- 4 weeks ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Get ready to restart your engines.
00:06Are you ready?
00:07Yeah, ready when you are, pal.
00:09Our trucking heroes are back.
00:12Ranger, off you go.
00:14Hey.
00:15These are the super heavyweight champions of the road.
00:19Just another day moving machines.
00:22It is very nerve-wracking. Very, very nerve-wracking.
00:25Wielding some of the heftiest hardware in the world.
00:29Lift it off. Pinch it off.
00:31When every mile's a battle.
00:35Where's he come from?
00:36He's obviously totally ignored us.
00:38And every second counts.
00:40Because it's such a big machine, we're going to block the yard, so we need to be quick.
00:44These are the experts making light work.
00:47About half an inch off the outside.
00:50All good. Going really well, actually.
00:52Of the largest loads imaginable.
00:55It is quite easy to make a catastrophic mistake.
00:59What the hell of one way has to...
01:01So put your pedal to the metal.
01:03We're committed now. This is it.
01:05Things are about to get...
01:07Trucking heavy.
01:09Start of the week off with a happy customer.
01:13It can only get worse from here, can't it Mick?
01:21Today, Sam picks up a porter cabin.
01:25I've noticed that there's a waste pipe on this end.
01:28But the balance is blown by the bog.
01:31It's lifted a little bit skewy.
01:35This is probably the dangerous thing you can do on the trailer.
01:37It's the most dangerous you can do in the digger as well.
01:41A dirty digger in a quarry needs driving onto a flatbed.
01:46Believe me, when you skid off, you skid off.
01:48And it can be quite a serious proposition to have to sort out.
01:54All right, again.
01:55And in Staffordshire, a problematic pin.
01:58No, it's not quite going in the hole.
02:00Drives deck to despair.
02:03F***ing useless.
02:04F***ing useless.
02:07Castleford, West Yorkshire.
02:09It's home to a heavy haulier that's on the move 24-7.
02:15Brookdale Transport.
02:20We move anything from a pallet up to cabins, diggers, wide loads.
02:26It's on site in haulier.
02:28If it can be lifted, we can move it.
02:31Founded 17 years ago.
02:34It's a family-run firm.
02:36We started off with one truck.
02:37We've moved on to today where we have 50 vehicles and 50 trailers.
02:43And their division of drivers has just gained a daughter.
02:48Sam, she come to us with high recommendations.
02:52Very friendly, bubbly.
02:53Always likes to have a laugh and a joke.
02:55But when work comes to work, she will crack on.
02:57This morning, Sam stormed into Market Weight and Yorkshire in her hulking high app.
03:06Gearing up to move a mobile site office.
03:10Let's go find our cabin.
03:15Right, so I think this is it.
03:17It's a nice, tidy cabin.
03:19These type of units we have to lift from the top.
03:21We can't lift it from the bottom.
03:22I'm going to spin the lorry around so I'm not completely blocking the yard.
03:31Set up and load it.
03:34The box on the blocks is bound for whales.
03:37But before Sam starts to rig, she wants to figure out exactly where it's going.
03:44I've had a quick look at the postcode.
03:47And I can't say, I can't actually say where it's going.
03:50It's an S-Y postcode somewhere in mid-Wales.
03:53It's like Treg, Treg, Treg, Treglu, Tregluin, Treg...
04:00Somewhere south of Newtown.
04:02The prodigious port-a-cabin on its way to the unpronounceable place is fresh off the production line.
04:12It's a 28 foot long, 10 foot wide fortress.
04:18And weighs in on a whopping 3 tons.
04:23The same as a fully grown white rhinoceros.
04:27It's time to plan the lift of the office.
04:34So I'm going to pick it up, slip it over the bed of the truck and then spin it.
04:38I've noticed that there's a waste pipe on this end, so I'll probably have the waste pipe to the back.
04:44Years spent shifting site shacks has hammered home some hazardous and hard-learned lessons for Sam.
