Health and Safety had a big say in roping and sheeting…
Lets face it, how many of us used to climb the load or a ladder to get the sheets up there, in all weathers, we used to jump off the loads/trailers, all the ■■■■■■■, heaving, sweating… Now a days, its has to be steps, safety harnesses, risk assesments etc etc…
One thing I will say about R&S though…by Christ we were fit!!.. Easily burn off a full english brekky in a few hours.
no such thing at roachford docks southend on sea
fork sheets up and hope a gale aint blowing
I too was lucky to be taught R&S at colnbook by one of the old boys, and when i load out of rochford docks i don’t need to.
I drive rigid flat and still maybe once a week R&S which by the sounds of it for 27yr old is unusual.
The only advice i can offer, is speak to your boss and make sure he understands, my boss was very understanding and used to allow extra time on jobs while i learnt the art.
Owen
very limited skills on the roping and sheeting…in fact not very good at it …
u could say am a bit ropey at it… 
i’ll get me coat…
I must be one of the few who love roping and sheeting, if I was offered a job at the right money with R&S I’d jump at it, maybe I should start a R&S course.
Whilst having learnt to rope and sheet many years ago, the technology of load securing seems to have moved on a little.
I found site below a few weeks ago, some interesting and some alarming photographs.
I had sight of a booklet issued br Krone trailers on load securing. Naturally Krone supply trailers capable of securing everything and anything. Became a bit alarmed on the forty pages of mathematical calculus for the co-efficiency of trailer floors etc.
tis-gdv.de/tis_e/ware/inhalt.htm
Les zizis des routiers sont sympas
Im not an expert @ R&S but i can do it to a satisfactory agree 
self taught in R&S but my dad showed me how to do th DOLLY knots(apt name )Also im another 1 that loves doin it,even tho i cos and swear in the snow and wind my old boss thought i was mad as i always took the jobs that wanted sheeting as no one else liked doing it also hated pickin a loaded trailer that had been sheeted by someone who couldt give a s**t 
just take your time and practice makes perfect
ROG:
greek:
On my way back from Leicester today …HUH
well thats me off the xmas card list then i was unloading next to the test centre on tuesday 
berewic:
Incredible.Can’t rope, can’t sheet and can’t even tie a dolly. You sure your in the right job?
Neither can I, and only been driving a wide variety of trucks, including flat work, on a wide variety of work, mostly general haulage, for 17 years.
Used to rope stacks of empty pallets on flats, but some time ago & I’ve forgotten how to tie a dolly. 
I’m 5’9" & over 14 stone, but would refuse a full tilt strip down on my own, simply because i’m not practised at it.
mick palmer:
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.
Totaly agreed. Many classic trucks presented at shows have “pretend” loads sheeted purely for the aesthetics of it.
I am perhaps a bit weird, I take pride in a well sheeted load, to the extent that I have been known to give up, reroll the sheetes and start again if it wasnt working out.
To me there is nothing finer, and no other higher visible sign of our craft than a well sheeted load, a sign that the driver has taken a little bit of pride in his work, and a small token of his skill.
Rope and sheeting is dying out, becoming a lost art, curtainsiders and containers for general cargo are now the norm. and while I wont miss the days with a gale blowing and the rain teeming down while unrolling the sheets I do feel that we have deskilled and the newer guys to the industry have lost a little bit of what it is to be a lorry driver.
Time marches on and the old skills become less relevant. A loss perhaps but to be honest curtainsiders are far more effiecient. Nostalgia in a business enviroment doesnt work to well.
post removed. was supposed to just be a typo edit of above post. 
Rikki-UK:
I do feel that we have deskilled and the newer guys to the industry have lost a little bit of what it is to be a lorry driver.Time marches on and the old skills become less relevant. A loss perhaps but to be honest curtainsiders are far more effiecient. Nostalgia in a business enviroment doesnt work to well.
Rikki, I wonder how many who have passed their test in the last 10 years know how to double declutch?
Or get one back to the yard without a clutch?
Driveroneuk:
Rikki-UK:
I do feel that we have deskilled and the newer guys to the industry have lost a little bit of what it is to be a lorry driver.Time marches on and the old skills become less relevant. A loss perhaps but to be honest curtainsiders are far more effiecient. Nostalgia in a business enviroment doesnt work to well.
Rikki, I wonder how many who have passed their test in the last 10 years know how to double declutch?
Or get one back to the yard without a clutch?
Driveroneuk,I totally agree. I once pulled an artic from Agen to Bordeaux with just a piece of rope.
Clutch had burnt out,they wouldn’t touch him 'til monday,I towed the unit up to Ouistreham behind my tank.The last bit of rope-& my temper snapped-on the one way just before the port.I left him, dropped thetrailer & went back to pull him the final 200metres.Try that with a strap!
I’ve also made it back home from Spain with a dragging clutch.
“Tell youngsters that & they wont believe you” Monty Python’s 4 yorkshiremen sketch.
Time never stands still unfortunately. New drivers coming into the industry now are being met with auto boxes, fuel efficiency, H&S and EU tacho and WTD regs but to name a few. Unless working for a company that specialises in flatbed work, they’ll have very limited opportunities to learn the fine art of roping and sheeting. Then again, in twenty or thirty years time, what will they be clued up on that’s disappearing out of the industry, if there still is one ? In total contrast, I have a good laugh to myself when I recall watching my old man filling out his logbook for his weeks work “on a Friday,” back in the early 70s. 
Driveroneuk:
berewic:
Incredible.Can’t rope, can’t sheet and can’t even tie a dolly. You sure your in the right job?
Neither can I, and only been driving a wide variety of trucks, including flat work, on a wide variety of work, mostly general haulage, for 17 years.
Used to rope stacks of empty pallets on flats, but some time ago & I’ve forgotten how to tie a dolly.
I’m 5’9" & over 14 stone, but would refuse a full tilt strip down on my own, simply because i’m not practised at it.
If you have forgotten how to tie a dolly after 17yrs on flatwork, it’s a good thing they sell slip on shoes.
I do like the feeling i get when i’ve got a well sheeted load on. I even take a bit of pride in folding the sheets back up again! Knowing that you’ve put that extra bit of effort in to do a good job increases the job satisfaction and makes you feel proud to do the job
Here`s my luck even had to sheet this container out of Middlesboro Dock Old F7 load of Melinate out of Jarrow nice & square but a bugger to carry. But the joy of flatwork looking at a load of steelwork on the deck & somebody saying how do you want this on Driver as in third pic.Mostly whatever your doing take a pride in your work.
I couldn’t rope and sheet till i started shunting a couple of years ago.Luckily the loads are quite square.Makes the the job a whole lot easier.Here are a few examples.
I wasn’t resposible for this effort.
Tonyb
Third pic ain so good, the sheets pulled forward a bit but the other 2 look good! 
and yes, I STILL rope & sheet a trailer