Hi guys and gals.
i was wondering if some of you could do a day in the life of the tipper driver as thats probably going to be what i start doing when i get my class C.
it would be interesting to see the different duties/experiences you all have.
many thank
Welcome to Trucknet Rookie Trucker, I only did a few weeks on tippers myself but I’m sure more experience will come along soon to help you out. 
Hi Rookie Trucker,
Good luck with the Class-C… Have you a job / company already lined up for when you pass?
As for tipper work - there’s plenty down in this neck-of-the-woods, with all the china-clay quarries. The work can be varied - driving to many different places during the day, delivering aggregates, top-soil, Etc. Some days can be boring - especially on muck-away from large sites, where you find yourself running back and forth from site to land-fill all day - often for several days too. 
Oh, and be prepared to get treated like sewage from almost every other road user - yes, even fellow truckers too! It doesn’t matter how professional you are, as soon as you get behind the wheel of your tipper you will be tarred with that same brush! 
Basically (if you believe the hype) tipper drivers are at the bottom of the driver pecking order!
On the upside: You aren’t usually expected to start the day at silly-o’clock - and as 99% of tippers are day-cabbed you get to spend the nights in your own bed and not some freezing lay-by somewhere! Also, fellow tipper drivers are often a great bunch - with good camaraderie and “craek” still in evidence. Remember, if you see a fellow tipper in trouble it’s almost an unwritten rule to stop and lend a hand. I got a large chunk of granite stuck between the tyres on my second rear axle last week - my puny hammer wasn’t even marking it! The next tipper that came along the tip-road stopped and gave me a hand to remove the rock - his hammer was no good either, but he had a 2ft long heavy steel pole. I drove forward while he positioned the pole between road and rock - once in position I drove forward some more which pushed the rock out! Job done - and both of us free to continue the day. Needless to say - I have a heavy steel pole in my cab now! 
Some people think tipper drivers are chasing their arse all day - while this might be true of some firms, many aren’t so. The firm I work for pay by the hour - and even on load work we aren’t expected to run bent either on hours or speeds. As for money - well, down in the SW wages are notoriously poor. I regularly take home just shy of £300 per week, and that’s for an average 48hr week. We get paid time-and-a-half after each eight hours, time-and-a-half on Saturdays with double time after mid-day. Saturdays are rare though - as I like a full weekend to myself! This is not too bad for Class-C down here in the SW.
There are a few important things to remember when tipping: Always try and get as level as possible. If you can’t get level then tip very slowly watching the tipping ram and rear axles very carefully - any sign of sideways movement in the ram, or the rear axles sinking too far on one side, abort the tip! Move the wagon somewhere else and try again. Sometimes you’ll get an irate tip attendant screaming and moaning where he wants the load - but basically, if it ain’t safe don’t tip there! It’s your licence / job after all - and the boss will be less than happy if you put a wagon on its side! 
When it rains (which it seems to do all the time down here! ) land-fill sites get very soft. Getting bogged-down or stuck up to your axles is another hazard. Remember, if your wagon has diff / cross-locks then try not to use them. They are to get you out of trouble, not in it! If you do get stuck then don’t ■■■■ the wagon in a low gear with all the diff / cross-locks in - try and be gentle. Breaking half-shafts / prop-shafts is not as hard as you think - especially when loaded and stuck. If in doubt make sure there’s something with enough power and traction to be able to pull you out of trouble - even if you’re loaded. There’s usually a 'dozer or blade on site. Try and get pulled out rather than pushed. Although there’s usually a nudge-bar on the rear it’s sometimes difficult for the blade driver to see it - and rear tailgate damage is not fun! When being pulled out - especially when loaded - make sure you help the 'dozer. Diff / cross-locks in and gentle clutch / accelerator use. Don’t rely on the 'dozer doing all the work - after all, 32-tonnes stuck in mud is one helluva dead weight. I’ve heard tales of front cross-members ripped right off a stuck wagon - although I’ve never seen this. When you’re free, remember to switch out the diff / cross-locks - or the next corner you come to will be very interesting and snapped half-shafts are no fun!
Concrete rubble: When tipping out large, long chunks of concrete rubble you do this in small steps. Ram up a bit, edge forward, up some more, edge forward and so on. If you bring the ram all the way up in one go - like you might when tipping soft stuff such as sand / soil - the tailgate wont be able to bury / push itself through the concrete. Result? The power of the ram is such that you may end up with a badly buckled tailgate!
