picked this thing up from Ipswich docks this week, got to delivery in Birmingham thinking a nice kip while they tip it (first time i done anything like this ever) and was told i gotta strip it down to a flatbed it is the norm at the factory as they have quite a few of these every day, just my luck you might want to turn your brightness down on your moniter now, as my cab is a bit bright
before
during
after
basically you pull the sheet off, roll it up, pull the frame to bits fold it up and when empty lift the floor panels up and throw it all underneath, then drop the ends down.
kindle530 You were conned. Its not your job to touch it.If they can’t do it then you take it back to Ipswich or you take it to the nearest container base & dump it until they request it again. Your job is to drive it & their job is to load it & fasten the cargo down to your satisfaction…The most I have ever done is sweep one or two of ‘em out. I often had crane jobs with a 40’ with a tilt top with a TIR cord. I stay in the cab.They do the stripdown & & re-seal.They know the rules.They were basically refusing the box if they expect the driver to do their work for them. At the end of the day its their container.They have actually ordered it to be delivered at that time on that date.
harry: kindle530 You were conned. Its not your job to touch it.If they can’t do it then you take it back to Ipswich or you take it to the nearest container base & dump it until they request it again. Your job is to drive it & their job is to load it & fasten the cargo down to your satisfaction…The most I have ever done is sweep one or two of ‘em out. I often had crane jobs with a 40’ with a tilt top with a TIR cord. I stay in the cab.They do the stripdown & & re-seal.They know the rules.They were basically refusing the box if they expect the driver to do their work for them. At the end of the day its their container.
This is the big difference between Deep Sea and Short Sea box work - on Short Sea stripping boxes and getting in the back with a pump truck is part of the contract, otherwise they would never have got off the ground competing with the unnaccompanied trailer market. If he had refused to do it, that would have been the end of the contract for his gaffer.
The good thing about containers is that the client has no hold over you .You simply call base and dump it on a stack somewhere & the client has to pay for storage and re-delivery charges & you carry on your happy way.Its not like you have load of handball on your boss’s trailer.
But unless you are the shipping line Harry, the haulier is the one who will pay for all that if it is because the driver refuses to do his contracted job. If you go on Short Sea and refuse to strip or tip, you are going against the terms of your contract and any costs will be borne by your boss, not the customer, who will have paid for the driver’s labour as part of the service… Fact.
Tell me Harry, have you ever done Short Sea work in order to have a clue what you are talking about…?
True…But it does frustrate me that people think all box work is the same, and then argue the toss when they get told to tip/strip. Happens all the time with our newer subbies. They don’t last long.
The only sort of box work I haven’t done is tanktainers, so trust me, I know my stuff on this one better than many,
Lucy:
True…But it does frustrate me that people think all box work is the same, and then argue the toss when they get told to tip/strip. Happens all the time with our newer subbies. They don’t last long.
The only sort of box work I haven’t done is tanktainers, so trust me, I know my stuff on this one better than many,
well to be honest it seems as though ive only done deep sea work as well. so lucy if you had a 20ft box with tins of baked beans like i used to take to nettos if that was short sea… would i be expected to tip it.
If it’s palletised and the customer asks you to, then yes. One thing we don’t do is handball. Well…except for empty IBC tanks and big light stuff like that, but it’s quick enough.
There aren’t many "Driver Assist"s like that now, to be honest, it’s more stripping open top/side boxes, tilt-siders, and coilers…plus the occaissonal flat. There are still some though.
I do less than my share these days because of my disability, but even I do some of it - in fact I quite enjoy the exercise and wish I could still do more!
Alex - remember when you saw me at Bedfords? Would have been in the back with a pump truck there if it hadn’t been for the now infamous hole in the roof…
I was told by Ferryways (the agents who had the job from the boat) that it is normal to strip it out down to a flat at that address, there was another subbie behind me who had an identical set up who did that job everyday who said that is the job. I have worked on and off out of Felixstowe, the biggest container port in the UK for around 25 years, and have never touched a container, cos in my time there i have always done tilts, so the actual job of getting off my fat container driver arse and doing something to help the unloading wasnt an issue, it was the fact that i have heard all these stories about container drivers saying not me mate, my job is to bring it here, you got to undo the doors and tip it. P.S as someone said it was a one off job, so me or my boss couldnt really give a … !
Maybe it was the fact that the container company is an Italian firm,and the load was from a company in Italy, so i can see Lucys point about deep sea and short sea, something that id never heard of before, not that i would as i have no time for containers, and have never had the slightest bit of interest in them.( i would consider Italy short sea as you can drive there in a couple of days, not like China ). These kind of set ups are more than likely to be seen on the back of a train coming thru the Channel Tunnel on a train full of containers from Europe than arriving in Felixstowe on a boat from China or wherever.) The reason i did this post and took the pics was just to say…bloody hell , i gotta do some work, with a container, to get it tipped! Not a problem , but i would love to see a container driver take a tilt into the same factory and say… ok i will strip it down to a flatbed, no problem. It will never happen… Its exersise if nothing else, you lazy gits
Dont know if this makes sense, i just got in from the pub, will prob delete this when i get up in morning.
sorry if ive offended any twistlock technicians!
by the way, i had to get a bloke out the office to show me how to fix this container to the trailer!! my god, that cant be safe!! everytime it creaked i thought it was going to fall off! You are welcome to them if thats your thing.
The thing about Lidl’s etc as far as I’m concerned Kindle, is not that you have to tip and load yourself but the safety aspect of the gear you’re expected to do it with. Usually leaves a lot to be desired.
The other thing is that some gaffers expect you to be on a break at such places and get upset when you stop for a 45 on the way to the next stop.
I have done all of the above plus years of roping & sheeting.Centuries of multi-drop groupage in tilts for UK & Swiss firms where you are expected to load & unload yourself. Many years on fridges & the market work as well. Too long on hanging garment.So when it was time to steer boxes & rest it was a refreshing change & I was just the right height for the job.
kindle530:
I Dont know if this makes sense, i just got in from the pub, will prob delete this when i get up in morning.
no dont delete it
I will leave most of it up just for you dad dont want to start a war:wink: , im not very good at saying what i want to say at the best of times, let alone after a night on the lash. The fact that i had to strip it out wasnt a problem as ive done years of tilts, it just surprised me that i had to do it, until Lucy wrote what she wrote earlier, i was like many others, just thought a container was a container and that automaticly meant that you didnt touch em, i know better now though
it is the norm at the factory as they have quite a few of these every day, just my luck 
you might want to turn your brightness down on your moniter now, as my cab is a bit bright 
