0645 Start. Early activity at the yard this morning, the gates and office are open and there is a hydraulic fitter working on the crane. Now either he didn’t turn up on Friday or he’s still there. Either way there’s nothing to do until he’s finished so I retire to the drivers seat with a mug of steaming hot and get busy falling asleep……………zzzzzzzzz……..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz………BANG….zzzz…WTF? The fitter is dropping spanners and other assorted tools on the roof of the cab. Finally he’s finished and after a quick test to make sure there are no leaks, I leave the yard just after 0800 running an hour behind, this is bad news as I am likely to arrive in Enfield just as it starts to get really busy with schoolkids and so on. On my way through the lanes to Waltham Abbey the police have closed the road and are sending everyone up through Nazeing and Broxbourne, I know this is not a bad road as a previous closure had me using it a few weeks back in the very small hours. It’s a bit further but no big deal, or at least it wasn’t until I joined the traffic jam, that went almost through to the A10 at Turnford and was caused by, well I dunno because the traffic started to flow again. The bad news was it had cost a hour and I arrived on site at Enfield at 0945, the better news was that everyone had gone to school, work whatever and there were a lot less cars in the narrow street that on Friday afternoon when I dropped a Kitten rig here and it wasn’t raining. The site was in the corner tucked between two houses and there’s no way I can get in so I have to block the road whilst unloading, ply, 2 stillages, 3 bundles of steel, pallet of augers with the crane and some smaller bits by hand. ¾hr later I’m done and at least the delivery itself has gone better than expected. The run back to the yard takes only ¾hr and I get set to loading the next two jobs. First on is a pack of ply, 2 stillages, a pallet and a dumpy bag. Next is another 4 packs of ply, tried lifting two packs with the forklift to save time but steering would have been tricky so loaded them individually. Drop 1 was the 4 packs (300 sheets) of ply to Chattenden in Kent, a massive house building site that we often in and out of. Arrive about 1300 and discover that the forkie is on lunch until 1330 and there’s np way I’ll get them where they’re needed so I’ve got to wait. I spend the next half hour moving back and forwards to let mixers through, as they like to build houses with stupidly narrow access roads these days. Eventually the forkie comes out from reading the paper and slumbering in his car and tips the ply before reading the paper and slumbering in his cab. There is some steel rebar that has got to be collected from here so I nip round and quickly scoop it up in two lifts and get out by 1400. The rebar is going to Whitstable so it’s back round to the M2 and I decide to stop for fuel at Medway services as I’m down to 25l and getting a polite ‘You need to fill up with fuel’ display. The fuel stop has only two of the four islands open, two pumps on the left, one on the right and I join the queue behind the two other right hand side tanked vehicles in the pouring rain. Normally I wouldn’t bother with this but I couldn’t think of another decent sized garage that I’d be passing directly before getting back to Harlow. 20 minutes later and 265l in the tank and I’m off somehow 20l better off as they display reads 310l. At the end of the M2 I continue on to the A299 where I remember there is a nice big BP that is dry and empty when I pass. The job in Whitstable is in the one way, single lane part of the High St. and nothing can pass when you stop to unload. Unfortunately it’s now 1500 and there’s a fair few people about, but it’s got to be done so quickly off with the straps and get some of the groundworkers to shove the steel off before leaving. Back down the other direction I get caught in my own tailback of vehicles who had been waiting to pass! It’s back to the A299 and briefly on to the M2 to the A251 for Ashford and eventually on to Ham St. I arrive at the last drop at Ham St. at 1600 and there is a telehandler on site so my few bits are soon lifted off, there is some pallets of sand and cement here to go back so these are put back on with some empty pallets and I’m away by 1645. I’m dreading the tunnel tonight, the way today is going there is bound to be some disaster but unusually I go straight through without stopping, slowing only for one van in front at the toll (It’s pretty unusual at 17.50) Can’t complain though it’s the best news I’ve had all day. Arrive back at the yard in the gloom at 1830 and investigate what’s on for tomorrow. I have got two options, get up mega early open up everything, get the forklift out, unload and reload everything and strap down on my own in the first light but possibly rain, or do it now in the dark on overtime with assistance. I do it now and put the sand & cement to one side before loading, 1 pack ply, 5 stillages, 2 dumpy bags, 4 pallets, a bundle of rebar and a Belle Minimix. It’s a pain to try and load it all on, keep it separate for the different sites in the poor light but eventually it’s done and I’m off for home at 1945.