04:52Normally on the older ones that have been used before, if you have that soil pipe at the front of the lorry,
04:57you can imagine what's going to come out all over your bed of your truck.
05:01So it tends to become a bit of a habit that you just stick the soil pipe at the back, just in case.
05:07And yes, there have been many times when I've got covered in s***.
05:10Now Sam's got to scale the beast, climbing to the top of the cabin to attach the chains to the upper lifting points.
05:21I'm just shortening the chains a little bit.
05:25Setting the chains correctly is crucial for keeping the lift level and locked.
05:30Because you're always a bit conscious of your chain angles.
05:33Two, five, six, six, one, fifteen.
05:35Fifteen.
05:36Yeah, you always want to keep your chains at a good angle.
05:40Responsible for reaching out and removing the cargo is Sam's Fassi F8 20 crane.
05:52With a 16-metre reach, almost as long as a bowling lane, and maximum lifting capacity of 22 tons,
06:00this heavy lifting hero takes extra large loads in its stride.
06:10Rigged up and secured, it's time to take the tension.
06:15But if the load is off balance, it could sit, turn, or even topple.
06:21We'll just give it a bit of a test lift, make sure it's lifting fairly even and fairly level.
06:25It should do, it might be slightly heavier on that end because of the toilet in it.
06:28But yeah, we'll just sort of take the weight, give it a bit of a lift and see what happens.
06:35As the cabin comes up, Sam's suspicions are spot on.
06:40The bog is weighing one end down.
06:44It's a little bit skewy, but it's safe enough, it's sensible enough to carry on.
06:54She slowly slews the office over.
06:58Turns it in line, and hovers it above the flatbed.
07:05But with a 10-foot spread, it's way too wide for her trailer.
07:09Sam needs to park the prefab precisely in the centre of the platform.
07:15The floorboards of the lorry are in straight lines, it's normally not too hard to line them up, but it's just making sure that I've got the same size overhang on both sides.
07:29Right, so you're two planks in.
07:34You're one, two, three in a bit, okay.
07:39The load is skew width. One side is set over too far. Drive like this, and it could cause a collision.
07:50I'm going to have to pick it back up.
07:53Sam tries again to centre the load, so it's safe for the road.
07:58Right, that might be a bit better, so I'm about two and a half planks there.
08:05Two and a half planks there, that'll do.
08:09Large Lodge landed.
08:18Get the unit strapped down and then we can get moving.
08:22To make the structure safe to move, Sam will need some serious strapping.
08:27So the unit only weighs three tonnes, so we're sort of overkilling it a little bit with the straps, but it's better to have too many straps than not enough.
08:36Sam is careful not to damage the shiny new shed.
08:42Just put a bit of carpet in so we don't make scratches on the unit with the ratchet.
08:49It is incredibly important that it's got to be safe, it's got to be done safely so you know that when you're driving down the road, that's not going to come off and hurt someone.
08:58Transporting this portly port-a-cabin needs highlighting on the highways.
09:03Just putting our wide load marker stickers on, because obviously we are ten foot wide.
09:11So yeah, just sort of a bit of a warning to other road users.
09:17Sam's mammoth mission is over 200 miles, and the winding Welsh wilderness wasn't exactly made for massive motors.
09:27Right, sorted.
09:30Coming up, Sam's slog to the site, maybe a bridge too far.
09:36There's a three-ton bridge, and the diversion is about 20 miles.
09:41And an earth-encrusted excavator needs exfoliating before it can embark.
09:49That looks like nothing, does it? But it's not nothing when it's bouncing through your windscreen, is it?
09:54In Yorkshire, Sam has loaded a lopsided port-a-cabin.
10:09It might be slightly heavier on that end because of the toilet, innit?
10:14She had to perfectly centre it on her flatbed.
10:18It's just making sure that I've got the same sized overhang on both sides.
10:23Now she's whisking the worksite office to Wales.
10:28But exactly where? She can't say.
