Moaning ¿*#¥s

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

When loading a trailer with bulk recycled wood waste, the usual method for getting your sheet back over is climb on roof, level load and pull the sheet over. On a level load you could pull the sheet over, from the ground, with a ‘throw over’ rope.
Some of our jobsworth drivers find this “dangerous” or too hard.
We have a job loading wood waste from a skip company in Loanhead… Its as easy as pie, drive in shed, take roof off, loading shovel loads you…then a non native climbs on your trailer levels your load and pulls your sheet over. Now how easy is that??

Ah not so fast…out esteemed drivers rep has this gem…if you let that man on your roof and he falls, then you as the driver is responsible and will be charged with corporate manslaughter.
I kid you not. So now you have grown men refusing to do this load!
Me, I couldn’t give a toss. Let me on the load, let him on the load, makes no odds to me. Its the job get on with it.

2

sack the pricks.
it’s the can’t do attitude of the british worker that will drive our economy down below the GDP of the antarctic.

3

happysack:
Me, I couldn’t give a toss. Let me on the load, let him on the load, makes no odds to me. Its the job get on with it.

Your employer won’t buy a piece of equipment that costs £10 000. You fall off the load & injure your back. You’re off work for 6 months. Your employer doesn’t pay you for malingering in bed, you get £85.85pw, for 6 months.

Makes no odds to me, if it doesn’t look safe then I don’t do it.

4

Chas:

happysack:
Me, I couldn’t give a toss. Let me on the load, let him on the load, makes no odds to me. Its the job get on with it.

Your employer won’t buy a piece of equipment that costs £10 000. You fall off the load & injure your back. You’re off work for 6 months. Your employer doesn’t pay you for malingering in bed, you get £85.85pw, for 6 months.

Makes no odds to me, if it doesn’t look safe then I don’t do it.

I’m sorry, I should have also added that we are provided with a belt style harness that attaches to two wires running the length of the trailer to stop us falling over the side. Most sites also have over head gantries with full fall arrest harnesses.

5

My mate does this kind of work for R Plevin and Sons, they’re not given the harness, but he’s commented on others having it, like Stobarts and Jenkies.
He thinks it looks great, the harness.

There’s some places that won’t let you climb up in their yard, so you have to go out onto the road to do it, that I think is daft.
At least if you fall in their yard, you’ll be seen and dealt with straight away, out on the street however… :open_mouth:

There’s a job going there, but I’m asthmatic and worry that it wouldn’t be great for my health, I’ve seen him sneeze snot balls of wood dust, that can’t be good for anyone, asthmatic or not.
I could probably manage by wearing a mask, walking around looking like Michael Jackson :grimacing:

6

Not sure if plevins provide masks or not. When I tip recycled wood, I always wear a proper, filtered respirator. Or whatever they are called. Aye you look stupid in one but, you never know where the wood has come from or what its been treated with.
But don’t tell me I look like Michael Jackson. I can’t even ■■■■■■■ moon walk.

Here mixed reports from their drivers. Some happy, some not. Bit like any other company I suppose!

7

happysack:
I’m sorry, I should have also added that we are provided with a belt style harness that attaches to two wires running the length of the trailer to stop us falling over the side. Most sites also have over head gantries with full fall arrest harnesses.

So why’s the rep claiming you’ll be charged with corporate manslaughter if/when someone falls off?

8

So why’s the rep claiming you’ll be charged with corporate manslaughter if/when someone falls off?

Because he’s a unionised idiot possibly? Some of the drivers don’t like the recycled work,.as its dirty and dusty. They think we should do nice clean wood chips and pallets.

Will add that the corporate manslaughter is only if you let a third party onto your trailer to level the load.

9

waynedl:
There’s some places that won’t let you climb up in their yard, so you have to go out onto the road to do it, that I think is daft.
At least if you fall in their yard, you’ll be seen and dealt with straight away, out on the street however… :open_mouth:

OK, imagine it’s your yard that the drivers are climbing all over their lorries in. If/when one falls off, you get prosecuted by the H&S. Your insewerance pays out for their injuries, next year your insewerance is more expensive. You waste 100’s of hours of your management time in dealing with the aftermath.

