---------------------------- - - – – -START. MY HISTORY in TRANSPORT----After 5 years at sea,lots of jobs ,JACK OF ALL MASTER AT NONE…
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The First time I ever sat in a lorry cab was at FENNY COMPTON Buildings pre cast concrete garages it was a Themes Trader you sat in the cab no windscreen no doors, just a shell ,basic steering wheel, hand brake, paper ,covered in dust,when it rained you were better off outside, and the pedals come up at you with a massive hole in the floor then it was a big lorry to me must have been1964/5 however it was the yard shunter and every one liked to drive it and have some fun in it, after all the serious work had been done .it was used like a massive dodgem car of sorts if you know what young men are like… it was a 20to30 ft flat used to move concrete around the yard,no proper exhaust,no power steering .ready for the scrap however it did its jobless I got the first time at driving a lorry I did have my car licence, however it was all on private ground it was a work site,
T he manufacture of concrete garage parts is a very heavy manual art ,it starts with out side the manufacturing shed there is a massive powder concrete tube like container, holding tons of powder concrete. also tons of sand and gravel close to the cement ready to be mixed .a man with a electric type of shovel ,like a wheel barrow with out a wheel, and a electric cable to give power to a winch drive,that he is in control of ,as the man scoops up the sand, the winch pulls it towards a large open bin and puts the sand in ,when enough sand is in he lifts the chute up like by a electric winch and then he controls the cement powder by buttons on a control panel to put in by a measured chute ,then water is measured, and the mix begins,he does that all day.
.when mixed it goes inside by a chute to men working on a vibrating table,where they have a steel mould,the size of whatever part they are making, the cement is feed into the mould , then vibrated down and steel reinforcing rods are then added ,pushed down into the mix then Smoothed off by hand [ a float is used a bricklayers tool] steel clamps are then put around the mould sides to act as a cradle to be lifted off then stacked ready to be taken out to dry a very hard manse job ,the moulds have been oiled by a young trainee so the concrete does not stick. Their wages are on piece work meaning the more you do the more you earn wages no basic rate. The men are called FILLERS . that do that part of work creating garage panels .the noise is ear shattering,every one shouting as if you are all deaf ,so you shout what you want,no one understands what your saying unless you are able lip read, I think basic reading is a challenge for us all who work in that environment
When stacked about 8 high in another part of the floor it was no good if you was not around 6 foot high as you would never had managed the job ,when dry , the men called STRIkERS .start their job and that’s what I did, you lifted down the mould, well dropped it to the floor on the longest edge, banged off the clamps,keeping feet and fingers out of the way,tipping the mould forward catching the concrete ,with one hand and lowering the mould in the other and you had to work together,one would stack the concrete the other would stack the mould and keep on all day. when the concrete is first struck i.e. taken out it is what you called GREEN then left more hours to harden off ready to be banged about and used some of the men called STACKER’S would manage to have 6 panels at a time on a sack truck and wheel them around as if they weighed nothing all parts of the job was manul labour from start to finish you knew you had done a days work .I soon knew I was not having much of that however some men had been there years .
THE main lorry fleet were bed-fords -mks, walk through cab tiny bunk in the back window , the cab seemed very low to the ground a neat little lorry the Army used them. After some time getting to know some of the drivers, and going for a drink with them, I was not shy at coming forward and asked a driver for a trip with him, after a few weeks did manage one trip up north in one as a passenger , and I remember the driver letting me have a drive up the M6 no gears to change just foot down and steer on the motorway up to Preston, and he slept I never had a licence or training at all but who cared then ,so that was the bug into me although I did not realise it then at the time, a pub was more interest then to me
I was on leave then so I forgot about it until a couple of years later when I came ashore as they say [swallowed the anchor] that saying is when there is a death of a seaman I was not dead and full of fun and work to do anywhere, I had no idea what I wanted to do at all.
I have had had a mighty lot of jobs, you would not believe me if I started to tell you them all so I will go to the first job within transport, just outside Banbury there was a warehouse, also a banana ripping room than was heated with gas burners ,also chill rooms for the veg etc. one of my friends new about it so I went to see about a job and got one, with a fruit and veg wholesaler
early morning starts and late finishes, I should have realized then, that what transport was about. but it was new to me so I went along with it. I should have went straight back to sea .but there you go I did not so the life with lorries started.
