This company was hauling fruits from Morocco.
Also semi-tippers with Berliet TR12.
pete smith:
pv83:
I concur with the other lads, most informative post Sir. And honestly, I always reckoned Wolverhampton was just famous for being home to Noddy Holder & coSpotted these two old “fellows” at the docks today, same place as the other worn out ex-army Renault.
And it was a bit closer to home Saviem, this being the Antwerp docks
Cheers, Patrick
Morning Patrick,
I’m sure it is a King lowloader behind Len’s F10 and its got a Lister donkey engine to power the hydraulics, before the F10 Len had a F88, Cheer’s Pete
Hiya Pete,
Cheers for the info!
pv83, Noddy Holder has joined me in hiding just outside of the wonderful (!!!) town of Macclesfield. I presume that he, like me, had someone or something to avoid!
Retired Old ■■■■:
pv83, Noddy Holder has joined me in hiding just outside of the wonderful (!!!) town of Macclesfield. I presume that he, like me, had someone or something to avoid!
Well, never have thought that he would leave his beloved Black Country… 
And honestly, I had to look up Macclesfield on the map… 
proper place to hide I reckon
Cheers, Patrick
I went to Macclesfield once, dropped a big generator off at Tesco. It was one of those ■■■■■■■ powered generators that live in a 40’ box, I think it was Macclesfield anyway.
Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
In the 80/90s, I used to deliver to M 6 Paper Converters on Hurdsfield Ind Est, & Reload from R H Stevens warehouse on Gunco Lane with stuff for Aldi , quite often , It was a great place to load as they worked late hours, Regards Larry.
You mention M6 Papers Larry and I can tell you a bit of info about them. M6 Papers was started by the former sales Director/Manager of the old Barrow Paper Mills which closed not long after Bradys bought out Athersmith Bros. and BPM had been a major customer of Athersmith so it was a bit of a sickener to Jack and Bob Brady when this happened, however not be “done” Jack got involved with the formation of M6 Papers and Bradys became major shareholders. They even had one or two Seddon 32/4’s liveried in the Blue and White colours of M6 Papers. I’m not just sure how long Bradys remained shareholders but they were certainly involved during the mid/late 70’s when I used to see a lot of Jack Brady. M6 didn’t manufacture paper but were just a sales organisation which accounts for the deliveries you say you made to their warehouse in Macclesfield, was it imported paper by any chance ? I wonder if there is any photos knocking about of the M6 Seddons ! Cheers Dennis.
Bewick:
You mention M6 Papers Larry and I can tell you a bit of info about them. M6 Papers was started by the former sales Director/Manager of the old Barrow Paper Mills which closed not long after Bradys bought out Athersmith Bros. and BPM had been a major customer of Athersmith so it was a bit of a sickener to Jack and Bob Brady when this happened, however not be “done” Jack got involved with the formation of M6 Papers and Bradys became major shareholders. They even had one or two Seddon 32/4’s liveried in the Blue and White colours of M6 Papers. I’m not just sure how long Bradys remained shareholders but they were certainly involved during the mid/late 70’s when I used to see a lot of Jack Brady. M6 didn’t manufacture paper but were just a sales organisation which accounts for the deliveries you say you made to their warehouse in Macclesfield, was it imported paper by any chance ? I wonder if there is any photos knocking about of the M6 Seddons ! Cheers Dennis.
Hi Dennis, Yes it was imported paper, It was from Finland, Which was shipped onto the Port Of Blyth,M 6 Papers was a good drop no hanging about, The good old days , Regards Larry.
![2Pegaso1086 [gr].jpg](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/uploads/trucknetuk/original/3X/2/8/28785c7408cc5b4ce0fdf67d4bfb87b5f6b00777.jpeg)
One of Dinguidards proper trailers, and as Michel says, Fruit from Casablanca, Morocco.
Lastly today, one from a while back and more up to date…
newmercman:
This pic intrigues me, the trailers are looking well used and are confusing me, the horses head points at the contents, but there’s no apparent refrigeration unit and it doesn’t look like any live animal transporter I’ve ever seen, so what is going on?
Sent from my SM-T805W using Tapatalk
Evening all
Not such a puzzle if you know the operator Mark. They could be being used as dry freight, or even prepared for export or resale, (his name has been removed from the sides, you can just see the outline). André was a dab hand at dealing, I remember him buying some Trailor/Chereau fridges back from Pekaes in Poland, and sending them down to the Gulf. As Michel says in the past he ran a lot of tippers, and North Africa was a regular operation, as was the run to both Iraq, and Iran. Very tidy fleet, from the early Somua/Saviems, up to those Euro cab ones, (the picture shows “local” non TIR tractors. Dinguidard also ran Volvo`s on his Moyen Orient work from his Aureiham, Hautes Pyrenees location.
