Did they not have a few F1Os in the 80s . white with blue ‘go faster’ stripes ?
Yeah the EVS France ones had blue stripes, the solitary EVS Benelux unit had green stripes and the AGA ones had orange stripes.
Ken Chapman and Roger Vaughan were on the Ford job, they both got in a spot of bother for bringing in pallets of baccy, this was in the mid 80s when that was a big deal. I think Kenny went on UK only then and Roger went elsewhere.
Hi Bullitt little norman on RFS was Norman Steel he ended up with his own motors and lives in Ramsgate, Russ the ■■■■ ended up in Europa office, and Dave Langstead ended up as transport manager, dont know where Adrian ended up but i used to do a lot of swiss for him and also i was on the toy contract, dyo remember when the yard was broken into and all the trucks were broken into, i lost a lot of stuff as did a few of the drivers, but bert sorted us out. I remember when bert called us into the yard one sunday morning for a lecture, and his lovely wife rosemary ( 
) was there to make the tea and look after russ ha ha, anyway the crux of the matter was bert decided that we were all self employed, had been for the past couple of years, probably never paid the taxes and tried to let us take the can, well i for one wouldnt, and told him i had proof, dont know why but i always saved my wage packets, anyway a few other drivers agreed with me that it was his problem not ours, they went downhill shortly after.
Hi all
Just signed up to this as following in my father’s footsteps and going for my class 1 soon.
My dad worked for rfs In the early 90s I think he had a daf 3300 red with white stripes and we used to run to schipol airport a lot and I remember there being a bull nose volvo in one of europas yards think they used it as a shunter.
I also remember when he was there that they got a daf 95 space cab.
My dad’s name was Alex short Scottish bloke and we lived in greenhithe if anyone remembers him.
Anyone go to the Raccanna Bar in Milan?
do you remember Tim who had a couple on there about that time?
Hi bullitt & Trubrit,
Here are a couple of pics for you, is this the Tim you mean trubrit ? also one of Roger (RIP) who sadly died in an accident coming down the Blanc.
They were regulars at Paladini’s Carisio every Sunday
Regards MaggieD
I remember meeting a driver from RFS on the boat from Ancona to Patras around 1995-96ish, nice bloke, big Elvis Presley fan, cant for the life of me remember his name though, he was a big fella and had a rockabilly haircut. I dont remember if his Daf 95 was plain white or painted in Europa colours but it had the RFS letters on the end of his reg plate.
Hi MaggieD,
Thats Tim, although a little underweight in these pics 
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Hi bullitt
Yes that’s Roger,nice bloke his father was a director at Fords,and the orange transcon was his, an ex press demonstrater I think, he used to leave Erith late on a Friday,and was always at Carisio on Sunday.
I have a pic of a White Road Commander that Tim drove for a guy called Ron from Basingstoke who had a couple of units on for TAE. I’ll try and find it
Also a chap from Guildford,can’t remember his name owner driver ex hairdresser.
regards MaggieD
Hi Bullitt, yes i was on for bert at Bilton road, subbing for europa, thats in the days when russell was behind the desk, and ■■■■■■■■ rosemary
the guy running greece was george dole, a long haired hippy, and bob and his dad were in the workshop…
Bob the fitter was a decent bloke, always had time to look at the truck, his boy raced go-karts i think. And what was the name of the old boy in the office who used to sort out the money, especially the magic 900FF!!!
Do you remember a driver who died over the xmas period, Bob somebody, a big bloke, started off the double man to Milan I think.
George Dole…didnt he live in Folkestone…used to ship the truck over Friday nights then jump on the boat and come back for the weekend?
Are Reeves still going…last I heard, Europa were trying to take them over or something!!
The Elvis fan was Bill Burness, I think he was on for Promotor & Smith Van Lines before RFS, really nice bloke & the imfamous No Neck’s brother in law.
Mad Georgie Dole did the Greece for RFS in a LHD 2800 on Trilex rims but packed up in the late 80’s to work for his brother Mick (MJD & Sons)
Tim, was Tim Parrot Jones, he had mainly Ivecos on the double man TAE elite before RFS went to Italy,
Roger tragically died coming down the Blanc, as has been said, in the 80s sometime, upon investigation it turned out he had a diaphragm go on the trailer & disconnected the yellow line so he didn’t lose all his air & came down the hill on just the unit brakes, anyone who has driven a Transcon can tell you that this was rather foolish & the result speaks for itself. RIP
Originally RFS were Richard Cronk’s subbie, at the time he was director of EVS Benelux & they did the Ford contract & the Belgian stuff, the odd Paris & Dusseldorf & some UK, it was only later that they did the Italian stuff.
Europa was the parent company of EVS, AGA & TAE, the original companies worked independantly & had their own trucks & their own colour schemes, except TAE which always used subbies.
My claim to fame here is that I had the first ever motor in Europa colours in 86/87 when the rebranding to Europa took place.
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MaggieD:
Hi bullitt
Yes that’s Roger,nice bloke his father was a director at Fords,and the orange transcon was his, an ex press demonstrater I think, he used to leave Erith late on a Friday,and was always at Carisio on Sunday.
I have a pic of a White Road Commander that Tim drove for a guy called Ron from Basingstoke who had a couple of units on for TAE. I’ll try and find it
Also a chap from Guildford,can’t remember his name owner driver ex hairdresser.
regards MaggieD
Hi Maggie was that Ronnie Ryall from the Basingstoke area? He traded an old LHD 110 into Volvo Princes when they were at Millbrook, I think Bob Cartwright bought it ran it then sold it to a subby and I finally had it to break.
Regards Pat
Hi Pat,
Yes that’s the man, I think he lived in North Waltham he had a White Road Commander as well at some stage,I saw Bob Cartwright the other day in his crane lorry still the same never changes.
Thanks for that, glad you had a good time in New York.
Regards MaggieD
Rik, did you hear the tale about Barry in the caravan at SCA Brussels?
I was on a boat out of Boulogne having run up from Stuttgart with Georgie Dole & on the way up we had heard a rumour that someone had been caught pleasuring themselves in the caravan, well when we went up for dinner in the drivers resturaunt Barry was already up there, so i asked him who it was that had been caught, he said he had no idea so we just carried on with the usual drivers bull. My next trip out was for EVS Benelux & when I was collecting my paperwork in the office I asked Richard Cronk if it was a true story & told him that i’d asked Barry, the whole office burst out laughing & when I asked what was so funny they told me that it was Barry who had been captured with his trousers & pants round his ankles with a copy of Fiesta in one hand & his todger in the other, no wonder he didn’t want to talk about it!!!
Poor old Bill Burness, as you said a real nice bloke, I’ve had many a good night out with him, he married No Necks sister, thankfully she has a neck & doesn’t talk ■■■■ all the time! No Neck himself has been all over the place, he did all the Commie Bloc when he was on for Smith Van Lines, 1st as a van boy for a bloke called Gary Nicholson & then on his own when he passed his test, makes it all the more strange why he lies so much, he’s done a lot more than most people but it ain’t enough, oh & he smells like a wet dog!
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