I used to drive a comer van and go around collecting produce, I think Bedford was about the fartherest away from the base I used to load bags of fresh picked Brussels -sprouts in string bags,you would be amazed how many bags you got into the little comer van. my main trouble was I had not got the rush around in my work ethic yet,so I would stop here and there have a tea etc what I did not realise they were always waiting for you at the depot to unload and redeliver the next day . I could take a bollocking so it never really bothered me,but I learned also the son was re -known hardcase, but I would have welcomed that if he wanted a fight I would have had a go but he never did .
1.
With jobs vacant all around the country well my area east Midlands i was looking for a bit of distance driving or thought i did,the smell of the diesel was getting to me but I did not know it then. it was advertised as owner driver £5 a day,i had no idea what was what,so i thought give it a go and I got the job. big mistake did not realise how desperate they were for drivers,i think if you were blind they would have started you the company called study concrete Brackley a concrete garage manufacturing company,of course having worked at Feeny compton and knew the drivers I mentioned names as if i worked with them as a second man,[ drivers mate] helping with deliveries that is how i got the job ,i was in for a shock,the lorry was a 26foot flat base comer, [[that job was the shortest,if I was to tell you what happened you would not believe me i never forgot it.]]well i might tell you later. but learned very quickly. First never believe anyone ,do not trust anyone, if your out of your comfort zone, pack it in. do not bull=■■■■. i lasted one trip altogether 2 weeks. The pay was then £5 a day that was 1967 that was good in your hand it did not mean nothing to me then,but did later.[back to the job]=
After being told what to load by the yard man i had no idea where anywhere was in the country, nothing about all the products [concrete] so in i go feet first as per normal .
First he gave me the loading tickets, also loads of delivery notes for all over the Midlands it was like another world,just looking at all the place names. so he told me what route to deliver the load a office had sorted the load for me ,me thinking he was doing me a favour after it seemed hours loading all types of concrete sides, all by hand and a sack truck[two wheeled carrier like porters used to have but robust.
you know the pre cast garages you still see today normal 10 to 20 on a housing estate,also i loaded spare parts for broken concrete all types of other bits. after loading the boss came out and said have you got it all,yes so he gave me some money for diesel and i rememberer him saying [only put in what you need] that did not make sense to me ,well then it didn’t, also the spare wheel carrier was broken,that was under the chassis so the spare wheel went on top of the load. still none the wiser, .holding other orders behind his back and HE said right go here and load some garage doors on top.
I think my world just stopped ,my god how much more .before i left i said to the foreman what about these orders i haven’t loaded ho he said when they go out of the office just put them under the pile marked for delivery…,well [[I did… 2nd mistake ]]… and no one would no any different [said he] first stitch up for me= Mr green…
That was me now ready first thing to do was sort the gears on the comm -er [2 stroke the engine was called] truck, out oh my god what a ■■■■ up i made,the gear box is not like the normal H system as I was used to, use in every day cars and vans, the gear stick had been so well used you could not see where any gears marked on the top of the stick to give me a clue what gear to select they were all like back to front so with the weight on i knew if i got into first or second "i had learned that from messing about with the truck at Fennycompton "ill creep out of the yard however the engine was revving so hard and i dare not change gear until i was out of the yard ,god knows what they thought anyone who-ever could her me the comer two stroke engine had its own calling card you would hear it miles away before you could see it
[After years of driving later i would be able to tell anyone what lorry was coming before even seeing it by the noise of the engine we would call it "barking"also if anyone missed a gear change some of the old lorry drivers would be able to make their engine sing as they changed through the gears up or down shift, the Foden lorry manufactured in Crewe was about the top sound if you heard a lorry changing down through the gears to slow to a stop , there was not much to match it it was a skill. In some lorries using the gearbox correctly,and if you got the engine revolutions you would be able to change gear without using the clutch, I was able to do it in certain lorries ,however not through all the gears,in the comer it was already sync.
