The Skip Magazine

2007 starts with a superb January edition.

We cover the new launch of The Skip website.

Also the Enviroman tells us that big brother is watching you and our health & safety expert reminds us the importance of learning lessons in the work place.

Oh and a fantastic wall planner is included!

If you'd like a regular copy then you need to subscribe - which you can do online by clicking the Paypal button below...

Starting the year of in style, He’s the Macaulay Culkin of the Skip Hire world – but with attitude! Ladies and Gentlemen put your waste industry hands together for this month’s Skip Hunk, Joe Cunningham.

Joe is The Skip magazine’s youngest ever hunk and was put up for the honour by his dad, Lee of CCS Skip Hire in Manchester.

Many people over the years have told me that working with children is a ‘nay nay’ (Andy Crane, Gloria Huniford, Grotbags from The Pink Windmill – the list is endless) but I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Children are just little adults I thought…

Ok, Joe, what involvement do you have in the skip industry?
Don’t know what ya mean!

What kind of stuff do you like to get up to when you’re at the yard?
Digging.

Anything else?
No.

Ok. And what do you like to do in your spare time?
Ride about in the wagons.

Anything else?
Watch Man Utd.

At this point Joe became so bored with the interview he decided to completely ignore me and the questioning stopped. I was disappointed and relieved at the same time. Interviewing is indeed a ‘nay, nay’ – Grotbags was right.

This interview was originally published in Issue 18 of The Skip, January 2007

Would you like to be a Skip Hunk? Let us know and we will tell you how easy it is contact us

This month’s Skip Chick is in Pole position! Her name’s Barbara and she’s a real ‘zloty hotty!’

Barbara is from Poznan on the west-side of Poland and she currently works as a Marketing Specialist for ‘A 2 Shred’ – Cheshire’s confidential waste shredders, using her ample talents to open new accounts!

‘Wyglądasz super’, Barbara! Can you tell our readers and little bit about yourself?
I’m 26 and I like working hard. I also like touching fences and wearing hi-viz jackets!

What do you like about your job?
The people. Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.

What do you do in your spare time when you’re not immersed in the world of shredding?
Well, not many people will know this but Poland is the world’s biggest exporter of beetroot! Fortunately I have nothing to do with beetroot. I like spending time with my boyfriend.

What do you like about The Skip magazine?
It’s funny

Do you have anything you’d like to say to our readers?
If toast always lands butter-side down, and cats always land on their feet, what happens if you strap toast on the back of a cat and drop it?

This interview was originally published in Issue 18 of The Skip, January 2007

Would you like to be a Skip Chick? Let us know and we will tell you how easy it is contact us

High Quality Skip Lights, with daylight sensor and padlock. The Skip Light fits securely around the lifting lug of the skip to help light up the skip at night. These are the best warning lights for skips on the market.

Here's a video demonstration of our Skip Lamp. For more details or to order by credit card, call us on 0844 560 7706 during office hours.

Each unit comprises of the following

Skip Light Heavy Duty Cage
Skip Light (comes on automatically at nightime)
Battery
Padlock

FREE Delivery on orders of 6 or more units
(Discounts available on Quantity)

Call us at the Skip for more details 0844 560 7706 or

This post to the site is where you can leave a comment in order to sign up to our petition to the government and local authorities of the UK to get things sorted regarding skip permits, lights and interpretations of the Road Traffic Act 1980. The more of you that sign, the louder our voice will be.

The inspiration for this petition is this letter we got from Chris at East Lancs Skip Hire in late December. We're publishing it in February's edition, but here it is:

"Dear Mark,

As you may be aware this is not a new issue. Back in the eighties, the late Mr John Field, the founder of our company, ran the “Skip and Tip Owners Association” giving a lot of free advice as well as defending the occasional court case.

Looking at the “Highway Act” and the ”Table for Charges”, they use phrases like “the person making the application” and “the person requiring the permit” .This in my opinion is the customer, builder or householder not the skip operator. They are trying to make themselves a very easy life and make us unpaid tax collectors.