10:32So we're heading to a place just outside of Newtown, which starts with a T, which is quite Welsh, and my Welsh is terrible, so I'm not going to try and pronounce it.
10:43So we're heading somewhere near Newtown.
10:44Starting in South Yorkshire, Sam moves mostly on main roads and motorways through central Wales to offload the office in the yard of some civil engineers.
11:02It's a nice straightforward journey. It's all major roads until we get about two or three miles away from the job, and then it looks like a bit of a country road.
11:16So obviously with the cabin being a little bit on the wide side, watching for things like overhanging trees and, you know, sticky-outly hedges, and Wales loves a stone wall.
11:27So just be looking at things like that, making sure we don't clip anything on the way through.
11:30Sam settles in for a steady 200-mile spin on major roads.
11:39The journey's going pretty well so far. It was about three hours worth of motorway and A-roads.
11:45We're still on an A-road, but it's starting to narrow up a little bit. So we're getting to the interesting bit now.
11:50But as she drives deeper into the depths of the Welsh countryside, some of her worst fears come to fruition.
11:59I said there were stone walls in Wales.
12:02I hope it's down here, because if we turn down here and it's not down here, I'm a bit stuck.
12:08Less than half a mile from her destination, the tight country roads may leave Sam in a sticky situation.
12:20No, not the way then, La. Thank you. Oh, marvellous. This looks marvellous.
12:28And worse still, there's a small bridge up ahead.
12:33I don't know where Landon and Bridge is, but I'm hoping it's less than a 0.3 of a mile away.
12:39The cramped crossing won't take the strain of Sam in her 20-ton truck.
12:46There's a three-ton weight limit bridge slightly down here, but I don't know how far down here it is.
12:51Although I'm assuming it might be this bit here.
12:53Which, if it is, is going to be a massive problem, because my sat-num's not picked up.
12:58There's a three-ton bridge. And the diversion is about 20 miles.
13:04She stalls the delivery and calls the customer. Her pronunciation prowess will be put to the test.
13:13Hi, it's Sam from Brookdale. I've got a cabin for you.
13:17Right, where are you? Are you a bit lost?
13:20A little bit, yeah. So I've just come into Trefegloose.
13:26Oh yeah, Trefegloose, right.
13:28Trefegloose. And I turn left. It's saying there's a three-ton weight limit bridge down here.
13:33Are you down this road?
13:35We are down there, but the bridge, the bridge is further on.
13:38Right, lovely stuff. I will keep heading down there.
13:41See you in a minute.
13:42Cheers.
13:43Thanks, bye.
13:44And now we know how to say the Welsh name.
13:48Luckily, the yard's gates sit just shy of the brittle bridge, so it won't need to be overcome today.
13:56It is down here. So we're now going to have to negotiate this, which is a little bit skinny.
14:08Finally.
14:09I think we won with that one.
14:11She steers her way to the cabin's new corner of the countryside.
14:16Hiya.
14:18And it's good news for the offload.
14:21Ah, lovely. Bags are in. That's what we want.
14:24Ah, let's try to see where it's going.
14:26Whereabouts is it going?
14:29Temporarily where them coons are there.
14:32I might be best pulling round and then backing down towards the dumpers.
14:41Sam skillfully places her high-app in the perfect offloading position.
14:47That'll do, I reckon.
14:49And preps for the dismount.
14:52It'll be the same process as we did to get it on the lorry, but in reverse.
14:56So we're going to pick it up and spin it that way and drop it on these pads here.
15:03The country air may prove problematic.
15:06It's a little bit windier than it was this morning.
15:09But Sam has a solution.
15:11Put a bit of a tagline on it.
15:13May as well have a line on it.
15:15She sets her crane, chains, and skillfully lifts and slews the shed.
15:22Give it a bit of a pull now so it doesn't go too far.
15:25It's coming down quite nice.
15:31How are we looking you outside?
15:36I think she's fighting as it is.
15:38Yeah, you're fighting as it is?
15:39Yeah, I think so.
15:40Yeah?
