i used to be a mechanic for one of these companies…the gory stories i know are not for human consumption!
xamtex:
i used to be a mechanic for one of these companies…the gory stories i know are not for human consumption!
I hope it paid better than other mechs jobs in the area?
Loaded tallow a few times there, overloaded once and had to back into a warehouse to let some out the tank, loads of dead cows & horses in there and a flt with a long metal pole on instead of forks. Easier to move the carcasses about by sticking the pole up the hole apparently.
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Done dead stuff from local farms to the Dumfries incinerator (if it’s still going), years ago.
All you need is a strong stomach…
Doubt DVSA will ever pull you BTW…!!! 
elsa Lad:
pete smith:
Harry Monk:
elsa Lad:
Does anyone know if its still there? haven’t been that way for a long time, it was near the Runcorn bridge.Yes, it’s still there or at least it was this time last year. It’s called SecAnim.
Was called Grannox in the 1980’s, pile of bones was 20 foot high and you loaded out of an overhead auger which was not the fastest, this was taken back to an animal feed mill to put back in cattle feed, cannibalism!
All the workers used to be covered in rotten flesh, even the coffee machine had green slime over it. It was a place of nightmares.
It was more fun next door in Robbie Dwyers. He always offered to make the new lads a sandwich or a cup of tea
xamtex:
i used to be a mechanic for one of these companies…the gory stories i know are not for human consumption!
So did I, in 1978 when I was 16/17, for a company called Stannards, (I think), in Stapleford Abbots, Essex. It was an absolutely disgusting place, offal everywhere. I remember this old bloke with one eye, standing inside a horse carcass cutting it up and eating a pie at the same time.
Not for the faint hearted ! The fitter that I used to work with was Dave Webb, great bloke, he taught me a lot about diesels and trailers etc. I used to love going out on breakdowns and roadside recoveries with him.
Long time ago. That was when I first drove a TM Bedford and an F86 unit and trailer.
GS
I’ve been doing it nearly 6 years so any specific questions you have I’ll probably be able to answer. We collect from abattoirs and knackers yards and we deliver the final bonemeal into power stations. We run the length and breadth of the UK on domestic regs using a log book just like the good old days.
It’s dirty job you will get covered in all sorts. If it’s a standard sheeted bulker you’re pulling you’ll find yourself in the trailer along side the animals if their limbs are sticking up everywhere as it’s near impossible to pull the sheet over from the ground, same applies to loads of bone.
You’ll see sights you’ll wish you’d never seen and the smells are foul, you’ll get numb to both fairly quickly if you manage to stick the job.
Spills will happen, anyone who’s been at it for a while will have had at least one. My worst one was pig innards poring out over the back door while on the slip road from the A1 at Scotch Corner.
The job itself is pretty relaxed you’re just exchanging an empty trailer for a full one at each site. There is a bit of faffing about dropping your empty, pulling the full one out of position, dropping the full one out of the way then moving the empty into position.
There can be a fair bit of waiting about and late nights. Abattoirs generally stop killing late afternoon and you’ll have to wait until they’ve cleaned the slaughtering hall before they’ll let you take the trailer. The bigger sites like a fresh trailer (or several) everyday where as the smaller sites may take a few days to fill a trailer but these places are becoming rare.
We’re treated well everywhere we service, we’re free to use the subsidized canteens and the toilets / showers if required at the abattoirs and I can honestly say I’ve never had anyone speak to me the wrong way. I’m yet to meet any health and safety nazis doing this job never been asked to wear a hiviz at an abattoir just a pair of boots is all that’s required and the knackeries are a bit like farms they just don’t care.