If they fall off on the road outside, you make a phone call.

Interestingly, the last training course I had, the trainer actually had a bit of sense about him. “Where is a safe place to be when the forklift is zipping around unloading your truck”, assuming you have to be there at the same time.

10

Chas:
“Where is a safe place to be when the forklift is zipping around unloading your truck”, assuming you have to be there at the same time.

Looking out the office window with a cuppa in one hand and a biscuit in the other?

11

asleep in the cab

12

happysack:
Not sure if plevins provide masks or not. When I tip recycled wood, I always wear a proper, filtered respirator. Or whatever they are called. Aye you look stupid in one but, you never know where the wood has come from or what its been treated with.
But don’t tell me I look like Michael Jackson. I can’t even [zb] moon walk.

Here mixed reports from their drivers. Some happy, some not. Bit like any other company I suppose!

He’s quite happy, been there a couple of years now, home every night, good wages etc.
He complains a bit about some of the older trailers, and what I mentioned above, but that’s about it.
I wouldn’t do nights out for them though, they won’t pay parking, they’re happy to go home to their house with a toilet, shower, cooking facilities etc, they should at least pay parking for the drivers so they can go for a ■■■■ on a toilet rather than in a tesco’s carrier bag IMHO.

Chas:

waynedl:
There’s some places that won’t let you climb up in their yard, so you have to go out onto the road to do it, that I think is daft.
At least if you fall in their yard, you’ll be seen and dealt with straight away, out on the street however… :open_mouth:

OK, imagine it’s your yard that the drivers are climbing all over their lorries in. If/when one falls off, you get prosecuted by the H&S. Your insewerance pays out for their injuries, next year your insewerance is more expensive. You waste 100’s of hours of your management time in dealing with the aftermath.

If they fall off on the road outside, you make a phone call.

In my opinion, there’s risk in everything, especially in this type of work, but if you run a yard where it’s required that people are going to have to climb on the trailers to level the load, then you should make that as safe as possible. What’s wrong with a cherry picker, or a gantry, or a barrier style system that attaches to the forks just to protect the driver.
These people just want drivers in and out as quick as possible to make as much money as possible, they need to take some responsibility as far as I’m concerned.

I’m sure a sharp lawyer would be able to screw them if you’d fallen outside their premesis after loading in there, but your average driver couldn’t afford that lawyer, 1 test case would sort these sort of cowboy outfits out for good.

When I was on for Stobart, I had to pick a trailer up at a garden place, fences, trestles, that kind of thing. Pre loaded, but not strapped, they insist it’s strapped before you leave the yard, but the straps aren’t adjusted, so you’ve got to climb on the trestles to adjust the straps. I asked a forkie to lift me up on a pallet, he said no, I said that I’m either not taking it or not strapping it, his choice.
2 hours later, much arguing between him, me, stobart planners etc and I took it with no straps (in a taut).
Why should I risk injuring myself doing stupid ■■■■ because these muppets don’t want to take responsibility?

13

We’re not allowed onto loads to trim them, but I’ll do it if carrying compost or lime which will blow off if left above the bodysides. Despite sheeting (only an automatic with the arms down the sides and a net) it will still blow off…and stick like hell if it’s raining.
Another thing: Not allowed to climb in onsite to clean load residue. Have to get ladders from workshop or access platform at gravel pit.
Not much good tipping topsoil near Newbury, coming back to Oxford then “backloading” flint out of Thatcham though.

14

i know a firm that is being sued,a next door neighbour offered to help a driver unload,as the builder was not around to receive his goods,the neighbour was inside the trailer,and fell on his head,in hospital injured,he told the firm it was his fault,and said he would take no legal action.
The old man later changed his mind,as is sueing,on the grounds that the driver did not “train” him on the safety matters of unloading.
The old man hit his head on the kerb of a pavement,falling out of the trailer.This is where the driver will be asked if he gave the man PPE.
I have been told to wear a hard hat while on a tail lift,in case the boss saw me,at the builders yard,the hat has no chin strap,so would be no good at a fall of 6 feet.
Hazard lights on at depots,if you can not see an artic,then you are not fit to work there.

