ramone:
Probably a simple answer to this but where did you park an 8 wheeler and trailer if you were staying in digs, i know its not like today where cops are looking to do anyone parked in the wrong place but i imagine it could have been tricky
Most towns had car parks which were used as lorry parks at night, side roads laybys anywhere else you could fit the wagon was generally OK, the load being tampered with or your fuel stolen was rare, few lorries had lockable fuel caps, my first wagon had brass radiator and fuel caps which a few years later would have been nicked by our bestest mates in caravans, lot more laybys and pull ins on single carriageway roads of all descriptions, there weren’t that many lorries on the road then and nothing like the number of fridges in use as today, and dare i say it most people didn’t take themselves as seriously as people these days do, live and let live was normal.
Unless you took the ■■■■ generally the old bill left you alone, they like most of the country still had common sense then and were about preventing crime and nicking criminals not persecuting genuine working people just trying to get on with their jobs.
Some areas they got a bit shirty about unlit parking at night, anyone remember the Toleman transporters that would be parked all around Suffolk in laybys (the drivers in their own or someone elses beds), they were all fitted with single red/white lens parking lights which kept them a bit legal, most of us bodged up some sort of parking light on a long lead which we could clip to the batteries if in a place likely to get you nicked if unlit, most of the old rattle traps we drove would struggle to start at all on a cold morning let alone after several hours with the side lights on.
Robroy mentioned about why day cabs lasted so long, and yes i get the point about foreign motors leading the way here, though i never thought they were in any way superior to a properly specced (■■■■■■■ , Eaton , Rockwell) British motor, for driving purposes i preferred then and still do day cabs, for motorway plobbing and the typical on side easy reverses that most modern RDC’s allow you don’t need good all round visibility, but back on general work you were often taking 40ft trailers into places designed for small lorries or even horse and cart.
So day cabs with windows all round made maneuvering much easier, plus the trailer would be much further back from a day cabbed unit which again made blind siding a doddle looking through the back window, remember power steering was a rarity then so you didn’t want 12 shunts you wanted to get in there in one, plus a short wheelbase tractor unit turned on a sixpence.
My last proper British motor was an '84 sleeper cab Sed 401, it had been a Seddon demo for a few months before my gaffer bought it, it came with no back windows but he (sensible bloke, we did a lot of farm and old leather/skins works, so everywhere was tight) asked me if i wanted one or two fitting, i had both fitted which if you recall were huge back windows on that cab, that was the best sleeper cab i’ve ever had for maneuvering, despite being a twin steer had a remarkable turning circle.
I don’t do nights out any more (well unless stuck due to unforseen/weather) so apart from the storage offered by well designed sleepers for pure driving use involving going into tight places, which i still do, i’d still rather have a day cab.