Dipster:
This reminded me of a story a mate told me a couple of years ago.
My mate is a very highly qualified communications technician. He installs and maintains satellite kit for that industry. Well his old Mum is getting on in years and had recently moved in to a new little bungalow. So he decided to get Sky TV installed for her. Being a good son he arranged for their installer to come and was present when the bloke came so Mum would not be bothered.
My mate told me he had identified the perfect place for the dish. The installer agreed. It was to be placed 2 metres up on one of the walls. But before it could be installed my mate had to sign a consent form allowing the Sky technician to drill a hole in the wall to install a hook to which he would attach his safety harness that would ensure his safety whilst he worked at the giddy height of 1m75 up a stepladder…
What has happened to society in the great country our ancestors bequeathed us?
A few weeks ago I was chatting with a long term mate about ladders etc. He reminded me of when back in the early 1970s and aged about 19 he came off his motorbike and smashed up his leg. Next to him in the ward was another lad who had fallen off rung four or five of a ladder. The surgeons had had to amputate both of this lad’s legs. My mate had been very wary of going up a ladder from that day on.
Likewise I hate working at height and hang on for grim death, things are not helped these days by knackered knees. A few days after this conversation I needed to rebed about 3 ridge tiles and point another five at home, plus another need to clean out the gutters from autumn leaves etc. I looked up various safety harnesses etc on line, but it seems that these are not quite as easy as one would hope to get hold of if requiring advice. I contacted one company I knew a little about since their previous premises had been next door to one of my customers. All I wanted was a price for a Harness, rope, and anchorages etc and advice about which brand, before placing an order with them. Instead I got the usual spiel about scaffolding, and then how I would need to have the chimney stack, into which I wanted to fix the anchorage, professionally examined to certify it strong enough followed by another professional to tug test the anchorage once fitted and to certify it as safe. I never bothered to ask whether these two experts would require scaffolding to carry out their tests because I reckoned that I knew the answer already.
I just gave up the idea of safety equipment in the end even though prepared to spend about £200 and just got on with it. My heart rate came down about a week later.
Because I don’t weigh very much and I’m a wiry little sod, I used to climb up the front of the tilt, bracing myself against the back of the unit to lace up. I remember one morning lying on my back across the catwalk tangled in greasy suzies and looking up into the rain-filled sky from which I had fallen, thinking: what the eff am I doing this job for? Robert
grumpy old man:
Hands up all the old lads who want to go back on the job today. No, c’mon lads, be serious, surely one of you wants to put your hand up…no?? ah well, I thought as much.
Me ■■ I’m glad I’m out of it. I had a good working life, I enjoyed the good days(and yes, the bad days) but not now.
Just renewed my licence so I’m ready and willing…though not certain about able
Way over the top now but they have to justify their jobs.
Some things were iffy in the old days. My M M foden wheel carrier on offside n much doings to get wheel on, death defying on hard shoulder. Mid mount Hiab brick crane the two packs along side of you were just waiting to have you when off loading, Sheeting coal tippers not very often I had any steps, used rope hooks, asking for it and climbing up wheel to get in cab, bet most of us old uns had a shin or two skinned with that malarkey. G O M s lime ramps.Theres more but got fed up.
dont blame him the job is ■■■■■■■■ now never spent much time in classrooms as a kid always out with the old man,but it looks like we have to sit in the classroom now listning to idiots that cant do the job themselves and it will only get worse no wonder there,s a shortage most old school have jacked it.!
