I think my company are taking me for a ride. They keep loading up a fridge with pallets of cans, sending me off to RDC’s and expecting me to move them to the back doors with a pallet truck. Now at RDC’s designed for tautliners you dont get electric trucks and the usual weight of the pallets is 840 kg’s. !!
These pallets are too heavy to pull comfortably and frequently get jammed in and you know RDC’s - they give you no flippin help at all, so I would like to know if anyone knows if there is a limit to the amount of weight you can haul using a manual pump truck and if so what is it?
welcome to trucknet 
dont know if there is a weight limit but i would tell them to sod off anyway 
definately thinking about telling my gaffer where he can stuff it 
, but want to get my facts right before reading him the riot act as its not just me he does this to and I dont think any DRIVER should put there own safety at risk shifting weights of over one and a half tons!!!
What the hell are you driving a truck for then?
840kg is not 1 1/2 tons its 840 kg less than a tonne, (1000kg) Yhe pallet truck is designed to allow one man or woman to move pallets, Every job I know at least expect the driver to do a tailboard delivery, unless you are on containers.
A pallet truck isnt hard to use if you level the suspension and as most vehicles are fitted with air rise, than it is simple.
If I was the boss, and you came to me with that complaint I would make an easy decision
I’m puzzled. 840 kg is about three quarters of a ton. Or are the pallets two high ?
Wheel Nut:
What the hell are you driving a truck for then?840kg is not 1 1/2 tons its 840 kg less than a tonne, (1000kg) Yhe pallet truck is designed to allow one man or woman to move pallets, Every job I know at least expect the driver to do a tailboard delivery, unless you are on containers.
A pallet truck isnt hard to use if you level the suspension and as most vehicles are fitted with air rise, than it is simple.
If I was the boss, and you came to me with that complaint I would make an easy decision
Dosen’t mean that it is safe though. From expierence I know just how dangerous pulling over a ton pallet in a fridge trailer is, the floor gets wet and slippy, alot of pallet trucks are not that safe to use and have no brakes - you know in the olden days it was perfectly acceptable to lump 200lb bags on your back - I think they call it progress. 
I was informed once that a tonne is an acceptable wieght to pull on a pallet truck and no more else it becomes unstable and the chance of injury is more. That was from a BT truck fellow.
Ive had this arguement before with my employer and im seeking compensation as we speak for a bad back caused by an over weight pallet and being tol “you are young enough stop complaining” thus pulling my back at 26
Will keep you postedon the HE outcome if you like
Phil
It is sometimes easier to pull 26 or 33 pallets to the rear of a trailer than it is to strip both sides of a euroliner.
Market deliveries in a fridge expect the driver to pull the koad to the back and drive the fork lift too. I just think of it as part of my job, and I have done for 30 years.
Progress has made it easier in that now we have curtainside trailers, fridges and pallet trucks, instead of ropes, tarpaulins, boxes of ice and joloda track
Wheel Nut:
It is sometimes easier to pull 26 or 33 pallets to the rear of a trailer than it is to strip both sides of a euroliner.Market deliveries in a fridge expect the driver to pull the koad to the back and drive the fork lift too. I just think of it as part of my job, and I have done for 30 years.
Progress has made it easier in that now we have curtainside trailers, fridges and pallet trucks, instead of ropes, tarpaulins, boxes of ice and joloda track
Agreed Malc. When I did the market deliveries with banana’s I had to pull them all to the back and boxes of bananas stacked to nearly 6ft high on each pallet are bloody heavy 
. It was good exercise if nowt else as I worked up a sweat in no time.
However, I wouldn’t like to do it on a slope as once one the pallet truck gets rolling you’ve a devil of a job trying to stop it from going off the end of the trailer . Allus wear your steelies when pulling pallet trucks about too as I can testify it’s bloody painful when the wheels catch your toes 
.
If you cannot move it on your own,you should ask for some help.If no one will help you don’t move it.
Who will pay your wages when you are layed in bed with a knackered back.
Once again it seems one important factor has been missed here …
USING COMMON SENSE 
If you feel the pallet is too much to move on your own then get help! If no help is available then inform the customer and your office of the problem and say that your taking it back unless help is provided. Your welfare should be your no1 priority.
Bear in mind that a badly loaded pallet that is 200kgs is just as dangerous as a 1000kg pallet so any weight guideline is pretty irrelevant.
If it’s a fundamental problem with the wrong spec of vehicle for the job or over zealous packers then thats what needs sorting rather than you struggling. If it’s a regular thing then take a manager with you next time and show them first hand where the problem lies.
Always work smarter NOT harder 
basically moving a ton on a pump truck on smooth level ground is fine.
But moving it on uneven or sloping ground then you ‘must’ get assistance. Basic H&S training for using a pallet truck. Also ensure that your employer has shown you how to use one, other wise if you have an accident they’ll just say you shouldnt have been using equipment you havent been trained on.
I’ve not yet seen a trailer that was 100% level when on a bay.
pauly:
I think my company are taking me for a ride. They keep loading up a fridge with pallets of cans, sending me off to RDC’s and expecting me to move them to the back doors with a pallet truck. Now at RDC’s designed for tautliners you dont get electric trucks and the usual weight of the pallets is 840 kg’s. !!
These pallets are too heavy to pull comfortably and frequently get jammed in and you know RDC’s - they give you no flippin help at all, so I would like to know if anyone knows if there is a limit to the amount of weight you can haul using a manual pump truck and if so what is it?
Dont want to be seen as a jobsworth but there are legal obligations firms and individuals have to follow.
Musculoskeletal disorders - HSE Is the HSE site with overall details.
This is the advice it gives you for manual handling where you consider your employer or delivery point is being totally unreasonable.