You’ll work on building sites too - either muck-away or delivering sand / gravel Etc. These can be good and bad. Large sites are often easy, with good access. Small sites can be a nightmare - sometimes with very tight access. Remember, keep your wits about you on sites - they are dangerous places and contain many hazards. Oh, and the scraping of your nearside / offside front bumper is commonplace in the tipper world - so don’t worry when you scrape your first! Just have a look at some tippers next time you’re out and about - you’ll see what I mean! You’ll get plenty of practise driving down narrow country lanes too! Not much fun - but you do get used to it after a while! Down these lanes just be extra vigilant - I don’t know about tipper drivers being at the bottom of the pecking order, I’d say it’s the mummy run drivers in their MPV’s tearing down narrow lanes. The look on their faces as they round a narrow bend (inevitable driving way too fast) and come face-to-face with 32-tonnes filling the whole width of the road is priceless!
Watch your weights - you get some good shovel drivers, who realise your limits and try to stick to them. You also get some gits who will always try and squeeze in that extra bucket. If in doubt simply drive off the shovel - sure, he’ll rant and rave but it’s your licence, and you and your firm will be responsible if you get caught over weight. This problem usually occurs when being loaded by a swing shovel. The larger wheel loaders tend to have bucket weighing equipment on board, getting loaded by one of these usually means you’ll be on weight. Watch the small tractor-type loaders though. On muck-away you will usually be loaded by a swing shovel. Whereas quarry aggregates, top-soil Etc., loading is usually done by a large wheel loader. You will soon get to know the size of various loading buckets, and how many it takes to fill you to your weight. Listen for horn signals from loader drivers too. Most will signal when you’re reversing as to where they want you to stop, then signal again when you’re full. Not all do, however, but it is very common. Make sure they scrape / flatten the top of the load if it’s muck. On concrete, make sure they don’t put any large, flat slabs on the very top of the load. If in doubt get the loader to “stir” the load secure before you drive away. Watch the size of the concrete lumps too - after all, it’s got to be able to come out of the tailgate without getting wedged! If you think the lumps are too large, get the shovel to break them up - the shovel will usually have a “pecker” on site. Sure, he’ll moan that he has to change from bucket to pecker, but that’s life!
Get a CB too - almost all tippers have them, and often all the local firms run on the same channel. The CB is very useful in the tipper world - as you will discover! Some of the day-to-day banter is a laugh too!
Finally - as a tipper driver it’s the law that you watch Hell Drivers - staring Stanley Baker - at least ten times!
Have fun!
Welcome to TruckNet UK RookieTrucker
And good luck with your class 2
Hi there and thanks for all the advice guys and gals.
first…wheres the best place to get a mobile CB setup? and about how much?
I havent got anyone willing to take me on yet, but was curious if you could advise me of any companies in the South West upto around plymouth area that i could call and enquire?
what is the general channel that tippers use on their CB?
Also could you tell me roughly what to expect on my first day? i know this varies between employers, but just to prepare me lol.
well once again, many thanks for all the advice…i cant wait to get my class c and get tipping.
PS. How the hell can they charge £29.99 for Hell Drivers? i was going to buy it, but not for that price.
RookieTrucker:
Hi there and thanks for all the advice guys and gals.first…wheres the best place to get a mobile CB setup? and about how much?
Well, I got mine on eBay - an old Midland 2001 that had been modified by a Radio Ham to improve its “bleed-over” filters - I then modified it further to improve it’s output, up from 4-watts to around 6-watts simply by changing one resistor! I can’t quite remember, but I think I paid around £20 for it. Then bought a twig, coax and other bits on-line from Knight’s CB Centre. Knight’s also sell rigs, and could put together a reasonable package for you. Personally I prefer the older 1980s “glory days” rigs - they tend to be more robust and I think the modulation and overall performance is better.
RookieTrucker:
I havent got anyone willing to take me on yet, but was curious if you could advise me of any companies in the South West upto around plymouth area that i could call and enquire?
How far from Plymouth are you? The Yellow Pages is your best bet - but, off the top of my head, a few tipper firms you could try are Burcombe Haulage - based at St. Dominick, near Saltash, they run a tipper fleet as well as flat-beds for plant haulage. A.R. Haddy - based near Tideford, Saltash, who run tippers mainly on aggregates for Bardon. Deeper into Cornwall you could try D.J Wills - based near Looe. Aggregates & Minerals Ltd run a large tipper fleet, based near St. Austell. Bodmin Blocks run tippers too. Also, Stocks & Sons - who run tippers, and do a lot of work for Imerys. Telephone numbers for these companies can be found HERE. Age can be a bugbear though - I know several of these firms will take on rookies, but I’m not sure how many will take drivers under 25. So probably best to ask when you 'phone them - assuming you’re under 25 that is!