There is a true saying " If you can, you do, if you can’t you teach" , I recall that 30 years ago I was invited to sit on the management committee of the Motor Engineering Dept at the local tech college in Kendal ( The only employer on the committee !) The " Instructors" were wet behind the ears youngsters who obviously had never had a job in real life and the other “committee member” was from the “Manpower services Commission” from Barrow a right Left wing ex Shipyard Wallah ! who was on the “gravy train”. So the only actual mechanical pieces they had in the workshop was a Commer Two Stroke engine from 1957 ? and axle out of what looked like a Model “T” Ford. So I say’s look, tell me what you want and I’ll get it for you ■■■■■■■■ Gardner/ Scania/ Volvo , engines/ gearboxes/axles just ask !. You would have thought I was swearing in Church !! Oh! no this young ■■■■ pipes up, “we only teach theory nowadays and don’t need actual units!” What a bunch of “wallies” so it’s only got a lot worse since then. I also recall that on two occasions when I was renewing our operator licence the D. O.T. Engineer ( who I knew very well!) made the comment that the only criticism he had was the ratio of fitters to motors/trailers I had was less than the Ministry recommended ! But he couldn’t fault our Fleet maintenance so I said “■■■■ off George and go and sort out them that needs it” ( I could speak like that to the Ministry as we had one of the finest maintained fleets in the UK !) But I’m glad I’m not involved anymore as the enjoyment ( and fun) has long disappeared and the current operators are welcome to the attendant aggro that goes with the job nowadays, but I suppose somebody ( mugs) have to do the job eh! Cheers Bewick.
Reading through this thread I suddenly thought about an incident that I had when I first started on the job !! I was driving an AEC mercury for Allisons of Dundee I had loaded bales of waste paper and cardboard near Newcastle for paper mills in Denny …all neatly sheeted and roped but the bales started to pig out in the middle and by the time I reached Beattock Cafe were in a bad way and obviously would,nt get much further before I was really in trouble …after a mug of tea and a conflab well you never saw anything like it before you could say "Santa Claus’’ I had an empty trailer along side and ropes were off sheets rolled forward a load of drivers were out there the bales were re-stacked re-sheeted re-roped … another mug of tea and a bit of ribbing then back on the road again safe and sound … that was 1964 … if it had been today ■■? to be fair these days the way stuff is ready to ship its a lot easier ■■?
Merry Christmas and Happy safe New Year
I was sitting on the side of the new M5 waiting for a tyre outfit to sort my Terrier 3 tonner out and I decided “this is it”. I was despised as a driver and had no future in road transport.3 years later In 1977 I went back to engineering. I am now retired. As a welder I have worked all over the Middle East and Central and South America. I miss lorries and always will but since I got out before I was stuck in the trade I feel that I saw it at its best. Those of you who made a go of it and those of you who still do it have my total respect. In my day, you had to be a cantankerous egotistical nutter to run a firm. Then you had a “slim chance” Now you need so-called qualifications.Well I am sure you know what side I would rather see.May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Xmas and a very healthy and prosperous New Year . Jim.
As I have said somewhere else on here I started driving as a youngster but was nagged by my Dad to do something else. He and his family had been involved in transport since the 20`s (really!) and he felt I could do better. “Once a driver, always a driver…”. That sounds awfully disrespectful to so many on this forum (which I have no wish to be) who have spent a career as a driver in the industry, but that was his view.
Echoed, it seems, by some posting on this thread. But I must say I found most drivers to be the salt of the earth. Many employers owe them a great deal. Too many do not realise it.
So I took the opportunity to change when the chance came along, a total change of direction that saw me OK and gave me a happy life. But I have always enjoyed lorries, or trucks if you will, and have continued to take an interest (I am on here, no?) and get the odd spin out in a wagon when the too rare opportunity presented itself!
This seems to have turned into a new thread like Dennis was asking for ‘How did your driving career end’. Some interesting posts already, while most would have retired from the job or are still going it seems many also gave it up and for various reasons. I’d always been daft on lorries my Father was a driver and he had a job getting me out the cab as a youngster and any opportunity I could take I’d have a bit cabby, got a bit too adventurous with his Seddon tractor one day though and engaged the wrong gear and it took off by the time I got it to stop I’d crunched the nearside wing on a wall which was better than going through it into the Ouseburn below! He wasn’t best pleased as it wasn’t very old but the fitters sorted ok.
