sorry, have searched, and no joy and i’m sure someone here will have the answer.
is there a maximum weight that an individual should be allowed to shift with a pump up truck?
if yes, what is it?
No.
The strongest (non electric ) pallet truck I know off is 2.5t so would imagine that past that is it’s safe working limit .
BUT a lot off things come into play , is it a perfectly flat piece of ground ?
Is there any crap on the floor that will jam up wheels ?
I done my back in two years ago trying to pull a pallet of Tennants lager (90 cases) it’s about a ton n quarter up a slight hill ! Cost me 2 weeks off on basic wages so never again.
cheers.
it will be in a container, reefer, onions 
and prob about 1100 kilos a pallet.
the job is down as, “driver assist” hmm, we’ll see.
Like many things it depends on what is “reasonable” under the circumstances. If you have to drag heavy pallets off the back of a trailer it isn’t hard to adjust the suspension to get a slight slope in your favour. A broom can be handy too.
Santa:
Like many things it depends on what is “reasonable” under the circumstances. If you have to drag heavy pallets off the back of a trailer it isn’t hard to adjust the suspension to get a slight slope in your favour. A broom can be handy too.
i don’t mind helping out, BUT, the place i’m going to in spitafields, won’t want to “assist” without kicking up a stink, their attitude is that as the driver its down to you.
after 20 years, i’m abit older and wiser, and am only interested in covering my arse and not putting my back out.
pallets of spanish onions, in a reefer box, are not going to be the easiet thing to move get moving, and then move around in the back of a container on your own.
my lot have said, if know one at the delivery point is prepared to get in and help, bring it back. so thats all good.
like i say i’m happy to help, but i’m no ones donkey 
drivingmiss daisy, thanks for the link
If you are employed then what does the company risk assessment state on this issue?
As far as I remember veggies, even onions, don’t weigh all that much - I would doubt they will be half a tonne a pallet.
Tail-lifts, pump trucks and roll cages is probably 75%+ technique over brute strength.
Someone posted some pics, the other day, of roll cages they’d struggled with on agency that to be honest looked ok. If it’s unfamiliar and you’re pushing an pulling in all the wrong directions it will turn into a massive ballache.
Trick with tipping heavy pallets by pump truck is to lift by just enough that they’ll just move/almost sliding then you can usually just drop them and they’ll stop and the stock won’t fall off the pallet. Check the lever on the handle works to drop it first often they’re knackered and you have to use your foot on a metal piece above the wheels.
Loading 1 ton+ pallets on a column tail-lift is much harder work but again is doable if you get the knack.
If it is a tail-lift don’t ever let anyone stand round the tail-lift and refuse any offers from them to help stop it rolling off the end. Folk do often seem to think that standing round the lift and placing their hands on the pallet is some sort a massively helpful way to assist.
Sorry, thought you were a newbie to pump trucks.
Don’t think moving onions round the back of a reefer will be too bad at all particularly as the floor will be metal. They should all be in uniform boxes well wrapped inside the pallet edges. The nightmare is random stuff stacked on pallets that spills over the edges that are impossible to push in or pull ot between each other.
We used to move tonne pallets of bottled water around in the back of an 18 tonner and as Santa said, when you lower the suspension, thats half the battle won…pump it up and let gravity take over. Let it roll to the back under it’s own steam (you might find you may need to offer a little resistance to regulate it’s exit!) and (what I did) when your about 5’-10’ from the back, spin it round and then let gravity take over again until the edge of the pallet is just over the the back…this saves damage to the trailer as the forkie can’t reach it! With a bit of practice, and the right amount of air dumped from the bags (you don’t want an 8’’ drop, just a few inches or enough to let it roll on it’s own), you will find that after the pallet has been lifted, very little input is required from yourself, apart from pulling the handle at the other end! On the flip side, if your delivery is down a slope that you have reversed into, raise the suspension, as a tonne pallet can get quite a bit of steam up and no matter how quickly you jack the wheels round (in the hope they will act as a brake), chances are, it’s gonna end up being a mess, whether in the trailer or in the yard… #BeenThereDoneThat 
Santa:
As far as I remember veggies, even onions, don’t weigh all that much - I would doubt they will be half a tonne a pallet.
Are you kidding? Fruit and veg is some of the heaviest and most difficult stuff you can drag about in a fridge with a pallet truck. Onions are easily a tonne a pallet. As are potatoes, oranges etc
Own Account Driver:
Sorry, thought you were a newbie to pump trucks.Don’t think moving onions round the back of a reefer will be too bad at all particularly as the floor will be metal. They should all be in uniform boxes well wrapped inside the pallet edges. The nightmare is random stuff stacked on pallets that spills over the edges that are impossible to push in or pull ot between each other.
sorry guys, i may have made it look like i was a noob.
i’ve tipped plenty of motors with a pallet truck over the last 20 years, and do it as described in the posts above 
its a 45 ft box, so overhangs the rear of the trailer, so damage not an issue. i’ll lower the air on the trailer to aid with the travel once its moving.
its normally 20 pallets, and the notes normally show the weight as 26 tonnes, so def over a tonne a pallet.
also sadly, they are the tall, crap pallets, that all overhang, and end up inter-locking with each other, just your average pain in the arse type load
its getting them going in the 1st place thats the pain, thats why i was curious as to if their was a maximum weight per pallet, from a health and safety point of view.
switchlogic:
Santa:
As far as I remember veggies, even onions, don’t weigh all that much - I would doubt they will be half a tonne a pallet.Are you kidding? Fruit and veg is some of the heaviest and most difficult stuff you can drag about in a fridge with a pallet truck. Onions are easily a tonne a pallet. As are potatoes, oranges etc
Depends how they’re packed sometimes they’re in crates that are mostly air.
Problem in a fridge is the steering wheels don’t grip on the damp floor so you just twist the handle and push and it still goes straight on.
From a heath and safely point of view or not, if you are struggling to move a pallet with a pump truck, surely it is “too heavy”?
A pack of bricks is about a ton and a quarter from memory but I’m going back a few years.
simple rule of thumb mate ,when you hear a cracking in your lower back then it’s too much 
Also don’t do what i did a few months ago ,i picked up a 7.5t truck pre loaded with a wooden crate with some sort of medical equipment in side ,i didn’t think it looked heavy so when i got to site i put the pump truck under it and tried to push it towards the taillift forgetting i was parked on a slight slope and new immediately it was a mistake as my knackers where crushed by the handle and i was crushed against the head board ,of course the fact that a single grate was in the middle of a 7.5t cutainside truck should have been a clue it was heavy
Socketset:
A pack of bricks is about a ton and a quarter from memory but I’m going back a few years.
When i was at the builders yard back in the '80s packs of bricks where in 500’s and weighed between a ton and a quarter and a ton and a half except the butterly blue bricks which where 400 to the ton ,cement came in on pallets of 30 bags =1 1/2 ton ,that’s old hundred weight bags
I thought container drivers just go to sleep when they arrive at their delivery
And I would just be polite about it and ask for help, it’s their goods after all. If they refuse, ask them what they would suggest as you will happy to try anything to get them off the lorry.