Hi all
The day I was seventeen I was on the road with a Bedford TK carrying 8 ton of Kayphos fert in 1 cwt bags. That was in powder form and very dusty. Handballing that on and off again soon built my muscles up.Did that for over two years before going ME with father. Later in life I did 12 months on a Volvo F10 6 wheeler and drag on cattle haulage.That had power steering I bet your Bristol diden’t a Harry. Had to transfer many a animal from truck to drag due to limited access.If someone says to you that job must be easy becouse your load walks on and off it’s self, they have never done it, At least if you hand ball a bag onto your truck it will usally stay where you put it…
hiya,
yes Kieth maybe norm’s just getting on with his book he’s been threatening doing same for a while, talking about loading spuds the direction from the farmer when the weather was wintery, load must be well strawed and double sheeted, that was ok when loading but when tipping nowhere to leave the straw and you had to take the damned stuff with you a bit of a nuisance if going to load all you could do was kick it about till you lost it.
thanks harry long retired,
Harry & keith, how did you find those dirty & dusty jobs all the while, the only time I had that, was after I came out of the army, and drove a guy vixen tipper, I had loads of coal, wheat, one time I was on hire to " Ovis", and they sent me to a farm at Kenilworth near Warwick, They loaded up these two hundred weight sacks, I drove down this track, and found I couldn’t turn my wheels, so I reversed back up. and told the farmer he had to take some off, he refused, so I said if he did not take some off, I would tip the whole load off, he said why?, I replied because I cannot steer around the ruddy corner, because my spring are down so low, he had to take half the load off, the manager from the flour mill, knew it would take two trips, but the farmer thought he would get rid of it on one lorry. Sandman Norman
hiya,
hello again Norm mucky jobs seemed to sit on the TMs desk just waiting for me to ring in empty but someone had to do it, only one job i refused to do again was a load of handball bags of dried animal offal stuff to a company called prosper de mulder at doncaster everything including me stunk for days after and the trailer stood empty in the yard for weeks, nobody would take it out, told the gaffer he could sack me before i would do that job again and he knew i mean’t it, i seem to think the old red and rust backheeled that work, stuff that smelled as bad as that did can’t have been healthy.
thanks harry long retired.
Must be honest here I didn’t do handball – I was a tanker driver at Buncefield [packed it in as too boring] & forever after I was on European or M/E !!
I have helped out on handball loads though – went with my old man [RIP] once to Tooley St in East London & it was all the two of us could do to keep up with the sacks coming down from on high on a conveyor & I was a young fit teenager then !!
On H.G.Browns went to load coffee beans off a ship in London [Radcliffe Wharf perhaps] – opened the tilt side up and the dockers expected me to tranship it off of pallets handball into trailer !! No chance I’m a driver not a labourer or docker !! There was two of us drivers [two trucks] both loading for Cuneo in Italy – stand off ! An office guy came round from the agent [Freightbus ■■] and offered us £20 each to do it – he got told to f**k off & I’d give him £20 to do it !! Eventually the dockers loaded it and to help them save face [ ] we lifted the empty pallets down & closed the side gates up as they went along [also this made sure the ba****ds didn’t load it wide so as we couldn’t close the gates] !! Not happy bunnies the dockers !! Next day John [H.G.Browns] had two more trailers in there & the same refusal by the drivers to load themselves … I believe the ship sailed out across to Holland to finish offloading …
Funny thing is at Cuneo [Ferrero Chocolate] a couple of Italians got in the trailers, split the bags one at a time & emptied them down a grate in the floor – no problems there then …
hiya,
big leggy you quote tanker work was boring, funny that, i did it for a while too either gas oil or polished water and yes it bored me too didn’t stick it for long that and tipper work couldn’t be doing with the monotony, all that was left was handball in my time, i must have been a glutton for punishment, pleased you stood up to the dock gentlemen though we all should have done the same years ago, between them they broke a lot of drivers backs and we were all supposed to belong to the same union, that was a joke,the old handball kept you fit and i never had any problems sleeping but for the most part i enjoyed my time as a driver or a transport man as a lot of us were called in the early days, i quite liked that handle, seemingly it stems from when just about every tramp/trunk motor was an eight wheeler and drag which was what i cut my teeth on and in my very early days you always had a trailer mate for company.
thanks harry long retired.
harry–gill
Tanker work on Shell Mex & B.P. + National Petroleum [as it was then] at Buncefield was a great job… Organised, good union rules [restriction on overtime allowed as union said another driver could be employed if there was excessive o/t]… Only drawback was [if there was one] British built vehicles only. They were still operating “Bull nose” Scammells, Scammell Highwaymen & Trunker, Albion Reivers, “Micky Mouse” Fodens etc. BUT the £££’s were excellant !! I had a colleague killed whilst working on Shell and a little later I was involved in a similar accident and was lucky to live… Whilst I was off work I then thought “I’m to young for this” and never went back after my sick leave – Shell & the union were amazed as I could have worked a “green card” and had light duties for ever… No, I left as I realised I’d die of boredom – if I’d been offered a chance to go back at 45 yrs of age [as opposed to the 25yrs I was] I’d have jumped at it as the 15 yrs up to retirement [Tanker drivers on Shell retire 5yrs before national retirement age] would have then suited me !!
