" I just wish that I'd kept my trap shut"

This thread is for those of us who have either dropped a workmate in the mire accidently of have had the same done to you. It also has a habit of backfiring on you as well at times! Then you wonder why you bothered! Tell us your stories, surely it can’t have just happened to me?

Anyway to start it off here are a couple of my experiences.

It was 1984, I hadn’t been driving full time for long and was heading empty back towards Ballidon quarry on the A51 Lichfield by-pass and spotted Fred Brownlee (rip Fred) heading loaded in the opposite direction. We aknowledged each other and went on our way. About an hour later I walk into Ballidon weighbridge, Tom Wibberley (load dispatcher) and his brother Dennis (weighbridge operator) were discussing loads and Fred’s name was mentioned as Tom was saving a load for him, that happened a lot! “Freddy will be back soon” Tom says so big gob here says that I have just seen him heading into Lichfield! Well Tom could be a trifle ‘fiery’ as anyone who encountered him will know; “Don’t tell lies Peter, Fred has gone to Sheffield with tarmac so you couldn’t have seen him” but of couse I kept digging a hole and argued which got me nowhere. Anyway I went and loaded for somewhere and weighed off. Later that afternoon Fred was parking up and I tackled him, apparently he should have been going to Manor Lane depot in Sheffield but thought that he was going to Green Lane depot, Walsall, and didn’t realise until he reached Walsall and they hadn’t ordered anything! He looked at his ticket then, Sheffield!! Off up the A38/M1 rapidly and all was sorted. I asked Fred if Tom had said anything; “Yes he did but I told him you were mistaken and he just said he knew you were lying and couldn’t have seen me”. Thank’s a bunch Fred!

Around a week later and I’m coming back from Coventry up the A38 near Barton Turns and Fred is heading the opposite way, we wave and I get back to Ballidon. Tom and Dennis again; “Fred will be back from Sheffield soon Dennis” Tom said! This time I said nothing,I wasn’t being called a liar twice, once again Fred hadn’t read his notes and was heading for Northfield depot Birmingham when he should have gone to Northfield ROAD depot at Crookes, Sheffield! He spotted the error when he stopped at Bristol Road traffic lights and did a quick about turn again!

One more, when were were building the M40 from the M42 to Shrewley our Tilcon eight leggers were usually loaded first and the O/D’s followed on. However this day they wanted a four wheeler first to tidy a section up before they started a 300 tonne run again and George McCutcheon was given the load. George lived near Stafford so had afair run in empty each day, anyway he loaded and I followed him to the job. They tipped George straight away and he couldn’t get any break in so told me that he would stop in the layby at Kings Bromley on the way back to have half an hour and if Tom asked where I was you hadn’t seen me! This was possible as there were two different routes back anyway. So I crack off back and sure enough George is parked up and I carry on. Landing back at the quarry and Tom asks “Where’s McCutcheon, he should be back by now”? and I replied that I didn’t know. Tom had an uncanny knack of knowing exactly when drivers should be back, thank heavens mobile phones weren’t around then as our life would have been hell! Anyway I load and come back onto the bridge, George was back by then. Tom comes rushing across from his seat, almost knocking Dennis flying, and shouts at me through the hatch; “Telling lies again are we, George says you passed him at Kings Bromley, liars always get found out you know” and that did it for me then! I exploded at George and he seemed puzzled, then he realised what he had done and apologised for dropping me in it. Never again did I cover for anyone, it just wasn’t worth all the grief!

Over to you lads, or was it ‘just me’?

Pete.

Bludy ell Pete
Not too much detail here, I daren’t. Usually coal down to London n scrap back, one night picked my tickets up for next day n the gaffer saunters up, bit of an odd un hey Coomsey? We’ve got a fresh contract. Coal down then 2 loads from scrapyard to Fords Dagenham then load of pig iron from Fords back up. Good earner. Pulls into the yard next night n gaffer asks how it went. Easy peasy but why didn’t you ask Barry who was standing at the garage door. Barry? Why? Well he were tipping at Fords as well. Was he though! N off he storms. Much shouting n nearly fisticuffs, then Barry empties his cab n storms off, not without threatening me in passing. It turns out that he’d been going to the same scrapyard every day for the last 2yrs n always did a quick un to Fords cash in hand. I got him the sack, why he never marked my card I’ll never know. But he must have made a bob or two out of it. Daft sod

Aye Paul, I think a lot of ‘fiddling’ went on and perhaps still does? I knew a few drivers who did ‘Ghost loads’ but I kept quiet about it, eventually greed got the better of them and they were usually found out. I had no problem with Tom firing up at me, he blew hot and cold and it was soon forgotten but could sort you a cracking days work out if he liked you and you didn’t mess him around, it was the fact that I was the gullible but innocent party and my workmates rather let me down! However it was all water under the bridge and we got on ok afterwards, all have passed on now anyway alas.

Pete.

windrush:
Aye Paul, I think a lot of ‘fiddling’ went on and perhaps still does? I knew a few drivers who did ‘Ghost loads’ but I kept quiet about it, eventually greed got the better of them and they were usually found out. I had no problem with Tom firing up at me, he blew hot and cold and it was soon forgotten but could sort you a cracking days work out if he liked you and you didn’t mess him around, it was the fact that I was the gullible but innocent party and my workmates rather let me down! However it was all water under the bridge and we got on ok afterwards, all have passed on now anyway alas.

Pete.

For sure Pete greed. I was on for a local company cash for a month. S80 doing odds n sods coal n granite here there n everywhere but local. They’d got 30 odd tippers a good few of them were running coal from Warwickshire to Rexco plant at Snibston pit. They all started every other load to somewhere in Northampton for cash. Came back to the yard one Friday night coppers picking them off n into the black maria. Couple of them did time. I had the sense to steer clear. Having said that they were dismantling a gas works in Kensal Green with out weighbridge, loaded till the back tyres were on the rims 3ml up the road to scrapyard weighed off to 30t the difference in my pocket, so no angel.

