watching a health and safety video today on crossovers and up pops albright and wilsons plant at avonmouth and the results of a crossover there which got my reminiscing when i was a kid going with dad to one of their sites near hull (i think). i remember seeing a scania 111 or 141 pulling a tank in their colours there they looked a smart fleet where they company trucks or subbies?..
wirralpete:
watching a health and safety video today on crossovers and up pops albright and wilsons plant at avonmouth and the results of a crossover there which got my reminiscing when i was a kid going with dad to one of their sites near hull (i think). i remember seeing a scania 111 or 141 pulling a tank in their colours there they looked a smart fleet where they company trucks or subbies?..
Hi Pete,I used to go into their place in Whitehaven regular (Marchon) but I only remember them running Atkis in their own fleet.The ■■■■■■■■ lads might tell you a bit more about them.
HI Pete , my uncle worked for them at their widnes depot right up until they finished- the vehicles i remember him driving were Mk1 & 2 atki’s & he got a brand new Sedak 400 ‘P’ reg
Chris Webb:
bubbleman:
I wonder if Bewick Haulage,gaffer Dennis,backloaded Sammy Williams,the A591 was his territory? Probably not,they look like stillages out of Albright and Wilson/Marchon at Whitehaven for delivery to Proctor and Gamble at Purfleet.
Harry would have liked the Scania 80,bless him!
Albright and Wilson had a plant in Barton on Humber at the opposite side of the river to Hull
Few lads used to come into Dun Laoghaire when I was at customs in the 80s.From Oldbury if I recall.Big Dave and Fred,sound lads liked their gargle.They were employed by A & W.Used to bring the concentrate in for Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola.  By [whiplash_012](http://profile.imageshack.us/user/whiplash_012) at 2008-10-22 One of their 111s on left hand side,waiting to board 20.45,bpat to Holyhead.
Wheel Nut:
Chris Webb:
bubbleman:
I wonder if Bewick Haulage,gaffer Dennis,backloaded Sammy Williams,the A591 was his territory? Probably not,they look like stillages out of Albright and Wilson/Marchon at Whitehaven for delivery to Proctor and Gamble at Purfleet.
Harry would have liked the Scania 80,bless him!Albright and Wilson had a plant in Barton on Humber at the opposite side of the river to Hull
And another at Oldbury Malc,I think P J Butler did a lot for them,phosphoric acid IIRC. I never went into the one at Barton.
wirralpete:
watching a health and safety video today on crossovers and up pops albright and wilsons plant at avonmouth and the results of a crossover there which got my reminiscing when i was a kid going with dad to one of their sites near hull (i think). i remember seeing a scania 111 or 141 pulling a tank in their colours there they looked a smart fleet where they company trucks or subbies?..
Was this video about the 1996 explosion in Avonmouth?
A tanker of Sodium Chlorite from Berk was mixed up with a tanker of Epichlorohydrin from Biachem. Both loads were loaded in lift tanks but the latter one had to be delivered blind (Neutral). It was a disaster waiting to happen as the ops manager had mixed the two tank numbers up and the two drivers delivered what they believed were the right chemicals, but into the wrong tanks 
Two lessons were learned from this, Sodium Chlorite does not mix with EPI and don’t believe everything you are told from a traffic clerk without proof.
whiplash:
Few lads used to come into Dun Laoghaire when I was at customs in the 80s.From Oldbury if I recall.Big Dave and Fred,sound lads liked their gargle.They were employed by A & W.Used to bring the concentrate in for Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola.  By [whiplash_012](http://profile.imageshack.us/user/whiplash_012) at 2008-10-22 One of their 111s on left hand side,waiting to board 20.45,bpat to Holyhead.
The “concentrate” from Oldbury would be Phosphoric Acid, chuck a penny in a glass of coke, or pour some coke down the toilet 
I’ve just read about that Avonmouth fire Malc.They were fined £60,000,not even the drivers docs or hazchem labels were checked apparantly. 
Hello Pete,this is all I can offer 
Cheers Bubbs, 
Chris Webb:
I’ve just read about that Avonmouth fire Malc.They were fined £60,000,not even the drivers docs or hazchem labels were checked apparantly.