Strange world ■■ I had a brilliant job but to soon in my working life !!
Harry & big leggy, I think it is a exscuse, too boreing to do tanker work, the times I have seen people do it for the first time, or was not experient on them , turn them over, or have a accident, due to the tanks not full, and the slap you felt when you had to brake suddenly, the thrill you got when driving in icy weather, many a driver had brown skid marks, after they drove one, the skellies were the worst to pull, the road tankers, were more stable. You got to be a very good driver, when one day you was on tankers, and the next you was on tauntliners, the turning radius was different, and the length & high was another factor, quite a few hit bridges, which they could get under with tankers?. Only one thing got me bored, was not getting the rate for the work I was doing, and I never got bored too long, because I would say " Lick them & stick them", and collect my cards, Because I had another job lined up, that paid the best rate. As for tankers, I was on them for 22/23 years with Carlsberg, and the pay, was one of the best in UK. long live boredom. Sandman Norman
hiya,
norm, it all depended what the job entailed, in my case it was either two leeds hull return = one shift or three leeds, doncaster sheffield return to leeds =one shift this was day in day out, now if i had to go to the same place twice on the trot i did get cheesed off so tramping ( with all the handball ) suited me better it’s a case of horses for courses, so the old red and rust was ideal for me rarely going to the same place twice ( and no sat-nav ) plus when away from home you could load for anywhere which suited me down to the ground, i don’t suppose drivers would do it nowadays or would even want to but i knew my way about and had a a good list of quality digs was also single so being away from home for a while didn’t bother me and if the old BRS had kept going i would have stuck it until retirement age.
thanks harry long retired.
Norman Ingram
No sorry boredom wasn’t an excuse I used to leave tanker work – and I object if you insinuate I was not up to the job !!
I was only in my early twenties. The job was governed by times agreed between management & union – journey times, loading times,
discharge times etc. etc.
I was a very competent tanker driver who understood all about tank baffles, liquid movement etc.
I was at Buncefield at the time when HGV licences were being re-introduced [incidentally the Magic Roundabout in Hemel Hempstead
was introduced] – I was already a HGV 1 driver [under grandfather rights] so I was deemed good enough to accompany drivers who
needed to experience driving a larger class of truck than their norm. I was also tested at a later date on eight wheelers + artics when
at Shell …
Although pay & conditions were good I just could not see myself working for another 35yrs in such a regulated & timed enviroment…
As I said I was to young to have such a job – at 45 and not 25 I’d have been happy to work out my employment there…
I’ve gone on to work on solely European & M/E work pulling boxes, tilts, reefers, tautliners & low loaders – no regrets because my working
has been an adventure and not an 8 hours day every day !!
Icing on the cake ■■ At 65 I’m entitled to a small pension off of B.P. as I left my contributions in trust…
Hello Red and Rusties , thought you might like a little nostalgia , remember it well ? . Tanker work , hand balling , a great debate , My Father in Law worked for BP and Shell Mex in Hamble and then when they split he worked up to retirement with BP , he was always parked outside with his Tanker for dinner on his way back to the plant , I used to think what a good job , well payed good smart Motors home every night and there was me handballing fruit and veg , tiles , bricks kerbstones , 250lb drums of chemicals blasted great bags of flour or grain caught from a shute , sheet that lot down and make sure it doesnt get wet . Theres Pop earning money like its gone outa fashion , " King of the road " he used to say at one point in the 60s he tried to get me a job there but I didnt have enough experience , " need at least 10 yrs " the TM said , so 10 yrs later I applied again , nope ,another 10 yrs , Nope , give up .
When the old man retired he had a penson to die for , me , I enjoyed general work all those years but it certainly stuffed my health in later life .
I did a few tankers with Concentrate , wine or Milk , took tips from the old man about slop and I did like it that you had good vision down the sides in your mirrors but then I had over the years a lot of variety which I think most Guys would say they enjoyed .
