We always enjoyed our times in Istanbul, and met many of our compatriots, some good, some bad, some nice, some horrible, and some you didnt want to see or be with, and of course there was the newbies, those first trippers, who had never been there before. I always had room for those who would ask their way through routes way beyond europe, there were always those who knew everything, probably there are some around even today, or as we used to say, theres one on every firm. Like i say i had room for those first trippers, as i too was once a first tripper, but Mick Chinnock had other ideas, he was a driver who had done a fair bit of Mid East, but underneatyh that thick skin he was a bully boy, some say he carried a gun, some say he used it on a driver in the containers, a place where we used to buy diesel in hungary and stay for the night sometimes, but i dont know, what i do know is i witnessed his bullying in Ocktay parking one night. We were having a nice friendly drink, around a large table with lots of drivers, but there were a few tables on their own, with seats for two, and there were 2 newbies on that table, leaning forward resting their heads on their folded arms, asleep, the waiter tried to wake them up, as they were the worse for wear, they had drunk too much, but they became startled, and abusive to the waiter, we couldnt hear what was said, but a german driver who knew the english quite well, called Wolf and often drank with us, mentioned this fact to our table, and Chinnock heard it, and decided to do something about these newbies…so he got up, walked over and smashed one in the face, immediately splitting his face/nose open, and attempted to hit the second one, i with a couple of others jumped up and grabbed him and told him to sit down, and told the newbies to go to bed, Chinnock didnt like this at all, and started the silly drinking talk, about who would back him up if there was a fight, regardless of who was to blame, i told him NO…if it was your fault, you face the consequence, and dont expect others to fight your battles just because your english, he went to bed, as did we all after a while.
The next morning at breakfast, somebody mentioned the newbies were i8n their trucks with the curtains drawn, nursing injuries, and afraid to come over because of bully boy, somebody went over to fetch them, and to tell them it wouldnt happen again, not only that , but chinnock was sober, and he rarely attacked when sober, in fact before they came over chinnock appeared at their truck and apologised himself for his behaviour the night before.
I phoned the office and got hold of Fred, who told me that our agent Anatolia Shipping, was sorting out the load paperwork and would be in touch. That afternoon they did, we were both to load out of Istanbul, and tip in Yugoslavia, and to phone fred when we were tipped. How they thought we could get through the borders, without a permit for Yugo i dont know,but we loaded anyway, and boy was it heavy, 22 tons of washing powder, or so the turks said, more like 26 ton, never believe what a turk tells you when it concerns weight, or freight forwarders, theyre worse than the italiens…ha ha
Mick told me he had over done the booze, and his knee was starting to swell up again, oh no i thought, but persevered, and we eventually got through Turk Customs. at the yugo border there was a queue, but no wonder cos there was only a small garden shed to sort and stamp all the paperwork, and because of Mick, he couldnt get out of his truck again, so i had to do all the work. I approached the shed, sus the system out, and noticed only a young kid at the desk, i stuck my head in, and said hello, for some reason they seemed to like the english here and was quite friendly. I gave him the paperwork, and the carnets, he looked through the pages, then back again, i knew what he was looking for, but played stupid, eventually he asked for the permits, i acted dumb, and told him stupid turks and asked for the papers back. I walked towards micks truck with my tail between my legs…■■■■ i thought, and knocked on his door…we cant get through, we gotta wait till shift change, which was about 3 hrs away. What i did know is that on some borders, they leave the shed/office open at shift change, and everything in there, i had a plan and if it worked, it was cunning…if not, i coould end up in jail, get a big fine, or both, or god knows what, cos we were both in a country, fully loaded, and no permits.
I phoned Fred, and told him what i thought, i told you we needed permits fred, but you insisted. no, no, it will be ok, so ill phone in a couple of days if we get outta this mess..i hung around the shed when it was nearly 7 o/c, with the papers tucked inside my shorts, but at the right place in the carnet..the boy was just leaving, and thought i wanted my papers stamped (which i did) said permit ok` and tapped his wrist where his watch was, and said holding up 3 fingers 30 minutes. i watched as he headed off towards the main office, when it was clear i went inside, had a quick look, noticed the stamp was still there, and looked outside the door to make sure the coast was clear, and went back inside. I was sweating, it was hot, and i was nervous, but i had seen so many carnets in my time that i8 knew what to do, i opened the carnet, stamped the page, stamped the invoices, and went back outside to see if the coast was clear…it was so i returned and did the same to the other one…i slipped the pages of the carnet, and one page of the invoice, down behind the desk, i made sure i had signed a micky mouse signature, well a scribble really, and headed off to mick to tell him the good news, and hoped that we didnt get stopped along the way…
another blinding night was had in the National Hotel in Zagreb, but the following morning saw me taking mick off to the hospital once again, to have all the Efes drained from his knee once again,
we got on our way once again, and eventually tipped in the mountains, a few days later, and thats where we split up,k for mick was loading in Austria, and i had to go to Italy. Mick arrived back in the UK before me, and that was a good thing really, because when Roy asked him about the delays, he blamed it on me. but i had to tell roy the truth to save my own skin, and my job. i never saw mick again after that, i set off on my next trip full of the joys of spring, and yet ended up in Hospital myself…thanks to Alan Woods…but thats another story for another day.
