I was taught by the best, my old Dad, during the 60s he was a London shunter for a few Northern and Welsh firms, tipping and loading trailers for the night trunks and therefore always had someone judging his work, so sloppiness and shortcuts were not part of the job. I used to help out as a kid during school holidays and when I first started driving myself, the old man came along to show me how to do it properly. I also take pride in what I do and it’s a great feeling to stand back and look at a nicely wrapped load, it isn’t fun in the cold or wet, but it’s very satisfying. Having said that, I don’t want to do it every day, or every week for that matter…
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newmercman:
I was taught by the best, my old Dad, during the 60s he was a London shunter for a few Northern and Welsh firms, tipping and loading trailers for the night trunks and therefore always had someone judging his work, so sloppiness and shortcuts were not part of the job. I used to help out as a kid during school holidays and when I first started driving myself, the old man came along to show me how to do it properly. I also take pride in what I do and it’s a great feeling to stand back and look at a nicely wrapped load, it isn’t fun in the cold or wet, but it’s very satisfying. Having said that, I don’t want to do it every day, or every week for that matter…
No, nor me mate, mate I do know exactly what you mean about the satisfaction of doing it right. I learned on the job, a more experienced mate, the late George Milner, and I went for a job together when we were both rained off from building the motorway near Nottingham. Our new boss said start Monday, the 2 wagons are over there already loaded, take them home with you.
Both George and I lived near each other and I parked on the same bit of spare land that he did. He then said right lets get your sheet off and put it back on, and maybe after a couple of goes you’ll get it right. I did but, thankfully, the first time, after his demonstration, and it pains me now to see some of the abortions flying about this country with no idea at all. Surely even an un-tutored driver with an ounce of commonsense would not put the front sheet on before the back one, thereby creating an enormous airbrake, never mind a wet load. 
But, although I usually wore gloves, it wasn’t always possible and for years my cut wet hands refused to heal and I sometimes wonder now if that is a clue to the arthritic pain in my fingers.
From the main Pro forum about the lost load of reels, 3 pages but maybe this one is heavier on the facts.
Re: Them reels of paper that don’t need strapping…
Postby generallee » Tue May 14, 2019 9:01 pm
Hi,
Don’t post on here really, but thought I’d try and clear this up a bit.
The load was strapped, with edge protectors. One strap over each reel. All the loads coming out of that mill get strapped. I don’t know what happened exactly (still trying to find out! 
) from what I can gather the driver was braking and swerving when he lost the load, it didn’t come off when he hit the wagon in front.
Goes to show just 'cos it’s strapped, don’t mean it’s safe.
I can’t get on with gloves either, not with ropes, I tried, but ended up with a fingertip of the right glove trapped, it didn’t take long to develop callouses in the right places to take away the soreness.
As you say David, some just don’t care, the amount of them I see going down the road looking like a parachute is ridiculous, admittedly it’s not as easy to get a sheet snug with these stupid bungees we use here, but rope would be like rebar in the winter, so bungees it is, but you work with the tools you have and you can still do a good job with the same amount of work as a bad job.
It was the same when I used to pull trailers out of Ramsgate, I preferred a flat to a tilt, back loads were always coils and it was easier to throw a sheet over than strip a tilt, but I often had to start from scratch when picking one up that had been loaded by a European driver, out with the rope spanner, save as much as possible and add to it with my own ropes until I was happy with it.
It wasn’t often I ever had to stop for a loose rope or a flapping sheet, thanks to the lessons I learned from the old man.
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newmercman:
I can’t get on with gloves either, not with ropes, I tried, but ended up with a fingertip of the right glove trapped, it didn’t take long to develop callouses in the right places to take away the soreness.
As you say David, some just don’t care, the amount of them I see going down the road looking like a parachute is ridiculous, admittedly it’s not as easy to get a sheet snug with these stupid bungees we use here, but rope would be like rebar in the winter, so bungees it is, but you work with the tools you have and you can still do a good job with the same amount of work as a bad job.
It was the same when I used to pull trailers out of Ramsgate, I preferred a flat to a tilt, back loads were always coils and it was easier to throw a sheet over than strip a tilt, but I often had to start from scratch when picking one up that had been loaded by a European driver, out with the rope spanner, save as much as possible and add to it with my own ropes until I was happy with it.
It wasn’t often I ever had to stop for a loose rope or a flapping sheet, thanks to the lessons I learned from the old man.
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Hi Nmm,
It’s not clear from the photo of the low loader, but what do you do for rope hooks? In Saudi most of our trailers were American and they had the bar down the side, clearly seen on this photo of an MSI Kenworth leaving our yard, but no hooks, so nothing to immediately attach the dolly to. Luckily we didn’t do too many sheeted loads, but a PITA when you did get one!
John.
No hooks anywhere John, so I have to use bungees and hook them on wherever they’ll fit.
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newmercman:
No hooks anywhere John, so I have to use bungees and hook them on wherever they’ll fit.
Australians have (or had) bars and no hooks too, but they have a variation of the British dolly which involves running the end of the rope round the bar and and then bringing it back up to make the dolly knot. Only problem with that is that it only works if you have an end to work with, so none of those long coils of rope beloved by British drivers. Instead lots of smaller ones.
