Question from a non-lorry driver

ezydriver:

Carryfast:

ezydriver:
I’m just thinking, back in the 80s I can’t recall seeing any European lorries with flat bed trailers that were roped and sheeted. They were mostly [u]tilts[/u] and [u]fridges[/u]. So I’m not sure it’s accurate to have a Polish lorry collecting a backload from the UK, and then roping and sheeting it. Somebody may correct me, but I really can’t recall seeing it. Then and again, 99.99999% of your non-lorry driving readers would never know this pedantic detail, so perhaps you could see this as writers’ licence.

The idea of changing the story line to managing to hide in a tilt between it being loaded and then closed up is going to be much more realistic than the idea of hiding under a roped and sheeted flat doing TIR work.To which we’ve then got the added suspense of will he be found by the driver or loading staff or a possible routine check of the load when the trailer is sealed. :bulb: :wink:

Yeah, the lad knows (or at least assumes) it’s a Polish truck being reloaded for Poland because of its Polish plates. So if he hides in sight of the truck being loaded, the driver could be snoozing in his cab, the loaders could go for a tea break, and the lad could choose that moment to creep in the back of the tilt, hide behind some pallets, and then go through his journey. Then, as you say, it creates a will he/won’t he be found? suspense. The problem for Cavalier is that tilts can’t be opened from the inside, unless the lad has a knife so he can cut his way through the side.

I think the story line is that the destination is a ‘friendly’ country/regime.So it’s then just a case of being patient and waiting for the truck to be tipped at the end of the journey where he’ll claim asylum. :bulb: On that note are we sure this story isn’t a wind up dream’t up by Dolph or Orys. :smiling_imp: :laughing: :laughing:

Your protagonist has a problem.Trailers are made to prevent (or make obvious) any tampering. Many curtainsiders bear scars where they have been torn and repaired. The repair is done with a patch of the material from which the curtain is made, which is “welded” on using a “super hair drier”. Might be possible to do it from the inside. I don’t think closing the rear “barn doors” from the inside is feasible. The roof of most trailers are vulnerable, being made with thin aluminium which could be cut with a knife or tin opener and pushed back into place. Clinging to the underside is possible. A person clinging to the front grill would be invisible from the driving seat. No, I suggest that you just write, “… with one bound, he was free!”

The idea of climbing under the tarpaulin does have legs, there were still a good number of flatbed trailers around in the early 1980s. If the country is under this dictatorship, then assuming the rest of your story hints at it, then there would be a good reason for some things to lag behind time-wise making this type of vehicle far more common.

You will find 91 pages of endless discussion and photographs of sheeted loads on the Old Time vehicles section of this forum. Looking at the scruffier examples particularly shows how easy it would be to loosen ropes, climb underneath and pull the sheet back around using the sheet rope he untied.

The one difficulty with a sheeted load would be international transport and customs procedure in the actual 1980s. The majority of loads would have been in Tilt trailers about which there will be pictures and discussion about if you type it into the search facility of the forum. It would not be so easy to get into a Tilt and disguise it.

Just make your character climb up and behind the unit wind deflector. That tactic seems to be popular with the Calais Massif. Seems like a good place to me. I’d imagine security officers would be more interested in the trailer.

Malky80:
Just make your character climb up and behind the unit wind deflector. That tactic seems to be popular with the Calais Massif. Seems like a good place to me. I’d imagine security officers would be more interested in the trailer.

Did we have wind deflectors in the 80s ? men were men back then, none of this namby pamby aerodynamics (my tasselled curtains are looking all dishevelled) wind deflector ■■■■■■■■.

But back to the OP, can the stowaway not just bribe the driver with 40 woodbines and a 6 pack of Tennents Lager Lovelies ? link for those who re too young to remember the tin can fame

the checks are not that rigorous today,the scumbags are still getting into the UK

Bluey Circles:

Malky80:
Just make your character climb up and behind the unit wind deflector. That tactic seems to be popular with the Calais Massif. Seems like a good place to me. I’d imagine security officers would be more interested in the trailer.

Did we have wind deflectors in the 80s ? men were men back then, none of this namby pamby aerodynamics (my tasselled curtains are looking all dishevelled) wind deflector ■■■■■■■■.

But back to the OP, can the stowaway not just bribe the driver with 40 woodbines and a 6 pack of Tennents Lager Lovelies ? link for those who re too young to remember the tin can fame

My bad. I never noticed he’d said it was set in the early 80’s.

Malky80:

Bluey Circles:

Malky80:
Just make your character climb up and behind the unit wind deflector. That tactic seems to be popular with the Calais Massif. Seems like a good place to me. I’d imagine security officers would be more interested in the trailer.

Did we have wind deflectors in the 80s ? men were men back then, none of this namby pamby aerodynamics (my tasselled curtains are looking all dishevelled) wind deflector ■■■■■■■■.

