The job seemed pretty straight forward; Get over to the NEC with three of our other drivers & reload with machinery from an exhibition stand… So we have the hall number & the name of the contractor but stand number!! please Mr Security-man can you help me ■■ ’ You need a stand number driver, come back when you’ve got one’. His smugg grin tell’s it all this cocky sod aint helpin’ nobody today. We return to the trucks get the kettle on & ring the office to get a !!STAND NUMBER!! So now with ALL the infomation to hand we return to our day-glo clad f… BUDDY! He directs us to our loading door & yes it’s bloody miles form the stand. 
We locate the contractor he gives us £20 & says ‘get yerselves a coffee boys we’ll be a couple of hours yet’ ‘Okey pokey see you in a bit’ at 7:30pm the first motor picks it’s way through towards the stand… By 9:30pm we have 3 motors loaded the tannoy kicks in ’ TO ALL CONTRACTORS: THE HALLS WILL BE CLOSING AT 10PM!!’ By now we’re the only stand breaking down so all the ‘butlins yollow-coats’ are focusing on us. they’ve locked all the doors except one. They can’t seem to close it coz some smugg git driver (ME!!!) 
has backed his trailer under the door OOOPS!!! What goes around etc… Anyway all done time to park up, we’re directed to a lorry park or was it a dog kenel?? 
It’s Crufts again & we eventually get to sleep. Yap, yap, yap, yap, Woof, woof, BLOODY WOOF!! 
Who need Tyre Reviver? DOG PEE do’es the same job!! 
I do love the NEC, same time next year. Like i have a choice!! 
i was in there on friday.
hall 7, full load machinery ex exhibition to return to germany.
some sort of double gazing machinery exhibition.
there wasn’t much left to take away when we got there and we had until 12 to get it all loaded.
no problems - loaded and out by 10am.
Same job, GLASSEX, the stand next to ours was from Germany they were breaking down Thursday
i loaded haffner, they were about in the middle.
would have been next to or behind food court on the exhibition days.
there were a couple of joda trucks loading friday, a willi betz, a wv spedition from germany and another german, a couple more uk registered trucks and that was about it.