15:41Hey.
15:42Customers grinning, Sam is winning as she plants the port-a-cabin perfectly in place.
15:49That was a good one.
15:51Time to pack it up and hit the road home.
15:54Customers been in it.
15:55Seems really happy with it.
15:56It's a nice cabin.
15:57Really nice cabin.
15:58Just the long drive home now.
16:01Hardcore hauliers, Fox Brothers are big in the business of delivering heavy metal.
16:14They command an army of excavators and ground-shaking, earth-breaking machines.
16:27It's Friday morning at the yard.
16:28And a colossal crusher, dropped off last night, is still on the back of a flatbed.
16:34We were back in late last night, so a big machine like that, we don't want to be messing around
16:39with it when at night time, when it's another long day.
16:44Now transport driver Alex needs to unload it, so he can crack on with today's new jobs.
16:51We're going to get this off now, and we're off to Anglesea to get a 30 tonne excavator.
16:58A bit of driving, a nice day out driving.
17:01So yeah, it's going to be a busy day.
17:04He uses a remote to control the 36 tonne Titan.
17:11Where are you wanting this?
17:13Trailer cleared.
17:15Yeah, pal.
17:17Time to get his rig on the way to Wales.
17:21To pick up a mechanised monster that's finished causing carnage at a quarry.
17:27We're travelling to Anglesea to go and get a ZX 300, a large attached excavator.
17:36Hopefully it's clean and ready to go.
17:38Usually is, the lads usually even clean up there.
17:43The route will take Alex from his base in Lancashire.
17:46110 miles south-west.
17:50Over the Britannia Bridge.
17:52To the Isle of Anglesea.
17:54Then all the way back, before the local curfew on heavy vehicles kicks in at 6pm.
18:03Despite the long drive, Alex is in his element.
18:07When I was about 12, me and my mates used to go to the motorway bridge near where we lived
18:12to wave at the lorries.
18:14We're absolutely lorry mad.
18:16I never imagined I'd ever drive one for a living when I was little.
18:19I haven't been driving him for 31 flipping years now.
18:26It's a childhood dream, can you imagine?
18:28It's crazy, isn't it?
18:31But with those three decades of experience, he knows that today's move is packed with peril.
18:38There's no such thing as an easy job when you're loading diggers onto lorries.
18:45Driving a machine up a narrow ramp and going over a balance point and driving it along a trailer at a height,
18:53that is inherently dangerous.
18:55It's probably the dangerous thing you can do on the trailer.
18:58And when you think about it, it's the most dangerous you can do in the digger as well.
19:04Alex makes quick work of the motorway.
19:09And soon he's sailing smoothly across the sea.
19:13We've just cleared the bridge over the Menai Straits and we're here in Anglesey, on the Isle of Anglesey.
19:19And this is the old main road to Hollyhead.
19:24So 50, 60 years ago, this would have been the main traffic to Ireland.
19:29And 150 years ago, the Orson carriage along here.
19:34That's how ancient a route this is.
19:36And now it's just a bit of a back road.
19:38It's only 9.30.
19:42And he's already at the quarry to extract the excavator.
19:47So, I'm just going to check my machine, make sure we're the right one.
19:50Get my overalls on.
19:52The ZX-300 Hitachi is a beast of a machine.
19:58The tracks sprawl ten feet wide.
20:01Its arm stretches a jaw-dropping 35 feet.
20:05The whole package, a solid 30 tons of pure power.
20:11And it's got two buckets tagging along for the ride.
20:20But this mound of metal isn't looking its best this morning.
20:26So it's been left with a bit of excess mud on it that's dried.
20:31And a dirty digger can be downright dangerous.
20:35So the machine's been dug out down in the quarry.
20:38But when it came up, the slop's still on the machine.
20:42But when it goes on the road, it has to be surgically immaculate, not just a bit clean.
20:47So we're digging off this excess now.
20:50So it is spotlessly clean so it can travel on the road.
