The following tale is of how things can go disastrously wrong even when planned down to the last detail.
By 1976 Promotor (Europe) Ltd were going from strength to strength in their own small way. They were never a big company but had a diverse range of customers who provided the drivers with a wealth of varied and interesting work. From the early days in 1970 handling Fords development and promotional work to spreading their wings in 72 to far flung destinations as diverse as Moscow and Tehran. Bob ‘Supercube’ Heath has told us in the very early days Peter Calderwood subbed some work from Astran until he got established which didn’t take long and also picked up work for a UK importer bringing Tiger Tyres back from Pirot in Yugo. By 75 the number of units had increased to twelve and a number of rigids were still required for car movements. Come 76 everything was going swimmingly, but that autumn a job would bring Promotor almost to the point of extinction.
The exact year is open to discussion but I understand from John Smith, a driver who was working for Simon International that it was 76 or according to our own Nottsnortherner possibly 77. But I believe it was 76 as our P reg Afro Camion lorry was still looking quite new and that would have been registered in August 75 and there are no pictures of later reg lorries. During late summer Peter bid for and won a contract from Westfield Homes in Kent to transport frames for mobile homes to a site south of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. There were, it is believed, ten trailer loads in total.
These loads would have to be transported on stripped down supercube trailers and would be semi wide loads but not wide enough to require an ■■■■■■. I don’t know the weight on each trailer but looking at the few photos from that time I doubt they exceeded 12 ton. There would be very little chance of finding any kind of return load for these trailers so the job was priced to run back empty. As Promotor didn’t have enough trailers some were rented in and we have pictorial evidence that at least one unit was hired from Brighton Van Hire. We also know that at least one of the loads was pulled by a subbie.
As I didn’t join the company till 78 much of the information concerning this job has been gleaned from people who were around at the time, ( not just Promotor personel) or responded to my request for information on Facebook.
By 76 Promotor had appointed Bob Charlton as transport manager but he had been replaced by Joe Alexander before the big job started. The company needed to employ extra drivers and Joe knew a couple of guys with M/E experience who could start almost immediately. One was Ken Brazier and the other was Ray Scutts. Ray had worked for Astran and later had two or three of his own lorries but I believe that venture failed. Certainly they brought experience to the job but some of the existing Promotor drivers also knew their way to Saudi and beyond. I don’t have the full list of drivers who took part in this job but I know that Stevie Smith, Ken Brazier, Ray Scutts, and subbie Big John McFall were there. I have also been told by Promotor driver John Evans, who wasn’t on the job, that Billy Proudlove may have been another one. Another possible driver is Carl Dehnert as he was the designated driver for GYX 764N and that lorry is shown loaded and ready to go in one of the photos.
Peter Calderwood was a planner and there’s a very good chance it was he who put the basic plan together. It was simple enough. Load ten trailers and haul them down to Riyadh . What could possibly go wrong. Permits weren’t a problem, finance wasn’t either. Loads were wide but not too wide. Hire in trailers, units and subbies as needed. No, there was nothing that could go wrong as long as you had the right men for the job. Hmmm… Yes, you’ve guessed it! Nine of the ten drivers were fine dependable types who, if they had set out on their own, would have completed the job in their usual quiet and determined way. But unfortunately the tenth driver was chosen to be team leader. It is here I have to inform you that I cannot name this driver. A name has been mentioned but as I don’t have the full drivers roster for the trip and I’ve only been given hints of who it was its best I keep it to myself.
It was decided to stagger the loads and split them into groups of pairs who would leave a few days after each other. The team leader and another driver set off with the idea that they would arrive first and make sure everything was in place for the rest when they arrived. Customs clearance and cranes were required to be ready so as each pair arrived they would spend the minimum amount of time waiting. However, the first pair only got as far as Belgium before a halt was called. The story goes, and it may be just hearsay, but the chap in charge bought an American car using the running money, drove it back to the UK where he sold it before making his way back to Belgium and the other driver who was tasked with looking after the two lorries. By this time the second pair of lorries had caught up and they then made slow progress down to the National in Belgrade. By this time others drivers with a bit more momentum caught up and most of the ten loads ended up parked around the hotel there.
It then transpired that the team leader met a Bowkers driver returning from Turkey who told him the Bulgies were no longer issuing transit visas at the border. After wasting more time discussing what to do the team leader declared he would take everyones passport and fly back to London and obtain them there. Why they didn’t go via Greece is anyones guess, although I have a sneaking feeling one or two of them did just that. Anyway, six or seven drivers were left mooching around the National doing nothing and that was really getting under the skin of Big John McFall as he was an owner driver. However, things then took a turn for the worse when the police carried out a routine passport check at the National. As our drivers didn’t have theirs they were all placed under house arrest.
Whilst all these shenanigans were taking place other Promotor drivers were very busy on the exhibition work in eastern europe and one of those drivers called into the National on his way to Bucharest where he found most of the loads parked up. This was about four weeks after the first pair left the UK. There was no sign of the team leader as he had flown back with the passports by then. He spoke to Big John who wasn’t at all impressed and then left next morning for Bucharest. He returned to the National almost a week later to find most of them still parked there. He didn’t hang around and made his way back to the UK where he was concerned enough for the state of the company that he arranged a meeting with Billy Heath, road foreman at that time who suggested they had a private meeting with Peter, the boss.
I don’t have the full chronological order of events after that but what we do know is that Joe Alexander was flown out a few weeks later, accompanied by another driver George Fardell. Joe was to sack the team leader, sort out any problems and get the job back on track. I don’t know where Joe met up with the convoy but I understand there were more problems as they made their way to Riyadh. I mentioned earlier John Smith of Simon International. He says he was driving in the desert somewhere near Riyadh when he came across a Promotor lorry that was empty and on its way home. They both stayed the night there and left next day which was Christmas day. He said the driver knew what he was up to and they ran together for a few days. As they departed on the first morning John took some photos of the Promotor lorry disappearing ahead of him. Thanks for letting me use those images John.
One casualty of this trip was Big John McFall. Even though he was a regular Promotor subbie driving a lorry he bought from the company he never did another trip for them. Another well known little ditty or popular story is that one of the lorries lost part of its load on H4 but continued on to the destination where the driver obtained a clear signature. I think that just about sums up this disastrous job that almost saw the demise of the company.
There is a lot more to this story of course and maybe some of the facts I have been given are not as accurate as I would like but come on you guys who were around at the time. Do you have any recollections of that job or even photographs. If so I would love to see or hear about them.
