Blood, Sweat and Broken China (the Removals thread)

Probably a bit presumptious of me having been here only five minutes creating a new thread, but here goes…

There’s a few threads on specific companies and one or two on wagons (e.g. the Vanplan) but none where those of us who survived doing removals for any length of time can swap (tall) stories. [note to moderators - feel free to merge if there is one]

I am absolutely sure there are some stories out there so here’s somewhere to put them.

I’ll kick off with a few comments about the job, which let’s face it almost everyone here would have been a part of (if only unwillingly), some may even have been paid to do it.

Dislikes - Hot weather. Stairs you can’t fit a carboard box through without skinning your knuckles. Pianos. Customers who pack their own boxes and fill a tea chest sized box with books (Me to them: “Can you lift that?” Them: “No.” Me: “So how do you expect me to?”). 6th floor flats with broken lifts, or no lifts at all. Rubbish packing tape that won’t stick or won’t hold (lift box, watch contents - usually fragile - hit floor). ■■■■■ MFI/ IKEA chipboard or MDF furniture that seems solid enough when you pick it up but falls apart on the stairs or just as you’re passing the customer (we used to call this rubbish “suppository furniture - you put it up yourself :grimacing: ). That dreadful sinking feeling when you’re almost buttoned up and about to close the doors (the lorry is almost full anyway) when the customer comes out and says “Oh, there’s just one or two items in the shed…” (usually consisting of 3 wheelbarrows, a greasy BBQ in 7 pieces, 19,426 plastic pots part full of soil, a 6’ x 4’ bird cage with dead rat, a 1:10 scale model railway of the entire Western Region and dad’s well-thumbed collection of gentleman’s magazines):frowning: . Estimators who couldn’t estimate what day it is - “It’s only 900 cube, you’ll be done by 1.00” they say and you get there and it’s filled a 1600 cube wagon and you’ve still got the shed to tackle and it’s 2.30 and you haven’t had morning tea let alone lunch and it’s a 2-hour schlepp across town to where you’re dropping off. Estimators who forget to mention that the flat is on the 4th floor, or the house is down a residential side street with 6’6” barriers both ends. Finding the street where you’re picking up or dropping off has cars nose to tail all down both sides so even if you can get the wagon down there you still have to try lifting the fridge over someone else’s car (we occasionally failed :wink: spectacularly). Realising some people (irrespective of income or status) live in conditions the RSPCA would prosecute you for if you put your dog in them :open_mouth: . People who redecorate the inside the week before they move. :unamused: And don’t start me on some of the things you find in, under or behind wardrobes, under beds, or the array of lifeforms found in fridges that are unknown to science… :open_mouth:

Likes - getting the last box/ chair/ 16cwt worth of shredded chipboard that was once a wardrobe off the wagon. Tips (some folk could be very generous. Usually the ones with least themselves). Meeting and getting to know people you wouldn’t in the ordinary course of life. Tea (lots of it). Laughs (working with good blokes on your team took much of the grind out of a day). The odd job that looked a nightmare on paper but turned out easy. Customers going out of their way to help. Picking a good agency porter (hint - don’t pick the ones that look like they work out for the sake of big muscles, pick the skinny runt cos he’ll still be going after 10 hours whereas the big boofheads will have thrown in the towel before monrning tea). And being part of a club on the road - you could almost guarantee the crew of another removals company going the other way would always wave as you passed. And last, being able to solve a giant 3-D jigsaw puzzle in your head as you walk round the house for the first time figuring out what items went first/ middle/ last.

Anyone else?

Remember my pal who wasnt that bright had to move a couch stuffed with horsehair that weighed a ton. The people who were moving house had gone off to the new house so his brainstorming idea was to pile up the mattresses on the pavement and throw the couch onto them. He failed to allow for the tree however and the couch got stuck in the branches!! Had to go around the neighbours and borrow a bow saw to free the couch, Funniest thing was the householders didnt realise what had occured!

Good luck with the new thread. You couldn’t have named it better. Removals in the 50’s 60’s 70’s and 80’s were defiantly horse work, and for anyone who hasn’t endured working on a large removal could never imagine the hard work involved. Yet we, like so many more had drivers who worked their lifetime happily driving vans doing removals.