It was a regular job, and the original documents were “hidden” and a faxed copy of a delivery note used, but the “tanker operator” mixed the tank numbers up on the documents. Both tanks were collected from Purfleet so the sub contracted drivers were in the clear in that respect. It shows that a reference sample on the point is still a good idea 
Sometimes a quick sniff or visual check is enough to identify a chemical, I bet they are more careful now!
Stanfield:
Here’s a oldie, some of you may remember these knocking about a few years ago0
Great Picture John. I think I have tipped in exactly that same spot, maybe I should superimpose a Volvo F10 and claim it as my own
Wheel Nut:
Chris Webb:
I’ve just read about that Avonmouth fire Malc.They were fined £60,000,not even the drivers docs or hazchem labels were checked apparantly.It was a regular job, and the original documents were “hidden” and a faxed copy of a delivery note used, but the “tanker operator” mixed the tank numbers up on the documents. Both tanks were collected from Purfleet so the sub contracted drivers were in the clear in that respect. It shows that a reference sample on the point is still a good idea
Sometimes a quick sniff or visual check is enough to identify a chemical, I bet they are more careful now!
e
We had a regular job taking stearic acid from Ertverlde in to Avonmouth after the accident,often taking loaded tanks back to our yard in Barry to steam up.The notes specified both trailer and unit number,the load had to be delivered by the same unit as on paperwork or it would be refused.
welshphil:
Wheel Nut:
Chris Webb:
I’ve just read about that Avonmouth fire Malc.They were fined £60,000,not even the drivers docs or hazchem labels were checked apparantly.It was a regular job, and the original documents were “hidden” and a faxed copy of a delivery note used, but the “tanker operator” mixed the tank numbers up on the documents. Both tanks were collected from Purfleet so the sub contracted drivers were in the clear in that respect. It shows that a reference sample on the point is still a good idea
Sometimes a quick sniff or visual check is enough to identify a chemical, I bet they are more careful now!
e
We had a regular job taking stearic acid from Ertverlde in to Avonmouth after the accident,often taking loaded tanks back to our yard in Barry to steam up.The notes specified both trailer and unit number,the load had to be delivered by the same unit as on paperwork or it would be refused.
That defeats the use of tank containers then 
It was a stupid but costly mistake, and in the case of blind deliveries, most customers know where the stuff originates from anyway.
I loaded from Germany and delivered to a place in Manchester. They asked me for the paperwork and I gave them a handwritten CMR, they asked me if it was from Worms and I said yes. The operator replied if I hadn’t answered his question, it would have been a 3 hour sample, as it was, he let me tip straight away.
Stanfield:
Here’s a oldie, some of you may remember these knocking about a few years ago0
Great photo John.Here’s an AEC MK5 tipping phosphate rock at Whitehaven.
cheers all for the repiles and pics,
yep it was the avonmouth site, made a hell of a bump and threw a driver 15 foot, belive it was huktras and albrights who got the fines.
i had a recent run in with crossovers but on a less dramatic scale. loaded omya melton for wolverhampton. anyhows gets to premier mortars, wolverhampton and site manager asks me what im doing there as we have already had a delivery today and using his words “off one of those trucks that are all white with the orange and red stripes”.
oh dear turns out that driver had seen wolverhampton on the address and went to the wrong site. filled the silo with 28 ton of wrong product, lomas came down and evaucted the silo, while i had the pleasure of spending the night outside getting knocked up by prossies till 3.30 am when i could get in to tip!
wirralpete:
cheers all for the repiles and pics,
yep it was the avonmouth site, made a hell of a bump and threw a driver 15 foot, belive it was huktras and albrights who got the fines.
i had a recent run in with crossovers but on a less dramatic scale. loaded omya melton for wolverhampton. anyhows gets to premier mortars, wolverhampton and site manager asks me what im doing there as we have already had a delivery today and using his words “off one of those trucks that are all white with the orange and red stripes”.
oh dear turns out that driver had seen wolverhampton on the address and went to the wrong site. filled the silo with 28 ton of wrong product, lomas came down and evaucted the silo, while i had the pleasure of spending the night outside getting knocked up by prossies till 3.30 am when i could get in to tip!