20:53Any debris left on the digger could come loose during transportation with disastrous consequences.
21:06That looks like nothing, does it?
21:07But it's not nothing when it's bouncing through your windscreen, is it?
21:09Excavator cleaned down and risky rocks removed.
21:15It's time to prep for the load.
21:18Alex's almighty Scannier V8, specced for heavy haulage, has 590 heaving horses under the bonnet.
21:32Its trailer spans 8 feet wide and is stout enough to tow a staggering 50 tons.
21:40But this is no ordinary flatbed and boasts a fantastic feature.
21:50It can expand.
21:52When you're putting a big wide machine like this on, you'd be legally obliged to have outriggers.
22:02So thankfully, from my point of view, more modern designs of trailer, it does that electronically instead.
22:09With that 3.5 metres, the digger's 3.5 metres wide.
22:14It's as big as you can get without having an escort van.
22:16Alex will have to drive the excavator up the ramps and onto the flatbed.
22:22The stage is set for the battle between man and machine.
22:28Believe me, when you skid off, you skid off and it can be quite a serious proposition to have to sort it out.
22:34Coming up...
22:36It's two-way traffic, there's plenty of blind corners.
22:40Alex is in a race to beat the curfew, but has to be careful.
22:44Did you see how close that went?
22:49How close?
22:51And a 26-ton crane beam is cautiously coaxed onto a carrier.
22:58Coming down.
22:59The rolling fields of Suffolk.
23:14Known for arable farming of crops such as wheat and beet.
23:19But since the early 60s, something else has been growing in amongst this rich and fertile soil.
23:26This is HC Wilson.
23:30One of the country's leading heavy haulage specialists.
23:35Their massive machines have been making mammoth moves for 60 years.
23:40It was founded by my parents in 1963. Most days is a challenge.
23:48We're moving pretty much anything that won't fit in a standard trailer.
23:54All right, hand down and go backwards. There you go, in you come.
23:57Whether it's two centimetres over width or two metres over width, that's what we specialise in.
24:03If it's supersized, super heavy or simply super long, there's nothing they can't shift.
24:12One morning back in December 2022, on his way to collect a lengthy load.
24:23One of the firm's finest.
24:25Lunch, I've got some beef and some ham, cheese, then I'll make myself a sandwich.
24:38Could have a KFC.
24:40But then that doesn't help with this.
24:42So, no fast food today.
24:44But when he isn't thinking about lunch, he's concentrating on the job.
24:50And on today's menu, a challenge that will call on every one of his 20 years of experience.
25:02This 25 metre long load spreader is just one part of a huge crane.
25:07More than twice the length of two standard shipping containers.
25:12Its weight is equivalent to three Tyrannosaurus Rex, coming in at a colossal 26 tonnes.
25:21This is no ordinary lift and shift, but Dick hasn't got an ordinary rig.
25:28He's riding high in a Scania R580 tractor unit.
25:32It's very comfortable, it's got fridge in it, microwave, television, kettle.
25:39So you've got a home from home really.
25:42This 580 bhp beast of burden can pull up to 72 tonnes.
25:48And today it's hitched up to a triple extending, low height flat trailer.
25:53Capable of stretching to an incredible 35 metres.
25:57It's no wonder it's nicknamed the trombone.
26:00It's 25 metres long and according to my paperwork it weighs 26 and a half tonnes.
26:12Should be okay.
26:13Next task, extend the trailer.
26:30Right, pins are out.
26:33On the stretch.
26:34A 12 metre long trailer is about to become a 25 metre long trailer.
26:42I've paused the air for the air tanks.
26:45I've pushed the button in, I'm going to stretch the trailer.
26:49It's as simple as pressing a button.
26:52Well, almost.
26:55Better put the handbrake on I suppose.
26:58With the rear axles now firmly locked in place, it's showtime for Deck.
27:06The trailer has extendable sections.
27:10First, the rear.
27:11Deck locks it into place with an automatic securing pin.
27:23Well, that's one bit done.