On the W.H.Williams thread I am always hoping to hear from our ex drivers, particularly one who did removals as they all have so many funny tales to tell. It would seem that they all have either passed away or unable to use computers. One thing can be said is that anyone who worked on removals worked harder than most people could imagine

Once again good luck
Carl

Hi ParkRoyal2100,

I’ve done a bit of removals when working for a remover/general haulier in my late teens/early 20’s. If “general” work was quiet, you’d be put on removals with the regular boys. What a bloody hard job! Had some right laughs too and a lot of good nights out. A couple stick in my mind, one was the first job I went on. Two elderly alcoholics moving from Eastbourne to Hove. 2 bed flat, first floor, no worries we thought. Just me and regular man Ray Angel, who was a master at his craft. Turned up at 0800 to find them still in bed. Got them up and out of bed. First thing they offer is a whiskey. I declined, but they didn’t. They were ■■■■■■ by 10.00. All loaded by 12.00 with the usual nightmare kitchen appliances covered in ■■■■■ (you know that feeling of taking the bottom end of the cooker and feeling slime!!). They head off in their car (!!) with us heading to Hove via the cafe. Arranged a 13.30 meet with (hopefully) the keys after contracts are exchanged.
The time was now 14.00 and no sign of the pair of them. Another hour and a call to the estate agent who confirmed the pair had collected the keys at lunchtime. Luckily the door to the flat could be opened with a “nudge”, so we started to unload stuff in to the logical places. At about 16.00 the pair of them appeared on foot. She couldn’t stand and he’d ■■■■■■ himself. They couldn’t remember where they had left the car, and had trouble finding the flat!! Offloaded all the gear and left them both sound asleep on the settee with stuff piled round them What a baptism that was!!

Another one was having to drive an old couple from Eastbourne to Lincoln in their “DAF Variomatic” whilst following the removal lorry. Through London (pre-M25) was a bloody nightmare. The thing wouldn’t change gear properly and kept overheating, and the old couple stank of used nappies. Finding toilets for them en-route was the biggest task!!

Another was doing a politicians’ move to Northern Ireland. The deal was I was the only driver prepared to do it as 1) it was shipping out on Boxing Day, 2) the lorry had a big Union Jack emblazoned on the side and 3) it was a politically sensitive move!! Off we went up to Liverpool to ship out next day to Belfast. Off the ferry to a village called Portaferry. Got stones thrown at us on the way, then greeted with armed guards whilst we unloaded. We were just about to head back to the safety of the docks in Belfast when a bomb had gone off in the city centre. Hammer it we did and into the docks for safety. After calming down we thought a little beer or two would be a good idea. Into a bar we go, ordered a drink from the barmaid who says “oh you’re English then?” Now, some people in the bar took offence to this, so luckily for me and my mate we were both fit enough to outrun them!! Never again.

The best one was another Ireland move, this time Eastbourne to a place called Youghal near Cork. All loaded and straight to Fishguard for the night ferry. Over to Rosslare and down to Cork. I was driving this leg, and Roy,a “hired hand” from a local removal company was driving back. Down to the drop in pouring rain, unloaded within 2 hours into a bungalow in what seemed like a monsoon. We were both saturated, so the idea was to dry out our clothes a bit by hanging them around the cab. Roy changed into fresh ones, but I decided to sit in my shorts with a removal blanket wrapped around my shoulders to dry myself out.I would learn to regret that decision!
We set of back towards Rosslare in still-pouring rain along a winding single carriageway. The heaters were set by Roy (who was now the pilot) to hot, so we could dry out the sodden clothes dangling around the cab like some chinese laundry. I was dozing in the heat of the cab with my blanket around me, the bends of the road rocking me to sleep. The problem was it did the same to Roy. I awoke to him screaming like a Banshee and seeing a big mud bank accelerating towards me. Bang! Mud everywhere, and hitting my head on the cab passenger door. Then quiet. I looked across to see Roy frozen in his driver seat, clutching the steering wheel with locked arms.I didn’t realize, but we were on our side, my side being at the bottom. I said “■■■■■■■ hell,you ok mate?”. This had the effect of loosening his grip on the wheel and gravity took over! He landed on me with a bang, smacking my head again. Miraculously, all the glass was intact, so the only option was to climb out the drivers door and jump down to the ground. Which we did. The problem now was we were blocking the entire road, and I was standing there bare-foot with a pair of boxer shorts on, clutching a removal blanket in pouring rain! What a bloody sight I must’ve been!
Within minutes the Guarda arrived, but they wouldn’t get out their car as it was raining, so sent Roy one way up the twisting road and me the other, removal blanket in hand, to direct traffic down a narrow lane in order to avoid our carnage. A few minutes went by as I was directing traffic and all of a sudden a hunched figure shuffled up the road towards me, draped in a raincoat but carrying something. “Would you like some tea and biscuits?” a womans gentle voice asked. A Nun from a nearby Convent had walked up the road to me with a tray of 2 mugs of tea and a plate with rich-tea biscuits on!! Manna from Heaven!
An hour or so went by, and eventually we had a crane to lift us upright. Amazingly, the only damage done was a lot of scraped side bodywork, a broken mirror and Roys damaged ego. I got my trousers and shirt back on, then with a once-over at the recovery yard garage for an oil check etc, we headed back home. Roy would never admit to falling asleep at the wheel, and considering we had gone over after hitting the bank on the offside, we were very lucky. The nearside of the road was a steep, wooded drop down to a small stream. He didn’t even get prosecuted, I think the Guarda had felt we had suffered enough.
Roy quit soon after that and I went on to the haulage side on artic distance work, so I could never be put on removals again. And I wasn’t!