When I ordered demount curtainsiders for Toray in Nottingham we hardly ever had any need for roping because our cargo was mostly rolls of fabric held in by vertical bars between deck and roof, but, just in case there was ever a need, I ordered ring bolts to be let into the deck at short intervals and then set about instructing all of my drivers in the magic of Australian dollies.
The Australian dolly was useful when trying to put a tilt back together after a full strip out and I’ve used them on roof racks and the like. I often tie a dolly on loose ends of rope coils in hardware stores too, because I’m daft like that lol
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newmercman:
The Australian dolly was useful when trying to put a tilt back together after a full strip out and I’ve used them on roof racks and the like. I often tie a dolly on loose ends of rope coils in hardware stores too, because I’m daft like that lol
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What you and Spardo say, rings a bell, because I seem to remember that to accomplish the dollies, you always needed to thread the rope its full length back through, which may be why I remember it as a pain in the ***e!
John.
John West:
newmercman:
The Australian dolly was useful when trying to put a tilt back together after a full strip out and I’ve used them on roof racks and the like. I often tie a dolly on loose ends of rope coils in hardware stores too, because I’m daft like that lol
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What you and Spardo say, rings a bell, because I seem to remember that to accomplish the dollies, you always needed to thread the rope its full length back through, which may be why I remember it as a pain in the ***e!
John.
But that is why you only use short ropes, John. The main drawback, apart from the need to do a double and hold the top loop to stop it falling over before you finish and letting the whole thing drop out, is that you had to judge carefully how long, according to your normal load heights, all your little ropes should be. Ok if you are used to a certain type of load, but on general haulage where it could be anything between 2 and 9 feet or so, it didn’t give flexibility.
I much prefer the British method, even though it meant carrying and heaving quite big coils, but would take an impossibly long time threading it all round a bar each time.
well thank goodness for that newmercman I also tie dollies in any available rope, taught the grand children how to do it (no idea why) one of the girls asked why dollies needed a knot. I always thought the dutch as good drivers but having been over there and seen how they secure stuff on trucks amazed me, total rubbish how it stays on the truck is beyond me I will try to find some photographs i took during my trips,
Hi all I will say that the British drivers ROPE AND SUCURE ANY LOAD, rope and sheet better than any other drivers any where just look at this site esp BEWICK 99.9% of all drivers had to do it correct and you would soon see who could not do it right. you just needed to look at their hands,[say no more].
As fort the AUSSIE BAR instead of threading the whole rope through you would use a [BIGHT] so the rope went on its self and wind away…pity there was not a school for learning the old proper ways, instead of all the computer stuff.instead of all the silly stuff with daft trucks with big wheels at truck shows ,there should be roping and sheeting demonstration’s a full load of glass bottles ,with 4 x 6 panal sheets ,and no ladder because they would make you pull out of the loading bay [Beatson glass bottles Rotherham ]once you could do that you were on your way ,no load to big or small ,dbp
Hi all blue line used to load out of British tissues maesteg always sheeted well rolls were always chocked never seen any goners is a couple of them
A load of Bleached Kraft Swedish reels ex Blythe stood in the depot for Henry Cooke’s, Beetham Mill, for re pulping. One of many many similar loads we hauled as this paper was “dumped” by the Swedes and they couldn’t sell it as the finished product so the next best thing was to sell it at Pulp price but only to those Mills who would re pulp it and it hadn’t to fall into the hands of merchants who would “knock it out” as finished product ! Cheers Bewick.
Hi BEWICK, that is a first for me I never knew that the pulp and reels trade was up for skulduggery, mind you most of return loads we would get by ourselves from whatever port ,we were at agents mercy , and we would not ring in ,until we had a load on our backs to wherever, yes there was a lot of transport not organised like you… but to be honest as only a driver we never knew what the rates were and we did not care as it was money for us the further away the better more nights out. that is why we had to be on our game roping ,chaining ,loading timber, esp sheeting just as your drivers were. a passenger seat well full of gear, wood chocks, chains, tighteners, dry ropes, maybe a fly sheet if you could get hold of one, not marked. maybe some corner boards if you were lucky for Elsmere port soap powder, where you had to put a sheet on your deck so no rain would come up through the floor boards[handball] to ruin the bottom layer, good old days ehh theses old boys have no idea do they…
no wonder when we were in FELEXSTOWE the agents would come to us, we would load from there to MONMOUTH ,and once there be redirected to another whare house maybe CARDIFF ,they would have no proper facility’s for unloading you then with care took the back scotch out ,held your breath and roll them off, taking your wedges out ,as you went rolling them off the back, you would use a wooden bar with a metal flat end to hold the rest on hotching them along…how the company got paid I have no idea…pdb
I’ll give you owd lads summat to laugh at, loaded tatties near Arbroath tipping Blyth docks int morning.
Cheers Wrighty.
HI wrighty, nothing wrong with that load or sheeting intresting to see where they are going,and are they seed or chip spuds,going to the continent to come back here as frozen chips??pdb.
I hope that the driver puts a marker board on the rear overhang at the back,
and uses corner boards when he ropes the load up, don’t want to scratch the
new paintwork. 
Ray Smyth.
Saw this somewhere today ,anon1 
