i worked for fred for a number of years in the early eighties and a lot of names posted here i remember well plus a couple i hav,nt seen on here, bob stachell,yacker yates,davie payne,gordon crisp,graham havlock and stacker rudland, a lot of people put freddie down but i,ve got to say he aways payed me ontime and i got on with well with him,i was the last driver to drive one of his trucks in his own colours after he was taken over by Mr davis and renamed ACS “archer continental services” and moved to felixstowe with a new fleet of ivecos,i believe he was the first operater in the uk with a merc tri unit pictured on this forum it was built for middle east work with the air stack on the cab, fred also had a tandam unit with the stack in the same place,my first unit was this merc i later hopped from unit to unit as i was the only uk only driver at the time,i finished up on a merc C199 RRT the ex john mcglune motor that he had from new before he left to work for himself doing europe in a ex brewey transcon,after fred left ACS he started up again as “utrahaul” based on ipswich dock and i worked for him again for a short while
the pub in felaw st was the steamboat where most of his drivers went but we also used the uncle toms cabin and the silver star
Gerry Keating, ex-schoolteacher, worked for Bob Carter, Trans UK, and when that folded did two trips for F J Archer, one to Iraq, one to Kuwait, both mid-winter, both short of cash. Turbo in the Scania ‘went’ - one week in Istanbul waiting for new turbo from Sweden. Reefer broke down in Germany on Kuwait trip, engine froze in Turkey on return from Kuwait, 3 days to repair. Two trips too many.
Gerry Keating, ex-schoolteacher, worked for Bob Carter, Trans UK, and when that folded did two trips for F J Archer, one to Iraq, one to Kuwait, both mid-winter, both short of cash. Turbo in the Scania ‘went’ - one week in Istanbul waiting for new turbo from Sweden. Reefer broke down in Germany on Kuwait trip, engine froze in Turkey on return from Kuwait, 3 days to repair. Two trips too many.
Is there any body out there who remembers Fred. K. J. Archer International.
Almost 30 years ago i was working for Fred and was wondering if there are any drivers out there who shared the Fred experience?
Fred was Ipswich based, he had a fleet of Scania’s, 111 112 and merc’s 1428s. the livery was blue with a white band around the cab.
Is that the same Fred Archer who had blue motors with a target or a roundel painted on them. 
If they did Middle East then I remember meeting Truckyboy “Bob” in Baghdad, when he worked for them in 1983 / 84 , I am sure he could tell a few tales about Fred. 
instructorone:
Is there any body out there who remembers Fred. K. J. Archer International.Almost 30 years ago i was working for Fred and was wondering if there are any drivers out there who shared the Fred experience?
Fred was Ipswich based, he had a fleet of Scania’s, 111 112 and merc’s 1428s. the livery was blue with a white band around the cab.
Here you go instructorone
hey mate i had 2 mates who worked there
kw worked for him as well i think hes on here somewhere 
instructorone:
Is there any body out there who remembers Fred. K. J. Archer International.Almost 30 years ago i was working for Fred and was wondering if there are any drivers out there who shared the Fred experience?
Fred was Ipswich based, he had a fleet of Scania’s, 111 112 and merc’s 1428s. the livery was blue with a white band around the cab.
Yes,it is true,I did go all the way with Fredk.J.,I cannot deny it,nor will I try to.
I was with Fred from around the middle of 1981,when Trans UK packed up,until the middle of 1983,when Fred and I had a falling out.
Driver’s I remember at the time were Olly Dickens,Mick Philips,Mick Gain,Micky Chinnock,Kenny Snoeks and that’s all the memory allows.
When I started with Fred I had an ex-Astran left-■■■■■■ 110,painted blue and on loan from Scantruck in Purfleet,GUL599N.
Then I had VGV962S,a 111,then VDX158X,a 112.
Who were you then■■?
Keith, what was the name of that pub on Cliffe Quay (I think) that everybody used to hang out in? Had pics of FA trucks framed on the wall.
I once took some photos of Archers lorries about 1982 and showed them to some and he told me if Fred had seen me he would have came out with a lump of wood .Would Fred have done this
Trubrit:
Keith, what was the name of that pub on Cliffe Quay (I think) that everybody used to hang out in? Had pics of FA trucks framed on the wall.