27:36He can now extend the front section.
27:38That should be about right, should I? It's about a metre past, isn't it? Yeah.
27:55But something's not right with the trailer.
28:03It's extended to the right length.
28:06But the securing pin hasn't locked into position.
28:10Until it does, Deck is going nowhere.
28:13No, it's not quite gone in the hole.
28:16It looks like it's just gone just in front of the hole.
28:19So I need to pop it back.
28:21We are just struggling a little bit with the length of the stretch.
28:25Sometimes the trailer slags slightly with the length of the stretch that we have in it.
28:30Sometimes you just struggle to get that last pin.
28:33So I'm just going to try and pull it forward a bit.
28:35Again, the locking pin misses its hole.
28:51This process relies on everything being level.
28:55But with the surface uneven, things aren't quite going to plan.
29:00Right, we'll move it back a little bit, see if we can level the trailer out a bit.
29:03Deck's loader has adjustable suspension.
29:08He raises the front end a couple of inches to try and align locking pin and hole.
29:16Hopefully that'll got it.
29:18It might have made a difference because the trailer's going uphill slightly.
29:22Using the air on the unit to try and level out the trailer.
29:26It's best on level ground.
29:28But hopefully we've got it now.
29:30Deck tries again.
29:31Deck tries again.
29:38But still, no luck.
29:42F***ing useless.
29:44This mammoth lift is turning into a mammoth headache.
29:48That pull forward a tiny little bit for this to fully go in.
29:55What, the pin?
29:57Yeah, you've got about that much out.
29:59The pin is just millimetres away from locking.
30:02But close isn't good enough.
30:05Fortunately, Deck has a plan.
30:07We'll both be shut it all up and start again.
30:13Back to square one.
30:15Deck pulls forward.
30:16Deck pulls forward.
30:17Deck pulls forward.
30:18Bullseye.
30:19I saw that problem.
30:20That's gone in there.
30:21I saw that problem.
30:22That's gone in there.
30:23Yeah.
30:24The rear extension is now locked in place.
30:26The rear extension is now locked in place.
30:27It's always them last couple of centimetres that are in port, apparently.
30:28That's gone in there.
30:29That's gone in there, yeah?
30:30That's gone in there.
30:31The rear extension is now locked in place.
30:33It's always them last couple of centimetres that are in port, apparently.
30:45with that problem. That's gone in now, yeah? The rear extension is now locked in place.
30:53It's always them last couple of centimetres that are important, apparently.
31:03Trailer ready. The team from Mammoot start to load the beam using a gantry crane.
31:09Twenty-six tonnes of steel, held up by just four chains.
31:21I'm close.
31:28Coming down.
31:29Brilliant. That's good.
31:43Last job before hitting the road. Chain it on.
31:51I should put some other chains on as well,
31:53because the more chains you've got on it,
31:55the more confident you can be about taking it down the road.
31:59Finally, two hours after arriving on site,
32:03he's ready to get the load on the road.
32:09It's the first 15, 20 mile before you get to the motorway.
32:14That's where you might have your problems,
32:17because of roundabouts, traffic not knowing what the trailer does.
32:21That's why we have an escort vehicle.
32:22Right.
32:24I think I'm satisfied now that we've got it right.
32:29Everything should be OK.
32:31Just put these away.
32:34And we should be ready to go.
32:36In a quarry on the Isle of Anglesey,
32:47Alex has cleaned down a digger.
32:50It's not nothing when it's bouncing through your windscreen, is it?
32:53Prep the flatbed.
32:55We've got 3.5 metres.
32:57The digger's 3.5 metres wide.
32:59And rolled down the ramps, ready to load.
33:03Believe me, when you skid off, you skid off,
33:05and it can be quite a serious proposition to have to sort out.
33:10To move the mighty machine,
33:12he'll have to drive it on himself.
33:15He climbs behind the controls.
33:17First, he must perfectly line up the payload's tracks with the ramps.