But back to the OP, can the stowaway not just bribe the driver with 40 woodbines and a 6 pack of Tennents Lager Lovelies ? link for those who re too young to remember the tin can fame

My bad. I never noticed he’d said it was set in the early 80’s.

have just re-read the OP and the 80s don’t seem to get a mention, it must have been my imagination! - may be its me that should be on Jackanory - LOL

Bluey Circles:

Malky80:

Bluey Circles:

Malky80:
Just make your character climb up and behind the unit wind deflector. That tactic seems to be popular with the Calais Massif. Seems like a good place to me. I’d imagine security officers would be more interested in the trailer.

Did we have wind deflectors in the 80s ? men were men back then, none of this namby pamby aerodynamics (my tasselled curtains are looking all dishevelled) wind deflector ■■■■■■■■.

But back to the OP, can the stowaway not just bribe the driver with 40 woodbines and a 6 pack of Tennents Lager Lovelies ? link for those who re too young to remember the tin can fame

My bad. I never noticed he’d said it was set in the early 80’s.

have just re-read the OP and the 80s don’t seem to get a mention, it must have been my imagination! - may be its me that should be on Jackanory - LOL

You were right m8. He said it was set in the 1980’s in one of his subsequent posts.

is this not a question from a Taliban/flipflop working out how to best smuggle in another bunch of vermin without getting caught,and to see how long they could realistically be inside the box before looking at the gps on their new smartphones and realising the trucks not stopping at Coventry enableing them to dial 999 so they can either be rescued at Hilton park,or trowel services as they can close the motorways for 8 hours easier there before treating them for dehydration and trauma before airlifting them by helicopter to hospital just to be on the safe side ,while the cops try to find some evidence to crucify the driver/owner unless he also is a flipflop…surely a scenario to consider as its getting more difficult the closer to Calais as the situation worsens on a daily basis? :confused:

dieseldog999:
is this not a question from a Taliban/flipflop working out how to best smuggle in another bunch of vermin without getting caught,and to see how long they could realistically be inside the box before looking at the gps on their new smartphones and realising the trucks not stopping at Coventry enableing them to dial 999 so they can either be rescued at Hilton park,or trowel services as they can close the motorways for 8 hours easier there before treating them for dehydration and trauma before airlifting them by helicopter to hospital just to be on the safe side ,while the cops try to find some evidence to crucify the driver/owner unless he also is a flipflop…surely a scenario to consider as its getting more difficult the closer to Calais as the situation worsens on a daily basis? :confused:

Nail on head as usual

With a sheeted load our hero may be able to find a weak spot for entry.

Ropes would normally be very long and go over the sheet multiple times as well as some creative Cris cross formations single or double dollied each side , licked off with a loop then chucked over again till you ran out of rope and needed a new piece.

Could try this…

For this mini story my hero is named Roger, a good looking olive skinned young man in his early 30’s, 6 foot tall, muscular but slender physique and suffering from a slight limp due to a horse riding injury sustained in his teens.
He will be wearing dark blue jeans and a dirty white T shirt and grey trainers…

Right then so we join Roger mid chase through a small forest, day is breaking and tiny glimmers of sunshine are cascading through the tree branches like laser beams at a pop concert.

Roger feels like he has been running all night, the racing of his heart and panting of his breath is only drowned out by the snaps and crunches of the twigs underfoot. His pursuers are not far behind, perhaps just a minute or two and gaining all the time. Pushed on by sheer fear and adrenaline Roger can hear the dogs barking closing on him all the time with his scent filling their nostrils as they get more and more excited in anticipation of catching their prey.

A clearing comes into view and the glisten of black tarmac signals the edge of the forest.
Now what!! Roger thought, surely they will catch me in the open.

Then Roger sees a chance, over the road he can just make out a lorry park with a handful of trucks still parked yet to set off on their days journey.
Running over and only just hidden by the raising sun Roger runs between the trucks hoping to find an open door, but they are all locked and with the sound of the hunt dogs almost deafening he feels all hope is lost.
Then he spots it, a lone blue truck with English plates its trailer covered in green and grey tarpaulin sheets, the cab windows of the truck have curtains across them signaling the driver may still be asleep. Roger can just make out another registration plate stuck in the cab windscreen that reads ‘Dipper Dave’.

“This is my last chance” Roger thought.
Quietly walking around the truck Roger looks for an opening but the sheet is to tight and covered in heavily secured rope. “I’ll never get in here” he thinks, but then he notices some loose ropes at the back and a small piece of tarpaulin rippling in the lite breeze.

It takes all of Rogers remaining strength to squeeze underneath the sheet but just as the hunting party is bearing down on him he makes it…

Cramped against the boxes with musty smelling sheeting squashing him down Roger hasn’t got time to catch his breath as the dogs are sniffing round the truck and the lights from torches are buzzing all around him, voices of his pursuers can be heard with muffled grunts of disappointment signaling the hunt is over. Even the heightened sense of smell the dogs posses couldn’t distinguish him from the nasty smells under the lorries sheets.

