Walking out of work this afternoon, saw one of our lads that was just back from picking up a load at Hovis Wigan.
To get loaded there, you have to back onto a rather tight bay, drop your trailer, put a air line lock on, then park opposite whilst they load it.
This afternoon, he had to be supervised by the site shunter while he backed onto the bay, locked trailer off and parked up, then they asked for his keys…
When he asked why, “it’s site rules”…
Seriously■■?
Go through all that mucking around and they still ask for the keys, pointless. I’d have parked off site and came back about an hour later.
I hope he told them to ■■■■■ hof, cos I would.
Sapper
It’s like the first time I went to walkers, of crisps fame, in peterlee to load for ASDA. On arrival told to back onto any spare bay, then it’s trailer brake on, then went to change bay light from green to red but there’s only a metal box with no switch. Open the box to find a large cylinder with a key in! After a bit of head scratching you take off the brake, red , airline and put the cylinder in its place, turn the key and remove it, this locks the cylinder onto the airline plug,then back to the light box, insert key & turn to put red light on. But wait! There’s more, go into warehouse and put keys onto board on hook, same as bay number. You are then free to use their restroom with free crisps available. They come for you when loaded, get your paperwork & do the whole thing again in reverse.
I fully understand it is completely over the top my first experience was in a Salveson depot,drop everything,park up and walk 5 miles away from vehicle during unloading but it came
about due to a fatal accident.And the loading bay lights are the problem,with so many Europeans delivering,a green light for you sitting on the right is also a green light for the
European visitor sitting on the left.Not many lights used in France,not many ambulances turning up either.One company I visited regularly in France went overboard on all this H&S
enquiring why seems they had just been bought over by a UK company.Suppose it’s a matter of toleration.
Most bakery sites seem to be the same, used to do some work for Allied and often tipped in Walthamstow. Used to have to drop trailer, air lock on, wheel chocks and then park trailer other side of the yard before going back into warehouse and hand keys in. Overkill!
all fyffes depot you have to faf about with the red airline lock and same key for dock lights luckly i got a set of palm coupling converters which the lock fits nicely to as its a tight squeeze with a close coupled fridge without the slide for the suzzies (nobody checks)
…and yet ironically here in the land of the insurance claim (USA) there is no such nonsense. Loading docks are much more common in North America because anything that can fit inside a box van goes in a box van and as such its all on loading docks. Curtainsiders are almost non-existant. In the past 4 years I’ve had to put a high-vis on about 5 times, steel toe capped boots about twice and never hand my keys in. Many places have a locking device that hooks around your trailer bumper and if not many will put a glad hand (palm coupling) lock on the trailer and many places dont bother with anything other than asking the driver to put a chock under a trailer wheel. All this ■■■■■■■■ in the UK and Europe is not about safety but about propping up the white elephant that is the H&S industry that constantly has to invent, re-invent and make up risk and then be seen to actively prevent that non-existent risk with all this nonsense, thereby justifying their job and their tens of thousands of colleagues jobs. I can imagine what would happen if they suddenly demanded the keys to a truck in the US…theres a reason many warehouses and coldstores have a sign on the goods in/out door that reads something along the line of “Fire arms prohibited beyond this point!”.
went to united buscuits at bardon…back trailer onto bay(bays have the wheel locks that come up in front of the wheel)…drop trailer…(at first i thought it was a trailer swap)park over the yard and LOCK unit…then hand keys into office then sit in the canteen(which has big windows to the office so they can keep an eye on you)■■?
Slackbladder:
It’s like the first time I went to walkers, of crisps fame, in peterlee to load for ASDA. On arrival told to back onto any spare bay, then it’s trailer brake on, then went to change bay light from green to red but there’s only a metal box with no switch. Open the box to find a large cylinder with a key in! After a bit of head scratching you take off the brake, red , airline and put the cylinder in its place, turn the key and remove it, this locks the cylinder onto the airline plug,then back to the light box, insert key & turn to put red light on. But wait! There’s more, go into warehouse and put keys onto board on hook, same as bay number. You are then free to use their restroom with free crisps available. They come for you when loaded, get your paperwork & do the whole thing again in reverse.
that’s the same at all walkers sites and has been for years. you can if you wish drop the trailer and park ur unit in the unit bays.