So the nightmare began,my haulage carrier had begun ,well i thought it had my transport self education had begun…the story is so long it is boring well the fist day,so after hours and hours it is now dark and I am at place called Newcastle -under line. near stoke-on -trent. after managing to do a few deliveries
I parked up on this waste ground site like a bombs left it ruts and holes that would loose a car in,[that was the norm for nearly all the lorry parks in England never looked after]] lorries all around and i go into the café ask for a bed and breakfast,well not a lot to be said about the dormitory type rooms,beds every where .scruffy dirty hole but i had nowhere else to go, and this was it well I twas full of drivers,some with clothes still on in bed, boots on the beds my god didn’t i just learn. what i did learn over the later years was that nearly all the café type so called bed and breakfast on the main trunk roads were all the same it went with the then lorry driver [■■■■■■■■■ hands and ■■■■■■■■■ boots] image in the late1960s and early 1970s it is true one bad image is true during and after the 2nd war drivers just worked day and night,and it took a long time for the law to and Ministry of transport to get sorted no sleeper cabs all sleep was over the bonnet [inside over the engine cover…],all though they both were a drivers nightmare if you got “pulled” which was very rare indeed. as the years went on accommodation for drivers did get better .perhaps it was by moaning to the bosses who knows,but it did change.
back to the café…when i got up in the morning and like all the other drivers had a massive fried greasy breakfast was the norm .big mug [chipped of course]of stand your spoon up in tea,i went out to the lorry. mistake no 3 the ropes were cut,and the spare wheel was gone,my breakfast nearly came right up my god,i went into the café told the boss he said" nought i can do get on with it" i asked to call the police he said no phone and no way"… ,no public phone so i was scuppered so i just re-roped the load and left… by the end of the day id forgot about the wheel so just kept plodding on i ended up around Manchester area a empty lorry it was late then, but i thought right home. and that’s what i did .god knows how many hours id worked but the thought of going home spurs you on .I was newly married then but we didn’t have a phone so i got back when i did .
well the next day went like a double lead balloon first the boss confronted me about the deliver notes i did not take .so i bluffed him and kept quite, he knew what the drivers did anyway so i thought f–k you,then he said id sold the spare wheel to make a few bob. what i did not know ,there was a ready market for lorry spare wheels. he did not realise i was as green as i was…what i should have done was syphon of the diesel from the lorry tank at home. in to jerry cans and re sell,but i did not have the cans .also i did not think about it [because i was not fully trained up to be that smart,but i did get their in the end. [the art of fiddling]thieving stealing = that was why lorry drivers wages were so low because the bosses knew and expected to be fiddled all the while by every one .they in turn had their fiddles so what went round come round . he said my time was done with him so that was that .i do remember what money i ended up with but i kept the diesel money what was left. it was the first and last time in my whole working life that i ever was asked to leave or get the sack.
I do not remember what i did next regarding work i was never without a weeks wage doing anything what came along it would have been hard work whatever it was normally involving a shovel .digging ditches or carrying bricks on a site or working for agricultural contractors all cash in hand ,meaning no tax or insurance stamp .in lots of country s it was called black market work.
country s like Spain and Italy thrived on that type of work however it did catch up with you in the end. by your insurance contribution or lack of it. they would want to know where you were and what you were doing if you signed on to the unemployment scheme =ie the dole. or if you went on the sick through illness or accident. or if you went on strike,wherever you where working at the time. and you claimed. you all ways said you were self employed etc and you had lost your paper work. the thing is now i am retired my state pension is lower than a lot of people because i never paid up my full stamp so it got you twice in the end once you or i got established with a firm full time i paid all my tax and stamps[insurance].at lest then you would never be out of work if you had a pair of hands and fully paid up stamps.
