Few years back when I done agency with Nightfreight, I used to get sent out on the 2 man work occasionally and I watched the guy I was with carry a washing machine up 3 flights of stairs on his own. He put straps round it and carried it on his back as if it was a rucksack he was carrying. I know washing machines aren’t as heavy as they used to be but I still couldn’t believe what he was doing.[emoji15]
It’s still common practice to carry 1,2 or 3 x 16kg sacks or 1 or 2 x 25kg sacks of flour (48kg-50kg) at a time, whether it’s into storerooms, upstairs or anywhere else. Drivers mates are only used if there’s around 3 tonnes at any 1 drop (65 x 16kg to a tonne, or 40 x 25kg to a tonne). However there’s deffinately a technique to making it easy. As previously stated sliding them onto your shoulder straight from the bed is a must (with your back against the bed), the bed is just the right height IMO. I’d usually break down a full pallet half way, stacking the sacks along the side of the bed 6 high, then once the pallet was 25-30 sacks high it’s then possible to handle them direct from the pallet onto your shoulder.
Be careful with the load and if you kill yourself doing it don’t expect a RIP post on here.
Agree with Peirre, I too used to break down a pallet of flour and stack into rows (in types if the pallet was mixed). Not everybody did, some used to just try and slide the bags as a batch of 3 or 4 straight onto their shoulder. I preferred to flip them one by one into position as it did spread the weight across the shoulder instead of them all bearing on one place.
Muckaway:
109LWB:
Bloody hell, I move things twice the weight of A washing machine everyday on my own…I’ve also moved my own washing machine on my own and loaded it into a car…
You won’t be able to wipe yer arse without a drivers mate watching you along soon.
You sound like an ex colleague (ex squaddie, does everything without question), against drivers mates, calls anyone lazy for sack trucking or pump trucking stuff when it could be carried.
My job wouldnt get done if I fannied about waiting for drivers mates… We don’t have them and can’t afford to employ them so I have to get on with it. Tomorrow I have about 50, 200kg containers to load… on my own. Id think nothing of deadlifting a 70kg truck battery, infact I used to handball about 200 of them in day onto the back of my wagon, drive somewhere and handball them all off again.
Yes my back is buggered, I have a metal cage inside holding it together,and I’m in agony everyday, I have been that way since school, but I just get on with it.
If that’s what inspires you then great stuff. In my day I’d be lift truck up if had puncture as my boss couldn’t afford a jack 
Open the washing machine door, grip inside the ring, lift close to body and bend at the knees keeping back as straight as possible. This is how the wife does it, she also has a similar ■■■■■■■■ technique.
Some drivers mates aren’t worth the hassle. I’ve had them not turn up, give an excuse get another chance then they don’t turn up again. Others have asked to be picked up somewhere miles from your route as they don’t have a car (in fairness my then employer put a stop to that).
Best one I had came out on a run in Hampshire/Dorset, slept all the way down except for crying about the early start just 10 minutes into the journey. Get to the first drop (Cottage Loaf bakery in Fordingbridge), which wasn’t that hard a drop if you used the sack truck. Agency mate said he didn’t do handball, to which I asked him WTF did he think he was coming out for? He thought it was to be a banksman and to operate the taillift. 
He did do some work when the prospect of me leaving him behind was offered.
Doing agency work for one of the parcel couriers and they put some daft stuff on. Double bed base weighing in at 80kg for example. Had the customer not been able to help I would have been screwed because it was blocking access to the rest of the van.
Plenty of other 2 man lift stuff on and they only send out single drivers.
That coupled with too many drops (could be 70 on a 7.5T) made it properly daft. I don’t know how the regular drivers stick it out.
Conor:
Don’t listen to the dumbasses who say just to get on with it. Its above the weight for manual handling on your own other than tilting it to get a sack barrow under it. Even lifting up a step with a sack barrow on your own is against HSE guidelines.This industry is filled with people with knackered backs because they were like the respondents to your post
plus 1 
ignore the idiots get help if you damage your BACK no income SOD EM
Conor:
Don’t listen to the dumbasses who say just to get on with it.This industry is filled with people with knackered backs
^ This.Myself being one of them.
