Got stopped by robbo on east Lancs ,saw him as I was going eastbound,he was going westbound,next thing he was in front of me blue lighting into next layby,got in cab with his briefcase and checked every tacho I had .had a word with me then on his way
Chris Webb:
I worked regular nights for 8 years for Glass Glover Distribution.Our shifts were 9 hours,everything was legal,no need to run bent. I had to stop many times for a break when starting to nod off,always near end of shift.A cup of tea and a ■■■ with a ten minute break was sufficient. I got plenty of kip in the daytime as well,so daytime rest was not an issue. As Chris ADR says,anybody who says they never nodded off at the wheel are - to put it politely - fibbing.Chris
I agree with you, I started driving HGVS, In the 50s, I went to work on a Mon Morning then went along the Quayside at Newcastle on Tyne, Hung about till the lazey ■■■■■■■ dockers decided to start work unloading the Danish Bacon Boat The Blenda IIRC, When I eventually got loaded with bales of Bacon for Manchester, Jonny Baxter would phone the customer in Manchester , J.Stocks & Co Ltd Hanging Ditch Corn Exchange, And say that I was loaded, Would they like it ASAP, Of course YES Was the answer, So I set off post haste and delivered the Bacon which I was rewarded with a £1.00 tip for getting there, Plus this Danish Bacon would be be in the shops on Tuesday the following day, These were the days that I enjoyed as a long distance wagon driver, And Im sure there is lots of my old mates out there that will remember these great times when every bodey mucked in and got the job done & Got paid for it, Regards Larry.
I’ve heard about robbo the copper. I’ve seen him loads of times parked right on the corner at greyhound island. I’ve never seen him pull anything though and always thought, why have a speed trap there? You couldn’t exactly speed over greyhound island, well not without getting very closely acquainted with the horses in the field. I believe he was a right arse with the truckers - a bit like lyle Wallace (convoy). He hated truckers, don’t think he realised it was trucks that brought his food on his table.lol
Funny how everyone in the Wigan and leigh area knows of robbo.
drink a can of coke in 1 gulp,stick your head out the window at 60mph and stick a bottle of water into each eyeball,do your in cab karaoke at the top of your voice,machine gun passing drivers by aiming at them with a flys bum on the windscreen,then phone your mate and talk ■■■■■ till you can concentrate again.all works well if you need to be where you need to be whether its 1980 or otherwise…the advantage for me is that living now in ireland,i had to wind my clock back 30 years when i drove off the ferry. 
dieseldog999:
drink a can of coke in 1 gulp,stick your head out the window at 60mph and stick a bottle of water into each eyeball,do your in cab karaoke at the top of your voice,machine gun passing drivers by aiming at them with a flys bum on the windscreen,then phone your mate and talk [zb] till you can concentrate again.all works well if you need to be where you need to be whether its 1980 or otherwise…the advantage for me is that living now in ireland,i had to wind my clock back 30 years when i drove off the ferry.
you forgot the wind the passenger window down(no electric) and ■■■■ near freeze to death trying to keep awake remember one day was so tired heading to Cairnryan for the 7am boat ,I finally gave in for a 15min over the wheel just before the caravan site (auchenlarie??)old wind up alarm clock on the dash was about 4am and dark woke up it was still dark 7pm!!..was more tired than I thought after only around 30+ hrs on the go…
JIMBO47:
dieseldog999:
drink a can of coke in 1 gulp,stick your head out the window at 60mph and stick a bottle of water into each eyeball,do your in cab karaoke at the top of your voice,machine gun passing drivers by aiming at them with a flys bum on the windscreen,then phone your mate and talk [zb] till you can concentrate again.all works well if you need to be where you need to be whether its 1980 or otherwise…the advantage for me is that living now in ireland,i had to wind my clock back 30 years when i drove off the ferry.
you forgot the wind the passenger window down(no electric) and ■■■■ near freeze to death trying to keep awake remember one day was so tired heading to Cairnryan for the 7am boat ,I finally gave in for a 15min over the wheel just before the caravan site (auchenlarie??)old wind up alarm clock on the dash was about 4am and dark woke up it was still dark 7pm!!..was more tired than I thought after only around 30+ hrs on the go…
oops…i was meaning that its still the norm today for the flogged to death subbies and the rest of us on trip money here…old habits die hard.