RookieTrucker:
what is the general channel that tippers use on their CB?
It Varies - the firm I work for use channel 36 and when other tippers are using the same land-fill as us then they tend to switch to 36 too.
RookieTrucker:
Also could you tell me roughly what to expect on my first day? i know this varies between employers, but just to prepare me lol.
As you say, it varies. Some firms will give you an assessment drive, then probably put you out with someone for a few days. Others will chuck you the keys and say “It’s that wagon over there!” If you explain you’re a rookie then they won’t expect too much… At least on your first day!
RookieTrucker:
well once again, many thanks for all the advice…i cant wait to get my class c and get tipping.
Out of curiosity, who are you doing your training with and what attracted you to tippers?
RookieTrucker:
PS. How the hell can they charge £29.99 for Hell Drivers? i was going to buy it, but not for that price.
That’s because it’s a deleted title. However, if you look around you can still find it for a good price: HERE’s the DVD available on eBay at £4.25. Or, if you don’t like / trust eBay go HERE for £12.99.
RookieTrucker:
Hi there and thanks for all the advice guys and gals.first…wheres the best place to get a mobile CB setup? and about how much?
.
if you look at the top of the screen you might see a banner ad
www.lorrybits.com - The internet home of The CB Shack
ps. nice lot of info Sir Lans-a-lot 
Hi there, i actually live in Camborne, age isnt a problem as i’m getting old (28 ) now.
i should be taking my training with Truronian as i am hoping the jobcentre will help me pay for the training.
i have always wanted to do tipper work…dont know why.
and thanks for the info about CB’s.
RookieTrucker:
… i should be taking my training with Truronian as i am hoping the jobcentre will help me pay for the training. …
Ring a few tipper firms - if you can get some sort of confirmation that they will offer you a job when you pass your ‘C’, the JobCentre will probably be glad to fund your training. Might be worth checking up on this.
Thanks for this very nice bit info Sir LANs-a-lot. I think that in a tipper work this kind of information is quite “universal” and not depending as much from local conditions than general freight for example.
I find it quite strange you are so unrated over there. Here in Finland tipper drivers are rated quite high among truck drivers because of quite bad work conditions they have. I’d say that most Finnish truck drivers would rate logger drivers to have first position with huge margin to second driver group which many would probably say to be tipper drivers (altought they most likely don’t count artic tippers into same group).
Sir LANs-a-lot:
When it rains (which it seems to do all the time down here!
Good info but I think there are few other things which are quite basic but as this is aimed to newbie I think these should be told.
Altought diff/cross-locks should be switched out before turning at the “hard” surface they can still be used on soft surface on “slight corners”. I try to say that you don’t have to switch locks off before every corner. Other thing is that you can usually switch diff locks off even when truck is moving at the slow speeds so you don’t get stuck when truck stops (I’m not sure if same applies to cross locks).
When you have switched lock of from dashboard it may not come of instantly and lock may be “stuck on”, little like the rock between tyres like LANs-a-lot said. It then requires little bit of turning wheel when moving and eventually locks will came off. This applies to every type of truck with diff lock and isn’t anything tipper spesific.
There are also cases where you may have to engage diff and cross locks when you drive to tipping place but then you should ensure that you stop at relatively hard ground so that you don’t end up stuck really bad. I think this is quite special case and at the time you arrive to the first this kind of tip you most likely don’t need any spesific help to realize what I write above. You can also end up stuck if you drive too slow so that soft ground kills all your speed. Also when your drive axles start to spin when you’re taking off don’t ease too much from the gas pedal or you might end up being stuck. If truck is moving forward you can ignore little wheel spinning but when truck halts ease from the gas so that wheels don’t dig too deep. It’s also good to switch traction control off in many situations as it can kill all speed you have and after that you probably need towing.
Disclaimer: I’ve never driven any civilian truck on really soft ground and I talk mostly from the experiences I’ve gathered with military 4x4 and 6x6 trucks. Many of these things aren’t anything “tipper only” and apply quite well when you’re about to get stuck at winter conditions.
A couple more for you, Rookie Trucker, while you’ve got the phonebook out:
Sid Knowles, Penryn.
Richards & Osbourne, Fraddon.
In your yellow pages, also look under the headings:
~ Quarries
~ Sand & Gravel supplies
~ Plant Hire
~ Civil Engineers
~ Road Contractors
as they will often have some of their own tippers, etc. as well as hiring in other firms as and when required.
