My drivinghistory,cont.from page 6 1965 2008

[deckboypeggy]

.at Banbury if you were a jock you got the cream jobs, only because a Jock was the depot manager .for people who do not know a Jock is from Scotland .It is strange that when people from different parts of a country stick together when away from their own part of a country ,but when at their home ground ,that sense of loyalty goes away.

The first couple of weeks I was the yard shunter ,that was you would go to the local factory’s and load the trailers , sheet them up and then rope them up to a high standard and back to the yard ,pick another up and do it again and again the B R S had a lot of work by the end of the day you knew you had been to work. But I was getting to know people ,and getting good a sheeting up loads however I was all ready good at working with ropes .so I did not have any problems [yet]

After I was let loose on fairly local loads and using a longer trailer maximum length then was 33 foot , with a marker light half way down the side of the trailer, now that was something new, lights down the side of a trailer whatever next ,also a 24vault electrical system it used to be 12 vault .But the same type- of tractor unit .is was a Leyland Super Comet, However this was a Air brake system ,not like the old vacuum system that was a bit hit and miss .
The mirrors were larger in size than the old ones ,they previous ones were small like out of a budgerigar cage. With the new ones you could see a far way behind however you were unable to adjust them like the present time they were rock solid one tap against anything a that was a a shattering “experience or a nice crack and you would get double vision not good ,however the worst bit was back in the yard you had to make the usual defect report [in fact it was a big drama] you had to right a accident report for even that, to the traffic office ,then to the garage foreman [ Lord god almighty himself]
they always seem to take everything to a personal level,as if it was their own ,out of their pockets. it took me a while to get used to it however after time I did see their point i.e. insurance ,costs, and even the smallest thing down to you all went down in a report against you the driver.

Most of the then LEYLAND cabs in each range were the same inside layout the comet had about 4 dials in front of you 1 air pressure,2 temperature ,3 battery,4 oil pressure,Radios not even thought of you would not have been able to hear them anyway, the dead man,the independent rear trailer air brake that would only brake the trailer brakes, not the tractor units was on the steering column right side .your left leg was tight against the engine cover that had 2 clips on the floor do undo and lift it up so the complete engine side was by your leg once lifted to dip your oil,and check the water. The battery had now gone from under the drivers seat to the out side and become batteries 24 vault . The coupling to the trailer from the unit , the drivers bit, had changed from a Scamel type coupling [the size of a dinner plate] to one called fifth- wheel- coupling ,now the same as today lorries I would be able to explain the difference but that would take a book on its own. also a third air line was a blue line for braking [I think]

When coupling the unit[front end called the tractor unit the engine driving bit ] to the trailer the goods carrying end, there is always a procedure of how to do it in the correct way if not done correct, how small a task that it might be could or would be a unforeseen disaster waiting to happen.
First was to make sure you had the correct trailer number that you were to take, they were painted on the front and rear of the trailer prefix MB plus a numeral for Banbury , that you had to connect to. Also that all the load was 100% secure , well roped and fully sheeted ,with no way any of it would or could flap around [the sheets] some loads would have as many of 4 sheets on covering the load. Later on some loads would have 8 sheets, [i will explain the art sheeting and securing different loads later on]] or get the load wet once you were on the road and you had left the yard it was entirely down to you and you only also you had to know what the load was and how many delivers you had to do [customers] and all the deliver notes you had to have[from the office]
you had also the weight of the load in general so you were not over the gross permitted weight of the overall =tractor -trailer net tare -weight. plus the load of the goods =the gross weight of the lorry to be allowed on the road.

maxim weights varied from 24tons gross, to 28 tons, gross to 32tons ,that all depended on the maxim-size of the tractor units engine size i.e. horse power. Also the plated weight given by ministry of transport to the unit and the trailer-it all gets very technical. however if you were stopped by a roadside check the police are the only people to do the actual stopping on any road user in ENGLAND ,there will be other agencies there TH E MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT who are the people who want to see records and weight tickets. Then if anything is found to be wrong it is the police who do the prosecuting that was in the 1970s it all changed later on however the driver in charge of any lorry that was in the wrong was held accountable even now in 2013.

Preparation to go out of the yard.=

All now depended did you have a portable number plate corresponding as the same number as your tractor unit front plate. For you to clip on to the rear of the trailer, these were always portable and you had the corresponding number of you unit so you would clip it in to the rear numberplate holder on the back of the trailer. Each tractor unit had their own portable number plate normal to be kept in the cab,that is until it was left on the trailer by mistake when always in a hurry, then dropped in the yard or elsewhere and the trailer would get shunted around different factories and if the first driver did not take it off, and leave the plate in the yard it would be gone or just left anywhere that was always your own number plate for that unit so you used to great grief for yourself as when the shunter just working around the town area .number plates did not matter.
As time went on I learned to have a spare blank number plate and I would have white sticky numbers to stick on, if we or I had not stolen one from your mates! That was the norm the tricky bit was to get into the workshops and get the blank one ,that was soon learned…

So the leaving procedure of a trailer wherever,was first make make sure it was good stable ground ,and flat ,take the number plate off then next to the landing legs the most important of all the operation,you always had a handle with you ,that you attached over the end of the winder upper or downer of the landing legs it was like z shaped and hard metal that you put over the end of the spindle attached to the trailer legs that worked the up and down of the legs .like the same type of tool you use to put over the wheel nuts on wheels to take on or off ,the gearing was one speed hard and slow .so if the trailer was empty ,so no weight on it you would wind the legs right to the ground with about a inch clearance from the ground, go and uncouple your air lines from the front end of the trailer also the electrical cable and place them neatly on the back of the unit or clip them on to corresponding fittings at the rear of the unit so they would be secure. there was a grating or plate across the width of the unit for the driver to stand on to do this ,when done you would jump down,and then go and pull the very important pin, on the fith- wheel coupling that was keeping the tractor unit attached to the trailer via a steel -turntable shaped as to connect to the pin once released the restraining bar behind the pin pulls across and will allow the unit to pull away from the pin that is the hanging down from the trailer about 10 inches that is bolted under the front of the trailer under the chassis. Connected to a steel plate that is part of the chassis.

That is good when the trailer is empty however when the trailer is loaded you go through the same procedure, but with more care , when you wind the trailer legs down to about4 inches from the ground ,if the ground is not good we used to carry 8foot lengths of wood 4x2 or in the yard railway sleepers as to drop the legs on so you would still leave the 4inch gap, from the legs base plates to the wood so when you gently pulled away from the trailer ,the trailer would drop with a slight bang as the front end of the trailer always dropped forward. So when you went to pick a loaded trailer up you had to hit the front end of the trailer that was shaped , so as you kept pushing under until the jaws of the turntable located the pin hanging down when it did it would make a good clunk and you knew it was home and secure. then the reason for the trailer legs to be dropped short was that it lifted the trailer up as you went under it and took all the weight off the legs so it was nice and easy…there where times when some men would not do it properly so if you went under the trailer and the legs did not move as they had dropped the legs right to the ground then you had a problem winding the legs up as all the trailer weight was on them. I must say times it was done on purpose .who me never,well maybe.■■ there where times when certain drivers pulled the pin and forgot to wind the legs down .who me ,yes later on.

Getting all the jobs no one wanted that is what it seemed to be however it was all a big bluff to see if I would moan and jack the job in but I never did . so I started to get some of the loads the same as the others also the shunting as well but they were being fair. however there was a A Team and I was not in the running yet however we were all paid up union members, that amounted to nothing just a formality. but it was working out good and no cow ■■■■ that was a bonus. the early starts were a bit
of a bummer ok for the lads that lived in the town. Not so good for me.
We had lots of work where it did not involve any hard manual work by the driver when delivering t goods ,that was pre packed or filled in wire cages called [stillages] they were about 4foot wide by4 foot high square, you would have two across the bed of the trailer with no overhang over the sides trailers were 8foot wide .the legs of the stillage were wide and the bottoms were designed to fit on the tops of a stillage the same size ,so you could end up with them 3 high all down the bed of the trailer if they were empty. however loaded stillages you only went two high as the weight would be to much also stability .that work was for a company called LOCKHEED they manufactured all parts of the braking system for lorries and cars, clutches ,all types of fluids many other brake pads were a big item. and heavy the loading was done by lady fork lift drivers, in many factories that was unusual as it was a male job in 99% of industry in the 1970s
the weight distribution was done by the shunter who was present when most trailers were being loaded from the ground level not via a loading bay, as the forklift drivers had access to both sides of the trailer to load it with the last delivery on the front of the trailer then worked back to the rear in delivery order and the weight in the stillages would be monitored,well supposed to have been. If they were to heavy ,they were supposed to put another stillage on with the excess taken out but that meant another extra stillage for the load that might have had its maximum stillages allocated .then that is when if every weight checked and overloaded that is how it happened if it ever came to a head they would all at the factory blame each other the fork lift driver the shunter ,the office staff a never ending circle but we would know it was the shunter forman. Your own man…

That lockheed work used to take us all over the country you might have had 10 delivers ending up-north to Lancashire ,Yorkshire , big cites up there,the M6 was only south from Preston [Lancs]
to Cannock north of Birmingham [ I WILL NOT CONFUSE YOU WITH PLACES OR DISTANCES] The same places are all still there however it would take then 6 hours to get to PRESTON or even longer so there is no comparison now at all on how long it took.

The only trouble driving certain runs to the same delivery points was there were some good days and some bad ,no mobile phones very few phones on major roads ,very few stopping places for phones only transport cafés would have a public phone and no guarantee it would work. So phoning back to base was at delivery points, then it was reverse charges,there was a stigma about letting lorry drivers use the phone anywhere, some factory’s would not let you [second class citizen] however you usual phoned if you could however you got to know the routine, and we always had the B. R. S drivers bible the little RED BOOK only B R S drivers had it given them by the office for many reasons,first it shown you where all the digs,overnight stops,bed and breakfast were at most towns and the phone numbers ,some of the digs would only take in B R S drivers in as they new you would behave and pay and the depots would leave messages with the owners if any change in plan etc. it worked both ways however you would not be able to use their phone .Because if your were empty in a town that was not yours when finished delivering you would have
to go and get filled up with diesel for the return journey and we used to have a running sheet called [ops 6] renown through the B. R. S it was your lifeline, you never left the yard without it. You could draw your night out money on it from another depot they would not refuse you so long as you had not already drawn it before ,your days work was recorded in it , your days running mileage. also your load and off loads and you had to go to the traffic office when ever in a depot to report,so if you were empty you were easy meat for some type of ■■■■ load that they did not want if it went anywhere south near your area .well anywhere London area was always near to Banbury.or so a lot of people thought ,and that is how I started to learn all I knew about loading a different type of load and sheeting them up. also improvising.

