a couple from me 
I was taught by my dad as a 10 yr old. On a Saturday morning I would go into work with him and help him and the other drivers at Sheldons Howarth and Wilson (Bury then Bolton) to load up and sheet their loads. It came in very handy when I passed my class 1 and started driving. I travelled all over europe with flats and used to get some strange looks from our european friends. It was an art and one that I took pride in.
I’m 46, and glad I had a couple of years on the flats roping and sheeting when I was younger.
It’s something I was always keen to do after going along with my old man who was a BRS Tramper.
I was always taught to take my time and do the job properly, as it saved you time in the long run.
This was also a time when you could stop for a break, have a bite to eat and a chinwag with
a fellow driver without a mobile phone or tracker device malfunctioning… 
Those times have now gone sadly 
I must admit that I do have sympathy for the younger drivers entering the profession now.
It’s sad that everything is timed to the minute, and all I see now is the younger generation
jumping out of cabs with one arm in a hi vis trying to make near impossible schedules. 
I trained at RAF St Athan back in 1987.
After passing your car test and if you were streamed direct to HGV training you had to pass a roping and sheeting course.
First part was in the class room and all about how to best work out where the loads went on the lorry bed etc
Second part was into a hanger full of trailers and flat beds and a week or so of roping and sheeting and how to use rachet straps.
A couple of old boys showed us dollys and the best way to do it.
Then you were given a flat bed and load to rope and sheet if you failed you did the course again
My old man had already grounded me in the fine art of roping though when I used to go with him.
I’m afraid I still can’t bring myself to throw a strap over a sheet it has to be a proper rope.
As an aside
Last time I had to do it was about 98 - 99
I used to run for a firm as their only driver and had to do Leeds - Manchester - Leeds - Manchester running steel plates back and forth then back to Manchester to load for Leeds
Back at Leeds I would load the following mornings load to get a flyer.
I used to have to rope and shhet it every load in all weathers.
Boss used to be on my back all the time about the time it was taking for me to get turned araound “Sam ( a subby) is in and out in 30 minutes you take an hour”
Sam used to come in and drop an empty curtain and pick up a loaded one so the boss didn’t really get.
So anyway I’d crack on sheeting getting the dolly done looping it round my foot to pull it uber tight and on wards up the wagon.
Anyway one day I broke down and didn’t get back to about 23:00 so got the next day off but said I wouild come in that afternoon to load the repaired wagon for the following day.
Boss rang and told me not to come in as there had been a bit of a problem unloading the previous load.
I came into a scene of disaster and a boss with some new found respect for roping and sheeting.
Unable to get the dollys undone they’d got a knife and sawn through all the ropes - so they had to be replaced.
One lad had an asthma attack and one had to go for a sit down trying to get the seet off and folded up.
All in all it took about three people to do what I’d been doing day in day out.
Mind It kept the weight off and me fit wouldn’t like to do it now I’m a bit older.
i enjoy roping and sheeting if the weather is fine, it can be a real pain when the weather turns for the worst.
you get some funny looks nowadays, especially from the foreign drivers, they had tilts, when we were using flats. so it might be a lost art here, but it’s prety much unheard of in some countries.
it gives a real sense of achievement when you can stand back, and look at a tidy job.
Doing general haulage off Boston Docks in the late 1970’s we used to run rolls of paper to Tate & Lyle in Bootle . Sheets / Fly Sheets and ropes on the way up we often used to also tip Veg into Manchester Market which was a pain un sheeting and then re sheeting to keep the paper dry if it was wet weather , because the veg was usually spread along the top of the paper rolls . After tipping the paper I used to park on some waste ground to take my 8 hrs off , but you had to throw your sheets and ropes off and drive onto them so as not to get them nicked you also had to remove your back light lenses and bulbs because they would nick them as well whilst you were asleep , then you had to put everything back in place and reload your sheets and ropes before you could set back home again . Those were the " Good Old Days " without sleeper cabs just a couple of planks from the window ledge onto the engine bonnet and a roll of foam to sleep on and no curtains to keep out the light .
Had to secure and sheet a load of flat steel sheets at ASD Durham depot a couple of weeks ago, very grateful to the shunter who kept me right and taught me a couple of new tricks. I can rope and sheet but never done this kind of load before, always welcome a hand and new ideas.
I used to love roping and sheeting (provided I could actually do that part under cover if it wa raining). I took pride in doing a neat job, once you actually master a dolly knot you never forget. I stopped doing flat bed work in 1988 but in 2001 on my first driving job here I was delivering sceptic tanks on a trailer and without even hesitating used a dolly to secure the back tanks, nobody who worked there had ever seen anyone tie such a knot and the had me train all the drivers to tie one.
They don’t use ropes over here, everyting is strapped and it doesn’t look so nice, instead of sheet ties they use bungee’s to tighten the sheets.
On Swifts we carried Rockware glass and some loads were over 15’ high, before they obtained fitted sheets that size we used 2 half sheets and 1 fly sheet, placing the fly sheet on one side and secured by a few long ties over the load to the other side, then used the 2 half sheets to cover the top and the opposite side, it took some practice but eventually we all mastered it, in fact I prefered it because the actuall full sized sheets when they arrived were damm heavy
When working for Richard Long we sometimes brought back animal feed on a low loader and loaded up to the max, right PITA that was, stopping every few miles to tighten the ropes.
