no time for fancy roping in those days dan , just load it properly and get gone . i have to say though that hand stacked loads of bags were a lot more secure than machine stacked or palletised . maybe we should go back to handball loads to keep you youngsters fit . dave with tin hat on
Having carried a bag or two of cement in the past I dont think I ever roped a load with or without a sheet and certainly never lost a bag. As Lawrence says slag from Corby had to be sheeted, fertilizer in plastic bags from Billingham usually a cross rope over the back end on a fine day and a sheet first in wet weather. Loads of bagged flour in 10 stone bags stacked two high vertically were sheeted most times with cross ropes over the back end, cattle cake hessian 1 cwt bags sheeted and usually two ropes over the load and cross ropes over the back.
Paper sacks were a different matter and a sheet was almost always necessary. Cant beat a bit of rapid handball for keeping you fit !!!
Cheers, Leyland 600
This is from the DVSA’s guidance for load securing:
Rope hooks
Rope hooks are for securing sheeting to the vehicle, with ropes or nets attached to protect the load from the weather.
They should not be used as an anchor point to secure over-the-top straps or chains.
Drivers who have traditionally ‘roped and sheeted’ a load using the ‘klinch’ or ‘drivers’ knot can use the rope hooks to secure the load to the vehicle if this system is sufficient to do so.
Many drivers do not have the knowledge or ability to rope and sheet as more effective systems have become available.
Check ropes regularlyThe ropes should be:
rated and marked as such
inspected regularly to identify any damageRopes showing signs of wear should be replaced at the earliest opportunity.
Over-the-top lashingsOver-the-top lashings should never be attached to the rope hooks. The tensioning of the lashings could:
damage the hooks
cause the load to become insecureLashing straps should attach either directly to the vehicle chassis or rave.
Seems slightly contradictory, first they say if you know how to do it you can, then over the top lashings shouldn’t use rope hooks? Or are they only referring to straps and chains?
FTBlunder:
This is from the DVSA’s guidance for load securing:Rope hooks
Rope hooks are for securing sheeting to the vehicle, with ropes or nets attached to protect the load from the weather.
They should not be used as an anchor point to secure over-the-top straps or chains.
Drivers who have traditionally ‘roped and sheeted’ a load using the ‘klinch’ or ‘drivers’ knot can use the rope hooks to secure the load to the vehicle if this system is sufficient to do so.
Many drivers do not have the knowledge or ability to rope and sheet as more effective systems have become available.
Check ropes regularlyThe ropes should be:
rated and marked as such
inspected regularly to identify any damageRopes showing signs of wear should be replaced at the earliest opportunity.
Over-the-top lashingsOver-the-top lashings should never be attached to the rope hooks. The tensioning of the lashings could:
damage the hooks
cause the load to become insecureLashing straps should attach either directly to the vehicle chassis or rave.
Seems slightly contradictory, first they say if you know how to do it you can, then over the top lashings shouldn’t use rope hooks? Or are they only referring to straps and chains?
It reads like they are saying rope hooks shouldn’t be used for anchoring chains or straps.Then they are saying in ‘that’ case they should only be used for anchoring sheets.
While in the case of using ropes they can be used just as always before.Probably in the realisation that ropes work by putting a manageable amount of tension spread among a lot if not all of the hooks the ‘combination and sum’ of which,when all taken into account,are sufficient.While straps and chains work by applying a lot more tension at fewer points along the load and at fewer anchorage points.
Which might explain any confusion concerning the idea that roping loads using rope hooks is no longer allowed which is how I’d read it so far.
Having said that why not just start using the Australian type idea for body construction which covers chains,straps and ropes using the same anchorage provision. 
that might be ok for australia cf , but how would it work with 70 or 80 foot lengths of rope such as we used . and what about when it rained , as it does now and then over here , imagine trying to undo those fancy knots when it’s ■■■■■■■ down . the whole issue rests on the case of those that have never done it , and couldn’t if they tried making silly rules for those who can . the usual outpourings from those with " authority " , lies , damned lies and statistics as usual . it’s a poor state of affairs when rules outweigh reality , but as usual nobody at dvsa , or whatever it’s latest name is , will put their name to these regulations just the normal corporate blurb with a view to extracting money to ensure their own existence . dave
HI to you all as regards loading cement, first layer on the deck ,second layer. start half a bag in, 3rd layer further in and down the middle either one or 2 bags depending on weight only sheeted if wet I loaded tons from RUGBY.READ MY driving history, pages away back now.
As for undoing drivers hitch knot,in the wet ,never no problem so longs as you only use one hitch, not two ,two were never needed ever , you just pull on the rope with a flick and out it would come .
the bit about undoing hitches referred to the video carry fast posted about australian methods . have a look at it and you’ll see what i mean .
Looks like a good system but possibly somewhat time consuming when you’re using one rope to do several passes. Perhaps a kind of hook/bar set up where a short bit of bar is attached to the bed with a thick piece of steel? Basically like an ultra heavy duty rope hook that could handle straps and chains as well. Of course with straps and chains being the norm, any provision for roping would probably be seen as commercially pointless.
rigsby:
the bit about undoing hitches referred to the video carry fast posted about australian methods . have a look at it and you’ll see what i mean .