Too young to get a license at 15 I became a Diesel Fitter, served my time then joined the army and got my HGV up to Class One in there so on discharge I was looking for driving work but the beginning of the 80’s wasn’t a great time and I ended up back into fitting. A few years later though I made the move to driving I had to cure my desire, at the time some of the old ways were still prevalent, Log Books, mostly flat trailers so roping and sheeting which I actually enjoyed, no speed limiters, cameras or in cab phones. The down side was plenty of nights out in day cabs with no beds or night heaters, old wagons that had seen better days and inevitably I was always on the bottom rung of the ladder, which sometimes had its brighter times when lads went on holiday and I was handed their newer motors to use.
After around 16 years though I’d had a belly full, I realised long before that no other road users liked us, most delivery points regarded us as something stuck on the bottom of their shoes and the fun times were well and truly over when parked up. I gave it up around the late 90’s and went back to fitting then the last 18 years I’ve worked for the Fire Service, probably the only job in that time I’ve felt appreciated which unfortunately doesn’t say much for the industry I was mad keen on. If I had the chance again as a youngster I wouldn’t go near it despite being a great life experience in which I learnt a lot and saw a great deal of this lovely country with mostly some smashing blokes but I’ll always wonder how it might have been. I still like the old wagons though! Cheers Franky.
just been summoned to the office today and manager says your new issue of work boots have arrived so checked size and went to leave and he says hang on a second you haven’t signed this form ,
I had to sign to say I had received the boots and had also been assessed as safe to use them and correctly fitted them ,I asked if he was serious and he replied that if my shoe lace came loose because I had not tied it properly I could trip and hurt myself ,I give up, paul
paul ward:
just been summoned to the office today and manager says your new issue of work boots have arrived so checked size and went to leave and he says hang on a second you haven’t signed this form ,
I had to sign to say I had received the boots and had also been assessed as safe to use them and correctly fitted them ,I asked if he was serious and he replied that if my shoe lace came loose because I had not tied it properly I could trip and hurt myself ,I give up, paul
Have you completed the lace tying course? Retained you certificate? Completed any refreshers due?
rigsby:
My son turns 50 next month and his hgv ( or whatever they call it now )license expires then . He announced today that no way is he renewing it , he’s had enough of all the bullcrap and idiocy that surrounds the job . I can’t say that i blame him and as he so sweetly put it " I don’t want to end up like you " . It just goes to show , he’s been in the job 28 years and can cope with any load , where’s the replacements for men like him coming from ? Dave
Well i’m still doing the job, and i can tell you where the replacements are coming from, nowhere and no bugger cares.
See new management isn’t bothered one iota, they can’t dumb it down quickly enough to the lowest common denominator, they don’t want skills or common sense or loyalty or work ethic.
They want the cheapest mouth breather they can plonk on the driver’s seat, thats why there’s no manual gears any more and why automatic electronic braking systems with radar controlled cruise controls and prat navs are standard fittings, so they can get plonk any idiot who can manage to negotiate the pedestrain entrance in that driving seat, give him a postcode and away he goes.
That’s how it is out there now, i’ve still got 4.5 years to go, if you’d asked me two years ago about retiring i’d have been genuinely worried about doing so, now i can’t wait.
They have no idea how using stupid people equals a bloody mess, it comes up error 404 in their electronic minds.
rigsby:
My son turns 50 next month and his hgv ( or whatever they call it now )license expires then . He announced today that no way is he renewing it , he’s had enough of all the bullcrap and idiocy that surrounds the job . I can’t say that i blame him and as he so sweetly put it " I don’t want to end up like you " . It just goes to show , he’s been in the job 28 years and can cope with any load , where’s the replacements for men like him coming from ? Dave
Well i’m still doing the job, and i can tell you where the replacements are coming from, nowhere and no bugger cares.
See new management isn’t bothered one iota, they can’t dumb it down quickly enough to the lowest common denominator, they don’t want skills or common sense or loyalty or work ethic.