The cylinder is called a salvo and the reason this procedure is rolled out throughout the company and many other companies is simple >>>> A driver [zb] up by knocking the handbrake off or starting the engine to get warm which resulted in some movement in the vehicle or trailer or been over keen when the light went green but failed to see it go back to red because they forgot to put something on.
xamtex:
went to united buscuits at bardon…back trailer onto bay(bays have the wheel locks that come up in front of the wheel)…drop trailer…(at first i thought it was a trailer swap)park over the yard and LOCK unit…then hand keys into office then sit in the canteen(which has big windows to the office so they can keep an eye on you)■■?
You should have got up and started licking the window facing the office till they’d finished. I guarantee the window would not be there next time 
Wow,
2013, and still handing keys in!!, over here in NSW Australia, Woolworth s the same as Sainsbury other supermarkets are on market!! when you reverse on bay. you reverse over a bar and as you go back it rolls up to centre of the wheel and locks regardless of how hard you tug it will not budge until released by dock staff. takes away need to unhook remove keys etc … I am sure Costco have the same thing back home?
Yer, but there’s free crisps so they can do what they like…
xamtex:
went to united buscuits at bardon…back trailer onto bay(bays have the wheel locks that come up in front of the wheel)…drop trailer…(at first i thought it was a trailer swap)park over the yard and LOCK unit…then hand keys into office then sit in the canteen(which has big windows to the office so they can keep an eye on you)■■?
I do believe that is Ashby de la Zouch that you’re referring to. Yes, it’s completely overkill and such a waste of time. Surely, just banning the muppets who manage to ■■■■ up to such extremities from living would be more suitable all round?
robinhood_1984:
All this ■■■■■■■■ in the UK and Europe is not about safety but about propping up the white elephant that is the H&S industry that constantly has to invent, re-invent and make up risk and then be seen to actively prevent that non-existent risk with all this nonsense, thereby justifying their job and their tens of thousands of colleagues jobs.
My brother has just has just become a health and safety officer for a national company. 35k, 37 hr week and a 3 series Beamer company car. I agree it’s ■■■■■■■■ and he agrees it’s ■■■■■■■■, but it’s tempting ■■■■■■■■.
I turned up at a non rdc loading bay a few weeks ago and someone came running out before I’d even parked up. Told me not to take the trailer on the bay before told. I said I’d never do that and always check the rear of a trailer is clear even with a green light.
He said one of our drivers had recently turned up and drove off with a loader in the back who ended up with head injuries after banging his head into the side of the trailer 
And those Suzie locks are a waste of time and metal. Have to use those at all Amazon depots. Do they not realise you can pull a trailer with just the red airline. OK so it’s a visual cue that the trailer isn’t ready to be taken but so is the jack stand wedged underneath and the chocks in front of the tyres.
And they still make you hand your keys in.
Terry T:
And those Suzie locks are a waste of time and metal. Have to use those at all Amazon depots. Do they not realise you can pull a trailer with just the red airline. OK so it’s a visual cue that the trailer isn’t ready to be taken but so is the jack stand wedged underneath and the chocks in front of the tyres.And they still make you hand your keys in.
I normally put the suzie/salvo lock on the red airline. Do they do it different elsewhere?
They use the Salvo system in LUK in Sheffield, it takes longer to secure the trailer than it does to load and unload. 
discoman:
Wow,2013, and still handing keys in!!, over here in NSW Australia, Woolworth s the same as Sainsbury other supermarkets are on market!! when you reverse on bay. you reverse over a bar and as you go back it rolls up to centre of the wheel and locks regardless of how hard you tug it will not budge until released by dock staff. takes away need to unhook remove keys etc … I am sure Costco have the same thing back home?
Costco has the same system here, no chance of pulling away with the wheel lock on.
But we still have to go hand keys in and sit in a noisy crappy “waiting room”.
Gotta love the UK. 