I’m doing my first ever rope and sheeted load out of Celsa on Monday and I’m a tad nervous tbh. I know you start at the back with a sheet and tie the top corners across each other then put the other sheet on top of the back sheet and do the same with that. Is there any other advice any of the experienced lads can give me? I was told by another driver when tying the sheet down do 3 on one side the go around the other side and tie down the opposite 3 and vice versa is this correct?
I don’t even know what I’m picking up apart from im guessing it ain’t coil or rebar as they don’t need sheeting. I’ve told them at our place if it takes me all day to do then it takes me all day.
Our company are doing quite a lot sheeting. For that reason when I just started they “train” me to do sheets and skins. At least one load a week needs to be sheeted, was “lucky” enough to get 3 in one week.
However. As you did not got any training, your primary target is to get it covered and most important is to not let it fly away!
Yes! You may get judged by other drivers at services or on the road, but… That’s your very first one, keep calm, there’s no need for nerves.
Once you get loaded in a windy day, look around, there may be some space to hide from it like some buildings or other trailers. Roll it out and wrap it like a christmas gift. Ropes over to make sure it won’t fly away and off you go!
Good luck!
Some of the pictures on this thread are impressive! Wish I could learn all the roping and sheeting stuff…
Cages and pallets up and down tail lifts is my speciality 
timmo:
matt f:
also could throw a rope over when joined to a monkeys fist made by the old man !!!I know i’m not the worlds foremost authority on R&S but what’s a monkeys fist?
As any narrowboat owner will tell you its a ball (more like a soft square actually) on the end of a rope to give it weight , that means you can throw it higher and further !
Anybody do those old Coastal flats over to Ireland? Try roping and sheeting where you have to search for your sheets on a windswept dock, unroll them to tie new sheet ties on them, because the Irish lads cut them off when they tip them. So you spend a happy hour cutting short lengths of rope and tying them to the sheets. Fold them up, on your own, and then find a flat with a decent amount of hooks on…most were normally missing, and get sheets and any dunnage you need on, and tie it all up.
Then find a docker to lift it on your trailer. You could then go anywhere. Load hides, steel…even spuds believe it or not. No working at height regs then. You quickly learn new knots too. Those who are thinking it looks tough on a normal trailer, imagine the trailer deck another foot or so higher and few hooks. There were enclosed bars where you had to tie a hitch while looping it around an enclosed bar and then tie it off. On that job I saw grown men in tears of frustration on cold windy days. I used to carry a small lump hammer that I would tie to the rope and swing it like a grappling hook to clear the top of the load on very windy days. The light nylon rope we used would blow away on the slightest breeze, and the loads were always so high. You knew you had put a shift in on that job!
mick palmer:
I know it may seem a stupid answer but if whoever has been showing you is opposite (left handed/right handed) to yourself it is a lot harder to follow the technique,so try copying somebody the same handedness as yourself and both tie a dolly and hitch at the same time side by side, step by step. As for sheeting take note of trucks passing on the road,have a look when parked up to see how the sheet has been secured ,im sure if you ask drivers they will show you.Roping and sheeting is a dying art but if you are willing to learn it is worth it, and when its done right its well worth showing off.
This is good advice!
Dolly knots aren’t actually that difficult to learn, but if the bloke teaching you is left handed, like mick palmer said, it can seem a bit cack handed if you’re right handed yourself.
Like someone else said, practice, practice, practice! You’ll soon get the hang of it.
I did years of roping and sheeting, in all weathers, and believe me it’s a dying art for good reason. I wouldn’t do it now regardless of the money offered!
dafdave:
Thats the way to do it george.
regards dave.
I agree.
I came off nights to do trunking but then 2 drivers left and now Iam on days and nights away when he pleases to tell me. On days they do steel and alot of it and also a lot of flat work. Some sheets i have got to grips with it but others I aint got a clue the double sized ones and I still cant get to grips with the dolly knot etc.
Who hates sheets and does anyone have any tips!
Three different drivers showed me how to do a dolly,very patient they were too,but I just couldn’t get the hang of it the way they did it 
.The way I learn’t was to UNDO a good one ( done by my mate ) veeery slooowly,and you will see how to tie one
roping sheeting and tilts belong in the history books
straps or chains for steel
attach to chassis wherever possible
theres a pdf on government website about loading
i will try to find
Just watch the ‘old hands’ doing it. They’re only too happy to show you their way as its “the best way”
Everyone has their own way of doing knots etc. And practice. Lots of practice 
There is a knack to getting it right and doing it in a short amount of time (My first r&s took me three hours!)