They want the cheapest mouth breather they can plonk on the driver’s seat, thats why there’s no manual gears any more and why automatic electronic braking systems with radar controlled cruise controls and prat navs are standard fittings, so they can get plonk any idiot who can manage to negotiate the pedestrain entrance in that driving seat, give him a postcode and away he goes.
That’s how it is out there now, i’ve still got 4.5 years to go, if you’d asked me two years ago about retiring i’d have been genuinely worried about doing so, now i can’t wait.
They have no idea how using stupid people equals a bloody mess, it comes up error 404 in their electronic minds.
Doesnt that start at the very top , stupid decisions that have consequences for all walks of life. I think the first port of call should be MPs who are in it for their own gains , the rules and regulations they bring in and the governing body of our industry all have to shoulder the blame. I wonder if Merkel will put her hand up and say hey this is my fault i flooded the country with migrants and insisted other EU countries did the same .I very much doubt it.The whole transport industry in this country needs a major overhaul starting with the regulations .First the WTD and DCPC . and a total revamp of driving hours that need simplifying and making more flexible ....... im going before i say something i regret
gingerfold:
So my driver went to collect the engine and him being honest, when asked he said that he had never carried a jet engine in a cradle before. But he has 30 years flat trailer experience including wide, long, abnormal, and STGO loads, all of which have needed chaining.
Top marks to your bloke for his considerable experience, and for being up-front.
By now, I imagine both he and you know that “Honesty is NOT Always the Best Policy”. Which is rather a shame, since he got penalised for just being straightforward.
gingerfold:
Thinking to myself, a company as wealthy as this and (a) they can’t repair the weighbridge, and (b) they can’t repair the sampling probe. To cap it all as I was driving back to base on the M62 I was minding my own business in the first lane and down a slip road comes a fancy Scania with a low loader plant trailer behind it, all bells whistles and extra lights, and the driver pulls straight onto the motorway across into the middle lane causing me and the truck alongside me to slam our brakes on. That was the moment, after all that had gone on at Cargill’s,that I decided I was done with driving trucks
As you say, “they” (insert whichever multinational/ shelf company/ “big mob” applies) will fix whatever “vital” piece of kit or procedure or policy if and when it suits them. Not that this divests you - the driver - of your need to comply at all times with Rules 1-325 inclusive of Policy XXIV of Manuel Handling/ Unloading/ Safe ■■■■■■■ in No Smoking Areas (updated yesterday without notice). And Dog help you if you aren’t wearing hi-vis safety boots with a flashing light on your head at all times.
And I could put up with all this bllcks (well, most of it) were it not for the sort of thing your fancy-schmancy Scania plonker did - if you think it’s bad in Britain, come on over Down Under and spend a day around Sydney. What the (so-called) professional drivers do here all day every day would make your hair curl. And that’s the aspect of the job that will drive (pun intended) me out of it. For good…
jmc jnr:
You mention a fork-lift licence. I had to take both courses, and the Instructor told me that when unloading a lorry I had to take the keys from the driver to prevent him moving the vehicle whilst the fork truck was over the bed.
That is exactly the way things are with the mob I work for (a big - very big - soft drinks outfit with a global reputation). If I don’t take the keys out of the wagon and hang them on a hook on the “STOP” sign next to the barrier in front of the truck and stand in the green “DRIVER SAFETY ZONE”, the forkie can (and some will) refuse to load me. And these rules applly whether loading B-double or a Transit van.
The world’s gone mad.
(For reference, I should point out that I’m in my mid-50s. I’m no Jelliot or Robert1952 or Saviem, but I’ve been working on, in and around wagons for the thick end of a quarter of a century. I don’t need to be told that if I get in the way of a loaded forklift it will hurt.)
DIG:
Don’t think this type of gross mismanagement only happens on your side of the planet,some 12 years ago I was told by the Toll management to report for a course on load restraint under threat of never loading again for Tolls if I didn’t
As a Toll employee myself, I must say I find it difficult to not believe a word of what you say
paul