The only differences that I could see seemed to be the different angle needed to tie off the rope end and dollies at their anchorages.While assuming that each pass is locked as I always did them anyway with hooks it would probably work by then carrying the rope along the bar to the next pass over the load as usual with the tension holding it in place along the bar assuming the pull is kept in line.The only real problem would be the spread type pull across two hooks which the bar wouldn’t be able to hold.But then with a continuous bar it wouldn’t really be needed anyway.But dollies just fall apart anyway when they are released from their anchorage points and the rope is pulled away from them.It would be interesting to try it to find out if it would work like hooks with the rope carried between passes over the load.
The bit that bothered me is that he doesn’t use gloves and I can still remember the blisters and skinned hands now roping loads with them let alone without. 
Re roping if you done it in the 1960/70/80/s you never ever used a pair of gloves, gloves the most dangerous thing in transport, like[ wedding rings] black, gnarly, fingers ,cut with ingrained muck ,and hard callouses in your palms. and you took no notice as most driver in general haulage were the same.
Hi Deckboypeggy.
Quite right old Lorry Drivers never wore Gloves,Hands were like Leather.only things i came across that needed Hands covered were Two i can remember was Breeze Blocks and Hot Cement Bags coming off a Conveyor.
Ben.
kindle530:
I had a 45 in the Scotch Corner layby the other week, pulled up behind this John Miller motor0
driver went and got a cup of tea, came back, pulled at the loose rope, kicked the bumper and went back to his cab.
After his break, he carried on up the road.
Rough job made of that
deckboypeggy:
Re roping if you done it in the 1960/70/80/s you never ever used a pair of gloves, gloves the most dangerous thing in transport, like[ wedding rings] black, gnarly, fingers ,cut with ingrained muck ,and hard callouses in your palms. and you took no notice as most driver in general haulage were the same.
Very true,remember in winter when the cold and salt off the roads got in the cracks,happy days.Sometimes I wasn’t sure. 
regards dave.
deckboypeggy:
Re roping if you done it in the 1960/70/80/s you never ever used a pair of gloves
Blimey I actually learn’t to rope in the 1970’s using heavy welding gloves which was all I could get from the works stores and always used gloves in the 1980’s too.You’d need super human skin to use bare hands for the job on a regular basis. While I can still remember the pain of driving with the skin taken off my palms and sides of my hands through burst blisters even now.
Carryfast:
deckboypeggy:
Re roping if you done it in the 1960/70/80/s you never ever used a pair of glovesBlimey I actually learn’t to rope in the 1970’s using heavy welding gloves which was all I could get from the works stores and always used gloves in the 1980’s too.You’d need super human skin to use bare hands for the job on a regular basis.
I’d love to see some pictures of you using heavy welding gloves to tie a dolly
gazsa401:
Carryfast:
deckboypeggy:
Re roping if you done it in the 1960/70/80/s you never ever used a pair of glovesBlimey I actually learn’t to rope in the 1970’s using heavy welding gloves which was all I could get from the works stores and always used gloves in the 1980’s too.You’d need super human skin to use bare hands for the job on a regular basis.
I’d love to see some pictures of you using heavy welding gloves to tie a dolly
I would have loved to have heard the mickey taking…
obviously badly trained . tie the dolly , attach to a hook and take a light tension on the rope , drop a loop down and grip it near the dolly, put foot in loop and tighten dolly with your body weight . that’s why lorry drivers carried plenty of weight on them .
I wear green plastic gloves and very often rip a plastic finger off usually the right index one by trapping it in the rope / knot around the hook when tieing off !
I can remember in the 50s, There was one of the Shunters who was left handed & used to do the daftest hitches that I had ever seen, Even when the old type sisal ropes were dry it took ages to undo them & once they got wet it was a rope spanner job, So as a result there was a lot of short bits, But he didn’t stay long at the job, And all the drivers were clapping their hands, & so was the gaffer, No more short bits, Regards Larry.
Carryfast:
rigsby:
the bit about undoing hitches referred to the video carry fast posted about australian methods . have a look at it and you’ll see what i mean .The only differences that I could see seemed to be the different angle needed to tie off the rope end and dollies at their anchorages.While assuming that each pass is locked as I always did them anyway with hooks it would probably work by then carrying the rope along the bar to the next pass over the load as usual with the tension holding it in place along the bar assuming the pull is kept in line.The only real problem would be the spread type pull across two hooks which the bar wouldn’t be able to hold.But then with a continuous bar it wouldn’t really be needed anyway.But dollies just fall apart anyway when they are released from their anchorage points and the rope is pulled away from them.It would be interesting to try it to find out if it would work like hooks with the rope carried between passes over the load.
The bit that bothered me is that he doesn’t use gloves and I can still remember the blisters and skinned hands now roping loads with them let alone without.
Hey “CF” the only thing that caused you to get blisters on your “germans” was as the Chuck Berry song go’s "You must be playing 'wid your own “ding-a-ling” Cheers Bewick.