middle east drivers

[john_holland]

Hi,
John Holland here I was with Asian Transport in 1973 with the likes of Johnny William-■■■■ Snow-Dave Poulton- Jeff Ruggins- Roy Day and Steve Goodman but I left Astran in 1979 and emigrated to Australia in 1981. I kept in contact with a few of the boys for awhile but as time moved on less contact with then. So just to put the story to paper when I left I bought a 140 Scania in Perth WA and started pulling triple road trains from Perth to Darwin approx. 9000km around trip the picture is of my Scania . After 4 years of this I bought a SAR Kenworth still pulling triple but by 1985 I bought a tri axel trailer rated for 90tons and stared running east-west which only allowed a single trailer and as I got paid by the ton and the law was for 42ton I had the idle of putting 2 loads on one trailer and sit the heavies out if the weigh stations where open. I got caught a couple of times but say in front in the long run. By 1993 it was getting impossible to operate like this so I got involved in heavy haulage which was a lot of fun pulling 250ton Dump Trucks and 450ton Diggers around the country but I got offered a job on a mine site in 1995 working in the work shop for BHP pulling spanners which is where my working life end as ive just retired and started to enjoy life playing with a few toys ive bought myself Regards John Holland email-johnholland042@gmail.com

[mushroomman]

Hi John, if you haven’t read Kevin Nobles book Baghdad Trucker then I would highly recommend that you get yourself a copy. Kevin ended up in Perth in the seventies before making his way up to Port Hedland an area which I feel that you probably know quite well. He then returned to the U.K. in the eighties and started for Taffy Davies driving down to the Middle East. I am sure that it will bring back quite a few memories for you John.

Regards Steve.

[truckyboy]

Hi John, i did answer a previous post of yours titled the same as above. I drove the same Volvo as you had the sister, red F88 from Avis in the Euston road, and of course brand new. I remember you had a huge silver tray in your cab where you stored your music, probably 8 tracks lol…i worked out of the office in Chislehurst when Pete Cannon was the T/M, but met and had a beer with Bob Paul r.i.p. at the interview, Jef Ruggins took me on my first trip to the middle east, after i had done a 4 week stint around europe for Brutink in Holland fancy naming a country after your good self ha ha …Dont suppose you have any photos of the 88s..my first trip in that was toTeheran, with nuts back from Ordu in turkey for Mars ` in slough…good luck in your retirement mate…and you aint missing anything back here…except the weather…regards Ray ( bobby ) white from charlton.

[john_holland]

Hi Just a few photo I found from yesterday years ago The top two photo are of myself and the other are at the Afgan/Pakistan border and part of the Khyber Pass and the Khyber Rifles Fort

[bullitt]

Excellent pictures! Strange that there is probably absolutely no chance of any Western driver running that way again! How far into Pakistan did you actually go? Brilliant stuff.

[robert1952]

Wonderful pics, John! Robert

[whisperingsmith]

I seem to remember you telling me a tale of parking up in a river overnight in Pakistan and being woken up with one of the locals wading out & bringing you tea

Would be good to hear it again from the horses mouth