As the majority of towns throughout the UK then had a B RS depot within the area as it was a government company Nationalised industry however it was gradually getting back into private hands.[ deregulation] so they need digs to put men in the same was with the BRITISH RAIL they would have accommodation that was called barracks the same as the military type used by working men within the industry who lived away from home and they would put us up for the night for a charge, also the SALVATION ARMY had large houses ,well large house the were ■■■■■■■ sleeping factory’s, for accommodation in the big cites
for the obvious tramps .down and outs etc ,however they always kept a floor free for overnight lorry drivers, different from the roughs, we then were not the second class for a change we did not eat breakfast there ,I must say we were in and out. i think it was 10/0 shillings a night now 50 pence…also if you parked out side the “sally ann” their were always kids waiting to look after your lorry for a couple of shillings if you did not give it to them your load and truck would be a problem the next day, it would be damaged…

Once you were on a regular run you would get to know the factory times and when they would load empty stilages and when they would not ,different fork lift drivers did different tasks so if you could you would try to get a full load of empty stillages if available loaded as you went around the deliveries that would mean a return load back to your base. However as time went by I got to learn the ropes as they say . At some factory’s they would have the empty stilages that would help you to make a nice return load back to your base all belonging to LOCKHEED , however they would not let you have them, so off you went empty to the local B R S depot and ended up doing the ■■■■ for some other depot ,as a lot of our Banbury based delivers were serviced by our depots lorry’s twice to 3 times a week.

It got me wondering why they would not load you up with the stillages as I was a new face to a lot of the fork lift drivers at a lot of the factory’s it did not take that long to ask around, and I had not worked it out myself ,what was happening to all the empty stilages it worked like this=.the driver who was a regular to the factory on a Thursday was giving away jars of coffee to the fork lift drivers at the factory as a [ bunce], backhander, or black market. Stolen coffee .

MAXWELL HOUSE COFFEE so he would always have the empty stillages saved for him Well !what they did not know I was probably more into that sort of thing than they would believe, so it was game on ,[that was a challenge to me ] the ever ■■■■ you syndrome, now every where I went, once I had got my stash of coffee , if I knew I would need it on a trip I would bring it from home ready, it usual worked everywhere to give the fork lift driver a little bit of something,■■■■ ,small amount of money when needed just to ease the way. I had been around a little bit however no one knew anything about me so I liked to keep it that way [I did know the score as the saying goes]

I have always given people the benefit of doubt in most circumstances unless they take the ■■■■ then it changes. Most of us drivers would not suffer fools gladly however a lot of the fools were other drivers ,not that I was perfect far from it I was just as much as a ■■■■ about, as most others .anyway,how we got the coffee?

General foods,the name of the company that was originally bird custard powders from Digbeth the centre of Birmingham ,relocated to Banbury about 1965/6. how I know as I worked on the construction. Another story
.However they used to refine then the raw coffee beans and it ended up as MAXWELL HOUSE COFFEE one of their many products they used to manufacture ,custard powder,angle delights. All good family products that we all liked, so the security was very tight at the loading bays a lot of the goods were loaded into box vans that is as it sounds , a box fitted onto a trailer ,a preprocessor to a container .

[deckboypeggy]

Ido hope readers will not think that i am trying to teach you exsperanced drivers to ■■■■ eggs,as that is not the case,i have written down from memmory how it was and maybe some people not connected to our trade will learn how it was …grim somtimes,after you have hand balled loaded 3000 bricks from a brickyard all coverd in ash,and deliverd the same day anywhere,and again and again because that was the job…

[jazzandy]

Great stuff! A really interesting read! Thanks for posting.

[dave_the_renegade]

Another good read,Looking forward to the next installment.
Cheers Dave.

[rigsby]

i started in 1963 , and reading this takes me back too those times . i wish i had the patience that you have to record day to day life on the road . a cracking read , ready for more , cheers , dave

[davepenn54]

What a great read ‘deckboypeggy’ please keep posting your driving history.

Regards
Dave Penn;

[deckboypeggy]

That had two doors at the rear, of the trailer that would be backed onto a ramp at the loading bays at the factory as it is done today at all factory’s. The box van trailers were constructed of a marine ply wood board, very sturdy, with steel reinforcing in between the sheets of ply. The outside of the trailers were allways painted red the B.R.S. Standard colour, inside the box trailer was a flat bar of
steel that run all the length of the trailer with holes drilled in to it that would take a spring loaded end of a 8 foot tubular steel bar that was to fit in the holes on the side, to form a barrier to hold the goods up in the back of the trailer that was stacked on pallets .

however it sorted of worked when the trailer was full to the back and it looked good from the loading bay as if the load was good and secure however once you had the first deliver off it was never nice and neat boxes ended up everywhere.
As a deliver would have not just one size box every product was a different size box so you had to re stack the rear of the load after every deliver sort of slope the load back like making steps so as the whole lot never went ■■■■ up. so if you had 5or6 deliveries it got a right mess in the trailer ,
in the end if you did not do the job correct. that is how we used to end up with the coffee that we would keep ,[naughty] the odd jar. the customer would sign the load with a damage report however they would nearly all ways keep the whole of the pallet damaged then put a claim in later .for more damage than there was so we knew that was some for us thank you very much.

You had to keep it hidden when back at the depot and in them days they were very small cabs so not a lot of room to hide stuff away from nosey drivers ,no side lockers ,no sleeper cabs your driver seat was right back to the back of the cab.
.what we used to do was as you come in through the gate to the big yard ,every time you had to go to the fuel pumps for the diesel and there was the fuel man .a near retired driver and his job was filling up the lorries dish out the oil if needed. it was his domain he was the man you never ■■■■■■ off it was his little kingdom because he had hiding places and he was always in on anything that needed to be stashed away. there were some drivers who were greedy and they would nick off each other, but he would never give your stuff away and he would get his .

So once you had got sorted you would have to go a part of the yard to get your returned goods or damaged goods off the trailer ,some times with a shovel, powdered coffee,and custard powder make a right mess all mixed up. however a lot of the mess was checked by the prick of the yard who worked for the maxwell house company.
They would try to see that the lids of the coffee jars were still screwed on to the broken jars and not been opened and the bottoms of the jars were broken they new you would not take loose coffee off the floor.
So that is why we used to get it at the other end of the job the delivery…also they would count all the packets of crushed custard powder so as to see that you had not stolen any [how dare they].
Most of the food customers were small shops or small cash and carry outfits. Not big stores like now but if you did have a bulk order ,ie the whole trailer for one customer you never got a thing for yourself…And it was hand ball…

That was one part of the driving at BR S it was not all food delivers in box vans they were the cream jobs, the majority of the work was all roping and sheeting and it was nothing for us drivers to have to do sheeting and roping the load on your own if a load had been [transshipped]`it would be a load of lots of different delivers as well as mixed up goods of all descriptions maybe known as a ■■■■ load… within the yard by the yard gang they would disappear when they had done their bit and leave you to get on with it .if you were lucky they would have lifted the big 8 panel sheets on top of the load for you to begin ,it was normally good if it was ■■■■■■■ with rain and the wind blowing just the thing you did not want however all in a days. Good experience.

Sometimes when we had a load of the food from general foods ,on a flat bed trailer ,when roping the load down to secure it lots of the top boxes would end up damaged ,so by the end of the day of delivering you would have a nice mess on the trailer ,custard powder mixed with angle delight and also some coffee it used to get rather sticky and you could be covered in powder. Not good when you then had to find some digs [B an B] smelling rather sweet…

After a while I knew I had made a good move from the cattle trucks however the traffic manager was a right prick and sometimes you can have enough ■■■■ from a man so in the end the big bust up came. =
We had loads delivering around Nottingham ,after I had finished for the day I went to my in laws who lived just out side Nottingham on a R A F camp. I went to the guard house ,asked where to park, I was told it would all be ok ,parked up near the houses and went to the house ,got up in the morning all ok carried on finished my jobs ,collected pallets for the return and back to BANBURY all fine so I thought, Back in the yard ,did all the routine, went to the office to clear to go home, was told the depot manger wanted to see me. The story was a routine police car doing rounds saw the lorry parked up. Yes it was not normal for a commercial lorry to be there.

They went to the guard house at the camp, they new nothing as they could not see the lorry so they did not know it was there and it was not recorded in their book. [I never left a note in the screen to say where I was] so the police take over they have now got a stolen lorry on a R A F camp [I am asleep] so the ■■■■ starts they in the end find out its from Banbury ,wake the depot manager up,he wakes jock up [all by phone] god knows what else .so they never thought old on ,its locked up, all the sheets and load is secure, the police do not tell them this .so I am missing,lorry stolen ooh ■■■■.

At 7 am I go back to the lorry start up and go no one stops me nothing. so you can visualise me in the office gob smacked… what is going on I did not know .so in the end I hold my own with the pair of them and that is sorted and go home,however my dear old jock o. holds grudges

days later I am told jock wants to see me , so now I am ready for this,the little scotch ■■■■■ and he was little. He wanted to suspend me for not parking at the Nottingham depot .so I told him to go ■■■■ him self and said im jacking [leaving] however. Little did I know but the union man was on my side, and told them [after]so long as all is secure ,and your are not off the load route you can stay where you like in digs so long as the load is secure.
So I did not finish in the end but he had my card marked and he would and could make my life a misery but he never, as it turned out he was ex RAF so it must have made a difference as my father in law was AIR CREW. [ Also a jock] Why I do not know but it worked out all right after that episode.