But while I was working away today grinding up and down, with a set of painfully squeaky rollers, (thankfully drowning out the thump thump yet again emanating from the V Festival up the valley), I started to think about the European operators that I knew who who did work to Africa and the Middle East in the 70s and 80s . Some had been doing this work from the 1960s, Worthrich Europatrans from Suisse, Hollands Rynart Brothers, Johan Everson & sonnen Norway, and perhaps Frances first Moyen Orient operator, Lucien Laurent, Rue Henri Lebrun Tours. I’m aware that the UKs Asian Transport was also active in this period, but I have no personal experience of them.
Lucien`s first load was described to me as a “chicken shed, for a filthy rich Iranian”…must have been a big shed, it completely filled the Bussing 235hp LU11 unterflur , and its Delanoue-Cinq bodied Trailor drawbar! Lucien had purchased this Bussing from the enigmatic Boulogne-Bilancourt based concessionaire Garabidian back in 1966. The wooden framed alloy panelled sleeper cab proving an ideal workplace for the growing traffic to Greece and Yugoslavia for his main client Bekoto prefabricated buildings. The lorry strong and reliable. For this inaugural trip it was to be double manned. Both were ex military, one Army, (long service in Algeria, and a fluent Arabic speaker), the other an ex Naval engineer…one to interpret, one to mend, (if they brokedown). The only weak point of the Bussing being its half shafts, so spares were carried.
They arrived at their destination near Tehran on 07.07.67, 23 days after leaving Tours. In Tehran the crew met a French Military Attache, who in turn introduced them to a Hindu businessman, who was keen for them to return with a load of carpets for Munich, Paris, and London!..When this message was received by Lucien…he declined, thinking that the risk of theft be to great with such a cargo…so the Bussing was returned empty to Italy, where it was loaded with Montova Marble for Paris…a regular “known” job!
Lucien dryly said, recounting this first, (of many), trip, “when the rear of the trailer went out of sight around the corner, I wondered if and when I would see it again”! In fact a great deal of his indignation was directed at the documentation provided by the Automobile Club de France being in two languages, Arabic…and English!
Top of any listing of French Moyen Orient Transporters must be my bete noir, Transports Stouff and her 400 TR280 Berliets…and their sudden and cataclysmic financial demise…truly an operation worthy of some words one night,…perhaps with the courage of a few fine single Malts!..but an incredible story to tell.
But then come warm, and fond memories, of individuals, company`s, and great times…
VIT, (Valenton International Transports), a company that I have written about previously at some length, a superb “people” operation…
ONATRA, from Vitrolles, I am still in touch with some of the friends I made dealing with this quite incredible operation…
.
Lamy Transports Mantes (78), , specialists to Iraq…
Chapuis Venissieux, not just Middle East, but Africa, and down to Nigeria as well. A firm Somua client, then Saviem, lots of little SG 4, %s, then Berliets wonderful, (well on paper at least), air suspended lightweight, the Stradair. Relax cab Berliet TRs, then the Saviems, 4x2 3oo V8s, and 6x4s…(.better to cross the Sahara with)…74, and Berliet TR280s, 76 saw 50 SM280 TuT turbo 4x2s in the fleet.
Berliet used a picture of two TR320 V8s in Chapuis livery on their brochure for that model…except both were belonging to a sub contractor, and running in Chapuis livery!..but a great picture, taken in Turkey I believe…then there was the tri partite venture in Saudi Arabia…Trans-Arabia…30 Saviem SM tractors, and 60 Trailor trailers, the participents were Chapuis, Saviem, and a “cousin of the King”…(.nothing whatsoever to do with the S Jones operation of the same name)…Capuis had a strong presence in the French Moyen Orient history, not least because of two books written by its drivers, …Hernandez, (Leigonaire), who drove to Nigeria, wrote, “Route International”, and the tear jerking best seller, “Chien perdu en Arabie”, (dog lost in Arabia), about his own dog, “Louky”, by André Mariette…fact…or great fiction? The Jury is out on that one…
Gerard Lochum, ran from his Marignane 13 a very professional operation, Transports Lochum. Alas the bumps along the way proved to hard, and it is no more.
Another casualty was the three Sisternas brothers 10, or 12 unit Middle Eastern specialist operation from the Aube. Yet one day, I met one of their ex staff in the Gennervilliers premises of Heavy Hauler Robert Leyx, (Scales).
Reims based Transports Adnet ran their very smart cream Ford Transcontinentals without any Ford badging whatsoever…preferring to pretend that they were Berliets…for they drove to countries where the US product name would have not helped!