aye bud ,just a wee bit of course …im on by the hr from the minute I clock in to the min I walk out the door at night over here and some other redi mix aggregate haulers are on tonnage or trip money so I just hold her over an shout them on past old habits die hard… still make them wait their turn to load though…lol
JIMBO47:
aye bud ,just a wee bit of course …im on by the hr from the minute I clock in to the min I walk out the door at night over here and some other redi mix aggregate haulers are on tonnage or trip money so I just hold her over an shout them on past old habits die hard…
…
I was an owner driver for 15 years, don’t think a week went buy without the need to bend the rules, 4 hour tip at tesco then 2 hours to reload and make a 6 am booking back north. Something has to give 6 hours daily rest was the norm and 5 days running 15 hours a day.
You’d be labeled a greedy cowboy but it wwasn’t greed it was nessesity and sercumstance.
I cannot recall running bent in the 80s and 90s as most firms I worked for were very keen on doing everything legal and even in the 60s and 70s it was only done to suit me as I did seem too manage to get my old log sheets dirty so I would have to make a new one out, sometimes it was down to being uneducated and no qualifications and learning off of some very good old boys.
cheers Johnnie 
used to work for onward transport in the 70s & 80, never got paid by the hour, got paid on a points system , brilliant scheme for grafters, got wage slips from 1975 over £300 pw plus nights out, thought it was a good wage till I heard what ici drivers were getting 
but there was more work and less traffic in those days. never really had to run bent , but used to make a bit of time up by overnight parking in places we were loading at like paper mills, caberboard,docks, etc etc and it still goes on, container terminals etc,
I used to go with one driver who would drop the cable off for 45 mins twice a day and at the end off the day too ,also another who had a switch on the dash with a T marked on in tipex and a bull dog clip next to it with delivery notes on to cover it up ,I’ve also known plenty convert to pull stops too !
Dan Punchard:
I used to go with one driver who would drop the cable off for 45 mins twice a day and at the end off the day too ,also another who had a switch on the dash with a T marked on in tipex and a bull dog clip next to it with delivery notes on to cover it up ,I’ve also known plenty convert to pull stops too !
Did this person have a square head and 2 brothers, lives in a ‘relatively’ small town? 
andrewv8:
Dan Punchard:
I used to go with one driver who would drop the cable off for 45 mins twice a day and at the end off the day too ,also another who had a switch on the dash with a T marked on in tipex and a bull dog clip next to it with delivery notes on to cover it up ,I’ve also known plenty convert to pull stops too !Did this person have a square head and 2 brothers, lives in a ‘relatively’ small town?
A one horse town ,and half a finger !
Bet you can play a mean banjo with 6 fingers can you squeel like a pig to. After reading the last few posts I had visions of deliverance.
Please tell me what running bent means, I have led a very sheltered life,both before the war & after, I spent most of my life in the haulage game & did what I was asked to do when I worked as a driver, I then went on to be a owner driver & built a small family Haulage Co.up, And I am happily retired enjoying the rest of my years, So can anyone answer my question please, ? Regards Larry.
i think it means tat some people cheated and broke the rules larry , and fine upstanding hauliers like dunbar transport would , i’m sure , never stoop to such low practises . i was the same , pure as the driven snow . cheers , dave
But if you think on it Bosses never forced us to exceed the page of the log book, at least as far as the companies that I worked on was concerned. No, we did it for our own convenience, or the money, or the craic, or to see the mystery or just to do the right job and get there. And in those blissful days we did not have a bit of advanced electronics spying on us 24 hours of the day.
It may be my creaking memory but Drivers were a different breed of men back then, different in our pride for the job and our attitude about it. At least that’s how I remember it. It just felt good doing the right job and coming down the road with a neatly sheeted load and a tidy wagon.
David
As Lawrence said what does this mean… I suppose it is a broad subject,not just drivers hours which if we needed an hour or half hour it was our choice. But on international belly tanks which were needed or the biggest was permits how many of us waited at boarders to swap them or how many of us knew they were genuine we got the job done the best we could and as safely as we could not like today we can’t even change a bulb let alone a blowout!! Some changes have been welcomed others stop boys from being men…