Within the B R S they had a lot of different categorise of drivers

Day Trunking.= drivers would drive from one town or city to another B R S depot drop the trailer ,collect another and drive it back to their own depot That is all they would do ,not touch the load at all ,
Night Trunking. =
they would do as the same as the day men but at night.
Trampers= They would start at their depot and just go wherever the load is for ,then just get sent anywhere with another load and so on and make a sort of round trip not allways getting home that week that was the start of things to come however the B R S did it first

Day men =That is what we were mostly working out of your own depot with the odd night away

Weekend Work = was unheard of unless you were Scottish they had such long distances to go we did the very odd Saturday morning but that would be all. However there was one very good weekend run but that was a special to Glasgow [■■■■■■■■■■■■ and one man to do it yes a jock,double time for a Sunday, leaving Saturday, time and a half,good money .After about two years there I eventually got a crack at the Scottish run , Now I was driving where I had never been before

I had not been north of Manchester , the M6 only went as far as Preston,Lancashire from the A5 Cannock, north of Birmingham .Then up on the dreadedA6 a notorious road with all the hair raising stories up the dreaded climb called SHAP with a café half way up called the Jungle , renown for the ladies with their wares to sell. Stories of lorry’s trapped for days on the Icy roads no gritters then ,well few if any ,well the time came for me and it was summer for me so ■■■■ it. it was fine ,however even to this day it was and still is a very dangerous road it was the only west coast road from Scotland to England., the M6 goes up SHAP now but it is 3 lanes. wonder where all the ladies went to .

When we finished the delivery in GLASGOW we then went into the depot there and you would be loaded there from the depot most times it was called a Bonded load and it would be spirits whisky. Normally for the LONDON CUSTOM BOND via our depot .when we had sheeted the load and then roped it secure, the customs officers came round, and on every knot we tied in the rope [called a dolly knot] they would attach a wire customs seal in every rope knot on that load ,then you would be told when to leave and to stop only at B R S depts Preston for the first night for diesel and secure parking also there was a car ■■■■■■ running behind you however you never got to see it, i think that was ■■■■■■■■ however no one ever knew or put it to the test and if we broke down we were to stay put at all times never leave the lorry ,if you had a flat tyre on the B R S you were not allowed to change a wheel, we did not have the equipment any how and wait for the police. So it would be Preston, then on to Banbury or if you could not make it you would go to WOLVERHAMPTON.

Then on the next day to Banbury, where all the ropes would be checked over. by the local customs most towns had the own customs offices. Many people would not know that. so that would be the end of the trip for you ,if all went well you would wait for the next one, I had my share of then Distance work. As the years went by for me within the road haulage the custom officers were allways the same never said a word, unless they wanted to know something…

The fitting of a custom seal is still today the same as then,the seal=a soft circular piece of lead ,about the size of a new penny 2013 penny. not the old £.shilling and pence,penny .they would tie a piece of waxed string through the knot [like a figure of 8 knot] so it went around the whole rope knot then push the string through the rope[ the lay of the rope] so it was tamper proof ,get the two ends of the string together, push them through to small holes drilled through the lead penny, and put the lead into like a pair of pliers [made for the job] and squeeze together to flatten it so now it looks twice the size ,and it would also have a imprint of a crown on one side and a number on the other the number being of the office that did the sealing. it was up until the end of customs in the uk
r EEC export the same. out side of the EEC customs procedures would apply…i will elaborate later on about the ITALIANS CUSTOMS… you old timers might be cringing,sorry…

So life at the B R S was all right the money not the best, but we all seemed to manage . all drivers who lived in villages had to have a car if you did not you were basically ■■■■■■ .petrol was cheapish you would be able to put 4 gallons of petrol in your car for £1 .beer was 1/9d a pint ■■■■ for 20 were about 2 shillings [2./00] wages were not brilliant £20 £30a week. Very, few men in manual labour jobs managed to afford mortgages, that was like a middle class thing, professional people only, in fact every one had their wages paid in cash . Bank accounts not heard of for workers .most people rented from the state or private and it was normal,life was fairly good.
Mrs THATCHER WAS A LONG WAY OFF. she did the workers one good thing that was the right to buy Your council house it put 100% of workers who lived in council houses on the ladder to moving up to the better housing estates and owning your own property,the government gave you a percentage discount for however long you had been living in a council property,that reduced the amount you had to pay for the house you lived in, also you had to get a mortgage from a bank as most people did not have bank accounts that was the first step,Banks then were rather how would you say middle class but they new there was a lot of “new”money going to be around. and their stuffiness seemed to mellow.

Also we had the new currency to contend with moving to decimal from the pound shilling and pence. Lots of horror stories flying around you would loose this and that,however it did not really bother the average working man he had his weekly wage packet and got on with it. it is such a long time ago I do not remember now any mishaps to us. at least getting paid monthly to the bank had not yet arrived 1980s for that.

Now the 1970s were starting to change quite a few things for everybody ,some good and some not however the transport industry was at last starting to grow from the old drib and drab 1950/60 s
the government were starting to finish with the massive B R S industry that were 100% subsidised and let more work go to the private haulage companies ,they were always there but never in a big way so some of the work we were doing sometimes we would find a total stranger loading loads we used to do. so the union would get involved and try to stop the loading through the factory workers and it sometimes worked not in our area ,but in the big cities and docks where the union used to rule and that was the way it was especially in the car manufacturing facilities .[[that is a whole story on its own]

We just carried on doing our jobs not thinking then that the way we were working that was completely normal to us was in the throws of change.

I do thing my time at the BRS was about the best sort of learning anyone could get within the transport industry, all though I did have the occasionally ■■■■ up normally it was your won doing but at least you learned and hopefully it did not happen again. As time went on you got as they would let you do all type of loads and you trusted others to do their job correct,wrong,big mistake .

The B R S had a contract to deliver to BROKE BOND tea and coffee company at ST ALBANS ,for us a local job ,the trailers were always loaded at the tea warehouse by one of our intrepid shunter’s roped and sheeted dropped in the yard and left, so you did put a lot of trust in them and you thought they would do a good job,and they knew who would be taking the load the next day as the loads were always put on a notice board for all to see. So when you had finished doing whatever you would look for tomorrows loaded trailer hitch up,check the ropes ,sheets. And all the other things and get home as quick as you could,next morning everything is fine start up the lorry, Pull out the yard,turn right no problem off I go.
It was a bit of country road ,well we were in the country,and I was making for Towcester the main A5 that was one of the main junctions north or south or east west, busy place .The back road brought us out at near Silverstone, [the race track] that was the A43 then down to TOWCESTER the main traffic light there were horrendous at times with traffic, my route was sharp right turn at the lights through the small town and away .My turn came lights green and having to do a full 90degree turn your unit and trailer were at the maximum turn without jackknifing into each other I was just pulling out to straighten up when I heard this crunching,wooden ship like sound,i thought what the ■■■■ looked in my mirror thought I have crunched a car but all was well that side then I looked in to my offside mirror and all i could see going over the path and resting on a building a massive green bulge, oh no. the whole side of the load had just decided to leave the trailer and rest in the sheets, the trailer was not clear of the traffic lights . I had made a perfect turn slowly ,however when a sharp turn is made the trailer will lean on the turntable .that tilts it to one side and that had happened, when a load is secure it will not or should not move this load ,in this instance something was not right with it and it slipped. In a big way ,no place to hide,
All the traffic was stopped all 4ways at the traffic lights . My next move, gear stick placed out of gear ,hand brake on ,switch engine off… that done I run round to see if anyone is under the load thank god no one was walking on the pavement at the time.

The police come ,check around, and tell me to go and ring the office and say it is major indecent the whole load is hanging in the sheets. a pity we did not have cameras like today,s digital, and have been able to snap a few shots off .

After time a party came out from the Depot, all taking this ■■■■ etc,if no one is hurt and a big ■■■■ ups there is all ways humour ,one of the foremen was there so it was decided that we needed another lorry to transship the back loaded tea chest of the load on to another lorry. then get away to deliver them ,It was a hand ball load so no pallets. That was done after a time , it was time to cut the ropes and sheets to let the bulge at the front drop on the pavement , to get at the lose load so we could then re stack it all on the my trailer again ,it came apparent that when it was loaded originally by hand it was not done correct as when you load any boxes you put a binding layer every other row going up and across ,ie put some boxes long ways and some the short way because most boxes are oblong not square and is enough to make a good stable tier and load that was not done , I was no way to blame. It ended all satisfactory, no prosecution ,however the Scottish prick of the manager never forgot, he blamed me he never said so ,but he did not need to ,as it caused a big ■■■■ up day all round ,I knew by the loads I got later on, I never gave him the satisfaction of moaning ,i just got on with the job as you do and I knew one day my day will come.[ it did however I had left by then and it was not good for him]

What happened was when the office staff used to have to go the whare -house they walked through what was the old booking office from the railway in side doors went of to toilets ,and there was a long cage attached along side of a wooden wall with a run that had a opening for a dog to be in and out side whenever it wanted and when out side it would be going mad jumping up and the usual practice was to tease it,as we walked out of the office by everyone. just to get it barking , and we would be gone or round the corner cracking up with laughter ,-so out would come the manager and go just as daft to get the dog to be quiet yelling in his broad accent. It was classic entertainment for us not the dog.
The manager used to resort to get the dog in to the inside part where it would be quiet if he could …in the end he started using a broom stick on the dog pushing it through the wire netting to push the dog in ,well the dog loved that didnt it?It was the yard formans job to feed the dog etc and tie him up to clean it out. As you have guessed he was away and who took the job on. the manager ,well the dog did not forget and the ALSATION a big brute of a dog seriously mauled
the manager when he first opened the door .[just rewards ] I do not think he ever recovered properly. I had moved on by then I had no sympathy for him.

So I had now learned enough to know that I would be able to go to any transport firm and be a competent driver [my words] [ however as time went by your are only as good as your last load].i doubt that there were not many loads that we had not roped and sheeted ,that was the main part of the job then was to be able to secure whatever anyone gave you to do also able to drive a lorry .at a good standard,there were no automatic gear boxes, the art was using them [the gears ]to your advantage and get good fuel economy ,even then cheaper running cost were the key to firms going under or surviving .
My time had come to move on, but to get another job first was main thing in the 1970s there was a lot of employment around in all sorts of business. And the transport was one of them so long as you had a car.

[jazzandy]

Once again a fascinating read.Thanks very much indeed!

[use_a_name]

Great read

[deckboypeggy]

I eventually got a driving test at a firm about 6 miles from my home at a old RAF base that was using the old hangers ,as work places and the the old runways as storage for the finished packing cases, some of them massive in size,and heavy.
In the export packing of all types of machinery it was called C K D cars ,knocked ,down. land rover was their main customer at the start later on they had all the major car manufacturers from Midlands as their customers it got really big. as exporting was the main stay of the country ,of earning money.
The haulage company came from Coventry and had opened a depot at Chipping Warden within the facilities at Chipping Warden. I had never seen them or heard of them .and once I had the driving test with a forty foot trailer, fully loaded weighing 30 tons, I passed,and was offered a job ,however it was to do local runs to the midland factory’s 2 trips a day,and was told when some more larger lorry’s arrived I would be engaged to do the dock work so I took the job.