Good story Truckyboy, keep them coming, personally I think they`re great 
So what is the deal with Roy Bradford? Was he as hard a boss as he seems to be made out?
A mate of mine, a charlton lad, did a few trips for him to Turkey but binned it after a while, to many breakdowns I think? In fact, I may be wrong, but I think it was Egg-on-Legs who got him a start on there!!
Anyway, keep those tales coming, always a good read.
Cheers, Bullitt.
Bullitt, who was kennys mate…cos as you know im a chartlon boy, and might know him..unless it was kennys cousin....... Anyway..roy bradford was a bit of a villain, in the sense that he knew a few heavies..and also would even rip off his own drivers if you let him..i knew a few owner drivers who lost equipment to roy, in lieu of monies owed.. Roy also had a back room, where if you were called into there, there was a good chance you were gonna get a slap..i was called in there once, but as the brylcream started to flow down his face, he couldnt see to slap me..then again..he loved me really.. At one stage roy was in partnership with Fred Topham (an ex police man) but high up the scale.if you know what i mean..anyway roy was selling the company to the Bulgarians, all set up by fred, behind roys back, so roy went along with it..took the bulgarians money, told the drivers he would call them in 6 months (the time roy was told not to start up business again)..well what they had actually bought, was a few trucks. Roy had a relative in Fords, who worked for MATS, he was quite high up the ladder, and of course gave roy all the work to the Mid East, Germany, France, etc..so the BGs did a few trips, then roy pulled the plug…i got a phone call from roy to come over to the new office in dagenham…our base was actually beckton lorry park…and i had to go to cambridge with him a few times, to collect trucks that he had bought, and bring them back to beckton. Roys source of trucks was from a guy called Jim of Atlas trucks, and he would source good ones for roy knowing waht he wanted, i think hes still in business today…
Me and roy go back a long way to the days when he was with Tanker Bill
they were always at logger heads…i remember getting back from europe one trip, and bill sacked me, told me to clear the cab, in the meantime, roy told me to pack my stuff in the truck as i was shipping out that afternoon…then bill would appear again, saying `i thought i told you to clear the cab out…and i would say…but roy said…and he would say F*** roy…in the end, i called roy on the phone and told him what was happening, then he came back to the yard, and had a blazing row with bill…it started all over again…till roy started on his own…but this was in the days of east india docks…when ronnie hall was about, and parked in the same yard…oh what a lovely war,ha ha
What happened to Tanker Bill Truckyboy? I did a couple of trips to Istanbul mid seventies for him it was ICI product out of Grimsby. That was East India Dock and there was a twenty foot container Bill would threaten to throw any naughty boys in with Toby the Alsation dog. I remember Roy but didnt know it was Roy Bradford and there was Ronnie a big guy who was a fitter for them. Roy Harvey from Rainham was doing some work for them at that time too and we used to get down the pub under the Canning Town flyover on sunday lunch time when in UK. They were hard but fair.
What’s Ron Hall up to thee days, Trucky? He was our union steward on SCA long ago in the early seventies. What a cracking bloke. We all loved him, and his mate Micky “Foxy” Maunders
truckyboy:
At one stage roy was in partnership with Fred Topham (an ex police man)
I got to know Fred Topham when I worked for Simon International,He was a mate of Jeff Litwin.At the time,Fred was going rouind the M/E looking for stolen trucks.Nice bloke I found him.
rexyu:
What’s Ron Hall up to thee days, Trucky? He was our union steward on SCA long ago in the early seventies. What a cracking bloke. We all loved him, and his mate Micky “Foxy” Maunders
I mentioned on another thread that I worked on Chapman and Ball with Mickey Maunders,a good mate.Where is he now■■?
I did a couple of trips to Turkey with a Roy Bradford driver, it must have been after the Bulgarian debacle as the lad was driving a Bulgarian Merc with the snorkel up the front. He got some strange looks when he pulled into the European truckstops in Belgium or Germany.
On a fateful trip when I blew my engine up in Hungary, a couple of Bradfords trucks stopped to help, may even have been you Bob. Thanks anyway. 
I first met Micky Chinook in a bar on the beach at Matoshinos.M/E was finished.Micky was living with a girl in B’ham .He told me he had changed his ways ;he used to be a part time frightener for some people in B’ham ;but since meeting the girl he put all that behind him & was staying on the straight & narrow. Never any probs with Mick & would look forward to seeing him again sometime.
Gotta be quick with these answers…
Fred topham was a smashing guy…now running a transport firm running to Rumo.
Tanker bill lives in America
Ron hall…had a fleet of his own trucks pulling for Europa in erith, now down to about 2.
Roy bradford is retired i think, earned enough money, but a great guy to work for…
Bill westcott, a subbie to roy, and a great mate of mine, died a few months ago.
Egg on Legs, another great drinking buddy of mine, and a fellow charlton boy, it was me who got him interested in Trucking, well it was his dad Jim really, bless him.
Mick chinnock, wouldnt surprise me he was doing a bit of collecting, he collected for me, and still owes me £11 grand.
malc…sorry your last…but it probably was me who helped you in Hungary…next time…check your bloody oil…ha ha …and wheres that half a crown you owe me.
£11K ■■? 
You don’t have to reply to this.
wonderfull read please keep on writeing
infact letsv have a book, if not from one
of you old M/E, make it a collective
book from a fe w of you, and yes it will sell,