Regards,

Mark.

Thanks Carl, we’ll see how we go.

Steve

brookie:
I’ve done a bit of removals when working for a remover/general haulier in my late teens/early 20’s. If “general” work was quiet, you’d be put on removals with the regular boys. What a bloody hard job! Had some right laughs too and a lot of good nights out. A couple stick in my mind, one was the first job I went on. Two elderly alcoholics moving from Eastbourne to Hove. 2 bed flat, first floor, no worries we thought. Just me and regular man Ray Angel, who was a master at his craft. Turned up at 0800 to find them still in bed. Got them up and out of bed. First thing they offer is a whiskey. I declined, but they didn’t. They were ■■■■■■ by 10.00. All loaded by 12.00 with the usual nightmare kitchen appliances covered in [zb] (you know that feeling of taking the bottom end of the cooker and feeling slime!!). They head off in their car (!!) with us heading to Hove via the cafe. Arranged a 13.30 meet with (hopefully) the keys after contracts are exchanged.
The time was now 14.00 and no sign of the pair of them. Another hour and a call to the estate agent who confirmed the pair had collected the keys at lunchtime. Luckily the door to the flat could be opened with a “nudge”, so we started to unload stuff in to the logical places. At about 16.00 the pair of them appeared on foot. She couldn’t stand and he’d ■■■■■■ himself. They couldn’t remember where they had left the car, and had trouble finding the flat!! Offloaded all the gear and left them both sound asleep on the settee with stuff piled round them What a baptism that was!!

Another one was having to drive an old couple from Eastbourne to Lincoln in their “DAF Variomatic” whilst following the removal lorry. Through London (pre-M25) was a bloody nightmare. The thing wouldn’t change gear properly and kept overheating, and the old couple stank of used nappies. Finding toilets for them en-route was the biggest task!!

Another was doing a politicians’ move to Northern Ireland. The deal was I was the only driver prepared to do it as 1) it was shipping out on Boxing Day, 2) the lorry had a big Union Jack emblazoned on the side and 3) it was a politically sensitive move!! Off we went up to Liverpool to ship out next day to Belfast. Off the ferry to a village called Portaferry. Got stones thrown at us on the way, then greeted with armed guards whilst we unloaded. We were just about to head back to the safety of the docks in Belfast when a bomb had gone off in the city centre. Hammer it we did and into the docks for safety. After calming down we thought a little beer or two would be a good idea. Into a bar we go, ordered a drink from the barmaid who says “oh you’re English then?” Now, some people in the bar took offence to this, so luckily for me and my mate we were both fit enough to outrun them!! Never again.