I know which one you mean,but for the life of me I can’t remember the name of it.
Fred would have been in there most lunchtimes and evenings.
Carna:
I once took some photos of Archers lorries about 1982 and showed them to some and he told me if Fred had seen me he would have came out with a lump of wood .Would Fred have done this
No,I very much doubt it,Fred was a slob and very unfit.He used to sit all day with his feet on the desk,drinking coffee and stuffing cakes like they were going out of fashion.
At the age of 36 he had quite a severe heart attack,which woke him up to the fact that if he didn’t change his ways,then he’d be dead within a couple of years!
Have you still got the pics? Would love to see them.
mushroomman:
Is that the same Fred Archer who had blue motors with a target or a roundel painted on them.
Indeed it was…
Fred started doing M/E when he poached the traffic man,Frank Tuffs,from Essex International and started poaching their work too.
I remember sitting at Chelmsford one afternoon,having been given strict instructions from Fred,not to go and load in Maldon until after 7pm,in case any of the Essex Intl. managers saw me going in to load.
Fred had some well known M/E men working for him,such as Kenny Snoeks and Micky Chinnock,in fact Micky Chinnock went awol for a few months,turned out he’d been doing internals in Saudi,made himself a shed load of money and then just turned up back in the yard in Ipswich one day and handed Fred the keys.
Joe Richards worked for Fred later,when he started up Ultrahaul,and Joe had a DAF 95 Space Cab.
hI k w Yes i still have the photos is it true that Russell Davies took over Archers and are you the same K W that worked for Goodway
not my pictures, courtesy of euro wheels
my mates dad worked for fred, paul rowlands for a little while as did micky coombs, paul also worked for ultrahaul, i had forgotten about them, i i will see if he has any pictures kicking about!
Carna:
hI k w Yes i still have the photos is it true that Russell Davies took over Archers and are you the same K W that worked for Goodway
Yes it is,and yes I am.
Should I know you■■?
I think it was when Fred was having trouble with the ministry that he was bailed out by Russell Davies,and ran a few Iveco’s leased from RD and ran under Archer Continental Services.
The yard in Felaw Street was sold and he ran from RD’s depot.
That didn’t last long,and a few years later he started Ultrahaul,doing middle east again.
How about putting those pics up,I’d love to see them.
KW:
Trubrit:
Keith, what was the name of that pub on Cliffe Quay (I think) that everybody used to hang out in? Had pics of FA trucks framed on the wall.I know which one you mean,but for the life of me I can’t remember the name of it.
Fred would have been in there most lunchtimes and evenings.
The Ship Launch Inn…I think that’s the one 
KW:
Fred started doing M/E when he poached the traffic man,Frank Tuffs,from Essex International
just to add summat, frank worked for brinor sometime after i.i.r.c, and now works for a romanian owned outfit in ipswich backloading mainly rumos
i just mailed paul rowlands, and have copied and pasted his rply on ultrahaul and fred…
Interesting!!, Firstly no photo’s of Ultrahaul work, had camera confiscated at Tompa/Subotica border in 1993 I think it was, one of the most scary trips I ever made. Serbaian war was onand Serbs were under sanction conditions from UN, no fuel in the country. I was doing a UN trip for Fred with medication down to Belgrade, then under martial law, and then under UN convoy towards Tuzla to bring back date expired medication. I was the only Brit trucker in the country I reckon, with a brand new Scania 360 6x4. stood out like a sore thumb. Every few hundred yards on the way down to Belgrade were people at the side of the road with bottles and containers trying to wave us down. There was no fuel in the country because of the sanctions. At the customs compound out near the airport were hundreds of East European trucks all with holes drilled in their fuel tanks where the fuel had been syphoned off!!. Had an armed guard there for two days. It was like mad max everyone had Kalashnikov’s.Frightening trip.
Anyway getting back to Ultrahaul.I worked for Fred and Shirley for about 12 months just doing Italy and Eatern Europe and one trip into the Ukraine, went in from Baia Mare in Northern Romania.
I had known Fred archer from my days at Trans Uk. He was an owner driver then driving a Mercedes Benz 1924,
i will send him this link for a look