The Runaway Pallet truck

My customer finally arrived at 7 am and we hand balled 7 pallets off and into a tiny hole in Central London . See left..
This is a shop in Central London just off the A4 next to Harrods . We take 6-11 pallets a week in to here and it all goes down that hatch , 8 boxes at a time like the picture. We have to arrive at the shop usually around 5.30 to assure parking is available. The parking bays start charging at 8.30 and the shop keeper usually opens up for the delivery at 7 so we don't have long and it means you don't get a chance to have a rest after because the wardens are on you like vultures.



An example of the Traffic
Wardens stupidity is this.

Marks & Spencer have a store across the road and obviously have a delivery every day. They have to park on the opposite side of the road with the back doors adjacent to the delivery doors of the store. There are no parking bays on this side, only double yellow lines.
They tailfift every thing down in cages with the store manager watching the road as a health & safety procedure.

Every morning at 8 am the warden arrives on a scooter parks in front of the M&S lorry, takes a photo, puts a ticket on the lorry, takes a photo of the parking restriction sign and then drives off.
He never speaks to any one from the store, or the driver.
He never try's to help with the traffic , which is horrendous at that time of the day , with our lorry the bin wagon every day and the M&S truck as well. We are legally parked though until 8.30.
This is the street taken at around 7.30 ish but it was half term so not as busy.

And this is another picture of the doorway. I hate this doorway !!!!
When I got here yesterday The hole was taped off because an elderly employee had fallen down the hatch !!! imagaine that ? We still made the delivery but had to finish early before any other employees came in. The rest of the Stuff came in through the shop.
I was given a load of stuff to return to base with from the shop .


When I had finished the London drop I had to get over to Croydon with 4 metre lead screw and a 4 metre long pallet.
It took me over an hour to get over Vauxhall Bridge and through Brixton but I was still on schedule. Phoned the site contact and went to drop off the Pallet and the lead screw. Bad news was that the pallet stayed on, along with all the packaging because they didn't have a forklift on the job so the lad took everything off this massive pallet and left all the crap with me. I
He was sending a 5 metre screw back !! shit this meant that my last few pallets on the headboard would be trapped in , they were both handball jobs and needed the pallet truck. So far I had collected more than i was delivering !!

I set off from Croydon more like a bin lorry than a goods truck.
I went over to Lewes for a regular drop we do that has to be a Taillift. Its always simple just a little bit tight to get into.
It took a little bit longer than usual to get their pallet off because of the crap in the back but I was back on the road in 8 minutes.
I was going to Uckfield next along the A22 i think it was.

I had 36 bamboo floor packs and some underlay. It weighed about 1.2 tonnes and is always a crap job,usually because most customers don't appreciate how heavy a wood floor is or how much is going to arrive, usually to a domestic address in a 18 tonne lorry.

I saw the size of the street and think Oh Crist . it was tiny and it wiggled like a snake. Plus the parked cars were strategically placed to daze and confuse and sometimes bewilder. My heart sank when I realised that number 23 was at the end of a succession of bends , twists and two cul-de-sacs.
The neighbours were out the minute they heard the beeping of my reverse gear. When the grass verges were touched I was sure I could even hear them muttering . I was also getting distracted by the slight twitching of the curtains.
I pulled up and found the home owner, its always easier to get someone to share the burden. I asked him to move his car and explained that I needed to drop the tail lift onto his drive and then empty some stuff out of the way to get his floor out.
His house was at the bottom of a hill that ended in a cul-de-sac but luckily it was fairly level just outside and the truck sat flat.

I started pulling all my collection out into his drive here is one pic


I had 5 blue pallets , 5 lots of shrink wrap from said pallets. My wheels, a 5 metre lead screw ,( on the other side of the truck) a 4 metre long pallet with heavy plastic attached , a pallet of coffee machines
Several boxes of spares for machines and an old Christmas display case with loads of burst coffee capsules on it , they were tipping and pouring all over his drive, whoops !!.

Any way I got the pallet ready for the tail fit and I dropped to the ground, well it dropped me actually.
It was around 1.2 tonne and the lift takes 1.5 but that's with me and the pallet truck as well.

I eased the pallet truck off the lift and the pallets creaked and groaned. It was a very steep hill dropping down to the back of the house where they wanted the delivery so I started to gently ease the pallet down , yeah right,
I gently eased it and it took off like a rocket I tried to drop it but it had built up momentum and was heading for the wall!! The lad who was taking the delivery was the wrong side of the pallet and he looked a bit pale running backwards. .
It hit the floor and the load just managed to stay on. It was at an angle and needed straightening up. This drive was steep, easily 20% gradient and it was bendy as well.

The lad called his dad and they pushed the pallet up slightly as I turned it. Some people will think , including them that it would be easier to just carry it.
Well I carry them every day and trust me , its heavy . I wasn't going to be carrying this anywhere if I could help it.
We got it straight again and got ready for the 2nd attempt . I started to raise the pallet truck and as it inched off the ground it started to groan again and ease forward then it left the floor and, whoosh it was off again. I had told them NOT to stand behind it , but the young lads dad was insisting it would be OK , he didn't think it could be so heavy so he stayed put.
Ha, and they say white men cant jump !!! well old white men in Uckfield can, as this pallet of bamboo flooring came at him he flew up in the air and landed like a cat, feet first I'm glad to say.

The pallet stopped again and I suggested we all hang on the end, and lower it together, bit by bit.
The young lads dad said "No your alright lad well take it from here".
ha ha ha .
I noticed they were taking them in one at a time between the two of them , one on either end. I tidied up all my stuff and set off , the three and three quarter hours back to Leicester. A long day.
Got back arond 6 pm and seeing as I had left the Yard at around 3 am I felt shattered.
I was told due my hours I would be off on Friday . That suited me and I went home .
I couldnt post yesterday so here it is.