The best one was another Ireland move, this time Eastbourne to a place called Youghal near Cork. All loaded and straight to Fishguard for the night ferry. Over to Rosslare and down to Cork. I was driving this leg, and Roy,a “hired hand” from a local removal company was driving back. Down to the drop in pouring rain, unloaded within 2 hours into a bungalow in what seemed like a monsoon. We were both saturated, so the idea was to dry out our clothes a bit by hanging them around the cab. Roy changed into fresh ones, but I decided to sit in my shorts with a removal blanket wrapped around my shoulders to dry myself out.I would learn to regret that decision!
We set of back towards Rosslare in still-pouring rain along a winding single carriageway. The heaters were set by Roy (who was now the pilot) to hot, so we could dry out the sodden clothes dangling around the cab like some chinese laundry. I was dozing in the heat of the cab with my blanket around me, the bends of the road rocking me to sleep. The problem was it did the same to Roy. I awoke to him screaming like a Banshee and seeing a big mud bank accelerating towards me. Bang! Mud everywhere, and hitting my head on the cab passenger door. Then quiet. I looked across to see Roy frozen in his driver seat, clutching the steering wheel with locked arms.I didn’t realize, but we were on our side, my side being at the bottom. I said “[zb] hell,you ok mate?”. This had the effect of loosening his grip on the wheel and gravity took over! He landed on me with a bang, smacking my head again. Miraculously, all the glass was intact, so the only option was to climb out the drivers door and jump down to the ground. Which we did. The problem now was we were blocking the entire road, and I was standing there bare-foot with a pair of boxer shorts on, clutching a removal blanket in pouring rain! What a bloody sight I must’ve been!
Within minutes the Guarda arrived, but they wouldn’t get out their car as it was raining, so sent Roy one way up the twisting road and me the other, removal blanket in hand, to direct traffic down a narrow lane in order to avoid our carnage. A few minutes went by as I was directing traffic and all of a sudden a hunched figure shuffled up the road towards me, draped in a raincoat but carrying something. “Would you like some tea and biscuits?” a womans gentle voice asked. A Nun from a nearby Convent had walked up the road to me with a tray of 2 mugs of tea and a plate with rich-tea biscuits on!! Manna from Heaven!
An hour or so went by, and eventually we had a crane to lift us upright. Amazingly, the only damage done was a lot of scraped side bodywork, a broken mirror and Roys damaged ego. I got my trousers and shirt back on, then with a once-over at the recovery yard garage for an oil check etc, we headed back home. Roy would never admit to falling asleep at the wheel, and considering we had gone over after hitting the bank on the offside, we were very lucky. The nearside of the road was a steep, wooded drop down to a small stream. He didn’t even get prosecuted, I think the Guarda had felt we had suffered enough.
Roy quit soon after that and I went on to the haulage side on artic distance work, so I could never be put on removals again. And I wasn’t! Regards, Mark.

Thanks Mark, there’s some gems in there :smiley: . Glad you got the lorry righted and back home. And cookers! Don’t start me on cookers. It didn’t matter how clean the rest of the hosue was the cooker was guaranteed to be filthy. Yes we had trolleys but you still had to ge the infernal thing on it. We used wadded newspaper but even then you’d lose your grip, go to grab it again and cut your finger on the bottom edge, handily testing your immune system by rubbing in 10 years’ worth of cack.

Your tale of the drunks reminded me of one job we did - a 1st floor flat in Hammersmith. Having been told they’d got plenty of boxes and would be packed ready to go we lob up at 8.30 to find the place littered with stuff and them still in bed. We said we’d give 'em half an hour & ducked out for a mug of diesel. Came back to find they’d been out on the turps all night and were sat on the settee each with a double whiskey. In their 30s, she was 5foot nothing dripping wet and he was 6 foot in all directions. Me and the offsiders looked at each other, shrugged and started moving what we could get to. We’re down on the wagon and next we know, there’s a terrific crash upstairs - she’s taken umbrage at something he said, got a footstool, lobbed it at him but missed and it’s gone through the window and landed on the pavement. We leg it back upstairs thinking god knows what and she was at him in the kitchen with a frying pan and half the crockery was on the floor in bits (saved us packing it I guess). this went on for a good half hour - in the end we called the boss and put him in the picture and retired as carefully as we could, promising to return when they’d got themselves sorted out a bit better. There was no way I was going back if they paid me double so the boss realised he’d have to get another crew to return the following week. His only problem was by now everybody at the yard knew what had gone on and everyone point blank refused. I pity the poor s0ds who got the job…

Haha! Thanks ParkRoyal2100, seems you’ve had plenty of moving experiences! I probably only did or got involved with 30 or so, some of them were “divorce” moves, always interesting, especially if the fightiing couple were both there sorting out gear! Some others as you said beggar belief. Filth, ■■■■■ etc all over the floors and furniture. We called them “run and burn” jobs, coz you ran in and out to get the job done, then burned your clothes at the end. But not until you got home. :laughing:

Regards,

Mark.

I did removals for a few years,bloody hard work and poorly paid. The only way I ever made any money from the job was in Europe. being young and single I was living off my night out money which was £20 a night in the 80`s, and saving my wages (and being creative with the running money!! :laughing: )

Paris was always a total nightmare.Loved the city, loved the vibe, just hated lumping peoples furniture up narrow stair cases or trying to avoid the concierge and use the two person cage lift! :laughing: No houses in Paris :smiling_imp: Loved the Peripherique, and driving an 18 metre A-Frame draw bar around the Arc de Triumph at rush hour is great fun :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

If anyone wants to get into European driving then starting with a removal company that covers mainland Europe is not a bad idea. you will get some valuable experience, actually get into the towns and cities, meet the people and generally see alot more than the depot to depot, warehouse to warehouse runs that you may find yourself doing in general.

As for likes and dislikes, agree with the previous posts. You forgot…likes…fit lady customers, fit daughters :wink: , finding “marital aids” underneath beds or rolling around inside bedroom drawers (was carrying a large chest of drawers out once and a strange buzzing sound started to come from one of them, much to our amusement and delight and much to the extreme embarrassment of the lady of the house!! :laughing: ), getting weekended around the Mediterranean coastline, expecting a long hard few days graft (2000+ cube) that turns out to be half that. Being (zb)ed around by customs officials in whatever country you are in / trying to get into (more time out means more money in!)

Dislikes…dirty houses, skanky people, long walks, rude customers, no parking space reserved outside the house so either double park and block the road or a long walk, non tippers, those weird blokes (usually semi retired) who have a complete fitted workshop in their sheds / garage with every little draw labeled and numbered, every poxy little widget, screw, nut and bolt accounted for. Lofts that wernt viewed by the guess-timator (“cos there`s only a few bits in there”) and turn out to be full of crap. Having to unload stuff on your own around Europe cos the boss is to tight to (A) send someone with you and (B) to tight to hire labour in what ever city or town you are in (so I used to HIRE my own, that always cost him out of the running money!! :laughing: :laughing: :wink: ) Being (zb)ed around by UK customs at Dover / Folkestone / what ever your port of entry maybe, getting a full turn by the previously mentioned UK customs bods.

Im sure there is more but overall, despite being hard graft it was a good crack.

brookie:
We called them “run and burn” jobs, coz you ran in and out to get the job done, then burned your clothes at the end…

Did you ever get back to the yard or back home and realise you’d picked up fleas from someone’s dump? F******n horrible. To this day I don’t know how some folk lived that way. The only benefit of that sort of experience is that I am very rarely squeamish when I walk into someone else’s place while all around me people are fainting or throwing up.

Come to think of it I’m not sure that’s a good thing. :open_mouth:

bullitt:
As for likes and dislikes, agree with the previous posts. You forgot…likes…fit lady customers, fit daughters :wink: , finding “marital aids” underneath beds or rolling around inside bedroom drawers (was carrying a large chest of drawers out once and a strange buzzing sound started to come from one of them, much to our amusement and delight and much to the extreme embarrassment of the lady of the house!! :laughing: ), getting weekended around the Mediterranean coastline, expecting a long hard few days graft (2000+ cube) that turns out to be half that. Being (zb)ed around by customs officials in whatever country you are in / trying to get into (more time out means more money in!)

I was wondering how long it would take for someone to mention “fit” customers :wink: :grimacing: But this is a public forum, so I’ll leave it there :wink: That story of the ‘marital aid’ (ahem) isn’t as uncommon as some might imagine either, one of the blokes I was working had a habit of finding these things. I’d be driving along somewhere and suddenly there’s this buzzing noise in the cab and I’d look round and … :open_mouth:

bullitt:
Dislikes…

Yep, all of them (except I never got over the water). Dommage…

bullitt:
Im sure there is more but overall, despite being hard graft it was a good crack.

And that’s the thing I think that kept me (and probably many others) going - yes there were plenty of ■■■■ jobs but if you had a good team with you it made all the difference and could often be a good laugh. And it’s also where a removals driver made up for all that hard slog. IMO even though removals lorries were nearly always 4-wheelers, you still had to be a decent driver if you were going to put something as big as a 1500+ cu ft wagon into some residential areas with any degree of success.

Really had a good laugh reading of your experiences on the removal game. It brought it all flooding back to me. I moved to Sweden at the end of '76 and one of the first driving jobs I did was for a Stockholm removal company. Their main contract was with the Swedish Embassy and did all their Embassy staff removals all over Europe. Unfortunately they also did many ‘ordinary’ removals in and around the Stockholm area which being the ‘new boy’ I tended to cop. I can relate to all those stories you have already mentioned. I thought it was an awful job! Luckily (in some respects), I did my back in whilst on one job and after visiting the doctor, he told me that I should pack the job in straight away…I took his advice!!!
My hat goes off to all those who have ever done removals!!

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: As for “fit” customers, the favourite line to them was “do you mind if I put my hand inside your drawers?” whilst walking past carrying a chest-of-drawers using the open drawer as a grip. You either got a giggle or a red face from them! :slight_smile:

Regards,

Mark.

Having been brought up in the removals industry it truly is in my blood and have seen some good company’s and some blatently awful ones!

I have started at the bottom doing the crappiest of jobs and worked my way up. I now currently run a small removal company in the New Forest but owe my knowledge to not only my old man but several large removal company’s, some good, some bad.

The bad is a well known nationwide company who I joined at 21 with a brand new HGV, but the manager had a habit of ‘forgetting jobs’! I was tipping 7 containers in Clacton when I received a phone call, asking could I go to Germany on a ‘rush’ job. No problems says I, when? which was met with the reply you need to be in JHQ Monchengladbach asap as the job should have been delivered this morning, so I rush back, swop trailers down to the tunnel and eventually park at Jabbekke at 03.30, couple of hours kip, up and arrive at JHQ mid morning to a mouthful from the customer for being late :open_mouth: I’m normally a mellow bloke but I bit back big style explaining not too eloquently what I had been through to get his stuff here and that his anger should be directed in another direction, mainly my office and would he like to brrow my phone to vent his anger :smiley: Strangely enough we got on after that :smiley:

I have been very fortunate to do mainly Euro work and wouldn’t have changed that for anything. I completely agree with what everyone has said and found it a much nicer way of life. I spent 13 week doing a unit move from Germany to St Ives in Cornwall, 2 hours to load the truck and about an hour and a half to unload it, I don’t know how I coped, it was hard work!!!

The best job I ever completed was a private job for a former vice president of Volvo Trucks. We spent a week packing and loading 2 x 45’ trailers and dragged them over to Sweden to houses that he already owned. These houses were like his own private museums containing all sorts of Volvo prototypes from loading shovels to army equipment to trucks all of which he showed and demonstrated to us. The bloke was fantastic, tipped well, fed us etc. We later moved his various houses throughout Europe, each time he asked for the same crew and each house had different stories to tell. The only negative was the fact we used Scania Tractor units :laughing: :laughing:

brookie:
:lol: :laughing: :laughing: As for “fit” customers, the favourite line to them was “do you mind if I put my hand inside your drawers?” whilst walking past carrying a chest-of-drawers using the open drawer as a grip. You either got a giggle or a red face from them! :slight_smile: Regards,
Mark.

:grimacing: I did once hear one bloke I was on a job with ask the lady of the house if she wanted a hand with her chest. I can’t remember the exact words she used but it boiled down to “NO!”

And I’ve used that trick of using an open drawer as a hand hold too. It works really well… until the bloke on the other end who’s going backwards bumps into a door frame and the drawer slams shut :open_mouth:

@ ron davies, thanks, it’s not a job that’s everyone’s cup of tea, but if you could stick at it you got fit and stayed that way (beats paying to go to the gym to get fit too)

Couple of stories ive heard is from one of my cousins who still runs his own Removals/Transport co.
Dates back to the early 60s when he was an employee of the family firm and the job involved moving a vicar.
The job was dragging on well after dark and one of our late uncles was carrying yet another box of books into the house.
In the fading light he said, to what he thought was co worker Chuck Sims,- ■■■■■ of a job this is Chuck” . . . .
Yes … it was the vicar.