10 excruciating minutes that feel like hours pass by till Roger can catch his breath, now soaked in sweat and panting like one of the over excited dogs chasing him Roger can relax for a moment.

But no soon had Roger got his breath back than he was suddenly gripped with fear all over again as he realised he was not alone under the sheet.
Roger could just make out the trembling outline of a scantily dressed young lady in her late twenties whose hunched frame under the sheet was greatly enhanced by erect ■■■■■■■ trying to escape from her tight bra.
“Hello” she says with a quite trembling yet soft voice…

[Just a rough draft to help with possibilities, sorry lads I’ve run out of time so will have to stop there.]

xhamster here we come at the next layby… :smiling_imp:

Freight Dog:

Cavalier:

ezydriver:
If you said “he unpicked the dolly knot”, it would be much more authentic and specific, because this type of knot was very popular in the days of roping and sheeting.

Thank you very, very, very much – and is it okay for him just to leave it untied once he’s got in under the canvas?

I’d write in that the character noticed the rope dangling down to the floor and hearing footsteps of the driver, quickly reached a hand down and pulled the rope up under the canvas. Dollies are quite long when undone. I don’t think I can do it on my device, but maybe someone can upload an example pic of a dolly knot on a sheeted trailer to show you. Be good to visualise it

Not meaning to be pedantic but a dolly is used just to tension the rope, the rope is “tied off” using a couple of half hitches :wink:

Reef:

Freight Dog:

Cavalier:

ezydriver:
If you said “he unpicked the dolly knot”, it would be much more authentic and specific, because this type of knot was very popular in the days of roping and sheeting.

Thank you very, very, very much – and is it okay for him just to leave it untied once he’s got in under the canvas?

I’d write in that the character noticed the rope dangling down to the floor and hearing footsteps of the driver, quickly reached a hand down and pulled the rope up under the canvas. Dollies are quite long when undone. I don’t think I can do it on my device, but maybe someone can upload an example pic of a dolly knot on a sheeted trailer to show you. Be good to visualise it

Not meaning to be pedantic but a dolly is used just to tension the rope, the rope is “tied off” using a couple of half hitches :wink:

So it is. Dolly and half hitches. 14 years since I tied one. Wonder if I can still do it :smiley: . Probably knot…

Freight Dog:
So it is. Dolly and half hitches. 14 years since I tied one. Wonder if I can still do it :smiley: . Probably knot…

Only tied dollies about 3 times in anger but my HGV instructor used to get me to tie them with my eyes closed as part of his training regime. Tried to do one in my garage just now and was rubbish :blush: :blush: . More practice needed for my own amusement but can’t see a real life/professional need any time soon.

cav551:
The idea of climbing under the tarpaulin does have legs, there were still a good number of flatbed trailers around in the early 1980s. If the country is under this dictatorship, then assuming the rest of your story hints at it, then there would be a good reason for some things to lag behind time-wise making this type of vehicle far more common.

You will find 91 pages of endless discussion and photographs of sheeted loads on the Old Time vehicles section of this forum. Looking at the scruffier examples particularly shows how easy it would be to loosen ropes, climb underneath and pull the sheet back around using the sheet rope he untied.

The one difficulty with a sheeted load would be international transport and customs procedure in the actual 1980s. The majority of loads would have been in Tilt trailers about which there will be pictures and discussion about if you type it into the search facility of the forum. It would not be so easy to get into a Tilt and disguise it.

Realistically the window of opportunity,IE getting in among the load and hiding ‘before’ the tilt cover is closed and the cord put through,sounds a lot more credible than either trying to do same or get under the sheet of an already roped and sheeted flat or into a closed tilt.Or a roped and sheeted flat being used for international work.

Not meaning to be pedantic but a dolly is used just to tension the rope, the rope is “tied off” using a couple of half hitches :wink:
[/quote]
Nor is a dolly ‘unpicked’ you just release the locked hitches at the rope hooks then when the tension is removed you just pull the rope through and the dolly just falls apart back to a straight piece of rope.

On that note it’s going to be mission impossible to hide under a sheet then either release the ropes or re tie it all from within/under the sheet.

Carryfast:
Nor is a dolly ‘unpicked’ you just release the locked hitches at the rope hooks then when the tension is removed you just pull the rope through and the dolly just falls apart back to a straight piece of rope.

On that note it’s going to be mission impossible to hide under a sheet then either release the ropes or re tie it all from within/under the sheet.

Carryfast, reducing every thread to a mud flat of pedantry just to get an oar in on the job as he wasn’t given credit for an actual idea :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: .

Well done ezy son. Your painting was better than CF - you won the school prize, despite CF trying to find fault with the shade of water colour :laughing:

I feel carryfast’s pain, I’ve put a right shift in on this and never got a mention in dispatches.