Tuesday 26th September 2006
0630 Start. A quick cuppa whilst checking last nights loading and I’m off out, first stop is S & B commercials at Welham Green to collect one of our contracts managers whose van is in for repair. All his bits and pieces are slotted on and we make our way back to the M25 and around to Chesham, Bucks. It is like having a (very) big kid as passenger as he is constantly fiddling with the buttons and switches and what this do, what’s that etc. Still it does make a change having someone to talk to, that is when his phone isn’t ringing about something or other. We arrive on site just before 0900 and there are only a few bits to come off here which are soon lifted off. The last lift was a tonne bag of ballast on a pallet sitting right on the back, I hadn’t thought about it last night but now I was wondering if the crane would be able to lift it. Also the centre of pallet was about 3’ beyond the furthest reach of the hook and the whole thing not visible from the controls. Whilst deliberating it, one of the senior bods was telling me how to do it etc. I explain patiently that, yes actually I do know what I am doing and am working out the safest way to do it blind but resist the temptation to tell him to * off or to do it himself if he’s such an expert. Depart from site just in time as OnTime have arrived with some plant and he is straight in as I pull out. Drop number 2 is on the Wentworth Estate in Viriginia Water and is only a two sheets of Celotex and a pallet of stainless steel angle, I’m soon gone and nip around to Windsor to drop the rest of the load and to load the Klemm. Arrive at Windsor to find A-Plant collecting the P11 grout pump, which is good news as it is one headache removed from today. Since I was last here there is no where to get the truck off the road and the 5 stillages, 2 dumpy bags and pack of ply are craned off over the 10’ hedge and it is a bit unnerving to do it completely blind. There is nowhere for a signaller to stand where he can see me and the load so the rig driver is standing on the tail end of the truck relaying the signals of his second man inside the site. Somehow it all works and and we set to loading the augers, toolbox, diesel drum and funnel before pulling forward and dropping the ramps. As we can’t get in the site the rig has to come out on to the road, so we nab some of the ply to protect the tarmac and stop the traffic when it goes up the ramps. Overhead phone lines are adding to the problems, meaning that the mast has got to stay fairly flat rather than using the weight transfer to tip it. Unfortunately one of the tracks is slipping and it looks like we might have to take everything off to get access to the winch. A final last ditch attempt and a bit of nerve brings it over the edge nice and slow. Following the sort out last week and the off hiring of the P11 the beavertail is empty and I fold the ramps to save having to strap them secure. It’s all looking nice and neat today with just ratchet straps to hold the bits and the chains for the rig. The original plane was to return to the yard, but as usual my phone has a text message with an address near Kettering. A quick drink for the journey and we’re off in convoy at 1315. I decided to use the A1 up to the A14 as it was all dual carriageway and motorway and should be quicker than the M1 route. On the M25 I saw a lowloader carrying the steam locomotive City of Truro, it seemed a cruel irony that the first steam engine to reach 100mph was being trundled about at 40mph.Whether it is or not is another matter as the A1 seems endless to the A14 but we arrive in the village at 1515. It’s a no horse town and I call at the village garage to ask where the lane is, apparently it’s the other direction just before the bridge with the 4t axle limit. Trouble is the bloke reckons it’s mega tight and best from the other direction. Back we trot and find the lane which has a 3t Except for Loading limit. 
Actually it’s not too bad and we find the site right on the corner, it’s too tight to back in so I pull in. There is some hardcore by the entrance but the main area has been scraped out and looks reasonably firm. I pull in so as to be able to turn around and track the rig off. I am now wondering if this is a great idea as the front wheels have compressed the surface by about 4” and it looks a bit squidgy. Trying to reverse round confirms this and only with several shunts, diff locks engaged and crawler gear am I actually able to scrabble back on to the hardcore.
