Morning all.Just sitting here watching the snow fall and contemplating what to write.
Jeff.I will try to write about the first trip with thw Afghani’s.First i must put down a bit of backround to the whole I.T.Holland\Afghan int\VGL thing.
BB I remember in the early\mid 70s there was a Company in Tehran who had a whole lot of those CCC trucks in ‘‘conventional’’‘’ format,they were also green.
Jeff.As you say at 11’oclock at night it was a bit inconvenient but from the other side it was ‘‘luxury’’ compared to what we had Before and having a kitchen,aircon and the backup of DAF\Dutch government etc was a bit special after working for the likes of Simon on trip Money.
,NOT nitpicking but we never done Saudi,only Iran,Afghan and the odd Pakistan[mostly done by the Afghani’s].
ERF.When i worked for IT Holland the main work was France,they set up a separate department especially for the ME as this was a special venture in conjunction with the government.At that time there was a sort of cooperative in Holland consisting of Fransen,I.T.Holland,Holland Extra and Rosmalen.These worked with VGL which was state run which made a powerful company.As VGL was the Dutch equivalent of BRS you see what back up we had.
Jelliot:
ERF-Continental:
@Robert/HutpikGood input and feedback!
Attached (I doubt if the picture has been photoshop-ed with version 0, as the logo on the tarpaulin
is a bit too clear?) a page out of the VGL-brochure of 1970 with some tilts.Also the kitchen on the Afghan International’s, type FTT2800. As hutpik confirmed, VGL was the
basis (and start for TIR-carnet’s) and also attached a picture of VGL-Eindhoven, where frequently
some AI-combinations were parked. The facility still is there however nothing to do with VGL nor
DHL who acquired VGL.Nice (Sun-)day, A-J
Looks good sitting in the show room with all the cooker and stuff on display. I couldn’t see it being to practical at 11 o’clock at night after a long day covered in Saudi dust trying to get all you’re bedding out the way, and the cooker set. It was bad enough cooking on the centre kitchen pack of a Globetrotter, and all you had to do was lift the lid, unless you wanted to get something out the fridge which was under the bunk.
Jeff…
I preferred to cook outside whenever possible; but if you’ve got to cook inside, nothing beats taking over the passenger seat and footwell for me. That’s probably why so many long-haulers had the seat removed (Eric Vick’s ERF 7MWs for example). Robert
robert1952:
Jelliot:
ERF-Continental:
@Robert/HutpikGood input and feedback!
Attached (I doubt if the picture has been photoshop-ed with version 0, as the logo on the tarpaulin
is a bit too clear?) a page out of the VGL-brochure of 1970 with some tilts.Also the kitchen on the Afghan International’s, type FTT2800. As hutpik confirmed, VGL was the
basis (and start for TIR-carnet’s) and also attached a picture of VGL-Eindhoven, where frequently
some AI-combinations were parked. The facility still is there however nothing to do with VGL nor
DHL who acquired VGL.Nice (Sun-)day, A-J
Looks good sitting in the show room with all the cooker and stuff on display. I couldn’t see it being to practical at 11 o’clock at night after a long day covered in Saudi dust trying to get all you’re bedding out the way, and the cooker set. It was bad enough cooking on the centre kitchen pack of a Globetrotter, and all you had to do was lift the lid, unless you wanted to get something out the fridge which was under the bunk.
Jeff…
I preferred to cook outside whenever possible; but if you’ve got to cook inside, nothing beats taking over the passenger seat and footwell for me. That’s probably why so many long-haulers had the seat removed (Eric Vick’s ERF 7MWs for example). Robert
Hi Robert I kept this photo of an 89 with kitchen pack I found on the net may have been this site I’m not sure but I kept it just for reference just in case in need it for model building !
Good chance that is one of the original PIE motors.
Just a question…PIE as for Pacific Intermountain Express?
ERF.Yes in the mid 70s they became quite a big player running ME.
My lessons for Sunday…I was not aware that this US-origin was active in Europe-M/E
This weeks cm as got a few pages about a astrans scania if anyone is interested 
@Hutpik…the old school, Fransen, Rosmalen, Holland-Extra…VGL was one of the 12.000!
transportcompanies in Holland by 1970! Will try to input/share some on the subsidiaries…
In fact Van Gend & Loos was Belgian…Jan Baptist van Gend married Maria Francisca Loos on october
18th 1796 but later members of the family established the ATO (Algemeene Transport Onderneming)
translated, General Transport Company.
robert1952:
Yes! It’s an American-built CCC , which were made specially for export to Iran. They had ■■■■■■■ NTC 290 lumps and 9-speed Fuller gearboxes. Ugly, but right up my street driving-wise! Here is a picture of what looks like the vehicle you pictured, in better condition! Robert
Robert, heres some old dusty Super 8 shot coming down Tahir homeward bound: http://youtu.be/VxNiHy2gqlo
Shows a couple of RAS Cargo CCCs ontheir way over eastbound
During the 70s most of Asian\me countries were under some sort of dictatorship or at least restricted government,this however did not affect the general public too much and as such a great deal of travel\Commerce was done relatively safely. The Dutch and Afghan government decided to conclude a trading\Commerce\development venture during this time.After considering various makes of truck the choise came down to Mack and DAF as both of these had good service networks in Asia\ME.The choise finally fell on Daf as the government were involved so it was considered patriotic and DAF could deliver faster whereas the Macks required some alterations to conform to EU rules.It was decided to have 3 Dutch registered trucks with European drivers [2 Dutch and me]and the rest Afghan.This was done with visa restictions in mind to facilitate loading in countries where the Afghanis were restricted.Also this gave flexibility as the Afghan trucks had box trailers whereas the Dutch had box trailers with soft tops to facilitate transporting machinery.As this was predominantly a ‘‘development’’ venture all sorts of loads were envisaged.