The next job to come my way was 5 miles away from where I lived at Fenny Compton not the concrete but CW Night all round haulier all types of trucks,what I did not know was that 90% of the fitters, and the drivers were all related to the boss who lived within the yard in the village . The make of lorry’s were varied ,Arctic tankers ,8 wheelers 6wheelers 4wheelers,c also 3 old bull nosed -comers- tippers, guy majors ,the whole lot…
It took a while to settle in as it was my first proper driving job and i was not long married… every job was done to time .if you were late the old man would come round give you a bollocking when late it could be 6-30 in the morning and I would be the last one in the yard all the others would be gone…however i started to get the message .i started to drive a 4 wheeler flat bed and we had to load and deliver 2 loads of cement every day from rugby cement at bishops itching -ton. To any where within a 50 mile radius. and it was very rare to get any help to unload your load at any building site. So your day was allays full on .lots of sandwiches eaten no time for café s ,[yet]
You would back under a chute. two of there men would get on the bed [the lorry floor] and you would creep forward as these red hot sacks of cement all weighing [1 cwt. 20 cwt = I ton ] came flying down and they would load them in rows of 4 across left to right as you would be driving forward very slowly as the men got towards the back of the floor they would load them higher so as the weight would be even- they always new when to shout to stop. they knew how many bags to load by the tonnage allocated to that loading chute ,the cement bags were very hot when loaded. the men used to have home made gloves ,made from old lorry inner tyre tube. whenever you had to load there would be a queue of lorries waiting to load all day ,there where 8 wheeler flat beds 6 wheelers and then us 4 wheelers
However i learned after a while if you got there early I mean early you would ask the older drivers if you could back in the 8 wheelers for them so as to gain experience with the bigger lorries , backing in a twin steer 8 wheeler, now that was mega - learning thing to be able to do as not so many firms had the 8 wheelers and were the hardest thing to drive then, probably still are .all so no power steering on any of the lorries then all brute force standing up when going around a roundabout .[that is true] and they had a ratchet hand brake[ also many other lorries had the same ]that you had to ratchet up when stopped
with your right hand as if tightening a pulley,then when the lights changed you had to bang it down to the floor so it knocked, the ratchet off[as if throwing it away] and off you go it got second nature after a time .
It did not take long before i got that it was no problem to drive most lorries,that the company used all though we were not aloud near the big old bull nosed Scammel, it was like the big American long fronted truck they have now ,however it did not have any cab behind the drivers seat ie no bed space just the back of the cab ,just like all the lorries on the road at that time !!!what "“beds”"never, you never would have time to get into them[laughing aloud]so it was the flag ship of the fleet it was the TAR tanker that was used to fill the small tankers that spread the road ready for the chippings to be poured on just as the do today.
What used to happen was a sweeper lorry would go first up a road to get all the muck up,then two men one each side would go up after them with a spade and clean the edges of the grass verges up, and clear the run off cut in the edges of the grass for the rain water to go into the ditches, then the smaller tanker would get ready now this little tanker had a spray behind the rear of the lorry and a heater on the front to keep the tar warm, then the tipper lorry with the chippings would back up to the tanker and he had a chute on the rear by the low bumper of his lorry. so he would then nearly be touching the tar tankers rear spray, about a foot away backed on to a stop bracket on the tanker and they would then begin, the tar tanker going forward in slow gear spewing hot tar on the road and a foot behind, going backwards the chippings would be flowing out on to the hot tar, as the tipper moved the chippings in the tipper would flow as he raised the body also he could end up pushing the tanker if there was a steep hill.
All this going on the tipper driver would be getting all the dust from the chippings in to his cab as then rear view mirrors on lorry’s were no bigger than a base of a saucer,and you had to look backwards half way out of the cab,i can tell you after a day of that you had had enough [" it took years for the size of mirrors to get bigger"] then you would see the big old tanker parked up doing sweet f— all. that was a bum er. then you would get back to the yard later and you would guarantee the tanker would be there blocking the yard or at the fuel pumps doing nothing ,no one dare say
much at-all but guess who did in the end yes me .but it did not do me any good though i was not in the click… but i felt better f–k um afraid that was my attitude
We used to have to go to Avon mouth in the morning to load by hand all kinds of cattle foods etc and deliver it all the same day .i would get up early try to leave the yard by6 to get loaded and get it done but you could guarantee when i was just about down to the docks one of our other lorry’s would be coming out loaded i used to think how do they do it,id no idea. then weeks later i found out they used to give some drivers night out money ,never heard of it before .it was a subsistence allowance for sleeping out and buying food for the next day. but i never ever got offered it so my enthusiasm went .
where i lived there was a local shop very close and the son worked as a fitter at c w nights what i did not know was that he had married the daughter of mr Night i knew he was the head fitter for the company ,one afternoon after unloading cement in the yard i was in the yard about 4 o’clock and had had about enough of a lot of the unfairness but thought it was normal as i was the new man also id been in trouble over my time sheet or something.