K.Adams:
I came off nights to do trunking but then 2 drivers left and now Iam on days and nights away when he pleases to tell me. On days they do steel and alot of it and also a lot of flat work. Some sheets i have got to grips with it but others I aint got a clue the double sized ones and I still cant get to grips with the dolly knot etc.Who hates sheets and does anyone have any tips!
Incredible.
Can’t rope, can’t sheet and can’t even tie a dolly. You sure your in the right job?
berewic:
K.Adams:
I came off nights to do trunking but then 2 drivers left and now Iam on days and nights away when he pleases to tell me. On days they do steel and alot of it and also a lot of flat work. Some sheets i have got to grips with it but others I aint got a clue the double sized ones and I still cant get to grips with the dolly knot etc.Who hates sheets and does anyone have any tips!
Incredible.
Can’t rope, can’t sheet and can’t even tie a dolly. You sure your in the right job?
neither can i but yes i am in the right job. at least he is here asking for info not sarky remarks of you.
berewic:
K.Adams:
I came off nights to do trunking but then 2 drivers left and now Iam on days and nights away when he pleases to tell me. On days they do steel and alot of it and also a lot of flat work. Some sheets i have got to grips with it but others I aint got a clue the double sized ones and I still cant get to grips with the dolly knot etc.Who hates sheets and does anyone have any tips!
Incredible.
Can’t rope, can’t sheet and can’t even tie a dolly. You sure your in the right job?
What is even more incredible is the fact that you were obviously born able to R&S without any problems or the need to learn like the rest of us
I don’t know how to R&S a load, that must mean I cant drive a lorry then 
berewic:
K.Adams:
I came off nights to do trunking but then 2 drivers left and now Iam on days and nights away when he pleases to tell me. On days they do steel and alot of it and also a lot of flat work. Some sheets i have got to grips with it but others I aint got a clue the double sized ones and I still cant get to grips with the dolly knot etc.Who hates sheets and does anyone have any tips!
Incredible.
Can’t rope, can’t sheet and can’t even tie a dolly. You sure your in the right job?
Are you in the right century?
I would say that there are very few LGV drivers who passed their tests in the past 10 years that have been trained to R&S. This is not their fault as the modern trend is to use other methods.
Thankfully, there are still a lot of ‘Old Boys’ around to teach those that need to know - it’s just a case of finding one to teach when you need one 
I am not sure if the new INITIAL DRIVER CPC module 4 will include roping & sheeting, but in my opinion, it should do. It is likely to include the use of straps and chains.
I don’t think we should ridicule those that do not know how to R&S but perhaps turn attention as to the reasons why they have not been taught and to those authorities that have the task of compiling the criteria for basic training.
I know it may seem a stupid answer but if whoever has been showing you is opposite (left handed/right handed) to yourself it is a lot harder to follow the technique,so try copying somebody the same handedness as yourself and both tie a dolly and hitch at the same time side by side, step by step. As for sheeting take note of trucks passing on the road,have a look when parked up to see how the sheet has been secured ,im sure if you ask drivers they will show you.Roping and sheeting is a dying art but if you are willing to learn it is worth it, and when its done right its well worth showing off.
i used to love it when i was driving on the motorway and my sheets barely rippled, made me proud to know i roped and sheeted myself. lots of guys used to take great pride in that job.
as said ask a few older ones,i’m sure most will be only to happy to show you how.
basic rule on sheeting if using 2 sheets is back one on first then front one then flysheet if you have one.
roping is a tad more complex depending on load shape etc,but basicly x at front and rear and use as many throw overs as you deem fit over rest of load. and learn how to do a double dolly.think of a roping knot looking like a pulley it works on a similar principle
I suppose I can be classed as old school also, my dad showed me how to r&s 20 years ago, all our work was on flats, nice feeling when it’s all done and neat and tidy, but… in the winter when the ropes got wet they were like bow strings and then they froze and you had to whack them (technical term) to get the knot undone and after all that find a nice dry spot (if you could) out of the wind to fold the sheets up, I well remember very nearly going into the dock in Felix when the wind caught my sheet, luckily another driver managed to grab a corner and saved me from a very untimely wash, thinking back on it… thank god for curtainsiders.