As for the amount of charge in our area, the charge varies from zero to £22.50 which is a wide variation and at £22.50 is excessive. A more reasonable amount would be say a £1.00 if a charge at all is to be made .After all they are only allowed to charge for “considering the matter” and covering any legitimate expenses .Only 1% of people are willing to get a permit and pay exorbitant fees as they consider the charge another stealth tax. But 100% would get permits if they were no charge or a reasonable charge of say a £1.00.

Regarding the matter of lighting and coning, to say the “owner” is liable is unreasonable and impossible to work as in our case we have 1200 skips .How could we go round and check them every night? We are currently in a legal dispute with Lancashire County Council which may have to go to the High Court for Judicial Review. We are also in the process of responding to a Department Of Transport consultation on the “Draft Regulations for Local Authority Permit Schemes”. Our solicitor would like to know if other skip operators agree with our opinions.

Regards
Christopher Peano, Managing Director
East Lancs Skip Hire Ltd"

..and this is what I am saying to Chris in the mag...

"The Skip says: Thank you for this letter Christopher – (if anyone has read this and wants their voice heard in this response to the Department Of Transport consultation on the “Draft Regulations for Local Authority Permit Schemes”, please send them into The Skip ASAP at the usual address. We’ll pass them on to Christopher and publish your opinions) - I couldn’t agree with you more, it really does amaze me how a simple act can be interpreted so differently across the country. As I think I said in a previous issue, skip permit charges are really a tax on the poor (especially people who don’t have enough private property to place skips on).

It’s about time government and local authorities – who bleat on endlessly about the environment and recycling – got a consensus that skip permit charges are making skips prohibitively expensive and therefore encouraging flytipping. The whole lights issue makes me laugh as well. It’s hopelessly out of date and just plain stupid to expect all skips to be lighted and checked every day. The Act implies this is all about road safety, but cars don’t have to have lights on when they’re parked at night do they? As long as the skip has reflective strips on it, how is it more dangerous on the road than a car? So, here’s an idea: we’re going to use our website to set up a PETITION. Just go to www.theskip.net and search for “petition”. You can then read what we are petitioning for (single permit prices, no lights requirements, clarity over hirer responsibilities etc.) and then LEAVE A COMMENT (it’s dead easy to do). In your comment, your name and company name will be seen as a signature to the petition – even better would be to leave your tales of council/Road Traffic Act woe for all to see. This petition can then be used by Chris’ solicitor and we’ll update you as we get any news."

So, if you have any experiences with your local authority and their interpretations of the Act and you want to share them with everyone else, just click on the "Comments" link at the bottom right of this post.

We all know it happens in the industry and I suspect if it has not happened to yourself you may know a fellow skipper that has lost a few over the years, we find it really annoying you spend £500+ on a builder skip and deliver it to your customer and then go back a week later to find it has gone and no one has seen it.

Usually you have more chance of finding Shergar or Lord Lucan than your skip

The Solution - Skip Locks

Well we at the skip magazine set about finding a simple practical solution in the form of SKIP LOCKS for the normal chain lift range of skips and HOOK LOCKS for the RORO skips.

See a demonstration of the Skip Lock below

Skip Locks simply fit over the lifting lugs of the skips and stop people from attaching the lifting chains

“I have been using the skip locks for the past 4 months to reduce the theft of my skips and I am very pleased with the results”

MR Baylis
AB Skip Hire
Wednesbury

For more information on pricing & availability call us on
0844 560 7706 or

Please note due to the different styles of padlocks we do not supply them, how ever we have found a good supplier of locks.
Click here for padlocks

If you need locks to fit on Hook Lift or RORO skips then we can also supply these, you can see a demonstration online here RORO LOCKS

Commercial mortgages, personal loans and bridging finance all set up specifically for the people in the UK skip hire industry at SkipHireFinance.co.uk

Even if you've been turned down for a loan by the banks, or have a bad dreit rating, SkipHireFinance could help you get the money you need at the right rate.

You can apply online anytime here, or call us on 0845 434 8979.

THINK CAREFULLY BEFORE SECURING OTHER DEBTS AGAINST YOUR HOME. YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE OR OTHER LOANS SECURED ON IT.

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