Tipped
Yes it was Huktra. I can give you the tank numbers if you wish
HUKU 302012-8 supposedly loaded with 22.000 Sodium Chlorite from Italy 18,181 litres
HUKU 302014-9 supposedly loaded with 22,060kg Epichlorhydrin from Czechoslovakia 18,383 litres
Stevens Transport were the sub contractors and they were given precise details of the contents, albeit the wrong way round.
This is not my first experience of this with Huktra. Many years ago I dropped a tank container off in Felixstowe on Townsend Thoreson. I had to wait until Saturday for a load back up North. I was given a tank number over the phone which i wrote down with the delivery address and order numbers we used. It was for Lubrizol in Bromborough for Monday. When the ferry came in, there were two or three Huktra tanks came off and I then got mine. In those days we had to collect our paperwork in an agents office in Trelawney House. There was always a cup of tea on the go and I had a pot with the duty agent. He gave me a copy of the job sheet which had come by Telex (Remember This)
I drove up to East Yorkshire for the weekend and arrived in Bromborough around 9am on Monday. When I booked in there was a phonecall for me to call the office. So I weighed in and reported to the tanker office. I gave them the papers and asked for a sample, unusually one of the operators had gone out to get a sample from my tanker. I made a phone call as he came in and asked where my notes are. I showed him them on the desk as I spoke on the phone.
What tank number have you got on driver? I told this voice the number, Where are you? she asked. Bromboro, at Lubrizol.
What are you doing there, you have picked up the wrong tank container. No I haven’t. I have collected the one John gave me on Friday from Felixstowe. Well you are in the wrong place then!
I am in the place where it tells me to be, it says so on the paperwork, John told me on the telephone. What is going on?
The tank operator said, whatever that is, it isn’t what I am after, it is not lube oil additive from Rouen. I told him I was waiting for another call. Eventually this call came and it was Huktra. That tanker is not for them, can you get the papers back and ring me when you get outside the factory.
The next phone call was strange. You should have unloaded that tank in Brush on Saturday! Why asked me, how should I have done that, it is addressed to Bromboro, you told me it was for Bromboro, I have brought it to Bromboro.
Beginning to doubt myself a bit. I lost my rag and told John I would ring him back in 5 minutes. Panicking I rang my boss and told him the story, he agreed that they had told him the same, bring a tank up to Hull for the weekend, tip in Bromboro on Monday morning. I rang back and asked John where I was going now, safe in the knowledge my boss was behind me.
“Take it to Brush in Loughborough, they are waiting for you.”
I drove over to Brush through Buxton if I remember correctly, it was about 1980 and as promised they were waiting for me, about 7 blokes in suits, white overalls and safety glasses.
Driver have you opened the lid? No I replied honestly. They pulled me inside and coupled me up to this pipe while an engineer climbed on top, the seal is broken he called down, of course it is they took a sample at the other place. 1st white coat says you told me you havent opened the lid… I haven’t I was on the phone and the tank operator took a sample this morning in Lubrizol
The load I was carrying was Transformer Oil which is carried under a “Nitrogen blanket” so no moisture can get in or PCB can escape. I had a tank container full of scrap, very expensive oil 
Not my fault at all, but it was the last load we did for Huktra, we didnt get paid for 2 years until it went to court and because of that copy Telex I was given in Trelawney house we eventually got our money, Brush got their compensation and the oil was scrapped or tipped in Thames Matex in West Thurrock. It may be still there.
I learned three things that week.
Transformer Oil must be kept sealed under Nitrogen.
Never trust a phone call alone without paperwork.
Drivers are sometimes right.
I also met Geoff Waddilove at Greenwich Tank Cleaning that week as we had no fuel facilities in the south
Now that is a good thread derail. Avonmouth to Loughborough via Bromborough.
ha ha good tale mate sounds like huktra have had certain training it buggering loads up!
That was an interesting journey then Malc.
We never carried anything else put pet.spirits and solvents,no acids,oils etc,but I do remember reading an article about Transformer Oil and how it had to handled due to PCBs,especially went it was spent and had to be reloaded for processing. My only experience of nitrogen blankets was at ICI/Zeneca Huddersfield when tipping pure benzene. “Don’t vent thi tank in t’works,lerrit go in t’Pennines”. 
I’ve seen loads of Huktra containers on trains going through Switzerland,makes you wonder if they all got tipped in the right storages.How come you remember the container numbers,good memory or have you still got the papers?