you rarely see them in their official capacity.)
N2N Transport:
Coffee,you remember the old Nortel days with Simon at said transport company (Allport),
He’s still there.
N2N Transport:
9 ton of cabinets at 350kgs and above each in lifts that they barely fitted without leaving the mate pinned against the lift wall on the off chance you get it out.
Yep, or lifts where you were right on the weight limit and you had to have a lift engineer in attendance in case it went pear shaped. Some of the stunts we pulled to get the kit into places that hadn’t been designed for it would have given an H&S man a coronary. Getting the double cabs (750ish Kgs) unbolted from and off the pallets was an art in itself,
N2N Transport:
Glory days good money, hard graft and the benefit in your back pocket
Was a licence to print money.
N2N Transport:
Got 3 weeks berlin to andover top rates if your interested!!
If I still had a vehicle I would be interested, but I don’t and anyway I start a new job a week on Monday.
David H:
only to huff and puff at the other end because the receiving party cannot be bothered to unload it themselves as long as I’m about to do it. Remember, I don’t own the truck, I don’t own the trailer, or the load or work for the freight forwarder. I’m a self employed driver doing a job on a casual basis for a third party contractor…any more comments welcome…
Try lifting the air on the unit an inch or two - there ain’t much huffing and puffing involved with getting pallets to roll down hill.
You may not own the load or lorry, but whether you like it or not you are an ambassador for the guy who does. Upset the customer and get banned from site, or create friction between your employer and his customer, which could lose him future work ain’t going to help your cause too much. An upset customer can easily rock the boat a long way up any chain which you as the driver won’t always see, but are responsible for.
Attitude at the customer can impact considerably on what the tip is like next time - don’t forget it’s the name on the side, not yours that will be remembered, so the next driver might be getting your attitude back in his face.
If there’s safety issues involved, phone your guvnor and let him sort it, otherwise just get on with the job.
David H:
…I’m a self employed driver doing a job on a casual basis for a third party contractor…any more comments welcome…
If you’ve aquired the job yourself it depends on the t’s & c’s you set down.
If the guy just rang you and asked you to a job for him, casual or not, you are bound by his t’s & c’s for this job/contract with this customer.
Stan
It is a tricky question and in a perfect world i wouldn’t hesitate in “Assisiting” the unloading process.
But,things have changed-I used to jump in the back of containers with no questions asked or seek payment for it,a bloke was hurt-serious injury-and when he went to his transport company for medical,off work etc payments his transport company denied all compensation a/c "He was acting as an agent of the recieving company"Off course he applied with the company that who owned the goods and on their premises etc and no surprises they denied any liability.
Keep this in mind…