15

A bigger problem than climbing onto a loaded tipper are the idiots who start tipping, then get out to undo the tailgate.
I’m meant to tell people to put ppe on if they’re out of the vehicle, and to report them. No thanks, I’m paid to drive a shovel not be health and safety manager.

16

Chas:

waynedl:
There’s some places that won’t let you climb up in their yard, so you have to go out onto the road to do it, that I think is daft.
At least if you fall in their yard, you’ll be seen and dealt with straight away, out on the street however… :open_mouth:

Interestingly, the last training course I had, the trainer actually had a bit of sense about him. “Where is a safe place to be when the forklift is zipping around unloading your truck”, assuming you have to be there at the same time.

We had one driver use an internal strap to pull himself up onto the bed of the lorry. Strap was not connected properly, he fell back, fortunately landed on his feet from app 3 foot up so no injury. Should’ve checked strap with a sharp tug first IMO.

Our boss’s solution was a corker. We were provided with a set of steps (the sort with castors that automatically sit still when you put weight on them) and told to use these to access the lorry when loading; goes without saying that we need to do this to set the internal straps.

Steps were dark blue in colour, no hi-vis markings; boss could not understand why I maintained that they were more of a hazard to both lorry driver and FLT driver when in use. Worth adding that boss has never driven a FLT and does not understand how limited the driver’s view is when loading a full pallet approx 5 ft high onto a load bed.

In answer to your question, I would suggest by the lorry cab, but well away from the actual loading point to avoid being hit by either the FLT or the pallet if it tips. There should ideally be no other personnel on the loading pad barring the driver and the FLT.

17

if you have a good machine driver should be no need to climb on the load, i sometimes get a problem with chips if they have been loaded too high but normally a good couple of shunts get them level, beeen to a few places where their staff get on the loads and level for you, have been told not to get up there myself as only their employees are insured to do it, so let them carry on even pulled the sheet over for me!!!

i have once tipped the load off of waste wood as it was stuck up in the air about 4 foot, and there was noway on this earth i was getting the sheet on,the machine driver had a real sad on and just chucked it in, the idiot didn’t do it again the boss of the site wasn’t to happy, but my boss was fine so it wasn’t no hardship for me :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

18

I climb on loads all the time, I think I would tell a driver exactly what I thought of him if he refused to do the same.

You can only make a job so safe before it becomes uneconomical. You don’t become a snake handler and expect never to handle one, and you don’t become a trucker if you can’t even load or secure one!

Britain’s claim culture is out of hand, you only have to watch a bit of day time tv to see the amount of company’s offering you no win no fee claim aimed at people not in work!

Nothing is for nothing.

I have often discussed with my dad and brother if he should sell up and take the money, all the paper work costs us thousands a year, something we never had to spend years ago, we don’t have any less accidents and we probably won’t, its just a cost. I would never ask someone to do something unsafe, we don’t need paper work to make things safer, we need it to cover our arse.

19

How many on here get full-pay when off sick? I say sue if you fall because your employer shows little concern for the workforce unless they actually are working! :grimacing:

20

happysack:
When loading a trailer with bulk recycled wood waste, the usual method for getting your sheet back over is climb on roof, level load and pull the sheet over. On a level load you could pull the sheet over, from the ground, with a ‘throw over’ rope.
Some of our jobsworth drivers find this “dangerous” or too hard.
We have a job loading wood waste from a skip company in Loanhead… Its as easy as pie, drive in shed, take roof off, loading shovel loads you…then a non native climbs on your trailer levels your load and pulls your sheet over. Now how easy is that??

Ah not so fast…out esteemed drivers rep has this gem…if you let that man on your roof and he falls, then you as the driver is responsible and will be charged with corporate manslaughter.
I kid you not. So now you have grown men refusing to do this load!
Me, I couldn’t give a toss. Let me on the load, let him on the load, makes no odds to me. Its the job get on with it.

Corporate anything goes right to the top, unlike this driver or his rep does apparently :stuck_out_tongue: