Zodian:
Jeez, sounds like a right backwards place, despite all the oil revenue and wealth of a few elite families. I’m not sure if there was any licensing laws over there such as HGV classes etc but from your description, doesn’t seem so. Looks like you were very lucky to avoid getting tangled up in any of this. Looking at some of the pictures Merlin has posted, and the number of them, truck driving was a very risky job to be doing. Looks like a destruction derby. Doesn’t appear to be much in the way of street lighting so I’m guessing night driving would have been even worse.Thanks for the post, always fascinating to hear people’s accounts and memories. There is a guy I correspond with on another site who posted some pictures of his DAF. On the side of the tractor is a sticker which says Caravan Trucking. Does this name ring any bells with you?
Zodian.
There was a Saudi driving licence, I’m not sure what the test was like, I didn’t have to take it. Production of your British HGV meant you were given a Saudi Licence. Driving at night was made more hazardous by the camels that used to like sleeping on the tarmac!
Caravan trucking was the company I worked for in Saudi, at first as an owner driver, then as transport manager and finally, thanks to dead men’s shoes, as general manager. if you click the middleeasttruckingstories link at the bottom you’ll go to my website and there are plenty of photos of Caravan’s yard on there in the gallery pages - and quite a few of Martin too!
I think the guy you have corresponded with may have worked Simon International and posted on here as Skipvitesse. I certainly met him in Caravan’s yard, but don’t really remember him as he very much kept himself to himself, particularly as he despised the Simons/Caravan transport manager Joe. Joe went mad one evening and started wrecking all the Simon trucks in the yard with the forklift and Simons pulled out soon after that. This link takes you to a page on the Simons thread, which is an excellent read if you’re interested in M/E trucking.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=26763&hilit=simon&start=270
John