33:28By this stage, you're committed, really.
33:31If you start adjusting it on the ramp, it might slip off.
33:35After setting down one of the buckets,
33:38he's all set for the asset.
33:43We're committed now.
33:45This is it.
33:47He's on board, but not off-duty.
34:11He plants the first bucket
34:13and swings round to scoop up the second.
34:17Equipment safely stowed.
34:26It's a trucking triumph.
34:28It's gone really well.
34:30I think it's took about 35 minutes to do, really,
34:34which is, given the sweeping up we had to do
34:36to get it really dust free,
34:39it's not too bad.
34:40Time to secure the load using six chains,
34:44each capable of holding 10 tonnes.
34:48I can declare myself happy and ready to crack on.
34:55Alex now has to travel over 100 miles back to base.
35:00But the rules of the road mean this large load needs dropping off
35:06before a curfew kicks in at 6pm.
35:09And with his wide load, it's not something he can rush through the island's country roads.
35:18This is the most complex part of this journey, in total, about four and a half miles.
35:23It's a narrow country lane,
35:25but it's two-way traffic.
35:26There's plenty of blind corners.
35:28There's plenty of hedgerows and walls that will impinge onto the width for the vehicle.
35:33Oncoming traffic is not his only worry.
35:57The soft verges could end his journey in a jiffy.
36:02This is a countryside, that's grass.
36:04If I go on that, the thing can go, woof, and over, just like that.
36:09And if the trailer goes over, the lorry will follow it.
36:12Despite the race to return home, Alex must take it slow and steady with his 30-ton load.
36:19The speed limit for me is 30 miles an hour,
36:21which might be quite frustrating to the people behind me.
36:25And when we come to the villages, look, here again,
36:29the speed limit in Wales is 20 miles an hour,
36:31which, to this thing, sometimes feels like you're going to hit stalling speed or something,
36:37but you just have to get your head around it, really.
36:42So if you can see there, that stone wall,
36:45I'm going to have to go into the opposite carriageway to get past that obstacle,
36:48no matter what.
36:49There's a lorry coming.
36:51It's a tractor.
36:52After manoeuvring past one final farm vehicle,
36:59Alex makes it off the ancient roads
37:01and back to the mainland.
37:05We've done all right, really.
37:07For a Friday afternoon, we've done OK.
37:09Now he can power along the A55.
37:14But time is tight.
37:17As it happens, we've got 10 minutes to get to the yard
37:20and 15 minutes to the embargo.
37:22We've still got to get back with this,
37:24and we've still got to get it off
37:25and clean up and tidy up, ready for Monday.
37:28So the day is not finished yet.
37:31It's a close call,
37:34but the colossal cargo cruises to the finish line
37:37and Alex can unload this evening.
37:45One final precarious trip down the ramps
37:49and his dream job is done for another day.
37:55We got back inside the embargo just.
37:59It's all clean machine, so ready.
38:00All he needs is refueling
38:01and he'll be ready to go straight back out.
38:03Just want to tidy up here and we're done.
38:05I still was ready for the weekend.
38:11Still to come,
38:13Deck hits the road in his mega-long loader.
38:16You've just got to be aware of everything.
38:19With a mega-long list of hazards.
38:22Cyclists, pedestrians,
38:24people on their mobile phones with their earphones in.
38:30In Staffordshire,
38:39H.C. Wilson driver Deck
38:42has been loading a lengthy crane girder
38:45onto the back of his truck for transport.
38:48He's now ready
38:49to hold this exceedingly long load.
38:52Once he's freed himself from his overalls.
38:57I'll have to get some new ones.
39:04His journey will take him 200 miles east
39:07to the port of Felixstow.
39:09But along the way,
39:10he'll face roundabouts and roadworks.
39:13So this could be a tricky trip.
39:18All good to go.
39:19Deck checks in with escort driver Kevin,
39:22who'll be with him for the ride.
39:24Everything should be OK.
39:26It's just...
