The boss has just rang, ship out tonight he says in this, no bed.
3 drops in Milan then reload in Switzerland for Lisbon.
1 Like
You misheard.He said 30 drops in Manchester and 5 collections in Shrewsbury or was it Oswestry then back to London or was it Laindon.
Find another quieter phone box and call him back.
The A series will be lucky to manage Manchester before it blows up anyway.
No phone in the cab, no sat nav, I don’t how I will cope, he cancelled some drops and collections to make life easier to only 29 drops in Manchester and 4 collections in Shrewsbury.
I was once (and I say ‘once’ because it never happened again!) sent out to a rural destination south of Tours in France with a day-cab Bedford TL - far and away the crapiest artic I ever driv! If you are sensible, you never repeat such an experience. I don’t like sleeping on parcel shelves. I moved quickly on to do European work with a proper ERF E-series with sleeper cab, an excellent tool for the job! 
2 Likes
At one company I was at, the drivers had a nickname for a class 2 lorry that was called the coffin as the bunk compartment was so small, nobody ever did a night out in it as they refused to.
They said if someone did sleep overnight in the vehicle it would then set a president as the planner would then say well so and so slept in it, why can’t you.
Unfortunately I ran out of hours in the dam thing in Minehead and I was too far away from base to get it back to not sleep in it.
Not a bad night out as I got in to Butlins for free as the security guards thought I was a contractor with my high visibility jacket on so got to see a good show for entertainment.
It was a cold night and it was the only jacket I had as it was an unplanned night out.
When the drivers found out it didn’t go down too well.
I knew an owner driver with an Olympic cab, when I had a look inside I was impressed with the extra space.
The only downfall was the plastic trim on the dash and other parts off the cab, that would be uncomfortable to sleep in for a European tramping run in a hot summer.
Are you hopping mad 
The Leyland Marathon ‘sleeper’ was one of the worst.
I used that and an F10 for nights out but never further than Birmingham from base.Just lots of short haul drops and collections which couldn’t all get done and back to base in a shift and short haul tramping.
Rotated one week each with other driver because the guvnor knew how bad the Marathon was for nights out.
The short sleeper Merc cab on the 2534 rigid was better than it looked.They were used for international trunking and DAF 95 artics by Seaborne/UPS line haul division.I would have been happy to use the Merc cab on that work and preferred drawbars to artics.
The FL10 was nick named the Wendy House as if a driver was too tall he or she would have to get dressed outside the cab.
I think they pulled well and were a pleasure to drive, I’ve not driven the F10 but have in the F12.
Would have loved a go in the F16.
I’m driving to Lisbon next week, if you get south of the Tagus River gimmi a shout, I’ll be weekending down there parked up at the cape (Cabo Espichel) drinking beer with a few other guys in the bar at the end of the road
Can’t beat the Cascais area, have a Tango on me, beer with added red fruit syrup called Groshela and a Franchessina.
I took the concrete blocks down to the marina in Sesimbra, a quiet and quaint fishing village.
I drove the FL 10 on 3 year lease.They were replaced by the DAF 85 . I preferred the DAF it pulled better and the best synchro box I ever used.Both were reasonable sleeper cabs for occasional nights out and trunking type work.Don’t think any of those small cab options were suitable for regular nights out tramping.
We also used the DAF 95 which was a superb comfortable cab which then became the XF.
My first truck I bought was the DAF 95 from Geoff Sipson Commercials in Coventry.
Sesimbra isn’t the quaint essential fishing village that you’re think of. Since the introduction of a direct bus service from Lisbon, It’s become a vibrant tourist town and an expat destination. Although the package holiday crowd hasn’t found it yet TF
Although I do recommend that you check out the carnival weekend in February/March time https://youtu.be/dbatRD9G9gg?si=tB4eAjxO0rZP9Ubp
My gaff is in the white condo overlooking the harbour
1 Like
Great photos, let’s hope they don’t make it too commercialised to ruin the place.
Many years ago I had a freshly-barbequed fish with salad and lashings of vino verde outside one of the little restaurants in Sesimbra. There were miles and miles of ship graveyards all along that bit of coast - it was like a giant junk chandlers!
1 Like
The way the Portuguese cook octopus is a must have food to try.
It’s a shame their driving skills are so terrible with the ten coffees per day they drink turns them in to devils.
I was having a leisurely lunch when I heard a massive bang outside on the road.
A young lad had crashed his car.
I ran to see if could help out, the restaurant owner came running out of the restaurant thinking I was running out to not pay for the meal.
1 Like
Don’t you mean Choco frito?
They BBQ the dried version of the stuff and the smell is horrendous 
If you ever get the chance take a trip to the santurio de christ rei, or the Christ figure on the south side of the river at Lisbon, you can take a lift up to the base of the statue, and on a good day the view is Spectacular.
Out on the back road to Setúbal the old artillery gun battery 7a bateria has spectacular views across the bay
There’s actually a couple of shipwrecks just outside the harbour next to the jetty opposite the Hotel do Mar
1 Like