Manual handling
My employers are unreasonable, what is the law on Manual Handling to protect employees?Your employer has a legal obligation under the ‘Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (as amended) Guidance on Regulations’ (2004 revision available from HSE Books price £8.95) to make sufficient and suitable risk assessment to identify the possibility of risk to employees from the manual handling of loads. This is a legal requirement and the regulations should be complied with.
The Regulations set out a hierarchy of measures which should be followed to reduce the risks from manual handling. These are set out in regulation 4(1) and are as follows:
- Avoid hazardous manual handling operations so far as is reasonably practicable;
- Assess any hazardous manual handling operations that cannot be avoided;
- Reduce the risk of injury so far as reasonably practicable.
Clearly it is an issue of common sense however as one poster has pointed out once you are laid up in bed perhaps for many weeks will your employer continue to pay you? Even though they may well be responsible for your injury.
It should also be remembered that muskoskelatal disorders (back pain) are ■■■■■■■■■■ which means they build up over time. How many drivers do you know in thier late 50’s early 60’s that dont complain of a bad back?
There for the grace of god and all that.
I have been driving for nearly 30 years and used to shift anything thrown at me. I know now it has had an effect on me that will with age only get worse. I educated myself a few years ago and wont shift anything even doubtful now without assistance.
It is not so much the weight that is the problem, it is if the pallets are wedged in tight. Either because they are badly packed (Lidl’s) or shrink wrapped plastic containers which stick together.
Another problem, sometimes in conjunction with the above, is if you have an uphill approach to the dock. Sometimes too steep to counteract by dropping and raising suspensions.
We used to have a particular problem with one of the Lidl stores which had no loading dock and they wouldn’t let us use the electric for ‘safety’ reasons. One day a whole pallet collapsed, yoghurt etc. everywhere. The store manager shut the doors and said ‘ring the bell when you have restacked it’. I did, it took some time, but I refused to unload the rest without assistance. Finally they gave in when they saw the waiting wagons queueing through the car park and out into the street
As someone said it is just common sense, if you feel it is too much for one, call for help.
Salut, David.
my experience of multidropping for Bibby, is that the pallets are in tight, all wrapped in plastic, and often up to or over 1.5tn if there’s lots of powdered or liquid goods on them (booze and sugar being among the worst).
the hardest 2 to do are the first, onto a tail lift with no room to swing them round, but still need to get them dragged back, and round sideways and then squeeze past to the lift controls. not an easy task!
the technique I find most useful if they’re wedged tight is to pump it up as high as possible to break any minor bonds, and then pull back and give the steering a wiggle to get it away from whatever its stuck to.
If it’s simply too heavy to move (which happens sometimes if its stuck fast or on a bad slope etc) then tell 'em they can either help you or you’re leaving with the goods.
if you’re tipping by running them to the back and they fork-lift off, then simply jack up the tractor suspension and dump the air out the trailer suspension and let the weight of the goods on the pallett do the work for you. just remember to set everything back to self-level before you move away afterward or you’ll lose a mudguard or two! (or 4).
I have been off work now for four weeks with this back injury and as you have pointed out they dont pay your wages while you are off sick. I had to fight to get SSP out of them. Its £60pw which is a dismal amount not enough to live on by anyones stretch of the imagination.
Now i told my boss’s many times that i wsant happy with the stacking and weight of the pallets. But there reply was typical the attitude was you are young enough you can manage but like posts have said above it makes no difference when your 50 60 years old. I didnt’ put my back out so to speak but after shifting the amount of pallets it became sore.
Now im not one for sueing ppl at the drop of a hat, but. As i had told them that there loaders where taking the michael and there attitude was shoddy, then they dont even pay me after the accident. I was so angry with them i decided to go no win no fee and claim
Health and safety say that so long as you are wearing a HI-Viz and a hard hat …all is ok…
The best way to do it…is let a pallet fall off the end of the trailer…cos it was too heavy to stop it…that way they wont ask you to do it again single handed…
el gordo 78:
my experience of multidropping for Bibby, is that the pallets are in tight, all wrapped in plastic, and often up to or over 1.5tn if there’s lots of powdered or liquid goods on them (booze and sugar being among the worst).
Bibbys… urk… I did a few days with them, and some of the pallets they give you to shift by yourself are INSANE!!! They’re always at least 7’ high, weigh over a tonne, and you get to tip them on a hill… Even a slight slope with a pallet that heavy could easily be lethal. And those ones would all show the Leaning Tower of Pisa a thing or two about falling over.
If you cannot reasonably shift it on your own safely, then refuse to do so without assitance. I don’t care what other people do, that’s their lookout. If the boss refuses to accept your reasons, put them in writing (keep a copy) and give it to him. Then if he fires you, you have a leg to stand on when you sue the bar steward. 
thanks for all the input. You are right, common sense is the key but sometimes you just think that those sitting in their cosy offices are taking the ‘you know what’. I am sick of being made to look stupid trying to shift pallets that are unmoveable on slippery floors with knackered pump trucks while a bunch of jobs worths look on. I aint shy of hard work and i accept that it sometime makes sense to put a few pallets of cans in with chilled, but i also know when i’m being made a mug of. And for all of those who mentioned adjusting the suspension…work for my lot - the only way to adjust the suspension on their ancient trailers would be to let the air out of the tyres!
is the floor clear of all debris cos even the smallest speck can block the wheels of a pump truck…get a slope either lower the trailer suspension or jack up tractor unit …ascertain which is the free ist palllet …ask for help …if you cant budge them make a decision based on HEALTH & SAFTEY
then when they go off on one just say over and over you have made a decision based on a H&S risk assement …take photos check weight of pallets keep telling them youve asked for help etc etc H&S H&S H&S its your back not theirs
so sod em all