Moving a family into a new build council house, when one of the men has got to use the abolutions.
Goes upstairs,flushes the toilet and a Richard the 3rd,shoots out from the wall narrowly missing two of the porters
carrying a settee - the waste pipes hadnt yet been fitted :slight_smile:

suedehead & jdc thanks for the stories chaps. Interesting to see a few people popping up who did a lot of continental work, something I never got the chance to do. Was there much backload work or was it mostly UK → Europe? @ jdc were the 45’ trailers rigged out for furniture work or were you packing crates inside the trailers?

The mob I was with had just started with furniture crates when customers were just putting stuff in storage - after years of packing lorries I found it difficult to get the hang of packing big crates, and not long after I left anyway.

BTW feel free to post pics of wagons you worked with - good and bad.

A starter for ten:


Bedford TK860, Turner 5-speed box. Aerodynamics? Pah!

Steve


By whiplash_012 at 2008-11-14
Pegasus Merc.Driven by Derek Lapworth (of Lapworths of Leicester fame),now,I think with Hedleys Humpers.

By whiplash_012 at 2008-11-14
Little 307 driven by an Irishman,Vince(of any pub anywhere fame!)

By whiplash_012 at 2008-11-14
John Collier 1617 sits at Rosslare.

By whiplash_012 at 2008-11-14
Myself,Derek,and Dougie,the tea stand man from Dun Laoghaire.

Hi PR2100,

The trailers we had were all Marsden Vanplan 8 container trailers. In the beginning we never took wooden storage containers abroad but towards the end, the contract changed and so when a job was coming in to store you had to have containers on. That was bloody great, run out empty, load 8 containers, straight back, swop containers, back out and finish the job, The bigger the job, the better it got!!!

My work was mainly MOD so you would run out with 2/3/4 jobs on, deliver them, do a couple of internal moves within Germany and Denmark and then load up with army personnel coming back to the uk. You would then either have a couple of days in the UK delivering them or drop the trailer, collect another and back out and do it all over again.

Even if we were delivering to other parts of Europe, you would normally collect MOD work as a backload. Occasionally they would run you home empty but this was most unusual.

Unfortunately, I took very few photos which I regret now. We had a great time as there would be up to 20 trucks all weekended together. The Nobis at Asten was popular as those running out Sunday could make it in time for a ■■■■ up Sunday Night. The schwanhous at Venlo was also full with our lot over the weekends. Occasionally they would let you park on camp. PRB at Osnabrook allowed it but they had to ■■■■■■ you to where to park as you had to drive down the runway :open_mouth: Despite being a low paid job, I was richer then than ever as I was always away and never had time to spend and money :smiley: :smiley:

Can remember the old man telling me about when he used to travel to London with his dad and brothers,to move the bombed out families ,was a days run.Probably spent most of the day in Macs or Jocks :laughing:

jdc:
Hi PR2100,

The trailers we had were all Marsden Vanplan 8 container trailers. In the beginning we never took wooden storage containers abroad but towards the end, the contract changed and so when a job was coming in to store you had to have containers on. That was bloody great, run out empty, load 8 containers, straight back, swop containers, back out and finish the job, The bigger the job, the better it got!!!

My work was mainly MOD so you would run out with 2/3/4 jobs on, deliver them, do a couple of internal moves within Germany and Denmark and then load up with army personnel coming back to the uk. You would then either have a couple of days in the UK delivering them or drop the trailer, collect another and back out and do it all over again.

Even if we were delivering to other parts of Europe, you would normally collect MOD work as a backload. Occasionally they would run you home empty but this was most unusual.

Unfortunately, I took very few photos which I regret now. We had a great time as there would be up to 20 trucks all weekended together. The Nobis at Asten was popular as those running out Sunday could make it in time for a ■■■■ up Sunday Night. The schwanhous at Venlo was also full with our lot over the weekends. Occasionally they would let you park on camp. PRB at Osnabrook allowed it but they had to ■■■■■■ you to where to park as you had to drive down the runway :open_mouth: Despite being a low paid job, I was richer then than ever as I was always away and never had time to spend and money :smiley: :smiley:

jdc
Do you remember a co by the name of James Nicholas ? used to do a lot of Mod work,Big Norm on the Sunday boat out of Ramsgate in his F6 w+d