Loaded with bricks for a site in Brighton, gaffer says a new lad ,that day, was loading for the same site. "Tell him I’ll be in the Blue boar for 5 o clock ,we’ll have a cuppa n he can follow me down "
5 o clock next morning I’m sat having a cuppa, you may remember they shut the transport side down overnight so all in the one bit. They were a good few in maybe more than half were car drivers with women n kids. I’m sat facing the door in, not sure why cos I’ve never set eyes on the new guy. A fella, in his 50s, opens the door and SHOUTS "WHICH ONE OF YOU IS THE FKING BUTTERLEY DRIVER THAT I’VE GOT TO BUY A FKING CUPPA BASTDING TEA FOR? COME ON YOU CT, DON’T BE F***KING SHY! " How I wished I kept me trap shut

Pete I reckon I’ve heard that first story before the driver went to shelfield which is Walsall wood rather than Sheffield ?

windrush:
Aye Paul, I think a lot of ‘fiddling’ went on and perhaps still does? I knew a few drivers who did ‘Ghost loads’ but I kept quiet about it, eventually greed got the better of them and they were usually found out. I had no problem with Tom firing up at me, he blew hot and cold and it was soon forgotten but could sort you a cracking days work out if he liked you and you didn’t mess him around, it was the fact that I was the gullible but innocent party and my workmates rather let me down! However it was all water under the bridge and we got on ok afterwards, all have passed on now anyway alas.

Pete.

He only fired once at my father and father pulled him through the hatch by his neck and smacked him in the chops

Punchy Dan:
Pete I reckon I’ve heard that first story before the driver went to shelfield which is Walsall wood rather than Sheffield ?

No, what I put was true Dan, Fred told me it himself. Might have been somebody else though, Macclesfield and Mansfield occasionally got mixed up in the days of handwritten notes! Freddie and John ‘Cotty’ Watson did either the two Walsall or one of the several Birmingham depots almost daily, 5am loading, the three in Sheffield would normally be either Ray Gould’s or my destinations as we had to play second fiddle to them until they retired. Sometimes we were ‘rewarded’ with a Brum or Walsall if they wanted a later delivery, loading at 6.20 am and joining the queue of traffic at Muckley Corner right through to Walsall ring road at the arboretum! Tom Wibberley used to play hell with Ray and myself; “How come Fred and Cotty can do it in under three hours and it takes you pair over an hour longer?”, that extra hour leaving cost you over two hours travelling on that journey but he couldn’t grasp that!

Tom had a few close encounters with drivers, I know of a few but won’t repeat them on here!

Pete.

There was one time at least where I did get one over on a driver (or more than one actually!) who reported me for something that wasn’t my fault, although to be fair to them all was not as it appeared. It was also the only RTA that I had, touch wood!

I loaded at 5.30 am with wetmix for Balfour Kilpatricks depot at Small Heath and headed out of Ashbourne on the A515. Just past where the by-pass now crosses we used to get the ‘hammer down’ to get a good run up Collycroft hill, however at around 6.am every morning a farmer used to move his cows down the road to take them across for milking and that happened that day. So I pulled in behind one of Steve Fletchers Reivers, put hazzards on and waited. Looking in my mirror I spotted a Montego coming like the clappers behind, he spotted me and started to overtake and then he must have seen the cattle in the road! He locked hard left to go up the bank on my nearside but his offside screen pillar caught my rear mudguard and body corner and he went up the bank sideways, hit the golf course fence, shot back down the bank hitting my nearside cab step and ended up in front of me! It all happened in a couple of seconds but seemed to take ages. Anyway he was out for the count, bleeding from his head and I thought he was a gonner. Somebody phoned for Police and Ambulance who soon appeared, he was still alive but unconcious and was a local Ashbourne lad. The coppers were sweeping the road and of course there were no witnesses (apart from cattle) so the other traffic went.

I spotted an Ambulance man looking through the car glovebox and door pockets, he found a packet of condoms and some music tapes and pocketed them. I tackled him; “he is awake and wants his specs” so I told him I had seen him pocket the items; “Well he wont need them and the recovery lads will take them anyway” he said. I threatened to report him to the Police, he swore at me and chucked them back in the car, made me wonder how often that happened at accidents? Of course during this time some of our drivers were going past on their way back to the quarry and I knew words would be said!

Copper takes my statement, tyre marks told the story anyway, and he asked if I was ok and I said yes. He looked around the truck, rear mudguard was bent and some bulbs broken. He asked where I was heading and said could I get the lights working, he have me a pull on a wheel brace to straighten the mudguard and I robbed some foglight bulbs to replace the brake and indicator ones and he asked how long my journey would take. I told him four hours max, he said that if he spotted me around after that time with no fog lights (how would he know eh?) he would ‘do’ me so I went and delivered the load.

Returning to the quarry; “Who’s been a naughty lad then eh, ■■■■ ™ wants you in the office pronto” so off I go saying nothing. Bollocking starts straight away, “You smashed a car up, costs us money blah blah blah etc” and I just let him finish; “I’m OK by the way” and he grunted something. Form gets placed in front of me and I fill it in; “Looking at this it wasn’t your fault then?” and I said no. “Is lorry OK”? yes I said. “Off you go then, work to do etc” so I went! No apology of course, and I lost my annual ‘safe driving bonus’ as expected. I then had to set a few ■■■■ takers right but to be fair it would appear to an outsider that I had hit the car sideways on so I might have assumed exactly the same myself! However I never took delight in somebody elses missfortune but some did.

Pete.