Just after I had started the Government brought in the then new Licence ,for all types of lorry’s, different classes i.e. 1,1A.2.2A.3,3A. 4. 4A.my licence was first issued in1.11.1970 THEY WERE VALID FOR 3 YEARS and you had to apply for a renewal. One problem was that you the driver if you wanted a class 1 that was for all groups ,1 was for maxim weight articulated . you had to prove to the ministry that you had been driving that class of lorry for the allotted time luckily for me I had been on a articulated at Challis and the B .R .S. The ministry of transport did check up on me as I had word from the challis office that they had filled the forms in and said that I had been on articulated since I was there, so with that and the B. R S .i had no problem and received my licence by what they called GRANDFATHER RITES, if you were unable to prove that you were in- tilled to the licence you would have had to have taken a lorry driving test what that was I have no idea, nothing like the young people are put through today. When you think we had not 1 days training you just got on with it, maybe some needed training I do not know. The using of GRANDFATHERS RITES is a age old custom us by industry’s, it is the handing down whatever from father to son to keep it in the family dockers in London were the main users of the system ,so they were all the same minded lazy ■■■■■■■■ .they called it the BRIEF,taxi drivers were the same it was never heard of outside the London area. But it was now,one good thing to come out of it. There was a lot of underhanded going on all over the country over the getting of the class one they were easy to come by if you new the right people and needed the service.

In all types of export-+ industry it was known that they usually kept to what they did ,you would not have dreamed ever that post men would be driving their own lorry’s unheard of. The unions both sides would never allowed it ,[example] the Export packing company we hauled for strip down machines ,and mostly all types of cars and packed them in crates for export .

,example = steel mills made steel, coal miners mined coal, etc car makers made cars. and they would use haulage contractors to do haul the loads. So that is why they did not haul loads for themselves [yet] even for local factories manufacturing for the car makers although it was in theory there own work, the unions would not allow it ,it would also put a lot of extra expense buying lorry’s ,having a transport department ,and all the drivers to deal with .so they stuck to packing ,or manufacturing all though they had their own union within the packing or production factory they normal did not want to buy their own lorry’s and be bothered by a load of moaning drivers…

The company at Chipping Warden was attached to the Coventry B R S it turned out that the drivers from Coventry wanted to do all the export work and not the local, as we found they out later they were a very organised union, as they were working around all the major car factory’s that at the time were very militant so as time went by if any of the factory,s we needed to go to collect loads from for export packing and they were on strike ,we were also on strike, as we dare not or would not cross their picket lines .so basically we were ■■■■■■ either and the old adage came round if you cannot beat them join them ,so over time that is what happened to all us none militant men it was the way to go and yes it was them and us. However in my defence I have always known and thought ,that the management reserve the right to manage their own company,not the unions run them for them ,that is what union higher management wanted they wanted in a bigger picture .it basically was to bring the workforce into their way of thinking that was communist. And that was their downfall the unions. However there is still to this day certain men who would like to see this country under the rule of Moscow and it is good that they get stopped .Once you have been on a strike for over 6 weeks you will know what is right. [more on that later]

PICKET LINES=when the people who worked at a factory had a disagreement over anything ,working practice,wages,overtime,with the management they would ,the union, would withdraw their labour,stop work, if it could not be sorted out by the management and union and it would involve all of that factory ,it could be just one department with a problem however they all stuck as one and would go on strike .and stand outside of the gates to that factory,with the unions say so and stop anyone at all connected to the working of that factory delivering goods or collecting goods to not go in and so not to cross their PICKET LINE,that was a unwritten working man,s law and it did not leave the working environment until the late 1980s1990s

After Mrs Thatcher that is why she was hated so much by nearly all working union men in areas of the industrial working regions ,i will leave that part of my transport journey, I will say in all my working life I was a union member all ways on the outside fringe never bothered about meetings or politics,that went with unions. Paid my [dues] dues is the collective term for paying your union monthly subscription. Two of the main reason I kept up my payments was if you ever needed a legal representative for any reason whatsoever,they had and you were entitled to them solicitors ,and if you were sick you would get a small payment,also a death benefit .but that was it, as in the 1980s1990s haulage companies would not entertain any type of union activity.
My first union was the National UNION OF SEAMAN.1960.
Then the T. G. W . until 2002.

Time kept marching on, the work got boring, I got fed up and could not understand how some of the men would ,and could , get satisfaction from driving two trips a day to Birmingham or Coventry
in to the car factories,and back to the depot, I knew it was not enough for me, and I tried to get into the zone of the other drivers heads,how could you do this for the rest of your days. in respective every job is the same yes I know but you have really got to like it ,the draw back for me was at the Coventry depot they had all the good runs and work, long distance all the docks in England and all the Dock work from our depot.
On our daily runs you never had any chance to earn any extra money at all as we had no night money jobs at all meaning it was like 7am to 5 pm yes it was good you could arrange family and kids thing to do weekdays you knew where and what you would be doing, that was good all round however I wanted a bit more ,and I would have to wait as the regular money was manageable .

I did think about going back to Challis not on the cattle but general haulage,but it was the handball loads that kept me away. they did have some ■■■■ work so in the end I stuck with it.

About 1975 Coventry depot managed to get a large contract car deliveries ,with car transporters to Scotland ,that was a mega buck job for drivers 100% controlled by the union stewards at the union house in Coventry, all drivers for that work were recruited by the union officials,they had their own waiting list for the jobs, and not the companies that run the actual haulage firms.

All the so called union executives,conveners ,shop stewards from all the car components suppliers within the Coventry area were all in the same frame of mind, and militancy they were Trotsky supports, when you went into the big auditorium [we went once a year] the walls around all the side were covered in a Russian mural men on horses carrying, flying banners hammer and sickles everywhere just like a revolution scene. So you knew they were all as yes I was a union man however I could never get myself to think the way they did .we sat board to death no idea what the were on about, after them meetings ,you would come out and think that they were running all the companies not the actual owners .
How the top men of the union got to think the way they did used to puzzle me what they had not done ever was see how the communist people lived I had and you would not want to go there but their way of thinking was some way of collectivity of workers could rule a country. thank god they never got the chance .Mrs Thatcher saw to that.

After our Coventry outing we would end up at the pub,another Sunday ,however we would have drove home,about 20miles,it would not have mattered as there was no such thing as drink driving or even breathalysers ,you would only be in trouble if you were absolutely ■■■■■■ , and had a accident and you would be done for as being incapable .how thing have changed.

Once we were sent bigger units and trailers some of us went on to do the dock work,now things were looking up, so now the art of the job was to get as much petty cash into your own pocket ,yes I know the management reserve the right to manage however it was the era to look after yourself.

One problem ,the manager hated paying us out from the petty cash flow and we used to fiddle as much as we could. if you like will go into great level of how we used to do it so if you are board now I would go and tut tut, but it was the way it was. Right.

Most of the major docks that took our export were ,I will write down dock distances from our depot and times of driving to them.

Southampton=110 miles distance. Hours drive normal day=4hrs
LONDON royal docks 90miles. ……3to4 +
Tillbury ,greys Thurrock, wharfs 90…3to4+
Kings lynn…100…3to4+
LIVERPOOL,BIRKENHEAD,…110…3to4+
Hull 140…4+
Felixstowe,Harwich, Ipswich, Colchester wharfs130 +…4+
LONDON CITY wharfs90,over TOWER BRIDGE…4+
Avonmouth, Bristol 100 +…4+
CARDIFF,NEWPORT ,SWANSEA 130…4+

There were other small coastal wharfs that used to load in to small barges and then load ships out side of the docks, that were in private hands and the workers did not belong to the big national dock labour board, in other words they were not under the influence of the dock workers union that was the most powerful and militant in the country from the 2nd war onwards until the closure of the big LONDON DOCKS 70s 80s They did try to picket some of the smaller wharfs in the London area however they did not come under the P LA port of London authority so the Dockers did not have any authority over them ,all though they did all belong to the then T G W TRADES GENERAL
WORKERS,union like we all did.

So,wherever we drivers used to go to deliver goods you could bet there would be some kind of trouble, and if there was any hint of rain at all that would be it down tools and off they would go that was the dockers we were all supposed to be “brothers” but they would ■■■■ you about as it pleased them .but woe betide it when they went on strike. they knew you would dare not cross there picket lines and it would then be on the news “[yes all the transport is supporting the dock workers]” no we were not you lazy ■■■■■■■■■

The export market kept us in work ,and the fleet got bigger and more men arrived .the lorries were not that good and all the repairs were done at Coventry depot however as time went on someone realised why not send a type of mobile fitter to the depot every day to do the every day repairs .and that worked out better. Some of the drivers we had start had no idea on general haulage some were brought in by the manager,from a firm he used to work for to try to get more out of us, they would leave early in the mornings to beat all the traffic. Get down to get unloaded before any of us just to look good also the silly prats , were loosing out on the extra cash with the night out money, no matter how you worked them days you would always get some knob ■■■■■■■ the job up .yes I expect in one way get more loads out of the drivers but it was the money you would loose on expenses but the manager knew if he got to pushy the union would be down on him ,I know what I have said and I do not agree with the politics of the union however it was the survival of your self to get the most you could and you never knew when you would be laid off by any strike,so ■■■■ him…

We used to get a return load from most ports, to anywhere in the Midlands or further on it could have been packs of timber,reels of paper pulp,tractors from fords,anything and that was what the manager did not like because if you were at the docks and unloaded before dinner you would be able to drive back to our base within the daily working time so you would be able to do another load from the yard the next day, yes I expect that was beneficial to the company however it would not have been for the driver that was what you called PUSHING but some drivers were so daft they could not see what they were doing to the job it was cutting the job up so in the end they would not need all the drivers that was there so it would have been easy to get rid of some ,yeh sounds a bit unionist but why kill the golden egg… also some of the drivers did not like the nights away from home [■■■■■■■] so they would rather give away some nice easy petty cash and get home,and not have some extra to take home their choice.

[davepenn54]

Another great read from you ‘deckboypeggy’ My dad missed out on getting his ‘brief’ on grandfather rights as he had mainly been driving 8 wheelers during the 6 month qualifying period, but he did do his class 1 not long after and was driving artics until he retired at 70 yr old. My first real general haulage job was also for an export packing company and it was a great learning experience for a young driver, did all the London docks and a regular private wharf on the Isle of Dogs, that was in the late 70’s, got my class 1 in Feb 75 and moved on in 1980 to Duke’s Transport where I did 3 tours of duty over 20 yrs until they packed up in 2000. They were the best company I have ever worked for, good tackle and decent money, always in the bank on time.