Off loading is a doddle, straps and chains off, ramps down, rig tracked off whilst crane comes out, sweep off ramps and fold whilst the second man is throwing off the little bits, and its two lifts, fold the crane and sweep the rest. Engine off for a breather and it’s deathly quiet out here although I am sure that perhaps you could hear a banjo playing somewhere. It’s back to the A14 and M11 back to Harlow with about 15 minutes driving time left before another break is required. Park up, sort the paperwork and off on the way home by 1900.
Wednesday 27th September 2006
0700 Start. There’s nothing fixed for today, so I open up and spend a while tidying up the cab and having a sort out in the toolboxes, oiling the ratchet straps and that sort of thing. We have got some augers that have got to be shifted to our Basildon yard, but there is also some sand and cement to shift to Chattenden in Kent. As a rule we don’t get involved with the sand and cement, but this is stuff that has been returned from sites where there has been a larger amount spare. It has been accumulating for some time and we welcome the opportunity to get shot of it all. A quick tot up and we can clear 10t of bagged sand and about 6t of cement if we leave the augers behind. The sand & cement is used by the pilers, they mix up a grout of 1:1 bag plastering sand / bag cement in the P11 pump and pump it into the hole that they have drilled. This then becomes the concrete pile that will form the foundations for the building. Out of curiosity I see if the forklift can manage 3 pallets of sand in one go, the steering is a bit light and you get a great seesaw effect when you brake but there’s no way I’m lifting that lot up. Two it is and the forklift is leaning over at an unhealthy angle as it runs a wheel into a depression in the yard, some manual labour will be needed soon to fill in the worst before the forklift tips and causes an accident. Off I toddle down to Kent, it’s mid morning when I leave so the traffic is light and I arrive about 1130. The forklift driver is actually doing some work so I sit tight until he’s free, ‘Any chance you can tip these pallets mate?’ ‘What all of them?’ FFS it’s only 8 lifts. It’s 1230 when I leave and I head back to the M2 and the A229 for Maidstone. Out to Sutton Valence to collect the remainder of the 250mm augers for the Klemm that weren’t ready last week and another smooth run back to Harlow. Back at the yard the forklift is standing right in the middle with a puncture. It is getting ridiculous now, only last week it had 2 new front tyres and the fitter said to us ‘well shouldn’t be seeing you for a while’ It gets better, apparently it punctured this morning and he fitted a new tube which has now punctured. That being the case the boss doesn’t want it moved in case it damages the tube (he thinks it’s the valve that’s gone) I crane the augers over the fence and pick up a small pack of ply with a stillage on top. The augers for tomorrow are at the back of the yard and I try and squeeze in through the gate and reverse between the forklift and portacabin. The skip is preventing me from swinging the cab in, so out come the chains and shunt it over some but it’s still not enough. Not wanting to be beaten I pull out, turn around and nose up the forklift. I thread a chain through the counterweight and lift the back and see if I can skid it round to gain some space but it’s having none of it, I don’t think the crane will left it completely so end up throwing in the towel and leaving for home at 1630.
Thursday 28th September 2006
0700 Start. This morning I pick up where I left off yesterday and finish loading the augers and other bits and strap everything down as usual. However I will not be driving today as the management decided that during the absence of the distribution manager for next week and the following I will deputise, and these two days will be learning the ropes. I heard about it rather than being asked or even told and as such have no enthusiasm for the task. To make matters worse they are hiring an agency driver to cover for me. I like to keep the vehicle in good order and although we have no facilities to power wash or steam clean it, I do my best with the outside and am always cleaning it inside. When I had a week off in the summer it got treated like an ashtray so it feels hard to watch someone else drive off with it and dread the state that it will return in. I know it’s a bit sad but without it being there I feel lost, and struggle to find things to do. One job that I can do is to take one of the refurbished cutting head for the Klemm in the van and swap it over for a damaged one. I leave for Kettering at 0930 and decide to trundle up the A10 to Buntingford, A507 to Baldock, A1 St.Neots, B645 Kimbolton and B660 to the A14, it makes a nice change to drive on roads like these unhindered by only being able to do 40mph and at least there is something to look at. On site we swap the augers and I hang around talking to the drill crew and delay returning until about 1200. Back the same way