Nice neat loads on the pictures shown but of the easy variety, get about 10 or so drops of groupage of all shapes and sizes on the back and then the art comes into play proper.
I used to work for a small company in Bristol until I moved to South Africa 6 years ago, we used to rope and sheet on a regular basis as we used to do a lot of machine moves and only had flat trailers, we did have it a bit easier than most as we all had cranes mounted behind the cabs so we could lift the sheets straight on to the load and only have to roll them out 
I learned to rope in the early nineties when the firm I worked for at the time would not let any driver use straps, the owner didn’t trust them, and we were hauling tractors.
Have not roped and sheeted a load for more years than I can remember, but I think its like riding a bike, you never forget, how many drivers nowadays would know what a ‘dolly knot’ is?, and I don’t mean that in a disrespective manner.
EastAnglianTrucker:
robroy:
I used to do nothing else a few years ago, I had a flat on the other week, my head told me I could still lift and chuck sheets, and jump up on the trailer like I used to, then my arms and legs didn,t agree, I also had blisters on my hands
, suddenly realised I wasn,t the young fit lad I used to be
Me too. I started driving about 35 years ago and was roping and sheeting for the first five years until I started to do freezer work. I reckon I could still sheet and rope a load if I had to, but as you get older, like robroy, I guess my body would make me pay for the privilege…
Thinking back there must have been a great deal of time spend roping and sheeting as opposed to just strapping and tensioning the curtains now (or closing the back doors). It was great fun in the pouring rain, gales,etc. Throwing the ropes over just to find them blown back… spreading the out the fly sheet out only to find it had reached the ground quicker than you…dirty water running up your arms on wet days when roping…using gloves and getting the thumb caught in the dolly!
I learnt from an ‘old timer’ in the docks - loading flat trailers that had been dropped by shunter. Very proud of the first trailer I roped and sheeted on my own - a tidy job - look the dogs . . . Got a rollocking later - lads said ’ you put the sheets on back to front!’ Didn’t realise what they meant til I looked and sure enough I had put the front sheet on first and then the back sheet - had confused the front and back of the trailer! Do it again and learn!! 
Paul:
I was taught by my dad as a 10 yr old. On a Saturday morning I would go into work with him and help him and the other drivers at Sheldons Howarth and Wilson (Bury then Bolton) to load up and sheet their loads. It came in very handy when I passed my class 1 and started driving. I travelled all over europe with flats and used to get some strange looks from our european friends. It was an art and one that I took pride in.
0
By eck paul.
That sc ene brings back some memories mate.
regards dave.
I was shown how to tie a dolly and actually managed to do it once, Its a art and sadly one which is disappearing.
I love to see a neat roped and sheeted load, personally I have not had the chance to practice this since 1983, apart from sheeting loads for Perkins (Peterborough) around 1986-90, The responsibility was on the driver to rope the load
Would love to learn how to do a dolly knot again and actually put it into practice, which I doubt will happen now, due to a dodgy back
Those who still do rope and sheet, well done you, keep the art going and truckers admire you for a job well done
I taught my son who was then about 10 how to do a dolly knot when he was in cubs ( he is 23 now & can still do them ) same as me slower then used to be as not done them in a while
I have never had to do it and never been shown.I would however like to be shown but we do bulk tipper work so no need to.I used to watch my dad struggle with the one on top of his tipper when i was a kid but i was always there jumping up to hook the bungee cords on!Its good to see a 40ft flat going down the road all neat and tidy.Never have me camera when i see one though.
PinkLadyTrucker:
I was shown how to tie a dolly and actually managed to do it once, Its a art and sadly one which is disappearing.I love to see a neat roped and sheeted load, personally I have not had the chance to practice this since 1983, apart from sheeting loads for Perkins (Peterborough) around 1986-90, The responsibility was on the driver to rope the load
Would love to learn how to do a dolly knot again and actually put it into practice, which I doubt will happen now, due to a dodgy back
Those who still do rope and sheet, well done you, keep the art going and truckers admire you for a job well done
This is how, a bit boring youtu.be/DHH9JLwB-34 the guy is speaking Spanish so we must assume somewhere in south America. I pretty sure I could still tie a dolly a half hitch and a loop, the question is could I lift the sheets on top of the load, probably not.
I love all the modern kit, but the old stuff taught you more, you watched and learned from the old blokes and learned to work smart.
It’s just pushing buttons now, not that I’m complaining.
We are no longer drivers we are steering wheel attendants you only have to look at old photos to realise that
gonzothejaffa1:
manctramper:
Lo Gonzo i’m on for hindles out of bolton, only been here a couple of monthsto get away from night trunking, bored of that so gone back tramping doing
general and the odd abnormal load, a job to take me till the cpc comes in then
time to give it up, roll on 2014
ahhhhhh i know of them similar stuff to us am on for the yellow perils out of cheadle (bratts)
My mate’s on for them too, but he drives a rigid with a HIAB.
Seems like most of the work is CHEP for last couple of years, but still gets the odd generator, matrix sign etc that needs sheeting, but mostly just strapped loads like pallets or concrete etc.