Keep posting your driving history tale’s they are great to read

Regards
Dave Penn;

[jazzandy]

Once again, incredibly interesting story direct from the driving seat!

Talking about drivers screwing up the job, I did a year or so’s agency work in London and spent a whole summer delivering wine to Trusthouse Forte hotels from Aviemore down to Cornwall. Instead of night out money we were put up at three and four star Trusthouses as guests on a dinner bed and breakfast basis.

I then went on to Lyons bread work around London between bakeries driving a sixteen tonner but on artic wages and 50% extra for nights, which paid well. When that job came to an end I went back to Trusthouse Forte only to find that the company had given the drivers the option of £8-10 shillings night out money or to continue staying in the hotels. They had voted for the money so we ended up sleeping in the back of the trucks on top of the wine boxes! I stuck that for a few weeks but then left the job. Some people do not know when they are well off. That hotel package at the time was worth about £30!!

[deckboypeggy]

We found out that the very last LONDON public phone number with the correct 01prefex was at the Scratch wood service station on the very northern outskirts of London about 2 hrs from the docks on a good day ,why I am telling you is that as we had to go and phone the office when we were unloaded , by public phone [mobiles are about10 years away 1990s] and we had to ask the telephone operator to let us a have a reversed call to our number at the office as the company would not reimburse you the price of a telephone call, so that was the way you would be able to make a telephone call with out having any money at all ,so long as the person at the other end would except the call. and our office would as you would have to give your name to the operator who would say so and so is calling would you accept the charge, as they did, however they would ask what is the number the call is coming from and that is when you had to be careful as LONDON had to be a 01 prefix that was all the LONDON area .
so then you would say you were empty,and you would know or hope they would say back to the yard then see you later,and you would say in your mind “you can ■■■■ right off “and then the ■■■■■■■■ would start,you would squirm out of getting back to the yard that night, lieing you way out of it, so if it was the manager he would try to demand you get back to the yard,so then I would say, well get me a back load from down here then or from TILLBURY , I am not bothered I will stay here for the night and reload in the morning, and 99 times they would say ah no !we have a load here waiting for you for tomorrow you have got to be back, so then you knew you had him , and you would be 2hours away from the docks at the Scratchwood service station they would not know where you were they would think you were still at the docks,so you would have a good 2hours head start. MANY, many, times there would maybe be two or three of the drivers who had all run down to the same delivery and all made it back to the service station waiting for the time to tick on to ring the depot making sure there was not enough time to get back legally and we would toss a coin to see who would ring the depot .i expect it was a bit child like but we used to have great fun, sometimes we would all squeeze in the call box at once .just to hear the manager on the other end,good fun.
Our week would finish on a Friday night and if you did not have a load to deliver on Monday not yet loaded from the yard, they would never ask for you to ring in SATURDAY morning for any instructions as they would have to pay you a basic 4 hours pay just for ringing in that is the absolute ,the gods honest truth .that was a condition inherited from the main drivers from Coventry
So their was the inherited conflict with the management that was not really typical of the then non unionised men from our area but we soon learned to be .it got that it was a them and us so we would ■■■■ -em as much as we could, by now looking back, being rather lazy, and taking as much as we could cash in the pocket the wages were always a source of conflict as they would not pay anything over a 10 hour day as the normal working man s day then in that year was a 8hour day then you would get into the overtime.
The inflexibility of the drivers did come from the non payment of the extra time you would do around the yard before your actual driving time started,[[ I WILL SAY THIS WAS THE ONLY COMPANY THEN THAT THE DRIVERS STARTED TO TRY TO GET BETTER CONDITIONS] then you were told your 10 hours started from when you leave the yard not when you get to the yard ,so preparing the load ,hitching up your trailer fuelling up was unpaid.

Wages were always a bone of contention through out the road haulage industry ,and they always were and it is now I expect back then in the 1970s were all had it fairly good as job, jobs were plenty full cost of living was not bad we used to get a pay increase above the cost of living allowance every year as most company gave it however we were still attached to the B R S so what the government said we got.
However it was never good enough for the big time union men,as members of the Trade Union and a General Workers Union they never had a proper department that pacifically dealt with lorry drivers and with all our complicated rules etc that we had to abide by. So basically we were just the same as joe -blogs working on a machine in a factory ,or in car manufacture and I think we thought we were worth a special case. so rumblings started that there could and would be a transport drivers strike for I think it was £5 a hour that was to come later on.

We started to get more drivers working with us on the export side and first they would be well versed in the art of the Fiddle,[the dodgy night out payouts] some would fall right in and some took time to realise it was money they would loose. Most did it in the end however things were about to change in a very big way for us drivers all over the country, the GOVERNMENT ministry of TRANSPORT were going to introduce the new device called a Tachograph,shock horror no ■■■■■■■ way we did not have a clue as to what and how it would work i how would they fit into the lorry,s all types of questions needed answers ,so the next thing on a Saturday I think it was ,we all had to go to a paid 4hours meeting in the factory canteen [export packings one] to be told all about the new tachograph and the laws and all the rest of the old ■■■■■■■■ [as we then thought] we thought it was a take or leave it situation but we were wrong[again] I went down like a lead balloon, I will try to explain how the log book worked then you will see why we did not want it.

After time log books got regulated by the company’s you worked for and were issued every month and you signed for them,it was a 28 page printed document by the Ministry of Transport in a hard cover each page was section hourly0 to 24 and in hourly squares, so every hour you had to the relevant time you had to mark ,in ink. if you were driving loading or time off resting, or sleeping. so any one would be able to see what you were doing at any time of the day it was a big graph really . it was open to all the fiddles this is what caught you out if you were seen at a place at a time and your log book was different, driving when recorded you were parked up. You took your chance, you could have two books if both the office and the driver were on the fiddle in league together ,however that never happened with us. it had to be signed every day by the driver and weekly by the traffic office. And kept for 2 years .

When knew lorry,s arrived from now on they were already fitted with a TACHOGRAPH I seem to remember there was period of transition of about 3 years so if you had a tachograph you would use a disc ,also if you were on local runs one disc was issued every day to you and returned to the office daily .if you were away 3 days if you needed them that is all you would be issued ,it was a big deal then. however the log book was still the legal document and it did not take log for us to know it was going to stop a lot of our night out payments. so where you said you were parked you would be there .as we were not allowed to do any maintenance at all we could not attempt to start mucking around with the Tachograph however a lot of the owner drivers and other company drivers re guarded it as challenge to beat the tachograph ,at that time it was soon overcome. But we never dared to touch ours when we had them as in the long run we did see them beneficial after time so we just kept on the same until crunch day came when the Tachograph came legal.

We were getting very busy so it was that the export factory were using their supply of different wood was getting used up so they stated to import the timber from Canada themselves when shipments arrived at different docks, that was good for us as we did get loads straight back to our depot if we were there at the docks the night before we would still hang around after getting loaded not to rush around so were would not have enough time to get back to the yard that day, we had it down to a fine art we would let other drivers go in front of us to get loaded so it was always after dinner, then we would go to the nearest B .R . S. depot to fill up,loose more time plus you would go to the office and use the phone and lay the story on ,lots of lorry,s waiting from the day before all ■■■■■■■■ and you had then sealed the deal as we would say…I think we were the only drivers who used to do it.

[deckboypeggy]

[deckboypeggy]

Jazzandy, thank you so much…i have printed it off ,this is me in the early 1970s seddon with a rolls eagle stright 6 david brown gear box ,behind spanish barrios,behind a layland mastive

[deckboypeggy]

However sometimes you could and would shoot yourself in the foot as by the time you got out of docks wherever you were all you wanted was a big accident and hold up and you would be screwed buy being late to park up and thumb it home and you may have to have to resort in actually go in to B&B then the B&B were everywhere in all towns.

When we used to leave our fully loaded lorry,s in a lay by, we had to make it secure if possible if you did not have a sheeted load you would if possible lay the sheets [ tarpaulins to cover the load] on the road rolled up and then run over them with the wheels of the trailer so as not to be stolen ,they would have the company name printed in large letters but that would be painted out if stolen

We would have lot of ancillary equipment to use to secure different loads you would load you would have a sack of wooden wedges [the same shape of a wedge of cheese] for securing reels of paper for the print works .
a large piece of wood to be used as a back scotch for the back
.lengths of chain to securing steel sheets, or coils or 40foot lengths of re- bar steel ,we were prepared for most any load and of course loads of ropes [hanks] is what they are called.
Some of it would have to go in to the cab no sleeper cabs in the passenger side
.however diesel was very rarely stolen. unless you took it yourself and sold some .and cabs were not broken into…how times have changed.

Lots of times when goods are stolen or cabs broken into it 90% of the time the driver will know about it, selling the spare wheel ,was a classic .or any equipment was fair game to steal i knew one driver who would drive around and if he spotted any farm machinery around especially straw- bailer s they would have big bales of twine that tied the hay or straw bales up he would have that away [the string] and the little wheels they had as well.