anyway in the yard was a brand new Leyland lorry and it was in my way where i had to park so I asked at the garage for the keys and the mr Night was in there ,so he said something like [you not getting that lorry so don’t thing about moving it blah blah] well the son in law was not there then and i go back in to the yard so and i asked him if he would move this new lorry please
,his reply was move it yourself the keys are here.-in his hand. So I opened the door got in,the cab layout was completely new to me the layout and gear stick .stated it up then tried to get it into gear ,well that went well after a lot of scrunching, moved forward, then had to go backwards,well could i get reverse ,noway !i could not figure it out i could see on top of the stick where the markings shown you where each gear was, was to be pushed? but it would not go [what I did not know was you had to lift the gear-stick] then put in to reverse .i soon learned. for future reverence as well.
By now a few drivers were watching, after the scrunching of the gears,by me had gathered, also watching and out of the office Mr night, well he grabbed the door to open it and started yelling [i told you blah, blah,]he went off on one, i tried to explain ,however , he would not listen so I still had the gear stick in my hand ,and I thought right f–k you, and i give it a yank and bloody hell the gear leaver came away right in my hand [it was not on purpose] it was a type of ball socket i did not know so i jumped out faced mr night gear ,stick in my hand and said [[you can stick this gear stick and your f–king lorries up your f–king arse ! well the whole lot of drivers melted away. no one said a word i knew that was it so basically that was it I went to my car and went home that was me done but it was not the end,well nothing bad however,
i was probably the first driver not family to stand up to Mr night as there were so many of the night family working for him they would not say anything its a wonder i did not get into a scrap for shouting the way I did as they would not have liked it however it worked out ok in the end.
and on through the years his son in law who was the head fitter at nights then i used to see him in the pub we never much mentioned it however no one had ever spoken to Mr Night like I had that is why they used to keep most of the drivers within the family… but it did go around the drivers chatter for miles around [my first claim to fame]… also the son in law became the top enforcement officer for the government Ministry of transport in our local area so i did see him now and again and it was all ways civil. and we would chat however people did not know we had a bit of history plus we had lived in the same village .
I cannot truthfully recall where i went to work for a time i would just do anything on building sites e also i think i had a old ford popular car if you did not have transport of your own in our area you were more or less unable to travel for a job however in the end there was a smallish transport company 6miles away that specialised in Cattle Transport i did know some of the drivers so i managed to go and see them and had I sort of interview told them the truth ,i knew a lot of the drivers already there ,which helped, I had a local driving test as to say just around the street , and i got the job. All that backing lorrys in down at the concrete factory paid off.
Having not knowing anything about livestock transport at all my life was about to get very busy covered in ■■■■,work ing day and night,all hours god sent. also a good laugh a lot of the time.
the basic job was in the mornings early you would go to the farms and collect the animals that were to go to the market first you would collect the clean ones like sheep or pigs that you would separate with a portable gate hinged on the side of the cattle box, then maybe a dairy cow at the rear of the box, you were told where to unload once in the market normally dairy-cows had their own spaces
or unloading pens away from the other cattle bays .away from the the loads of other lorry’s all
with the the same idea as to where you wanted to unload so the fun started most times the farmers were at the market before you got there so they would be ,shouting waving etc it was always a good start to the day it could only get worse or better, trouble came where the pigs were unloaded in one place, the sheep in another and in the end it got sorted ,with loads of movements with in the pens lots of shouting. Tempers going up. All good stuff. with the help of the staff and of course ,they were in charge and would all ways be looking for a drink as well, for
opening the pen gates etc… the best bit about the dairy cows you were given a number and stickers to put on their hind quarters and then you had the find the pen [open the cage door] where she should be and you had to put. a loose chain around their necks so they would not chase around, and at the correct numbered place booked for that cow then the farmer would go in and give the udders a good wash and the rear end to look good in the sale ring as they were breeding cows ,so to look their best they were like the young models of the market…also if you were lucky the farmer may give you [what s called a drink]ie= a tip that was maybe a 2 shilling or even half a crown that was 2/6 in old money .enough for 2 pints of course…the whole system worked on backhanders ie drinks. hopefully you were on the receiving end.