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THE HEAVY HAULAGE SECTOR

26th June 2008, Page 56
26th June 2008
Page 56
Page 56, 26th June 2008 — THE HEAVY HAULAGE SECTOR
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

For heavy haulage. the situation is less straightforward. "Every driver should have training," says Steve Biddle of the RHA Heavy Haulage Group, but we don't need NVQs."

John Rawcliffe of long-established JB Rawcliffe & Sons, a heavy and abnormal load specialist from Skelmersdale, West Lancs, agrees. He's chair of the RHA Heavy Haulage Group and while acknowledging it would be good to have an overall training package, he points out some of the difficulties. It's a sector where two jobs are rarely the same and prime movers and trailers are used in continually changing configurations.

"Our lads know how to use our equipment: we train in-house with manufacturers involved at the handover," Rawcliffe adds, Drivers and trailer men need a good working grasp of hydraulics this is how modular trailer sets are steered, Rawcliffe explains.

A broad range

He continues: "Some start as youngsters and train by working as a second man, steersman, and, eventually, as a driver. We always put them on with someone more experienced."

Ironically, the heaviest moves more than 1,000 tonnes are achieved with SPMTs (selfpropelled modular transporters) legally classed as locomotives. They require no HGV licence.

Robert Ford, at Studley, Warwicks-based Allelys, has a similar perspective on training. "There's too broad a range of equipment to fit into a single training scheme, [but] we teach basic manual handling and load securing. We recruit heavy haulage staff on the basis of their experience and from our general fleet. The directors here have all done the job and get behind the wheel as well if we are busy.

"We send people to Goldhofer [which supplies Allelys' trailers and axle sets] and. in turn, they train in-house."

Best practice

Ford stresses that there's a world of difference between STGO Cat 2 at 56 tonnes and loads over 250 tonnes. For drivers to know their equipment and the niche market nature of their loads is a major selling point.

"We pay more than average, but we expect our drivers to think things through and to be able to solve problems," he says.

Such qualities of initiative and self-reliance characterise an industry sector which prides itself on solving transport conundrums and achieving the apparently impossible. Employees are much more than drivers, and are expected to get involved in a lot of manual work. Jealous of their reputations, and protective of vastly expensive capital equipment, heavy haulage companies generally prefer to go their own way when it comes to training.

One area where the RHA Heavy Haulage Group has laid down training and accreditation standards is in abnormal load escorting. In an attempt to ensure uniformity of equipment and best practice, it has submitted plans for the approval of the Highways Agency and the Association of Chief Police Officers.


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