Most mornings after you had managed to get back to your lorry you would be going past it the wrong way then you had to get dropped off where ever possible, cross the carriage way and either walk back or get a lift to your lorry hoping all was well, and normally late so you had to start thinking up any story you could tell the boss as no doubt there would be a load waiting for you at the depot .
So if you was driving down from Liverpool area or Hull area you would have to pass either through COVENTRY or near, where our main workshops were,and we rarely got to them unless a service was due ,so if you had a few minor defects that you could live with it could be any thing ,electrical , or mechanical, you would pull a wire out of a clam,save up a broken spring until it was time for you to use it as a defect. anything, that should be working and was not then , we used to get very good at saving up little things to use later you would then make it a defect just run in to the depot , to the workshops luckily the transport office was out of view from the main gate to the workshops so no one know what time you crept in the yard. also the foreman was a good man and he would not grass you up. so you would be waiting for repairs when you rang your depot .they would go ballistic because you could be there all day, [job sorted].
if you were the south side of the depot overnight parked up in a lay by miles away and you were really late getting back to the lorry [bad lift day] you would be able to do lots of things to get you out of the ■■■■,.
First one would be let the air out of one of the tyres on the trailer and run it flat until until blew
and shattered rubber and then it was completely f—k–d–,they would not know what happened ,it blew and that was it and you never took the busted up tyre to your depot, the tyre man who came out to you would have it and take it back to his depot ,it was cheaper for B .R .S .to subcontract the service of tyre repair and recovery than do it them self s, if the inner tube [all tyres had inner tubes then] was shredded ,it must have got really hot?? [really how come]!And blew. Or it lost the air pressure. And blew,Whatever!it could be just a inner tube or God forbid!a new tyre,are well it did not bother us at all.
Now in retrospect we the drivers help f–k the company up .as if they made any money god knows and then it was not our worry,managements .when I think back we were all to blame what was to come.
Or in dire circumstances the windscreen would be smashed then you would try to drive on to another parking area .hopefully no phone so you would then start hitch-hiking to a phone report in full of ■■■■■■■■ ,how far you have walked etc job done again.
The windscreens then were not like now they were not LAMINATED GLASS and not shatter ,they were a glass type that would. so you would not want to drive to far with no screen ,unlike today as they just crack Once a screen had been smashed you would find bits of glass every everywhere for weeks after sadly that was the price we had to pay for some night out tax free money…

[It was normally a brick thrown up from the lorry you were following , the bricks, normally off building sites, used to get stuck in-between the rear tyres, and work loose it was a common occurrence if they had been on rough ground] honest…

Yes ,you might think,why all the lying and messing about ,why not just get on with it and do a good job,
put production up, let the company earn lots of revenue. The answer to that is that the management would not pay us a hourly rate that was comparable to private hauliers and other workers in the “” working environment within the motor transport industry well that is what we were told and we stuck by it. Also it was still Nationalised subsidised by taxpayers .so it was ours,ha ha we were robbing ourself s. but we did not think that way than…so we just carried on.

There was still animosity from all people in factory’s ,docks who had any dealings with drivers
you were either, early,or late,nothing was ever straight forward you would and did have a argument nearly every day with someone you had never seen before in your life all the time it was connected to work, i am not saying we did not bring it on ourself,s, but we were ready every day if it was something on the docks ,you would never win and you had to be careful not to go over the top, as they would in the end really f–k you up,so it was then humble pie time, within the docks the big cases we were delivering were not yet made as to be taken off by a forklift and had to lifted off by a crane .with chains as the cases, had a cut out at the end of the wood on each corner to take the crane chains, ,the all the time dispute was that the dockers[ port workers] would not get on to the lorry floor to put the chains on the packing cases to be lifted off ,we would jump up to do it [no problem] but the crane drivers would say that all [slinging] putting the chains on, must be done by port employees i.e. dockers ,and they would not do it as they were not insured to get on to lorry ,s,[it is true that is what it was like all the time] so then in the end the foreman would have to do it while the dockers watched ,Stevedores is the correct name for port workers i.e. people who load and unload ships. Most stevedore gangs within the then London port area did as they pleased if their were 5 men in a gang 3 would work the other 2 would be off, [in the pub] the dock area in most ports were very pub friendly .a pint and a pie was every ones dinner. The main feeding place was always the dock canteen every day they would cook mega breakfast , then massive dinners, then at 3 o’clock tea .you never went hungry when in Liverpool that was for sure every dock area would have its canteen.

We would never have a problem finding the ships that your cargo ;[whatever it was ] was for in Liverpool long road 3 miles [ish] long all the dock gates numbered ,the name of the ship would be on your paperwork and the dock gate number. Once you got to know where what company ships regular berthed i.e. far east runs, as all our cargo from our depot was for middle east far east ,Australasia ,New Zealand,Hong Kong. You knew how far to drive past the mass of lorries that were always parked outside the docks to get to the gate you wanted , well you used to think you did could get parked up in the wrong queue, you would park up, walk to the police on the gate to ask is this ship here, you would get a load of ■■■■ in their scouse accent [Liverpool accent] cant you read would be their normal reply!so you best just f–k off. And that would be the start of the hassle,so then you would drive past the lorry,s hoping to see someone with the same cargo as you ,stop jump out hope the driver is in the cab and ask the ship he is for .if you are right you now have to turn around, there was know way on this earth that the police would let you just come in the dock gate to turn around, basically you were f–ked and if you knew Liverpool Dock road no where to turn around ,no roundabouts, so you kept going until you could turn right and right again then left back to the dock road go back up the way you had come then turn around again so you would be facing the way you were for a start, it was a night mare ,and,by the time you had done that you would have found more lorry,s parked where you should have been in the queue in front of you putting you further behind in the queue.

If there was 2or3 of us running together what we would do is one driver would drop his trailer on the dock road then drive down past all the docks look for our dock gate and suss out the queues,and then come back to us and get parked at the right one, it saved a lot of time.
Quite a lot of the dock road was still made out of cobbles[oblong pieces of granite] ,not tarmac,and they were deadly to drive on for slipping when wet. also railway lines used to criss cross the road
as the rail-network was still busy so you could get stuck for a long time by the time the train and wagons had got to their right dock ,either for unloading or loading.

Liverpool was the only dock I knew off that you would not be able to get into unless you were at the right gate all the other docks ,and that was a lot around the country,you would drive into the dock gate ,then you would drive around inside the dock complex to find the right ship -and shed[warehouse] number that you wanted to be at not like the old fashion Liverpool ,they never did change until they got more or less closed when container shipping came in [that is another story]

Liverpool had a very strange system of having dock labour, men would congregate outside the dock gates and a foreman, employed by a cargo handling company [ ganger man ]would come round and choose the men they wanted for the day, the men would give them a “tally”like a metal disk .it was a piece work system. Not fair at all however that was the way it worked ,how the unions accepted it I do not know, I think there was more to it than us mere drivers knew. however we must have liked the way they worked as we kept going back for more week in and week out. Not only Liverpool but all the other docks.
As time went by the packing cases that were for made for export , the case cars,started to be made as if they were massive pallets bottoms so as they could be unloaded by fork lift so more efficient and a quick turn round for the driver and the company ,not as if we worried anyway we had got so used to being ■■■■■■ around
that it made no difference to us we just kept up with the lies and ■■■■■■■■. and made a long day out of a short one, and of course Liverpool still used the old way the old crane right up until the end ,well they did not have bigger enough fork lifts to lift the cases off anyway, [progress nasty word] so it never changed, the work practice,what I personal liked about Liverpool dockers they never changed you knew where you stood with them both of us at the bottom of the ladder [dockers drivers]
What the the thing about what people will do is sometimes puzzling for instance if the export company had a massive big shipping order, there were times when the company wanted you back to the depot no matter what as soon as you were empty and they would pay you the night out money whether it warranted it or not [good deal for us] to use you again to get the loads to the docks.

The reason would be as the shippers would have arranged a direct to the ship delivers, so no messing around waiting all would be geared up to take the cargo direct off your lorry and straight down in to the ships hold[hold is the ships cargo spaces] sometimes called ships hatches. this was done by the big dock cranes that were all along the dock quays mounted on railway lines so very moveable ,the absolute cruncher was that the dockers would not allow us drivers anywhere near the slinging =[putting the lifting chains around the grates from the crane to load them in the ship] so they themselves then used to get up on the trailer to do the slinging these were the same men who would no way get onto the trailer ,when we would want to be unloaded by their mobile cranes any other time absolutely unbelievable, but that was dockers “tossers”
.
Most times when unloading direct to the ship the first in the queue to get unloaded would be last to leave as they would take different cases off different lorry s as they wanted them by size. Not weight so you would be shunting up and down [moving under the cranes as they wanted the packed crates] as they would be loading [filling the hatch spaces up] more than one hatch at a time.
There would be all kinds of orders being shouted about lots of swearing,a good typical organised ■■■■ up ,that was as it seemed but of course it was not all good fun. better than stood at a machine in a factory for a job that was for sure.

New lorry s and longer trailers 40 foot long was now the new options for hauliers, had now started to get to our depot, also the tractor units were now being manufactured without the big engine lump in the middle of the cab some genius had decide to maybe make life a bit easier for
the poor old driver and they somehow made the chassis bigger and drop the engine down so it was nearly flat in the drivers cab between the seats, and a lot more improvements,bigger mirrors,softer seats,more head room padded roof headline [roof] not the bare metal roof,and the now compulsory tachograph, not yet into use. and interior lights above your head [1 small bulb] electric fuses you could get ,and some had a radio fitted sheer luxury whatever next .a slide down window .in stead of winding the window down you used a bar to slide the window down ,now that was class.

The new type cabs also introduced new sleeping arrangements that proved very popular in the end with every one ,however over the years us union men used to scoff at drivers who used to make do and sleep in their cabs and not go to bed 'breakfast houses. Most times if we were going to a new location and they had a B.R.S. Depot nearby we would get our office to get them to book beds for us before we even left. That was normal proceeder at all depots connected to B.R.S. The office had a idea where you would be and it was a bit of falseness with us drivers letting the office take control of you ,however it -was only laying the seed for you to use it for our benefit.
So you would not sleep in your cab, then,but later on we did.

All furniture delivery lorries would have a Luton [as we did in the cattle trucks]over the front of their cabs and a entrance hatch within the driving cab roof, just jump up and they had their beds,
so we started to look into this and worked out if we got a plastic bread tray they used in the bread vans for delivery,make a few alterations ,turn it upside down and it would fit in-between the drivers seat and the passenger seat to make a near enough flat surface [job done ,one bed] Now was keeping it dark, we used a ordinary hook and eye screws around the roof lining and threaded stretchy curtain wire ,now we got a curtain rail, next was old curtains from home,easy to get it used to be absolutely hilarious ,some would be flowerier kitchen curtains ,some big long thick lounge,all cut anyhow ,very few of us had bedroom curtains. and the best was if someone knocked on your cab if you were asleep you would jump up pull the curtains to one side and 99 times out of a hundred the whole lot would come down. You only did it to someone you knew .i must admit I was one of the worst for knocking. But hey ho “what went round came around”you would not always be able to sleep like that it depending who was with you,some drivers would no way entertain it at-all and go into to b&b so you usually went with them just to keep it low key as of yet the union stewards were not aware of what we were doing.
The port of Felixstowe was starting to get more export and import trade also it was a deep berth so was able to take large ships,and not within the port of London jurisdiction businessman realised that they need not put up with all the dock labour union disputes that were never ending within the 1970s in the London ,Liverpool area they would build the port of Felixstowe up to be what it is today. The dockers union did try to use their pickets to try to stop transport however most of the haulage using Felixstowe were private firms and not union members ,when the pickets were at the port to avoid any aggravation we would go in to Ipswich depot for fuel and find out the situation and if pickets where at the port we would stay at Ipswich and wait until they had gone it was the easy way out. As it was only 10 miles away .plus a nice easy day or two. You would not be able to go to the pubs as the pickets would leave at any time once the picket buses had been reported to have left the port,and Ipswich , you had to go so long as you were legal [within the driving law] even just to get in to the dock complex, and un- load the next day or the same day. the dock workers were not restricted by time. if it got as you would not be able to get b&b then the cab sleeping would come into play ,that was if you were “equip et” for it. after time within the port there was a brand new drivers motel build with all the mod cons .However the price of a room was very dear and we used to paying small b&b usual a ordinary house with spare rooms no modern gadgets, like showers and food on tap .so the new complex did not suit us, for a start. Until we learned how to get extra cash ,then we all wanted to go to Felixstowe.

