0645 Start. I'm fully loaded from last Friday with a 8t & a 5.5t machine plus their buckets and a breaker. There's not much deck showing and I'd think that I'd be running close to max weight too. Still that only amounts to 26t, with 420hp to lug it along with it's not really a problem. First call is to Takeley near Stansted Airport where the 5 tonner is coming off.
Because it's up the front the whole lot has to come off and the 8 tonner reloaded back on. There's no one to help but there's a bit of space and I'm off about 0820 and heading for the M11 and M25. The traffic down to the M25 is really heavy but the M25 is actually OK and I eventually roll into Southend at about 0930.
My delivery is to Priory Park and I have to drive road the narrow park roads and try not to drive over the ornamental borders.
The machine is tipped off and there's just enough space to turn around so I can thread my way back out again. I'm off for Hemel Hempstead now to collect a 3t dumper from the JCB dealer there, it's a new place to me but dead easy to find and another first is seeing a brand new dumper. I thought that they made them knackered. Dumpers have got to be the most abused piece of kit on site and this one will probably be well hammered in about 6 months time.
It's all to-ing and fro-ing today I'm back to Wickford to deliver the dumper direct to site, so it's back around the M25 / A127 again. Once I'm done at Wickford I have to go back to the park in Southend to collect the 8 tonner from this morning. I drive in again and find that they have now ripped up the only available turning space. After a lot of shunting and turning and lots of reversing I finally get turned round and load the machine for the 2nd time today.
It's back to the yard with this one and there I'm given the good news that it's going out first thing tomorrow and the bad news that there's a dumper going as well. The buckets go in the dumper and the machine comes off (again) the dumper goes on and the machine is loaded on the back for the third time today. All sorted and done by 1645.
Distance 354Km.
Tuesday
0645 Start. It's damp and drizzly this morning and my first delivery is only local so I'm in no hurry but I'm still on site (or on the roadside next to the site in Purleigh) just after 0700. There's no way to get into the site so it's a roadside offload job, far from ideal but at least early enough to still be fairly quiet.
It's now time to trundle over to Greenshields JCB in Braintree to load a new 535-125 Telehandler. I'm there at 0800 and there's only a few signs of life so I have a brew up and wander in about 0815 when the gates are open. After a fair bit of faffing they run the machine down from the yard and start washing it's wheels. This really pisses me off, the job was booked on Friday and now they start prepping it. It wasn't even dirty and what little grime they washed off would soon be replaced by the spray on the road.
It's about 0845 when I get away and I head down the M11 / M25 / A13 to drop the machine at MAP plant at Barking. There's a fair bit of heavy traffic on the A13 but I get to MAP around 10 ish. They sign it in without a second glance and I'm back on the A13 and soon on the North Circular heading towards Staples Corner.
We're loading some stuff from a bankrupt companies yard and I meet our other 6 wheeler there. There's not much space with the two of us in there and there's stuff stacked here and there and all has to be craned on. It's a poxy job this one but I at least get a chance for a refresher on the crane. Eventually I get loaded with a big stillage of tubes and a heavy tank full off stuff.
Getting out involves the bloke in the yard stopping the traffic on the North Circular so that we can back straight out onto it. Nice. We're heading back round the NCR to the M11 for a short hop up to Abridge / Stapleford Abbotts to a farm to offload. As I shake off one of the straps from the tubes it lands on top of my head and nearly sparks me out. Reeling about I realise that it wasn't the strap but one of the heavy plastic tubes. We'd originally been booked to return for a pair of containers but they were still connected to mains so we took our time unloading the other junk.
By 1530 we're done and off to Ongar to pick up the A414 to take us back to Danbury.
Finished at 1645.
Distance 241Km
Wednesday.
0645 Start. It's the last day of the week for me as I've 2 days off booked and I'm a bit slow to get moving this morning. I'm still on the road by 0700 but the prospect of a couple of days off is going to make today drag I can just tell.
I've only got 2 moves booked which is up until about lunch, any luck I'll only get one more for the day....
First job is to load an 8t Volvo at Bocking near Braintree, it belongs to a groundworker and has a regular driver. At least on these moves the machine is ready, and they bring the machine to you and load it which makes a faster turnaround on site. I'm off with him tailing in his van and I beat the well trod path down to the M25 as far as J26 for Waltham Cross.
Unloading takes 10 minutes at the maximum and I'm back off to Braintree to load a JCB 4CX out of Greenshields.
Love 'em or loathe 'em you have to admit the detailing is nice.
It actually dawns on me that on the handful of occasions I've moved a 4CX it's always had a regular driver who has loaded and unloaded it. It's mostly the same as a 3CX inside. Only different. The main difference is that the back hoe levers are mounted on the arm rests and swivel with the seat. Flick the switch and they control the bucket too. After a bit of button pressing I get it sussed and loaded on. (I have a feeling I may have seen these controls on a 3CX, so maybe they are an optional extra)
It's not how I like to secure them but I leave the chains hanging up and use straps today as I'm delivering it to another plant dealer - Ernest Doe at Ulting and I suspect they might be narked if the paint is chipped.
At Ulting I'm told to park it next to a rival, a New Holland equivalent. However it's soon whisked away to a far corner out of sight as it's not part of their manufacturer range (Komatsu, New Holland, Manitou)
It's now lunchtime and I've done all my allocated work, however I have got wind that there's another job in the pipeline and call the office for details.
I'm told to go to Tiptree to load blocks from a site and there's someone there to load me. Usually that'd be a telehandler but the only there is one of our 13 tonners. I'm less than impressed with the mountain of old crap to shift. Packs of blocks, beams and empty pallets fill up every inch of space. The machine has to be tracked up the ramps to stack stuff up the front and soon there's mud everywhere.
Finally loaded I head off to Braintree to a large site there to tip the load. I find their forkie on the site and it's the first he's heard of it but in fairness he soon comes over and whips the load off. True to form he knows nothing of the next load going out but a quick call and he's soon loading 6 packs of (different) blocks to go to Wickford.
I'd far rather be heading back to the yard but I push on and get to Wickford just before 1600, as I approach the site they spot me and dive out into the road to stop the traffic and indicate that they want me to back in. It's a busy road and they've stopped it, so I follow their directions and promptly ground the fuel tanks on the entrance to the site. Luckily there's no damage and there's just enough in the air suspension to get in. They soon have the blocks off and I make a cautious exit over some hastily placed scaffold boards. I'm back in the yard by 5 and off home shortly afterwards.
Distance 291Km
Total Distance 886Km
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