What makes a skip bin truck stand-up and look like it is rearing to go? Yes I know it is the beginning of 2016 and all our drivers are back from holidays and the trucks had a bit of a break over the festive season, but.
This truck is actually getting a bit of a hammering. It is at a site in Melbourne that regularly gets large skip bins and this time it had a load made up mostly of hear and heavy waste. Concrete rubble from a building project.
A new driver had been sent to change over the bin and when he tried to load the bin on to the back of the truck the weight of the bin caused the front of the bin to go up in the air and for its front wheels to leave the ground. Not just by a mm or 2. The front wheels were off the ground by 300 mm or more.
When the boss saw the truck he was not as impressed as the driver, but at least now they both understand each other. The driver know that the trucks don't like this treatment and the boss know everyone understands what will happen next time the truck adopts this position.
Heavy bins like this are not only a drivers prospects they also threaten the safety of other road users. So if you are filling a bin you need to make sure it is up to the job and that you are careful not to overload it by mistake. I know this was only a simple mistake but it not one you want to keep on repeating too often.
It is worth remembering that if you over load a truck by a tonne or so then the driver can get fined by the road traffic authority. If a skip bin truck is overloaded by 4 or 5 tonnes then the driver risks going to jail.
In side the bin the concrete rubble looked quite harmless. Lets hope that we don't see any more large bins like this one this year.