Sir LANs-a-lot:
RookieTrucker:
what is the general channel that tippers use on their CB?It Varies - the firm I work for use channel 36 and when other tippers are using the same land-fill as us then they tend to switch to 36 too.
Out of curiosity, is 19 (AM) usual “call channel” over there as it’s in Finland? With “call channel” I mean channel where CB usually stays if there isn’t any spesific need to use different channel.
Sir LANs-a-lot:
RookieTrucker:
… i should be taking my training with Truronian as i am hoping the jobcentre will help me pay for the training. …Ring a few tipper firms - if you can get some sort of confirmation that they will offer you a job when you pass your ‘C’, the JobCentre will probably be glad to fund your training. Might be worth checking up on this.
thanks mate, will try that and let you know how it goes.
Kyrbo:
Sir LANs-a-lot:
RookieTrucker:
what is the general channel that tippers use on their CB?It Varies - the firm I work for use channel 36 and when other tippers are using the same land-fill as us then they tend to switch to 36 too.
Out of curiosity, is 19 (AM) usual “call channel” over there as it’s in Finland? With “call channel” I mean channel where CB usually stays if there isn’t any spesific need to use different channel.
Yes, 19 is the channel. However, we (legally) use FM over here - and channel 19 still applies. Channel 14 is used too. AM CBs (in the 27 Mhz frequencies) have always been illegal over here. Some do use them though. I prefer AM - as I hate the FM hiss - but it’s rare around here to find anyone on it. Having said that, general users of 27 Mhz FM are rare around here too. Unlike the early 80s - when it was so difficult to find any channel free among the 40!
Some good info posted by Kyrbo above regards to sticky ground and diff / cross locks! Soft ground kills your forward motion very easily. It’s also very difficult to steer sometimes - with the truck going everywhere but where you want it to! On such ground never risk driving too close to (or past) other trucks - if the traction gives out you could find yourself sliding into the other truck all too easily!
Something else to remember RookieTrucker and that’s don’t drive too fast over land-fill or quarry sites. These areas have some very rough ground - and you can very easily break a spring. Most tippers still use steel springing, rather than rubber or air. Basically for traction. I had an ERF 8-wheeler with rubber rear suspension for a while - it was all too easy to get that git stuck!
Deesider:
Sid Knowles, Penryn.
Richards & Osbourne, Fraddon.In your yellow pages, also look under the headings:
~ Quarries
~ Sand & Gravel supplies
~ Plant Hire
~ Civil Engineers
~ Road Contractorsas they will often have some of their own tippers, etc. as well as hiring in other firms as and when required.
Thanks for that mate, will try those too.
thanks kyrbo and LANs-a-Lot for the info
just one last thing, for a mobile CB, do you need a licence and if so how do you go about getting one and roughly how much do they cost?
RookieTrucker:
thanks kyrbo and LANs-a-Lot for the infojust one last thing, for a mobile CB, do you need a licence and if so how do you go about getting one and roughly how much do they cost?
Yes, you’re supposed to have a licence. They cost £15 a year - apparently! 
Actually, there was talk of deregulation of the CB frequencies and removal of the licence requirement by July 2004 - and, eventually, removal of the frequencies - by 2010. However, the “latest” news on the OFCOM website is still dated 2003 - so it looks like that isn’t a priority.
You used to be able to get the licence (or at least the application form) from the Post Office. Not sure if you still can.
thanks mate and to everyone who has given me advice…thats the end of my questions for now, but feel free to add anything you feel may help me.
i will be contacting employers in my area and surrounding tomorrow…so fingers crossed.
RookieTrucker:
thanks mate and to everyone who has given me advice…thats the end of my questions for now, but feel free to add anything you feel may help me.i will be contacting employers in my area and surrounding tomorrow…so fingers crossed.
Good luck, and let us all know how you get on with the job hunting, the Class ‘C’ training and the JobCentre regarding its funding.
Sir LANs-a-lot:
RookieTrucker:
… i should be taking my training with Truronian as i am hoping the jobcentre will help me pay for the training. …Ring a few tipper firms - if you can get some sort of confirmation that they will offer you a job when you pass your ‘C’, the JobCentre will probably be glad to fund your training. Might be worth checking up on this.
Hello all, i rang some employers including the company down here that does all the councils waste collection and disposal work and although they have work NONE will even consider me until i have my class C.
so i rung jobcentre and explained that NO company would agree to employ me until i have my class C, but i also explained that there is work out there that is available to me once i get my licence…their response was that as i DONT have an offer of a job on completion of the training and passing, i can not be considered…so i am buggered!!!
thanks for all your help and will let you know if i ever get my class C.