transporter man:
Carl Williams:
paulycats:
2Carl I also did a driver instructors course at HIgh A, my father enrolled me when I was recovering after falling off the top deck of a transporter, did two weeks then had to do a follow up a few months later. I ended up with a 4 wheeler BMC box van. There was some BSM instructors on the course they had no exsperience driving heavies one was alocated an AEC V8 artic he was ■■■■■■■■ himself I offered a swap but they would not agree. One day we were returning to HA & passed the AEC on its side in a ditch.
Thanks Paulycats for adding that line drawing of a Ford D series. I suppose its a good excuse to tell of our Ford Experience and how if anything the D series redeemed them.
My Grandfather’s first vehicle was a 1920 Ford T 1 tonner Left hand drive with solid tyres Reg No J9629. It was exported from America and came just in chassis form. Herbert Raine founder of H. Raine & sons Spennymoor, built the cab (If that’s what you can describe it with half doors & no windows) and a platform body & painted & signwrote it.
I don’t know how many Model Ts he had but I think there might have been quite a few which is not surprising as they only seemed to last 3 or 4 years. However they were evolving quite quickly as in 1921 his second was Right hand drive with what were described as balloon tyres & I suspect by that time it was probably built in England. His 3rd 1922 had regular tyres more like we have today. He never would have anything said about the T models. However eventually along came (I think it was) the A model, which was a bit bigger and it was troublesome. He may have had one or two of these ad one or two Morris Commercials which again were very troublesome till he got his first Chev, and things then changed.
He and his drivers fell in love with these pre Bedford imports and then it was Chev & Bedford all the way.
In 1956 diesel was becoming popular in the smaller commercials and Ford introduced their Thames 4D 5 tonner, and with fuel consumption of around 24 mpg against 10mpg we were achieving with our Bedfords & such a cheap vehicle to buy who could resist. There is a photo of our 4D below (Not a very good one but all that has survived. I think most removal contractors jumped onto the diesel band wagon with the Ford 4D I do know that Hoults Newcastle, Hayward & Robertson Darlington and Tom Liddle at Stanley all succumbed like my dad. I know on many occasions when they met up they exchanged notes on the problems these vehicles gave. The biggest problem was head gaskets with some lasting less than 100 miles. So we decided NEVER AGAIN FORD.
We broke the mould to buy a Ford Thames 15cwt panel van but that wasn’t really a commercial vehicle.
In 1969 Courtaulds opened their Spennymoor factory & we got the transport and we needed lots of extra vehicles and at that time we never used finance and were looking for good used vehicles as well as saving costs we could not get new delivered quick enough. We saw advertised a 6 months old Ford D series Box van with just 4,000 miles on the clock so we bought our 1st Ford D800. FPT721G and it was driven for several years by one of our drivers Brian Sheldon, who certainly gave it no mercy and it stood the test of time
Shortly afterwards we were told regulations demanded with the number of drivers we employed we had to have a Driver assessor so it was decided I should take the course at MOTEC High Ercall & so I took a holiday & spent most of the 2 weeks sitting in & driving a Ford D series & I was converted. When I came back we bought a new D series 20 ton Gross Tractor unit, We bought a new Ford Passenger chassis pantechnicon but inherited a lot of D Series Tractor units which certainly were better than the Bedford TK.
I don’t know how many D Series we operated but quite a few. In rigid form they were not as good as Bedford TKs in our use but as tractors they certainly were better
Hi Transporterman,
My Experience at MOTEC probably was completely the reverse of yours.
Although as I have often said I have one of the longest apprentices ever my actual HGV driving experience was very limited.
One of my first memories was sitting on my dads knee hands on steering ‘driving’ up Marmaduke Street Spennymoor in a Bedford ‘O’ model artic with a drop frame removal van trailer about 1950. He’d have been locked up today if he’d been caught.
When I was 7 or 8 I was on a removal carrying cardboard boxes off a van when the wind blew round one of the rear doors & knocked me half the length of the van resulting in a great lump on my head after the woman we were moving put butter on it. My mother went mad with my dad for ‘Exploiting child labour’ when he took me home that evening.
I was adding up accounts as long as I can remember, which I have no doubt helped me being very good at maths.
As soon as I passed my driving test at 17 whilst still at school I spent all my spare time driving our small none HGV vans.
On leaving school my father took the view that I should be able to do everything we employed others to do so even though I had no aptitude I even had to have a go at taking a gearbox out.
My 21st Birthday came along and there was a new Bedford SB pantechnicon VPT828F standing in our garage after being sign written the day before I actually had painted it.Not the writing of course(I never was asked to do another) It was there for our driver Colin Watson to take over when he returned that evening. I was there, no-one else when one of our customersfrom Bishop Auckland requested about 3.00PM we sent a van along to load for the following day. I was now 21 (That morning) so I told the office I was taking VPT to load.
They were based the far side of Bishop Auckland so off I went down South Church through the bridge which was offset and you had to get dead central to get through with 13ft high van (The road is so narrow its has traffic lights & is one way now) I later found out many of our experienced drivers would miss that route & go through the centre of Bishop Auckland.
But between then & going to Motec the only HGVs I drove was when I went to our bodybuilders Marsdens of warrington to pay for & collect new vans, One occasion when I collected from MET police in London a van that had been stolen A van from Birmingham when the driver had broken his leg & moving vans from our depot to Courtaulds or Thorn in Spennymoor. I had of course got my HGV licence by Grandfather rights never having taken an HGV test.
So innocently I went to MOTEC to be told within a minute of arriving that to asset drivers we need to see you can drive & there I was with drivers mostly in their 50s many who had worked for 20 years plus at BRS.
I had never seen the manouvering area, and took my usual approach when I was out of my comfort zone to keep out of the way & hope they run out of time before they came to me. Fortunately it gave me time to watch others & when my time came I did it OK to my surprise.