that load looks possitively safe compared to some i used to take out when running a crane wagon, personally i’d always strap the bottom packs of timber before the next went on top (especially important with old sleepers or rough timber) and then stop a few miles down the road to retighten the rachets as timber will always settle leaving the straps slack 
as for complaining about the load? i’m not so sure, your the bloke thats taking it out and it’s down to you to make sure your happy with it, i’ve had many a crossed word with a forkie who thought he knew how to load something better than me, golden rule better to spend an extra hour loading rather a day picking it up off the road.
as mentioned, idealy there should be no void down the middle, but with a crane job it’s a must, so upright timbers put in place so the next pack traps them in does the job.
Paul it’s good to hear a different view on the matter and I agree with a lot of what you’re saying.
I’ve taken out more than that without problems too. It’s that extra hour you mention…I’m just not given it!
As for arguing with the forklift drivers, I have had those rows and they’ve stopped helping me load up (and the boss backs them up) on top of that one of them seems to spend most of his day trying to catch me out in one way or another.
This bloke has got an HGV licence, but he can’t read a plating certificate. He tried to tell me the rear axle maximum weight was the tare weight for the vehicle. He also thinks a 14 tonne DAF is an 18 tonner because it says 55.180 on the door. 
When he looks at the 18 tonners plate he reads the 19 tonne ‘design weight’ not the 18 tonne MAM right underneath.
I’ve seen this bloke load that same 14 tonner (with somebody else driving this time) so that the back mudflaps were sitting 3 inches in contact with the floor. Me and the driver were stood shaking our heads!
The boss tells me I have to listen to these “experienced” goons.
18 tonner because it says 55.180 on the door
aint that any wieght from 55tonne to 180tonne 
Andyroo:
Gordy:
What’s more important to you, doing this dead beat company favours, or holding on to your license?My licence, but paying the bills until I find something else (not easy round here) is a big factor.
I’m more worried about my neck than my licence, when I have to clamber over the top of it all to strop it up and/or get the tilt on. I don’t really know where I stand on the height of the load, they only worry about the weight limits…I’m just scared I’ll fall 12-13 feet to the ground one day.
I haven’t mentioned that this load is going down some of the tightest, bumpiest roads Norfolk has to offer.
Anyone who’s ever driven down the road from Potter Heigham to Hoveton and then on towards Coltishall will know how bad it is.
I’m sorry for all the moaning I’m doing…I’m just at a loss as to what I should do!
Sorry if I appeared too blunt.
I definitely feel for you having experienced what sounds like workplace bullying in other industries.
Regarding falling off the truck it happened to me from a relatively low hieght due to nothing more than a wet metal bed. I ended up with a fractured collar bone and I won’t let it happen again.
Is there no way you can go with an agency?
Offshore we got it hammered into us, 'Every man is his own safety officer".
I got so fed up with safety breaches I did some whistle - blowing, gave me a lot of sleepless nights worrying about my job, but I hung in there and things got changed.
I’m sure the old hands on here can tell you the right approach.
Good luck, please take care of yourself.
paul b:
that load looks possitively safe compared to some i used to take out when running a crane wagon,
The only thing that truck is missing is Granma Clampet* in her chair at the top.
*Beverley Hillbillies
we got a few Times fined in Italy as the loaded Timber was 1,2 Feet overhanging.
One Driver,already fedup with timberload phoned Boss if he pays Fine for 3 Feet overlenght which was by Boss denied.Loading Company denied as well.
So he cat it,to find by unloading out that he had loaded a Part of a Roof for a Bungalow
Mike-C:
paul b:
that load looks possitively safe compared to some i used to take out when running a crane wagon,The only thing that truck is missing is Granma Clampet* in her chair at the top.
*Beverley Hillbillies
There is one major/minor point missing here!!!
Ok you load up like that ,i.e above the height of your bars and with no real secure way of stopping that load moving.
Scenario!!
You drive careful an steady
Idiot one cuts you up and causes you to swerve (a natural reaction)
load falls off truck and lands on a car with mum dad an 2 kids in
WHO IS GONNA GET THE BLAME FOR THEIR DEATHS
NOT YOUR BOSS (ALTHOUGH HE MAY GET A SMALL FINE)
NOT THE LOADER
YOU YOU YOU
THE FIRM WILL JUST SAY “WE NEVER TOLD HIM TO LOAD LIKE THAT”
THE LOADER WILL SAY “THE DRIVER SAID IT WAS OK LIKE THAT”
THE GRANDPARENTS WILL SAY
“WHERE IS THE JUSTICE ,HE WALKS FREE AND OUR CHILDREN ARE DEAD”
A bit worse case scenario but ■■■■ happens and YOU are the collector
Mike-C:
paul b:
that load looks possitively safe compared to some i used to take out when running a crane wagon,The only thing that truck is missing is Granma Clampet* in her chair at the top.
*Beverley Hillbillies
perhaps a bit old school or maybe a bit naive but i always think you can load anything on anything so long as it’s within the weight limits, so long as you load it correctly and secure it correctly, if that means 20 straps and two hours to load then so be it!