Roger Magaud, Saint André, in the Haute Alpes was still sending drivers down to the deserts in 60s Relax cab TR12 Berliets…and with reliability.
Penne Di Agenais based Transports Lompech, run by the delightful André and his wife Pierrette sent their very tidy F88/F89, and later F12 fleet on many trips. Yet each new destination was personally tried by them , that way they knew what their drivers were to expect, and how to deal with it. They knew the ropes, and woe betide any driver who tried it on…he could expect a long walk down a very short plank!
Jean Bianchi`s F88 8speed chrome grills not only made it from their Mougins, Cannes base down to Iraq, and Iran, but also into Africa, and as far as Niger!..but coming from where they were based, at least they were used to the sunshine!
Then there was Courvoisier from Dijon, Autaa Artix from the Pyrenees Atlantic, Marninter, with that home made "super Globetrotter Man 232, and his 2800 DAF, Mehuts from Nancy, Fontenay, father and son, and so many more that I shall become boring!
Calberson, that giant of French road transport, sent both its, and its subsidiary Bourgey-Montreuils Saviems, and Berliets down through Turkey…and the broadcasts by the late Max Meyner, “Routiers sont Sympa”, from the studios on top of their multi story Parisien warehouse did much to create the image, and awareness within the French public of the vital service that road transport provided for their country,…and the sacrifices that the drivers made just to do their job properly…and then came the Moyen Orient…and the Lingnards, (the linesmen), the role of the drivers who drove all that way, trip after trip…the image was born.
Transports Cary, whose white DAF 2800s were once, for a brief time so regular on the routes to the East…then they were gone…no there is a story worth telling…the man behind it…and the impact upon DAF France…(maybe I am not alone having a “bete noir”)!
The superb Limoges operation of Jacques Bernis, whose red and white Saviems from the 300 strong fleet were constant on the Middle East run, and not just Iran and Iraq, for Bernis were the pioneers on Operation Marco Polo, a trade mission to Saudi Arabia, transporting, and showing goods from Machine Tools, and domestic appliances, to conserves, and mineral water…and the trade that followed, Bernis transported it .
Before I close this trip down memory lane, may I just write a little about an operator, still in business today, that I met in my short time in Norway.
Johan Evenson & sonnen, Sandefjord. In the 1960s a substantial operator, whose clients included Norwegian shipping operation Einar Sunby A.S. Evensen often carried ships spares, and specialised stores down to southern Europe to service the needs of Einar Sunby. Mainly the southern Italian Ports, or Sicily. But in 1969 the Suez Canal was closed due to the 6 days war, and the ships were relocated to Bander Abbas on the Straights of Hormuz in Iran.
The question was posed, “Could Evenson service such a contract?”…
From October 1969, to October 1975, Evensons Scania outfits completed 106 such trips, 16000 kms each return journey, double manned, (in the majority of cases), on average taking 19 to 24 days, (the record being the 5th trip, done in 17 days! The Bander Abbas Express was written on the headboards of the LB76 Scania`s, and the later 140s.
Was it profitable?..looking at their operation in the 70s and 80s, just in terms of real estate…yes…and they are still around…and really do not regard this operation as anything out of the ordinary…real understatement.
Later Scania made a publicity film, only due to Political change named it “The Dubai Express”
Maybe I should write a little about Evenson`s operation, and transport in Norway in general…but I’m away for a Bollinger and bed.
Cheerio for now.
Fergie47:
Eight wheelers, starting with an unusal Renault…
The “unusual Renault” looks to me like a Spanish Barreiros D 340. Previously fitted with a locally produced cab and badged Dodge. I always loved 8-wheelers, probably because they looked exotic to us French until 1992, when their GW was raised to 32 tonnes. Thanks for all these interesting pictures!
I can also remember that the French operator Graveleau had a Maghreb division with a big presence in and out of Morocco with sturdy, ribbed garment trailers. Also SCAC went into Morocco. And whose were the (French) trailers on North Africa work with the big oriental pictures on the sides of the trailers - I can’t remember? Then there was Guanter Rodriguez (not very French sounding, I know). Robert
Saviem
Would Lucien Laurent of Tours be the same as Tpts Laurent at Parcey Meslay ? , later taken over by Dentressangle.
Just going through my daily read of your excellent recall Mr Saviem and the “The Bander Abbas Express” mention caught my attention having in the past looked at some of the Youtube footage, there’s a series of 6 and this is No 1 youtube.com/watch?v=RpFgPOQHUOg
Also a couple of screen shots taken from one of the videos dunno if it’s Mr Evensen or a couple of drivers remeniscing also one of the earlier trucks.
Oily
