i would love a few trips to italy/spain or greece.
if i had my life over again,i would still have spent it out on the continent.
there were some great times.
bring back customs clearance and get me a few trips.
theres loads more frizzanti to be drunk.
i would never work for trip money again though. daily rate only.if fri arrive and you have no backload,it can be expensive.
eating out and drinking and not getting paid for the laying over
Go Back?? In my heart I have never moved on. Those were the real days.
Something that I am sooooo glad I llived through even though at the time, we did not know they were going to be such good old days.
I would love to re-live it even if just for a day.
Mothertrucker:
Go Back?? In my heart I have never moved on. Those were the real days.
Something that I am sooooo glad I llived through even though at the time, we did not know they were going to be such good old days.
I would love to re-live it even if just for a day.
Unfortunately it’s sad having to grow up.We all thought it was going to last forever!
Must agree with bestbooties observation.I,ve just realised why I enjoy this forum so much.It has taken me away from my semi boring life and transported me to a world that has long gone but certainly not forgotten.Thanks very much to all of you for your entertaining posts.
Well I gree with “Mothertrucker” as I would like to go back to “The Good Old Days” in some ways but not others as we had the drivers in them days (who would be better off wearing a stetson & cowboy boots) just as we have nowadays. 
Difference is they just have better trucks now to do it with, but I can remember looking for digs at 5,o,clock at night in winter and ending up in places where you used to put on a clean pair of overalls & boots to go to bed in and believe me they did exist! 
I can remember the “Little Red Book” with all or most of the digs in, and one sticks in my mind one fri. night in Brigg, I chose the wrong one out of the only two in the book and I ended up stopping two paddies (who were apparently long term residents and drunk as skunks to boot) from knocking lumps out of each other and I had to sleep all night with one eye open to keep an eye on these two fighting drunks and my suitcase and possessions! 
But for all the bad times (and there wasn,t many) there were plenty of good times as well like Trevor at Blyth cafe running the crowd down to the pub in Retford and collecting us all at closing time or going horse riding at 1 am in the fields round by the “Blue Star” cafe on the way back to Blyth Cafe! 
I must say I (and hopefully) my mates at that time have now grown up and don,t do such silly things, my excuse is cos, “matron” says I am not getting any younger and I have to grow old gracefully. 
When you are young you do silly things and looking back they were ■■■■ silly cos we could have fell off the horse!
hi everyone,i was a kid in late seventies and eighties,back then i would be with my dad as much as poss,i remember him not having to chase around like you do now,no stupid limiters and tachos you could switch off.(oh if only that now)
one of his first continental trips was about 84,2 drops in italy somewhere i was 8,in a brand new foden,320 roller,13 speed,double eaton back end,i remember all the waiting around for customs,a big wad of lira and going up a big mountain with something carved in the rock and stopping at somewhere called monkeys??,then customs at aosta.
loading pasta back and being on the compiene outta calais and it been freezin on it.
He worked for coombe valley tspt,steetly,traction gb,husk of dover(with the foden) then became an owner driver,everything was on flats aswell,that was what i wanted to do and still would,i now run italy myself only because of the mortgage,cant earn enough down here on local and dont like runnin uk much.
I passed my test at 21 left the workshop an worked for a cowboy outfit called dockspeed,had enough of that then did flat work myself on coombe valley which i enjoyed,very satisfying roping and sheeting a trailer i think.
Now the closest ill never get is when i jump in my crusader i built an with some other like minded friends in old stuff do road runs and once a year do a jolly abroad for about 2 weeks all in 70s and 80s lorries tryin to use as many old routes as possible, we fix the motors at side of the road,fix punctures,do runnin maintainance n repairs,you have to drive these motors,thats how i like it keep your autos,i challenge any auto box to a race against my fuller any day.
sorry yeah,your all right that tecnology hasnt always been in our favour.
id like to have been one of those trailblazin pioneers that we can now only listen to and read about
I would go back in a heartbeat, Atki’s , Guys the lot. put me down for it.
All theold trail blazers are sitting around a warm computer these days with a hot cup of tea.Reminds me." Put the kettle on."
harry:
All theold trail blazers are sitting around a warm computer these days with a hot cup of tea.Reminds me." Put the kettle on."
Yeah,sittin’ here all misty eyed Harry,no suger in mine please.
Just turned on and read all these stories from you old crinklies.As I did so my shouted up the stairs “Time for medication.Use the staitlift coming down”.Bang goes my street cred.
charlie one Its ‘elevation facility’ these days Chaz.
Harry. Do you speak as an expert or as an interested bystander? However I assume from your posts that you are still in your late 40s.My tongue is in my cheek!
Put it this way, I see a lot of daytime telly…
Well dont sit there watching day time telly and dreaming of the good old days boys - do what I did and write it down.
When I started to write the Mothertrucker books it was simply because I never forgot that first trip,dragging the truck up to the top of the Mt Cenis and praying that the brakes would hold on the way down. 
The sharp smell of the fresh mountain air, those banks of flowers growing up the sides in a million different colours, the sound of the rushing streams washing their way down from the summit to the foot and the breathtaking view as we crawled to the top is something that feels like yesterday, so I just started writing and it all flooded onto the paper.
There are so many tales that are still so fresh in the memory.
Being stuck for hours in no mans land at Chiaso with nothing to do other than paddle through the mud to overflowing toilets and trying to sleep in Milan with ladies of the night constantly knocking on the cab doors.
Being weekended in Campo Gilliano basking in glorious sunshine or spending two night on the banks of Lake Como.
Tramping to Spain to deliver engine blocks to Valencia then finding the re-load was down in Alicante and supposed to be picked up two hours ago.
If you don’t want to write books then put your stories on here. They are the best times and the young pups with the comfy trucks would love to hear about them.
I do a bit of travelling also… 
So do I.I don,t sit watching tv all day. Only about Six or seven hours! Also travel a lot. Why this Monday gone I drove a mile to the Post Office to pick up my pension.So a little less talk of apathy.Please.We elderly folk can be hurt you know.
i did 258 kms today.
one hit.
never stopped.
i swear.
made it back to the computer tonite.
got a big day tomorrow.
400 kms,might bring a second driver in case i get tired.
charlie one ( My post office is in Thailand & so is my barber )
I stand here open mouthed in admiration.Is there no limit to your stamina? I think a second man should be the order of the day.Or even a third man.