and I’m back about 1400. There’s a couple of bits to dig out for tomorrows load, some stuff to tidy with the forklift and a newly emptied skip to start filling. I’m stuck here until Mr.Agency comes back so I wander into the empty yard next door and investigate an (very) old dump truck that might be useful for lugging some of the hardcore there round to fill in the holes in our yard. It looks pretty basic although there seems to be a lack of electrics. Hmmmm, oh look a starting handle…….bub bub bub it fires up after a little while puffing out little black smoke clouds. I work out how to switch it off and decide that it might be worth further investigation tomorrow now I can get it going. The agency guy returns about 1630 and I wonder how it has taken him so long from 0800 to go to Theale (1 lift), Redhill (1 lift cancelled on site), Basildon 1 stillage forked off and a bundle of steel forked on and then back to the yard. He asks about tomorrow and I tell him 0630 start, it will be loaded and ready to go to Rochester (3 lifts) return to yard where I will reload him 8 stillages, 4 packs ply, 3 pallets to go to Ashtead nr Leatherhead. ‘Oh that’s a long way, I’ve got to be back here by 4 don’t know I can do it, maybe I’ll call the agency and get someone else in’. Now originally he would have had pick up at Chattenden and run some steel down to Whitstable, but we palmed it off on to someone else as he seemed a bit slow today, I’m sure I could probably do it all (more or less) by about 4. However this guy was about 60 and was out short of breath just talking to me, and I suspect he usually covers the builders merchants jobs. A look at the tachos from when I was away, shows that this was the dirty git who left the cab full of fag ash before, and when I park up things inside have gone downhill inside. I write a note asking him NOT to leave it full of ash (there are no smoking stickers). Tomorrow will tell whether he returns or not but next week it’s someone else.
Friday 29th September 2006 0715 Start.
No rush this morning the boss is seeing the agency driver out, so rolling out of bed was a bit harder than usual. Arrive at the yard the gates are open and the truck has gone. Good. Hang on the only other vehicle is the van and I can hear the Volvo in the bottom of the yard. I wander over and find Mark craning some 300mm augers for the CFA rig on. Apparently the agency driver phoned in ‘sick’ last night at 2130 and Mark had tried calling me and texting to let me know although I hadn’t heard my phone. The sight of the materials in the yard decided him, that I am sure about but at least it gets me out of the yard. We finish off loading the augers and restrap and I am out by 0745, determined to make up as much time as possible. Surprisingly the Dartford Crossing is clear and I sail right the way down to Rochester in 1hr 15 minutes, which is amazing for the time of day. The site is on New Rd (A2) but access is via a small road off the High St. I thread my way around and just manage to squeeze back into the gateway although don’t go fully in as I think the tanks might ground.
There are a couple of lads on site who help me with slinging and it’s a quick 5 lifts and out, the lowloader is due in today sometime and I can see them having to take the rig off in the High St and track it round causing chaos. Another blast back to the yard, and I set to loading up for Ashtead, first on is 4 packs of ply being careful to leave a gap so I can get the slings around. Next on is the 8 stillages which has now taken up most of the space. 1 pallet is tucked right on the tail and the other two stacked up top on the stillages. I get it all strapped on and leave the yard by 1200 feeling quite pleased with progress so far.
I call in for diesel on the way out as the lazy agency driver hadn’t bothered and end up waiting for about 20 minutes to get on the pump.
It’s not too tragic though and I’m on site in Ashtead (M25 J9) by 1345. It’s a bit awkward getting the slings around the ply when it’s stacked like this but once it’s off things get easier. The two pallets up top are lifted with the slings before I can get the chains out to lift the stillages off, these come off much quicker as they are lifted from the top. Finally the last pallet comes off, and I reload with some augers for the Klemm, which were being used by an identical machine to ours that has been on hire. I’m out at 1515 having done 19 lifts and I’m in a good mood that even the school traffic can’t dampen. The M25 is heavy in places and loses me some time but I’m still back in the yard by 1715, having stopped again to brim the tank for next week. So after leaving an hour and a half later, doing more lifts, having to stop for fuel, and got delayed by traffic that wouldn’t have been there an hour and a half later I’ve proved that it perfectly possible to achieve. Next week will be very odd, as most of what I was to be doing will be done by someone at HQ and I am really only being a caretaker seeing bits in and out.
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