A couple of things I thought of, looking at your first pic’.
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I would say that you need more bearers on top of that bottom pack of timber. The bottom boards in the next pack are drooping, making it more difficult to get your strops through. At least one or two more bearers under the bottom pack wouldn’t go amiss either
What blithering idiot put a board vertically on the side of a bundle? (very top bundle). As soon as you tighten a strap over that, the vertical board will turn, if it doesn’t immediately, it will at the first bend.
Full width bearers, if practical, will also help stop your load closing together as you’re driving along.
It should be built pyramid shaped. Full width of the bed for the bottom layer of packs, closer for the next layer and up against each other for the top packs.
To do that, you’ll have to have your strops already around the last pack you load, so you can lift it off. The last pack you load will obviously have to be the first pack you’ll be lifting off.
I would say that they have done a really crap job of building that second pack. It’ll have been an absolute pig to secure that load properly (from what I can see in the pic), hardly a board lines up with what’s underneath, to transfer the pressure from your straps straight down through the load. It looks like it was built to look good from the front end, not to be transported on a wagon. I would be pretty dubious about taking it out. I might even have refused to take that pack until they re-built it to my liking.
(Long strong ones on the bottom, thinner droopy ones on top of that, and the short ones, in the middle of the lengths, on the very top.
Without seeing it properly, with my own eyes, I can’t make a proper judgement, but from what I can see, that is what I would do, if possible.)
Unless it was a short pack that went on top of that lot, that wouldn’t have been very secure either, for the same reason.
Stopping and re-tightening your straps is very important. As has been mentioned, moved packs of timber settle, so straps can get looser. They can even move. So don’t think twice about getting high enough to be sure your straps are still where you want them to be. If they have a long straight run, put a twist in the strap. That stops them vibrating in the wind, which stops them chaffing on corners of timber.
I would say that the sooner you get a job somewhere else, the better.
I did sawn timber for a year, but it was full 45’ trailer loads (plus overhang). Full loads out that was, there could be 2 or 3 deliveries in the load. 3 packs high, similar to the bottom pack in your pic, took the load to 15’ overall height, which just got under the bridge on our only sensible route to the motorway. All our packs were square ended / sided, roughly all the same height and a little under half a trailer width. They could be anything from 5’ long to 20’ long or longer, but they were all basically big bricks of wood. There is room, on a 45’ trailer, to arrange the load so that the packs interlocked too, like the bricks in a wall are interlocked. I still managed to loose about a quarter of my load once. Luckily in a lorry park, so off the Queens highway, the rear strap snapped as I was turning into the lorry park. It took me most of the night to pick the bloomin boards up n re-stack my load, and that was with the help of 2 guys my boss sent down to help me.
Not really relevant to what you seem to be doing though. 
paul b:
Mike-C:
paul b:
that load looks possitively safe compared to some i used to take out when running a crane wagon,The only thing that truck is missing is Granma Clampet* in her chair at the top.
*Beverley Hillbillies
perhaps a bit old school or maybe a bit naive but i always think you can load anything on anything so long as it’s within the weight limits, so long as you load it correctly and secure it correctly, if that means 20 straps and two hours to load then so be it!
I agree to a certain extent. But it looks like they ain’t giving him the time to and also he needs more than two straps or slings, a good few of them bundles should be left with the slings on at that height if only to save clambering over it all. And the only safe way to load that lot would not be in drop order !! Have a look at the second photo down at the timber lying across the (much smaller) boards, i wouldn’t fancy crawling over that lot.
First I’d put some bearers or something down the middle to stop the straps pulling the load into the centre.
Then depending on how long you’ve been employed there and how willing you are to stand you ground then refuse to move until you Health and Safety concerns are met.
As you dispute is over a health and safety issue they might have more problems sacking you than you think. Get more photos and make a note of all incidents and the outcome of all the incidents where you have had problems.
This gives you load of ammo at an industrial tribunal, should it come to that.
muckles:
First I’d put some bearers or something down the middle to stop the straps pulling the load into the centre.Then depending on how long you’ve been employed there and how willing you are to stand you ground then refuse to move until you Health and Safety concerns are met.
As you dispute is over a health and safety issue they might have more problems sacking you than you think. Get more photos and make a note of all incidents and the outcome of all the incidents where you have had problems.
This gives you load of ammo at an industrial tribunal, should it come to that.
deffo put something down the middle to tighten it all up, then get another job! i remember when you said you got a job there and how good it was, you obviously gone thru the honeymoon period, and with those idiots there i would DEFINATLY get yourself another job, if youre not happy you will get more resentful about turning up every day. Now you got some experience on the 17 tonners you can get a bit more choosy as to what you wanna do.
And welcome back mate!
Mike-C:
paul b:
Mike-C:
paul b:
that load looks possitively safe compared to some i used to take out when running a crane wagon,The only thing that truck is missing is Granma Clampet* in her chair at the top.
*Beverley Hillbillies
perhaps a bit old school or maybe a bit naive but i always think you can load anything on anything so long as it’s within the weight limits, so long as you load it correctly and secure it correctly, if that means 20 straps and two hours to load then so be it!
