mushroomman:
Hello Tony, as far as I can remember Roger always tried to get his lads home for Christmas every year, there is a story somewhere on Trucknet that I wrote a couple of years ago of Alan Morrey and myself flying home from Budapest in the early eighties. I think that I have also mentioned recently that I had to double up with Lennie Frost on the 2nd of January to travel back to Budapest to pick up my wagon which I had left in the Taurus Tyre factory where we had loaded. If Roger couldn’t get you a flight then he would ask you to get the truck home and give you the airfare for being out over Christmas.
Regards Steve.
Hi Steve,MERRY CHRISTMAS.You’re right,I can’t really fault Roger for making an extra buck,at least he organised everything properly with the airline and I had no problems.RJ were always bit down on the rates,but you could always rely on getting paid,and on time as well,which is more than I can say about some companys.
Just read the ‘Christmas Turkey’ chapter in ‘Trucking Hell’ Made it home for Christmas by the skin of their teeth!
That’s a great book by the way - well written and lots of evocative moments.
What I would like to know is who was the SOB he worked for and why did he stay there so long?
About the end of November or beginning of December 1990/91 I got a call from Sandtrans, asking me if i’d do an urgent load to Izmir. It was an easy run(How many times did we get told that?). I agreed a rate to double man it down on the condition that if it went ■■■■ up they would fly us back for christmas and I would go back out in the new year. We got down without any drama but the problems started with the customs clearance, that took about a week to sort out. Then the promised backload from Vestel fell through and they didn’t go out of their way to find anything else.Excuse after excuse and the flights didn’t materialise. My mate took a lift back abt the 15th of Dec. (No point in us both missing out).
I eventually found a load and left Izmir on the 23nd of December and arrived at Marias, Ipsala late that night or early Christmas eve. I left the truck there and got a lift back to the border and walked through.( The Greeks didn’t like that). After a bus to Istanbul, i got a flight to Heathrow, arriving just in time to catch the last Glasgow flight. A train from Glasgow to Ayr and bus to Stranraer got me into the house at 22.30 on Christmas eve.
That’s the closest i’ve come to missing Christmas at home.
Ps. My mate arrived back on Christmas eve morning.
superswede10:
About the end of November or beginning of December 1990/91 I got a call from Sandtrans, asking me if i’d do an urgent load to Izmir. It was an easy run(How many times did we get told that?). I agreed a rate to double man it down on the condition that if it went ■■■■ up they would fly us back for christmas and I would go back out in the new year. We got down without any drama but the problems started with the customs clearance, that took about a week to sort out. Then the promised backload from Vestel fell through and they didn’t go out of their way to find anything else.Excuse after excuse and the flights didn’t materialise. My mate took a lift back abt the 15th of Dec. (No point in us both missing out).
I eventually found a load and left Izmir on the 23nd of December and arrived at Marias, Ipsala late that night or early Christmas eve. I left the truck there and got a lift back to the border and walked through.( The Greeks didn’t like that). After a bus to Istanbul, i got a flight to Heathrow, arriving just in time to catch the last Glasgow flight. A train from Glasgow to Ayr and bus to Stranraer got me into the house at 22.30 on Christmas eve.
That’s the closest i’ve come to missing Christmas at home.
Ps. My mate arrived back on Christmas eve morning.
Hi,
Now that’s a proper “nearly missed xmas at home story” 
.
Regards andrew.
I should have known better than to listen to promises from a forwarder who was desperate to get a job done.