My life is split between hauling containers and farm machinery, mainly wheeled thingys like tractors and trailed implements, anyway here’s a weeks worth.
06-00 Mon 8th August 2005
No machinery to cart so far this week so it’s hitch up to the skelly and into Seaforth Docks , Liverpool for a box to Skelmesdale booked for 09-00, a nice heavy 20’ of bagged animal feed to be handballed off, so armed with news paper to read after a good sleep 
arrive at 08-35, they are half way through the 08-00 box so this bodes well. On to weighbridge to weigh off, “park next to other box and slide it back drive, they’ll be with you soon
10-15, weighed off and empty back to Seaforth with a box out to Interbrew at Ribbleton Lancs for 14-00, 40’ High cube full of empty beer kegs returning from Montreal.
All handballed out within 2 hours, but its to hot and noisy (beer kegs bouncing on box floor) to sit in cab, so sit on grass bank in the sun and watch the world go by and dream.
Phonecall from customer for a price to take a combine from Cambridge to Arbroath, so price given with time availability.
Box empty and notes signed its empty back to Greycourts, then empty skelly home ready for a box out of Freight Liner Manchester to Wigan for 08-00 in the morning.
06-00 Tues 9th August 2005
Roll up to the ingate at F/L Man, and handover the release note for my box, after several seconds 
of furious typing,“got no record of that box here driver”
So pull out and put the kettle on, and ring greycourts mobile and explain,“No probs you’ll still get the job rate, I’ll ring you back” 
Just pouring the milk in the coffee, text recieved
20’ box no ########### from F/L Garston to Huyton asap.
So off to Garston, in and out in 15 minutes and round to Huyton
for a quick tip, but had to use the little boys room
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That door way is about 5’ 6” high
Box to be reloaded at Widnes so off down the road to AHC, after some stamping around in the box its “sorry drive, I think we shoud’ve ordered a 40’”
So ring Greycourts “Ooo lovely job, your doing well today, back here then and we’ll swop boxs” 
So back to widnes for a 30 minute turn a round, then back in F/L Garston to tip then empty skelly to greycourts for an empty to load at Wolverhampton tomorrow, should be home by 16-00
on the way home a phone call,
“can you do a local combine move about 15 miles ?"
me “erm yes, when for ?”
“Any chance tonight ?” things never change
So back to the yard to swop trailers, then round to a farm to do a quick load up,
then over to another farm for an even quicker tip and then back to the yard for 19-30.
another phone call, " that combine to arbroath, its a goer but needs to be done by the w/end, O by the way there’s a P/X to come back” 
usual charges apply
so thursday is the agreed day, spend the next hour faxing 13 Police Forces with the Movement Notification for an oversize load (12’ 6"), they are supposed to notified 48 hours before hand, but such is life in the real world 
06-00 Weds 10th August 2005
Leave the yard for the 08-00 Wolverhampton, arrive 07-30, but sign on gate says no access before 08-00, dead on the 08-00 time pips, the gates magestically slide open and in we go, another quick load, constant variable speed gearboxs for Caterpillar USA and its off to Liverpool. It takes about an hour to tip at Seaforth so back at yard for 14-00, swap trailers again ready for the next job, then home for a few hours and a split rest before heading off at 18-30 with my assistant for tomorrows load, arrive at Bramton 21-30 and mercifully find a parking space
06-00 Thurs 11th August 2005
After a quick coffee its off we go for the hours run to Burwell near Soham for the collection, but miss the dealers yard in the village and have to travel for 4 miles before being able to turn around 
Find the dealers entrance and walk round to be sure off enough rome to manouvre about. Spend the next half hour winding the trailer out to its full width of 12’ 2", even then this combine will overhang by 2" on each side
Start the loading process by lifting the cutterhead and its transport trailer on by FLT, then load the combine its self, me directing while the dealers mechanic drives
Could be a scene from the italian job (where they drive into the coach) but he’s only doing about 0.05 mph
Combine safely loaded with the wheels located in the wheel wells, its time to strap and chain everthing down.
By 08-30 everything looks hunky dory, then its tacho to rest and time for another coffee and some sarnies. The start time on the Movement Notice was 09-30, so a quick phone call home to check if any of the forces has objected to the planned route/or want escorts, then its off we go, dipped head lights and beacons a plenty. The run out of Burwell was uneventful as most of the locals seem used to combines trundling in and out of the village to the dealers, and give us a wide berth, then onto the A142, we encounter some problems with the cones at the Junction Roadworks outside Turners, e.g. they ain’t far enough apart for us to pass through, so some cones come to a sticky end under the wheel wells on the trailer 
. Once on the A14 we settle to a nice steady 50mph stopping at the layby by the cemetry at Cambridge for a quick check and retension of straps and chains, and then make our way to the M6. With a quick stop at Corley for more coffee and attention to a beacon on the rear of the trailer that has stopped, we set off again. We pull into Keele as requested to phone for permission to travel through the roadworks, and we are given the O.K. with a reminder to straddle both lanes.
A stop at Charlie Richards for a 45
Then its off up to Scotland with a stop at Gretna before overnighting at Hamilton Services.
06-00 Fri 12th August 2005
Leave Hamilton and head over towards Dundee for an ETA of 10-00.
Threading our way through Dundee avoiding the suicide jocks out on to the A92, where we are greeted by more cones, miles of the zebbidy things .
Scores of dead cones later we reach the turning off the A92 that will take us to the farm the combine is destined for, so a quick phonecall to the farmer for final directions and "yu’ll ha na problem getin here here sonny, we get big uns all thee tame" yeah right
This
into this
don’t go, so after unloading and reloading the P/X machine on the road, it was back home to Cheshire for the w/end 10 inches narrower, with the return to Cambridge planned for monday.
that’ll be it until next spring again though