I agree to a certain extent. But it looks like they ain’t giving him the time to and also he needs more than two straps or slings, a good few of them bundles should be left with the slings on at that height if only to save clambering over it all. And the only safe way to load that lot would not be in drop order !! Have a look at the second photo down at the timber lying across the (much smaller) boards, i wouldn’t fancy crawling over that lot.
I’ve got about 10 Straps of varying lengths and 4 crane strops, but 2 of the strops aren’t long enough for most sets of timber.
I’m actually in the middle of a huge ongoing argument with the firm about all this and on the other side they are taking disaplinary action against me for being slow and having an “unhelpful attitude”.
They say I’m too pedantic about how the load goes on and don’t go fast enough and I don’t take the advice of their “experienced” staff, who I mentioned earlier.
As far as the sets not being suitable for transport, their attitude is that I can restack it before I take it…but that takes time and I’m not quick enough for them anyway!
Absoluletly no effort is made to put any of the orders I need to take out together either, sometimes if one order is made up of three sets of timber, the three sets will be in three different places in the yard.
If I didn’t need the money they’d have been told where to shove their wood a while ago.
kindle530:
deffo put something down the middle to tighten it all up, then get another job! i remember when you said you got a job there and how good it was, you obviously gone thru the honeymoon period, and with those idiots there i would DEFINATLY get yourself another job, if youre not happy you will get more resentful about turning up every day. Now you got some experience on the 17 tonners you can get a bit more choosy as to what you wanna do.And welcome back mate!
Thanks for the welcome back.
I think I remember being happy working for them!
It was a lot better at the start when I was at the Norwich depot, the transport manager there knew what he was on about and planned the loads perfectly…he never had many good words to say about the Yarmouth depot either and I respected his opinion.
Andyroo:
I’ve got about 10 Straps of varying lengths and 4 crane strops, but 2 of the strops aren’t long enough for most sets of timber.I’m actually in the middle of a huge ongoing argument with the firm about all this and on the other side they are taking disaplinary action against me for being slow and having an “unhelpful attitude”.
They say I’m too pedantic about how the load goes on and don’t go fast enough and I don’t take the advice of their “experienced” staff, who I mentioned earlier.
As far as the sets not being suitable for transport, their attitude is that I can restack it before I take it…but that takes time and I’m not quick enough for them anyway!
Absoluletly no effort is made to put any of the orders I need to take out together either, sometimes if one order is made up of three sets of timber, the three sets will be in three different places in the yard.
If I didn’t need the money they’d have been told where to shove their wood a while ago.
I think they are trying to make a case to get rid of you, you need to fight back. Start taking photo’s of how the truck is loaded and other dangerous loads in the yard, make sure you are seen doing this , this will annoy them, but they will be a bit careful, because they know if anything happens you now have some evidence to back up claims of the bad practices you are complaining about.
What happened to the Norwich job then and how far are you willing to travel for a new job?
YES as people have said take photos , also write a letter
asking them to provide new straps and anti-skid matting
ask them when it will be provided, stateing your reasons
as to why you require these items,WHEN you POST the
letter send it RECORDED, this ensures that they can not say
it has not been reported, MAKE three(3) copys of the letter
1,for the firm–2.for you,3,this one for either the HSE office
orthe UNION; or/and a LAWYER,
this firm is one which has a very bad and lax attitude to
HSE regulations, if you look at the HSE site IT POINTS OUT
what your employer has to ensure is carried out,and if they fail
to do this, it can/will HAVE VERY SERIOUS consequences
for thepersons responsible,
AS every has said get looking for another job, you will find
a better one that is miles better than the one at present.
muckles:
I think they are trying to make a case to get rid of you, you need to fight back. Start taking photo’s of how the truck is loaded and other dangerous loads in the yard, make sure you are seen doing thisWhat happened to the Norwich job then and how far are you willing to travel for a new job?
Oh I think they certainly want rid of me, I’m one of the few people that don’t take **** off of them and I certainly don’t kow tow to the seemingly self appointed ‘foreman’ in the yard. All the others there just keep their heads down and their mouths shut or they hide up out of the way!
I started working for them in Norwich, but they transfered me over to Yarmouth when one of the drivers left.
I’m certainly prepared to go to Norwich for work, it all depends on the exact circumstances of the job but I’m prepared to commute.
Andyroo:
I’ve got three applications for jobs pending, I’m desperate to leave.There are people who work there who make my life a misery, but the management thinks highly of them and little of me. The management doesn’t see what goes on when they aren’t looking though.
Yep, just seen you’re teabreak post too! 
Andyroo:
I don’t really know where I stand on the height of the load, they only worry about the weight limits…I’m just scared I’ll fall 12-13 feet to the ground one day.
Indeed. If you fell off there would your current company pay for you to be off for x amount of time recovering? You can get a broken back for a lesser fall.
The HASAW (Health and Safety at Work) might be relevant here as well. However much they push you around you are still the one taking the chances not them.
If they think that can load it faster, have they offered ? Unlikely!