The idea was that the 3 European drivers,who all had previous ME experience[myself with Astran and Simon int, and my colleagues with Herman Ludwig] would run with 2 or 3 of the Afghanis for the first few trips.[this was a disaster,more of that later].
One must remember that even as developed as Afghaistan was in the 70s it was still far behind Europé.To us this was just Another job[albeit well paid]but for the Afghanis it was a status thing.Thousands of people applied in Kabul of the position of driver.Among the ones chosen were a diplomatic chauffeur,schoolteacher,the head of the Tourist board and an army colonel.It was required to have a good working knowledge of English.most of they guys already spoke Pashto and Dari.
The problems arose when they had to come to Holland for driving and orientation Courses.Most of these guys had never been outside of Afghanistan[exept on bus or Camel]never mind on an airplane.When they arrived in Holland it was like the communists after the collapse,so much to buy but no Money.They were amazed at the sight of the sea and couldn’t compehend 50,000t boats ma
de of steel not sinking.When they first encountered the ‘‘rush hour’’ they almost had nervous breakdowns as most of the traffic in Kabul has 4 legs.
They then Went,with us,to Einhoeven to DAF’s factory and test track to learn driving.These guys had licenses but at most had only driven rigids.When confronted with DAF artics and fuller 13speed[bicycle bell]crash gearbox it was ‘‘interesting’’.
Also the guys had the habit of Calling everyone sir or '‘mister Mike’,Wim,Piet or whatever.Added to that whenever they saw a uniform they would salute,ok for a policeman but a bit OTT for a doorman.
We had to avoid giving them much Money as the first time they Went straight to a supermarket and filled trolleys to take home to ''family.More to follow later.
@Hutpik…compliments for your release on M/E in general and Afghan International in specific!
Attached some background on the DAF Eurotrailers (source “DAF Trailers”) as well as a picture of a
Holland-Ex-Tra Volvo F88 on the “Autohof” so possibly somewhere in Germany not far from Venlo.
whisperingsmith:
robert1952:
Yes! It’s an American-built CCC , which were made specially for export to Iran. They had ■■■■■■■ NTC 290 lumps and 9-speed Fuller gearboxes. Ugly, but right up my street driving-wise! Here is a picture of what looks like the vehicle you pictured, in better condition! Robert0
Robert, heres some old dusty Super 8 shot coming down Tahir homeward bound: http://youtu.be/VxNiHy2gqloShows a couple of RAS Cargo CCCs ontheir way over eastbound
Thank you for posting that link! Very evocative footage, with an inspired sound-track for once. Cheers! Robert 
That Holland Extra truck is parked at their yard which was just on the border on the old road out of Venlo,i can’t remember exactly where as i only Went there a couple of times in the 70s.Mike
Mike, I assume somewhere near Kaldenkirchen-road and also close to Customs-Transit “Schwanenhaus”
When there, you for sure also saw many of the following:
Frans Maas
Van Strien
v.d. Graaf
Paul Willems
Harry Willems
van Zwamen
Huys
robert1952:
0
Hi Robert, I was very interested to see your pic of PIE of Southall, I was very pally with Micky Maunders in our M/E days, I have not seen them mentioned before on the thread and it certainly raised fond memories, thanks, regards Fred 
freshir:
robert1952:
Hi Robert, I was very interested to see your pic of PIE of Southall, I was very pally with Micky Maunders in our M/E days, I have not seen them mentioned before on the thread and it certainly raised fond memories, thanks, regards Fred
You’re welcome! Here are a couple more pics I found. Robert
robert1952:
freshir:
robert1952:
2Hi Robert, I was very interested to see your pic of PIE of Southall, I was very pally with Micky Maunders in our M/E days, I have not seen them mentioned before on the thread and it certainly raised fond memories, thanks, regards Fred
You’re welcome! Here are a couple more pics I found. Robert
10
Thanks again Robert , you are well informed , your past pic’s and posts are most interesting = when will you rune out of pic’s ? Regards Fred
freshir:
robert1952:
freshir:
robert1952:
2Hi Robert, I was very interested to see your pic of PIE of Southall, I was very pally with Micky Maunders in our M/E days, I have not seen them mentioned before on the thread and it certainly raised fond memories, thanks, regards Fred
You’re welcome! Here are a couple more pics I found. Robert
10
Thanks again Robert , you are well informed , your past pic’s and posts are most interesting = when will you rune out of pic’s ? Regards Fred
Never, because I remember where I have seen pics in cyber-space and make connections! 
Thank you for your kind observations. Robert