Went to signal a pick and my radio died mid-lift in Newark

Tbh I was running a 50 ton on a tight alley job in Newark last Tuesday, and right as the load cleared the fence my radio just went dead. I had the tagline guy waving but he was blocked by the dumpster, so I had to set the load down blind and climb down to sort it out. Turns out my backup battery was dead too, and the crew lead was yelling from the street about the schedule. I ended up using hand signals I hadn't practiced in five years and we got it done, but it took an extra 20 minutes. Do you guys carry a spare radio or just rely on voice commands when the tech fails? Has anyone else had a comms failure like that on a tight site?

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blair_allen19d ago

Hand signals you hadn't practiced in five years, huh? That's basically the crane operator equivalent of trying to remember your high school Spanish when you're lost in Mexico. I mean, good on you for pulling it off, but I bet there was some real creative interpretive dancing happening on that roof. I keep a cheap backup radio taped to the inside of the cab door now, mostly so I don't have to relive the joy of someone yelling at me while I'm doing jazz hands.