At the new port of Felixstowe some much cargo was coming in to the port and out it was getting to be a main export area for the middle and far east ,what was happening was the cargo for the ports that was predominant serviced by ships that only used London and Liverpool was being loaded on to small coastal ships from Felixstowe and then taken across the the English channel to continental ports to be loaded on to deep sea ships for further destination, the start of the rot that the dockers caused themselves. [no more to said.]
also cargo coming into Felixstowe from Europe the return journey to stop ships using our ports,and get held up as before,were using new methods of moving cargo ,the containers were coming in from U.S.A .and other country’s however we were the last of the so called modern nation to go over to containers.[THAT IS ANOTHER STORY] so ,as so much cargo was in the port in European trailers
that had to moved around the dock they would use anyone with a tractor unit to move a trailer from A to B for cash, so that where we came in. if we got unloaded in the morning we would go to a cargo agent within the dock to see if anything wanted to shunted around ,if we were lucky £20 in your pocket , however there was always a catch ,if their was two of our drivers one would load your trailer for you with your return load if the load was from the dock. While the other one earned the extra cash .but you never got paid until the job was done .however it was nearly a two man job every time
This is reason why please do not fall asleep.

On our English trailers the tractor unit is connected to the trailer by a pin that is located under the front of the trailer about 4foot and hangs down about8 to 10 inches and looks like a cotton reel but hard steel and bolted to a steel plate under the trailer front,so as a tractor unit backs under it ,on the tractor unit is a “turntable “[name] above the two rear wheels on the chassis that slides under the front of the trailer and locates the pin. At the back of the turntable ,it has a locking jaw that you open ,by a ratchet lever on the side before backing under the trailer, to open the jaws,once you are under the front of the trailer you keep backing back until the jaws locate the pin and it locks in place ,job done ,so easy, humpf . However what we found was on all the European trailers the pins were locate further back than ours so that meant that when we eventually connected to the pin the front of the trailer was right next to the cab so in theory we could only drive straight and not turn ,or only by small adjustments if you had the room to ,and you did need another driver with you as it was so easy to smash the rear of your cab ALSO they used different air line couplings, English were male and female,air line connectors[needs no explanation] and the euro ones were Palm couplings .chalk and cheese.
So we had to be invented, there were lots of the foreign trailers all over the docks, we would have spanners ready, every driver had 3 spanners if he had any sense ,one for adjusting brakes[ total illegal within the B R. S.] and two for changing or robbing air lines, the same procedure for undoing water tap connectors at home you need two spanners if you had to?
And we would take borrow] the palm couplings off the front of the parked trailers, so that left them with nothing .we did not worry about who would have to pick it up later,[some ■■■■■■■ pinched the couplings] boo whoo it would have been dockers .and the trailer would not have left the docks as they were not uk road worthy so the dockers had to move them so if we had a lot of hassle just moving a empty trailer to the dock trailer park, we would leave a little bonus for the next one to have to move that trailer. All trailers had a hand brake ,first you had to connect up by your airlines to the trailers [if they were there]then if it did not realise the brakes it meant some silly sod had put the hand brake on[wonder who] what we used to do was ratchet the handle of the trailer brake as much as we could then use a open ended tube to put over the end of the ratchet and get double the force ,to tighten it up… sometimes we were cracking up with laughter ,just the thought of the docker trying to pull away yes I know it was not correct however it was get your back , dockers or not they were still dockers.

[jelliot]

What a fantastic rendition of your life DBP. Your story telling methods my not be conventional but you have a powerful way of getting your message across… I’ve been following your thread since the locked version, long my it continue.

The Italian dockers were just the same, I sat in the Genoa docks for 3 days waiting to unload because the Italian dockers don’t work in the rain.

Jeff…

[deckboypeggy]

he running in period for using the Tachograph was now on us [ I think a year] if you had one fitted that caused a few problems ,if you we
re on the local runs the traffic office would issue you 1 tachograph disc for 1 day only and returned into the office every day ,now where on the local runs the traffic office would issue you 1 tachograph disc for 1 day only and returned into the office every day ,now who would believe that but that is what happened, and if you were on a dock run as most weeks they would give you 5 discs and you had to sign for them ,it was a big deal, and being English we had to do it right and stick by the rules ,and the office staff were just as bad ,it was if every one was watching you . Big inquests if you had not done something right ,well that was the game in fact it was a handy tool [the disc] for us to have as when we were still having fiddles and thumbing lifts home we would just stand around in the parking area just hold out the tachograph disc and hey -presto the lorry would stop and away it was a useful tool for years.[the disc].

Now some of the union men were getting new lorry s [the forgiven units] to keep them [ sweet.]sweet not a term or phrase that was used then] however they were the lucky ones,with a bunk in the back of the cab ,unheard of then ,so we knew the ruling of sleeping in your cabs would come in for scrutiny, by us did they use the bunks or go into B&B or a time they tried to keep away from us either being early or late at the docks ,however it did not take long they were in the bunks curtains manufactured in the factory .so then ended the rule of go into B&B and do not sleep in your cabs ,so the green light was on. I must say that all the goings on was only from our to depots
no one else seemed to have minded what you did it was the first time the union never said a word .
The next thing was the company wanted to drop the amount of night out money we were getting as they thought ,hello, they are not using B&B why do they need the money well the ■■■■ hit the fan , “more trouble” in the end it got as the night out money was for the inconvenience of being away from home and your food for the next day or more if out longer, not where you slept you could do what you wanted once you had finished work for the day, so long as you were back in the next morning at a start time at your lorry, it was nothing to do with the office what you did with the money. You would never believe what aggravation just that caused, it went right to the top of management and the top union officials ,deep down I thing after that episode our cards were marked
by top office not our depot, still did we care, no our attitude was still ■■■■-em.

We did have 2 sad times at the depot we had one drive killed in a accident and another died while on a night out away .natural causes. So I will leave that at that.
We were having a lot of export work that was good however the threat of containers was right in front of us, and the management did not seem to have the forethought to push for containers trailers so you would be one step ahead .
Some trailers were just a chassis no floor ,cross members of steel, 3 axles 12 wheels and the all important [twist locks ] they are the main piece of the trailer that locks the container to the chassis
they are at each corner of the trailer. So when a container is lowered on the the trailer on each corner of the container is a space , oblong, it is the corner of each container about 6 inches oblong and deep so as you can push up the twist lock from your trailer-and it locates in the void. And you push up the twist lock in to the space and turn it left or right and the top of the twist lock locates in the shortest side only by about 1 inch job done it is the weight of the container that really keeps them on the trailer, and the twist-lock is the safety device.
When the containers first come in to Felixstowe already empty, the goods unloaded elsewhere we would have empty containers as a back load that had to go to a inland container depot for reloading [not by us 100%unionised,]and having no twist locks trailers we used to chain them on back and front .[health and safety would have kittens now days but no such thing existed then] .
You could get 2 x 20foot [length] for one trailer or just 1 x40 foot [length ] and they would go to a transport yard ,not the main inland container depot, as we did not have the correct trailers,they were no the wiser.
These depots 1 in Birmingham,and the other in Manchester were the very first In land container depots, the dockworkers union tried at first to have them manned by dock workers [relocated from London. and Manchester was in the dock area
there was all kinds of threaten strikes by both unions in the end the T G W won in the end, but the dockers went on strike to ■■■■■■■ the imports and exports ,it went on for some time and in the end it did affect all transport it would only take a week and you would either be on strike or normal laid off as the 1970s were creeping towards the end things were not quite as good as before.

The main car manufactures were having their own problems with strikes of their own however it did not stop them from looking at their main transport contractors used in all different ways that was mostly private company’s doing most of the car manufactures work [for hire or reward was the common term used[ the car makers did have their own fleet of lorry s but limited only to carry their own goods ,that was the licence they had , so very replant on all outside contractors for production.
However after time it got as the Ministry of Transport [ government control of all transport]v gave in to pressure and gave the manufactures the right to use their own transport on all transport connected to the building of any equipment concerned with manufacture .
Now these were the same people that when on their picket lines we would not cross now they wanted to do our internal work, and export if they chose. So now the union heads had got their self a situation.
So it did not take long before they were doing the work we were doing not the export but a lot of the local ,also B M C British motor Corporation [ British Leyland] were using the first containers to have their cars packed into ,and ship them straight to the port from the export packing depot we were based in, so our previous work would slow down.
The next thing in 1978/9 ,we had all had enough of strikes,the winter of discontent that contributed to the downfall of the Labour Government ,they wanted a cap on pay increases,so across the country official and unofficial strikes ,rail workers, nurses, and lorry drivers all on strike, for short periods ,not so good times, so we were nailing our own coffins!
We still had work of sorts we had to work around what ports were open to accept export that was ruled by the dockers union , they all were really. some more militant than others.

The main exporters of goods that we were working for were constantly looking for alternative methods of export, and regional small wharfs [small unloading ports or stations along rivers] to get away from the dominance of the unions that threatened the right of individuals men exercising the right to work even canal transport to other larger places was looked at and in the end they found 2 places that was good news to us as it kept us away from the major ports [for a time]. One was on the river Trent at a place called Gainsborough that was unbeknown to us, had a small port operation going, for coal to the local power station , this revelation came to light after the miners strike. A lot of coal fields were near-by and the Wharf was picket then by miners.

It meant that small cargo ships [coasters around 1500 tons g .w. [gross weight] not British flagged, would be able to use the river and turn around on a high tide at the wharf and load up and go to a continental port to off load for onward shipment.
The other place was in London area at a wharf owned and worked by British waterways at Brentford. they would load the goods into large Barges ,and they would towed down the river Thames by tug boat to Gravesend area and load into ships at anchor, by the ships own derricks[cranes on board ships] that kept the operation away from the dockers unions.