However even the usually accepted 25 kgs limit ignores the well documented studies in which the ‘■■■■■■■■■■■ ‘aggregate’ effects of manual handling are known to be just as bad if not worse regarding back injuries.The fact is everything that’s lifted manually in the end is dependent on the weakest link in the biological chain which is the discs.Which are one of the design flaws in the human make up.IE designed for movement not load and no matter how strong someone is,or thinks they are,in terms of muscle and bones,are the same useless bits of fluid filled delicate material for all and which unavoidably ultimately take the muscle and bone loadings involved in manual handling.While contrary to popular knowledge this is the result when the things inevitably let go.The avoidance of such future complications is often/usually what makes such injuries a career ending scenario in the job. 
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_disc_herniation
centerforneuroandspine.com/s … fault.aspx
On that note trust me hand balling loads is a mugs game. 
I had to push the wife over to her side of the bed last night.
Bloody arms were aching this morning.
If you can lift it nick it !!! 
Carryfast:
Conor:
Don’t listen to the dumbasses who say just to get on with it.This industry is filled with people with knackered backs
^ This.Myself being one of them.
However even the usually accepted 25 kgs limit ignores the well documented studies in which the ‘■■■■■■■■■■■ ‘aggregate’ effects of manual handling are known to be just as bad if not worse regarding back injuries.The fact is everything that’s lifted manually in the end is dependent on the weakest link in the biological chain which is the discs.Which are one of the design flaws in the human make up.IE designed for movement not load and no matter how strong someone is,or thinks they are,in terms of muscle and bones,are the same useless bits of fluid filled delicate material for all and which unavoidably ultimately take the muscle and bone loadings involved in manual handling.While contrary to popular knowledge this is the result when the things inevitably let go.The avoidance of such future complications is often/usually what makes such injuries a career ending scenario in the job.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_disc_herniation
centerforneuroandspine.com/s … fault.aspx
On that note trust me hand balling loads is a mugs game.
Doesn’t have to be a career ender.
I had 3 discs removed, a bone graft from my hip put the gaps and it all bolted together with titanium.
I’m still working in the same job moving 200kg containers everyday…
It’s down to the individual. Sit on your arse feeling sorry for yourself or get back out there and keep going.
109LWB:
I had 3 discs removed, a bone graft from my hip put the gaps and it all bolted together with titanium.
I’m still working in the same job moving 200kg containers everyday…It’s down to the individual. Sit on your arse feeling sorry for yourself or get back out there and keep going.
When the doctors advise all concerned that the risks of that type of surgery among others outweigh the potential benefits and that the risks of carrying on in the job in either case are unacceptable to both the employer and employee.Then realistically it’s no longer a choice of ‘getting back out there and keeping going’.
On that note check out number 3 here.
109LWB:
Carryfast:
Conor:
Don’t listen to the dumbasses who say just to get on with it.This industry is filled with people with knackered backs
^ This.Myself being one of them.
However even the usually accepted 25 kgs limit ignores the well documented studies in which the ‘■■■■■■■■■■■ ‘aggregate’ effects of manual handling are known to be just as bad if not worse regarding back injuries.The fact is everything that’s lifted manually in the end is dependent on the weakest link in the biological chain which is the discs.Which are one of the design flaws in the human make up.IE designed for movement not load and no matter how strong someone is,or thinks they are,in terms of muscle and bones,are the same useless bits of fluid filled delicate material for all and which unavoidably ultimately take the muscle and bone loadings involved in manual handling.While contrary to popular knowledge this is the result when the things inevitably let go.The avoidance of such future complications is often/usually what makes such injuries a career ending scenario in the job.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_disc_herniation
centerforneuroandspine.com/s … fault.aspx
On that note trust me hand balling loads is a mugs game.
Doesn’t have to be a career ender.
I had 3 discs removed, a bone graft from my hip put the gaps and it all bolted together with titanium.
I’m still working in the same job moving 200kg containers everyday…It’s down to the individual. Sit on your arse feeling sorry for yourself or get back out there and keep going.
Some people don’t have that option, all depends on the size and area of the disc prolapse.
Anttoeknee:
Some people don’t have that option, all depends on the size and area of the disc prolapse.
I think the key that the quacks look for is ‘degeneration’.IE a prolapse of a disc/s can be caused by degeneration which as I said seems to be linked more to ■■■■■■■■■■ injury and also sets off ‘degeneration’ of others surrounding it/them in a type of chain reaction made worse by spinal instability and overload of the remaining ones.At that point it’s probably a reasonable bet that it’s game over regards the job.