39:28The only thing I'm worried about
39:29is roadworks at the 518
39:31getting round down, that's all.
39:34Did you want me to go behind you for that bit?
39:37We'll see what it's like.
39:38We'll get on the way
39:39and everybody's happy then.
39:43580 horsepower,
39:47pulling a 25-metre,
39:4926-tonne beam.
39:52Now on its way to Felixstow,
39:54most of the journey
39:55will be on straight, wide motorway.
39:58But to get there,
39:59Deck's got a few challenges ahead of him.
40:04Yeah, go on Deck,
40:05I'll hold these here, mate.
40:08Driving it on the Tingle carriageway roads,
40:11where you've got other traffic around you,
40:13where car drivers normally
40:15don't realise what the trailer does.
40:18You've just got to be aware all the time
40:20of what's around you
40:21and the space around your truck.
40:22First test,
40:30a right turn into oncoming traffic.
40:34Stop the traffic coming, mate.
40:36The escort drivers are a great help at times,
40:39but a lot of them are ex-drivers as well,
40:41so they know the score.
40:42They know what they're doing.
40:43The steerable rear axles on the trailer
40:50make the 90-degree turn look easy.
40:56This is the desired route that I was given,
41:00and you've got to stick to it as best you can.
41:04But even for a driver with Deck's experience,
41:07the approaching roadworks
41:08are a cause for concern.
41:10This is where it is.
41:14There are cones everywhere,
41:17hampering the left turn.
41:20You've got that island there in the middle.
41:23You've got the traffic light here,
41:26so you don't want to be too close to this edge
41:28because you'll end up taking that traffic light out
41:31because when you turn tight like this,
41:34the trailer's going to go out.
41:36All his years on the road show their worth.
42:07Deck takes it in his stride,
42:09and not a single cone is crushed.
42:12The more experience you have,
42:14the more tight situations that sometimes you get in
42:18could benefit you at the end of the day,
42:20and we didn't hit any cones,
42:22and we didn't knock any traffic lights over
42:24or anything like that,
42:25so that's good.
42:26And then, just a few miles further down the road,
42:31completing Deck's full house of road nuisances,
42:35the town centre,
42:37single lane,
42:38showcase.
42:38See, this is the sort of thing where,
42:42I mean, we are on the designated route,
42:45but then you encounter stuff like this.
42:50These definitely weren't here this morning.
42:54That wasn't there this morning
42:56because before he'd come to me,
42:57he'd come down and had a look at all this.
43:00So you've now got, like, traffic lights with cones and a van,
43:04and it's got a sharp chicane at the beginning of it.
43:10So, but we'll have to try and negotiate it the best you can.
43:19Kevin in the escort van up ahead.
43:22We'll clear the way.
43:24It's pushing it in, so...
43:26OK, mate.
43:27It's just, again,
43:30it's just getting yourself in the right position
43:31to get through in the fast place.
43:36Deck squeezes through the chicane
43:37with just inches to spare.
43:44But finally,
43:46the urban stretch over,
43:48Deck reaches the safety of the motorway.
43:54OK, well done.
43:56Yeah, mate.
43:59So that was all that done, then.
44:01Hey-hey!
44:02That weren't too bad.
44:04That went pretty well, really.
44:09We didn't hit anything,
44:10and we didn't knock anything over,
44:12so that's always a good thing.
44:13Which is a result
44:14in anyone's book.
44:19And now we're on the motorway.
44:21We're playing sailing now
44:22all the way to Felixstoke.
44:23Where Deck can wave bon voyage
44:26to the beam
44:27and another job well done.
44:31and again...
44:33who can wave bon voyage
44:43and beat them up.
44:49And now we're helping in the 1940s.
44:50And we're gonna go in Golden prec 달ewanional.
44:52But we're here because...
44:53We aren't here.
44:54And here's where we're having...
44:55We're here.
44:55There five hours back out.
44:56Oh-oh.
44:57We got angry backwards.
44:58There you go.
Be the first to comment