Yesterday I loaded next to this fella, it’s bales of wool and not a strap in sight.
I don’t know if vosa would so enthusiastic with his skills.
In 1987/88 pulling bricks on tri-axle flat beds fro MK to Bridgewater, we ran at 38 tons, which was the max then, we just used a very light fly sheet with a rope cross at front and rear, the bricks were just the regular banded blocks from London Brick, they never moved even on the back roads from Bletchley to Bicester. On rare occasions we picked up re-loaded flat beds from a dock just north of Bridgewater, they were reclained bricks that were shrink wraped on pallets, front to back on the floor with 2 pallets on top, all we did was strap the two doubled ones and head home… Never even saw a brick move.
The driver of the truck shown knows what he is doing, I can see in that photo he has rope cutting in between the pallets making the flysheet cut in and securing the load safely without damaging the bales, a true profesional.
The method of using ropes to go over the sheet but between each pallet is how we would carry Rockware glass on flat beds without harming the shrink wrap or using stupid corner boards.
That load isnt’ gonna move an inch mate.
That is a work of art. 
There’s a bit of me that wishes I could do that. Another bit is quite glad I can’t! 
Reckon Mr. Jones has done that load more than once 
Bottom row all stood up, second row lay down locking the bottom row, top row straight down the middle locking everything then a fly sheet over the top, rope cross front and back and every rope hook used Job’s a good un !
No reason at all for that load to move anywhere probably a lot safer than pushed into curtainsider with no straps on it at all.
Regards
Dave Penn;
Happydaze:
There’s a bit of me that wishes I could do that. Another bit is quite glad I can’t!
And there’s an even larger part of me that’s glad I don’t have to!
It’s certainly a dying art these days, how flat beds with loads that have been roped and sheeted do we see nowadays not many.
cant see anything wrong there, if i was loading that its exactly how i would have done it
i hold my hands up, there’s no way i could do that or even have any faintest idea about where to start but i do agree its not the first time he has done that load.
now that fella is a professional ( but thats another thread )
known Bryn for years since we worked together on “Unigate”. He has wanted to be an owner/driver since them days and now has about 6 wagons on his fleet. Top man, old type trucker.
Great bit of sheeting there just glad I dont have to do it
did he appear in a truck mag a few years ago running a (I think) Renault Premium
did he appear in a truck mag a few years ago running a (I think) Renault Premium
dazcapri:
did he appear in a truck mag a few years ago running a (I think) Renault Premium
We heard you the first time and yes I think he did.
Pat Hasler:
The driver of the truck shown knows what he is doing, I can see in that photo he has rope cutting in between the pallets making the flysheet cut in and securing the load safely without damaging the bales, a true profesional.
The method of using ropes to go over the sheet but between each pallet is how we would carry Rockware glass on flat beds without harming the shrink wrap or using stupid corner boards.That load isnt’ gonna move an inch mate.
That is a proper job, those bales are going nowhere and roping in the valleys will hold that tighter than strapping over the top of the bales, but that ain’t a fly sheet Pat, if it was he hasn’t done a good job, because the fly sheet was intended to be held on by its own ropes only and it was a cardinal sin to rope over the top of one 
bald bloke:
It’s certainly a dying art these days, how flat beds with loads that have been roped and sheeted do we see nowadays not many.
I do it most of the time,I love it,it gives you a bit of job satisfaction I think,here is a load of I done Thursday.
Front part is linseed straw, rear is ■■■■,it’s a very non uniform load very hard to make it look tidy as the bales are all shapes and sizes,but didn’t do to bad.
The straw is loaded across the bed lenghtways to give it more stability,front to back straps are all you need really,side straps are only only on there really to hold the sheet on,and the sheet is only on there because I was coming through the Dartford tunnel. 
Back in the 70s I carried three small bulldozers through central London on a flat bed without a rope, strap or chain in site. I also carried two rocks weighing about ten ton each without straps, chains etc.
I wouldn’t try it today though.
As for the bales of wool. The fly sheet is holding the load together and take it from me, VOSA don’t know ■■■■ about load security.
to be honest, anyone who has loaded wool would tell you that that is a very easy load.
All the bales are regular and square cornered.
I make a guess that it was loaded with a clamp truck or maybe a travelling crane, which makes it even easier.
A lot different to loading bales which were supposed to be all the same but never were, loading fom the end of a hook dropped from 6 floors (or even worse 2 floors up) up and pushing the bale to where you wanted it, then using wool pins to lock them together.
Most wool warehouses wouldn’t let you out with just a fly sheet on, so it was full sheets on a 4 high load
I used to load similar to the pic out of Thomas Burnleys at Gomersal and all the drivers used to argue over who was doing it, as it was a soft job!
I would have had more ropes on it than that though.
Going by the comments shows how much the job has changed.
Some good pics of wool wagons on the memory lane section.
berewic:
Back in the 70s I carried three small bulldozers through central London on a flat bed without a rope, strap or chain in site. I also carried two rocks weighing about ten ton each without straps, chains etc.I wouldn’t try it today though.
As for the bales of wool. The fly sheet is holding the load together and take it from me, VOSA don’t know [zb] about load security.
Aah,well,you see-the VOSA people who tell you and me if our load is deemed to be unsafe have possibly never had to rope/strap/sheet a load,but have been on courses run by ‘experts’ who have lots of theoretical knowledge,but probably next to no experience. But they have a book!