Best regards Frenchy.
hiya,
big leggy it wasn’t the tanker driving that i didn’t like it was the repitition of the job same thing day in day out, there was always long distance tanker work but these jobs were nearly always outwards tip overnight next day return, and load for the same,for me just too boring, if i could have found a job tramping with a tanker i’d have been happy enough to stay with that company but as you know those jobs are few and far between and even when there was plenty of jobs about not many tanker companies if any did tramping so it was stick with the normally better paid tanker outfit and in my case be bored silly or change to work which though much harder suited me personally, a pal of mine an o/d until losing his licence on health grounds spent all his driving life doing tyneside to brum,he loved it, i did the job for him for a couple of weeks while he got some hols after the second trip i felt like parking the thing up and joining him on holiday,fortunately i drove during the years when jobs were aplenty so could chop and change as and when i wanted, now lets get back to red and rust business, trampers rule.
thanks harry long retired.
hiya,
thanks frenchy iknew of the depot but was never in there, used to overnight in glasgow with one of the drivers out of there, a fellow bristol driver looking at the pic i would say early 60s and the ERF has a bit of age about it.
thanks harry long retired.
hiya,
rovic nice story most BRS drivers were of the uncle bill calibre and i would like to think i could be included, i was connected with the old red and rust from early 60s to late 70s and never once came across a workmate who wouldn’t assist you in all weathers no matter if it was loading, ropeing up or having motor troubles, never found the same comraderie when i was unfortunate to have to work for the private sector, rovic spent time in ipswich depot over the years getting fuel repairs return loads etc i would like to think i’d met uncle bill and maybe have but thankfully there were many like him which made it a good job when it came to an end it was a sad day.
thanks harry long retired.
Hello Harry and RoVic
Piccy of a Derby BRS Bristol around the late 50s .
When I joined BRS all the drivers were like RoVics uncle to me , very professonal and helpful , as Id come previously from a private Haulier I was told " slow down Son " , 180 miles for 10hrs work took us to the digs in Sandbach by the BRS depot there , but change was on the way and regionisation was a new title with new fleet numbers , hard to understand that Southampton once came under Southern BRS Fleet letters AS had changed to Western BRS fleet letters RC , we now came under Bristol , and as lorries and trailers were being run down a drop of red paint over the old AS and the RC was hand painted on the doors and Western BRS on the headboard , and with the shock of the closure of depots over the country , one being when I went into the Bow Depot East London around 72 and was told it too was closing , the only investment I experienced at Southampton was two new 110 Scanias in 71 which the Shop Steward had one shunting rubber in Fawley and a Scammel Crusader in 72 I very briefly drove because the driver had Arthritis and couldnt climb up in the cab , in the depot gateway there were about 30 rusting trailers three high in a binder , I had been given the job to get them ready for MOT and run them to Salisbury Testing centre , still two tone red and rust , amazing amount passed , funny that . The sad thing was British Road Services at Southampton was being run down , many of the younger Drivers like myself were leaving for better pay and newer Lorries , Ive still got fond memories as they were the type of hauliers that were priceless for learning the trade , one quickie , the Shop steward Bert Trant had dropped his trailer with a 20ton container load of tobacco near the gate , pulled out his unit and crash the air operated landing legs collapsed , a couple of office staff and the yard Forman jacked it up with Toe jacks `till they could get pallets under to support the trailer while the fitters repaired the damage .
Priceless , Regards Frenchy
hiya,
tell you what frenchy hang a drag on that old girl and i’d take it to the end of the world, provided there was good digs en-route that one must have been on the production line just about when i kicked off drove one just like it made in about 1957.
thanks harry long retired.
Hello Harry & Frenchy& the other red & rust followers, no I have not got my laptop sorted out, but being I’m a multy millionaire in your eyes, last april, Isaw a laptop on sale at Tesco’s, more ram, faster, more memory, so I got one, in case my daughters or mine broke, it was worth over £600, but going for £400, but got it for £390 with a voucher, when I am on this one, it has a post a reply on it, so I can still but in and cause mayhew ha ha ha. Nice photo’s of them old trucks, I remember them when I was a young lad, parked up outside transport cafes in Northampton, but not being so ancient as Harry, I never drove them, the old Guy Vixen, I started with when I came out of the REME, was the oldest truck, I drove in civy street, after being up to my neck in muck and bullits, them rifle ranges were really rougth?. The oldest car was a 1929 morris minor, wire wheels, cable brakes, cast iron luggage rack, gravity fed carb, petrol tank under bonnet, SU carb, windscreen would pivot open, and it would go along at 50/60 miles a hour, with four of us in with all our fishing kit, those were the days my friends, never to be forgotten.SAndman Norman.
] we lifted the empty pallets down & closed the side gates up as they went along [also this made sure the ba****ds didn’t load it wide so as we couldn’t close the gates] !! Not happy bunnies the dockers !! Next day John [H.G.Browns] had two more trailers in there & the same refusal by the drivers to load themselves … I believe the ship sailed out across to Holland to finish offloading …