The system of transport was starting to look like the old ways are changing and new is better, yes it was better ,however it did not do help our cause for the driver who so wanted a better paid job
and also move on with newer equipment to get into container movement ,this was the new big thing and the management did not realise how import as well as export would be affected [or did they at our B R S nationalised company] the answer =it is to late “yes” they did know and did they want us to be involved at our depot “no” .
We, us, gallant stupid drivers our union leaders decided to go for negotiations for a new pay rise I think it was for £ 5 an hour,this was country wide not just our company all England ,all large company s and there were a few around the major port and industrial areas ,now who put the union officials up to it ,no one knows so a “vote” was supposable taken and a all out drivers strike would begin!
I do not recall the date it first started however I do remember it with much clarity it was the worst 8 weeks I have had it also concurred over the Christmas/new year 1979/80.
To start with you have your weeks wages the first week than the second week you have your weeks in hand money=[the first week on any job you would not get paid until the end of the second week at work]that was the rule in nearly every job ,as we were weekly paid [ workers].only staff ,would get paid every 2 weeks or monthly. then the 3rd wee on strike you would get some income tax refund then that was it for money, you then went to the social security [the dole office ] and with children they made sure they were getting free school meals,and they would pay you interest on your mortgage if you had one or help you with your rent after you had filled a massive means test type form in. however the help the gave you was welcome.
As my friend and work colleague livid in the same village he helped me out in many ways ,we would use his car all the time and it was no ordinary car it was a American Cheviot left hand drive a real beauty no one else every drove it. And funny enough his name was Len, never ever knew if it was Leonard or Lenny,never did find out perhaps I should have done ,Len, he would not ■■■■ on your wheel ,he would have tried to pinch it, he was [I know for sure ]born in Cable Street east London the place where Oswald Mosley tried his march or intimidation by the then Black Shirts in the late 1930s 1938ish The English ■■■■ party thank god they fell, and Mosley was interned for the war. he did come from very middle /upper-class family his sisters married very well.[see duchesses of Devonshire].
So Len and myself would be going all over the area [WE DID LIVE IN THE COUNTRY AND KNEW WHAT WAS ABOUT ]looking for anything to do in a wide area as we had already not bothered to turn up for picket duty to far and costly to go .we would get the odd day on a building site , we would anything helping out on a farm for a day cleaning all the ■■■■ out of a barn anything all for cash in hand, we had ladders and went knocking for window cleaning , some times it was snowing and we would still go ,we did have a laugh. I knew Len did not need the cash as he had no children and his wife worked but he was used to going out every day,also he did it for me .and all though the age different he was one of the lads ,he used to have a dry cough ,never smoked like we all did ,he liked his pint the same as us. His favourite saying was “well deep down” no matter what

[One night on a night out we were in Gray s Thurrock Essex [[where the Dartford bridge is now ] about 5 of us including Len and we were having a few beers Len would slip me the money for me to get my round of drinks he knew I was all ways short of cash ,and he would get it back some way or another,anyway after the pub,we went for a Indian ,now I hate Indian, and I could not pay so Len again paid mine at the end of the night, when it came to pay, the lads were arguing ,who had what ,who pays for what the usual banter and ■■■■ about, Len did no more he stood up he had got a load of change ,i remember he said f–k you all and threw all his money up in the air and walked out .i managed to scrabble a few bob for myself of the floor, someone paid up , it was not me .i did keep the cash. ■■■ money.]Also another time in greys we had been to the pub about 5 of us lots of banter so we decide we would have a chicken takeaway,after we all had got ours then we went out side,Len unusually for him was moaning about the sauce he had got and said the ■■■■■■■■ gone off,and tastes of lemon, he had only been trying to squeeze the hand wipe,and ■■■■ it out, ,that was it ,we were in hysterics ,but he just shrugged it off.

After time ,talk of a drivers s national strike was evident ,all the local union men WERE FULL OF IT all the members that never attend union meetings at the main branches, in our case Coventry on a Sunday ,you have no right to complain that was our problem we never used to go,it used to take the most of the day up…Eventually the strike was started [I am sure if you want to find out more about it it could be researched on line ,too much detail for me to go into…] However that was it we were out ,picket duties drawn up,our depot was within a factory so it did not apply to us…however we were asked to go to Coventry to HELP OUT ,YEA OK, no way .

After about 4 weeks on strike you get to thinking ■■■■ this I am going to jack the job in and go somewhere else but you could not as you would not have a union card that some employers now wanted you to have . So you had to ■■■■ it up as they say now easier said than done.
Well salvation was not far away we went into our local town looking around and we noticed some furniture vans unloading outside a brand new store not yet open,so as you do ,we went up to see the men in the back, and the vans were full up with all storage racking .we asked if they needed any help, and the chap said see the boss inside,we did and he said have you been sent down from the dole office [Unemployment office] for a days casual labour for the day ,well we did not need asking twice and said yes of course`, he took us in the store and give us a smock[long linen coat as used by Ronnie barker in open all hours a television program ] also used by workers ,and he gave us instructions where to put materials that we were taking off the lorry along with some other men,unknown to us, [ that was what happened.]

There was a couple of other chaps doing other jobs also from the days casual labour sent from the dole office so we ■■■■■■■■■■■ our story ,told them nothing really and just carried on for the rest of the day while having a good look around, it was Aladdin cave, as expected it was a new supermarket also a clothes store, a real big brand name.?so after finishing doing what we were told the other men went off home ,I do not think they had worked for a long time ,where as Len and me went upstairs to the office to ask for some more work ,and the manager asked if we would mind doing some rubbish clearing,he could not have asked two better men.

After a while it was time to go so we spoke to the boss to see if there was any more work tomorrow and he asked if we could make a early start and would we be able to get in for a 7 o clock start the next day , so that was that .we were really chuffed and hoped no one spotted us leaving the store although lens car was not at the store , we drove back to the village however all was good and we got home full of it .
.
Next day the old purr of Lens automatic cheve automatic got me out of the door very quick I lived in a big circle of housing estate and you would tell the noise of any car you knew coming round the circle you would not be able to get round if you were trying to be secret not as I needed but you knew who was about “ village life”another one thing was if the main roads were clear of snow you would bet anything that the village road out was always the last to be cleared and still blocked, you would ring the garage in the next village on the main road from the public phone we did not have house phones yet, and ask what the main road was like and if it was clear to town
The other road out of the village was impossible to use it was a massive hill ,no grit or clearing then.
People said ,and my father said it was true in 1947 the village was cut off for over two weeks and they were walking on top of the hedge rows, however the trains were able to run , they were higher up than the village, so that was the other option that was all right if you needed to go where the train went ,not always the case.

So Len and I set out to our new jobs ,too early for anyone to see us so that was good as everyone new we were on strike…the best we kept it to ourself the better, my children were a bit to young to know what I was doing.
When we arrived we were first there after Len had parked his car out of the way from the store,we stood around the rear entrance, my ■■■■ flowing, Len coughing, waiting for some one to turn up next thing someone came out from the store and said come in[night security] and have a tea the lorry will be here soon, we looked at each other ,”what lorry” he said the one from Denmark with the bacon .he had been told we would be here to unload it so that is how we were in.
So it was now time to pump the security man in a casual way and learn how things worked
.Len all the time I knew him used to say to me and he was right, I used it time and again was “If you act daft you will get away with murder” how right he was. Although I do not know about the murder bit but it worked.
We got to know when at times before all the staff would leave at night there would be a security bag check at the back door ,the clue was if the night man was in early that was the give away. also there were cameras inside by the tills and no where else, and some out side not connected yet you would know when they were connected screens would be put up , and we would have to carry them in from the loading bay ,if we were still there,

In the end the lorry turns up and he was not a Dane he just drove a Danish Bacon lorry from great Yarmouth, these drivers were not on strike as they were what you called “own account”C licence
just the same as car factory drivers ,so he was paid a good wage. And he did give us a hand at first as there was a knack on how to lift and unload the full sides of a pig,half a head 2 legs of Danish Bacon that were wrapped in Hessian sacks nice and s lippy and awkward ,Len and myself soon got our self s -covered up in black bin liners to keep the slime of us. We were the first the driver said he had seen that had done the clothes cover up, he had learned something, it was hard work as the Bacon had to go up in the lift 2 floors up and we got well versed in the workings of the unloading system very quick ,we learned that you would be able to creep the lift up to a floor and stop it with you inside and look into the stores of a floor without anyone knowing where the lift was, so we tried it out times I would stay in the lift Len, would stand around in that part of the store room and he would not know where the lift was.
As their was a metal sliding door on the store room side and under the gap you would see into the store room. Then I would make a load of noise and then Len would open the metal door to the lift then we would unload it into the chill store not with all the fresh foods in it a separate store that was for the meat products all though the bacon did give off a odour I do not think it contaminated the other meat products .
We could not believe it we had only been there 2 days and we were looked on as old hands, I think we were a asset to the manager as the other men there would never have been able to do what we had done ,how they got on with the next delivery ,i do not know.
At the end of the day the manager asked to see us both and said he would like us to stay with them until the end of the Christmas period as there was lot of lifting to do,he then said he had rang the unemployment office and they had no record of us, what was going on as he needed our P45so he could pay us properly not as casual labour!

P45 explanation=The important document that every one who is or was employed, it is a record of the Income Tax and National Insurance that has been deducted from your wages while in that persons employment, once you finish with any employer you will get your P45. Or known as your cards So if and when you start employment on a permanent basis you need to hand in your P45 or else you would be stopped income tax from your wages at a emergency income tax rate that was very high in percentage terms per pound sterling .after time you would be repaid the income tax providing you were legitimately employed and not Casual.

If ever you had the misfortune to be unemployed and used to attending the unemployment office there would be another form you would be used to it was called UB40. That is where the pop group got its name from.
We now had to tell the manager the truth who we were and circumstances we were in ,he understood and said he would have to find out from higher up if he would be able to pay us on a casual basis or not, as he would like us to stay.
Yes it worked out to our advantage, we would be able to stay until the Christmas,so that was a relive
and some needed cash as we were about out of it at home.
We had given up on the strike, it was now survive and wait until we got back to work we new that would not be until after Christmas. We had no means of contact to other drivers only to our office and they were down to one, the rest laid off .it was dull all around .

[jazzandy]

Once again, a fascinating read. Keep them coming!

[dave_the_renegade]

I echo Jazzany’s words. Great reading.
Cheers Dave.