Sidevalve:
beefy4605:
Juddian:
Had to have a bit of nous, and brawn, those old wagons self regulated who could or who would want to drive one.
Bit different now, select D and press the loud pedal, don’t even need to release the switch masquerading as a park brake, one finger steering.Could you imagine the reaction in a typical yard if an old boneshaker with a gearbox from hell no powersteering complete with flatbed trailer requiring handball loading then roping and sheeting turned up.
Whether or not others would like to admit it, that Juddian in my opinion is exactly why the haulage industry is where it is today. Flats were parked because new drivers couldn’t / wouldn’t rope and sheet so along came the curtainsider and if it went in and the curtains pulled then it was grand - nobody knew there was 25 tons of concrete sitting on the floor with nothing holding it down . Now even with reinforced curtains and ratchet straps they still can’t manage to keep a load on from A to B but the old chestnut "ropes aern’t safe / up to enxxxx standard "is the excuse you hear when the simple fact is they can’t drive , a good few of them out there aern’t fit to be trusted with anything bigger than a shopping trolley and even at that when you see the state of cars in a supermarket carpark you would have to wonder if a shopping trolley is to much for them .
Of course, loads NEVER came off if they were roped and sheeted? Yes, you had to learn how to get the best out of those old motors (you do with the new ones but in a different way) but if you’re going to try and tell me that modern drivers are crap just because the job’s been made immeasurably easier for them, I’ll just laugh in your face; and I’m old enough to have seen both sides of it.
Mate, there were lousy drivers around then just as there are lousy drivers around now. Rose tinted specs are fine but it wasn’t ALL good.
The job is easier - no question or arguement there but standards should be rising should they not ? Plainly they are not . You must have see the newcomers with the ink still wet on their licence demanding / being let loose with a 600 hp + truck and load and little or no idea of the forces at play , being driven like gocarts . A 320 Iveco with a crash box and a load of spuds in 25 kg bags that were roped and sheeted on put a little fear in you until you understood what was going on . Of course there were bad drivers back in the "good old " days no arguement about it- standards ain’t improving - you have to ask why ?