Once took a shoe box sized package from Newcastle to Cadiz once. Got paid round trip rates too so just took it in my car.
With hindsight I would’ve flown sleazy jet to Marbella and hired a car, would’ve been cheaper.
Last April went and picked up the designated trailer, all nicely sealed. Notes said 40% load and I toddled off from Bham to Swansea at 1am. Go to the drop and queued up for 15mins before backing onto the bay. Next thing I hear is the guys laughing like *. Seems I had just I box of freshly cut flowers sitting on a pallet - the pallet weighed more than the load 
When I was working for GBE I was empty in Valencia and was sent to Peaugot at Mullhouse on the French/ German /Swiss border to load.
How’s this for silly then?
Asleep at home in Denver Colorado about midnight one snowy night when I got a call. Urgent trip! Denver to Detroit and back ASAP!
Got to the airport to find them trying to load a wooden crate into the Learet. The crate was too wide for the door, so they opened it up and threw the load into the cabin. Total weight of the load? 150lbs. It was fan belts! GM was about to run out. Gates Rubber the, manuacturer of the belts, was in Denver so they had hired us to take the belts to Detroit!
Total cost of over $23000 for the trip!!
The guy we met in Detroit said that even at that, it was far cheaper than the cost of shutting the production line down; even for a few hours!! 
Had fun on the way back. We were empty; so we did some aerobatics!! Way cool! 
When Tescos ahd an RDC in Strood, Kent, i used to do smoe night runs for them on my days off from Shift work.
Went in one night, could I take an empty 45’ to Westbury? No probs, off I went.
Arrived Westbury, dropped the MT trailer off in the park and round to dispatch for the return trl.
Alright ‘drive’ you from Strood? Yes, ah good, can you take an MT 45’ to Strood?
Yeah I’ll take the one back I’ve just bought then…
NO! Take another, we dont management thinking you have had a wasted journey!!
Every Little counts!!
Took 1 bolt from Coventry to Port Talbot steel works,
numerous time I have gone from UK to all Peugeot plants around France,with only small packages.
when I had my own van Rugby to Porto 1 pump 120kg
when I was on Richard Fords… empty Appledoorn,NL to Como,I and Orly airport to Como empty
newmercman:
I once ran empty with one of those old 12m spreadaxle Bulgarian tilts that Davies Turner used to pull for Willi Betz from Hamburg to Audi at Ingolstadt to pick up a box of 12 light bulbs for a display at Silverstone circuit
That’s reminds me when I once had delivery to some site in Glasgow city centre and I had to drive arround for over 40 minutes as there was no place for me due to double decker artic parked in front of gate. When I finally managed to park after he was gone, some Polish construction workers were still laughing “this guy was looking inside his lorry for over an hour to find one fluorescent light for us”
OK.
I tell you one story, it’s not well due to what my friend did, but what the hell.
He was an agency driver in Scotland and he didn’t speak english almost all. He was able to understand some basic words, so he was pretending to understand and was agreeing “yes” for everything what they were talking to him as long as there was “GO” and showing him an adress of the lines included.
He was told “Go to X service and pick up the lorry for company X and go to Aberdeen. Lines and load is on the lorry”.
He went there and with a really big problem he managed to understand that lorry is not fixed yet, but he can go. But trailer was empty, but they showed him that the load (small box of the size of small TV) was lying under passenger feet. So he jumped into the lorry and drove to Aberdeen. It’s worth to mention in this moment of the story, that it was this european type tractor with huge tanks… He noticed really heavy usage of fuel, but he don’t cared as it wasn’t his lorry… On the way back he had to stop for his break and he smelled diesel. It turned to that there is a hole if the tank and fuel is slowly leaking through it, so he was scared and he sit all his 45 minutes on the other end of the car park, prying that no-one will throw his cigarette end through the window.
Story was like that: The service company told him (what he don’t understanded): “The lorry is not fixed yet, as there was a hole in the tank and new tank didn’t arrived yet. But we’ve putted full tank for you and it should be enaugh for you to go to Aberdeen and back before fuel will leak out. So you can go if you want to take the risk”. And as he didn’t got a word, he agreed for that and went away, as there were words “Go” and “Aberdeen” in it.
Yes, I would not believe that story either if that would not be my friend who was telling that to me.
Stupid for him, but how stupid that company must be? Apart of safety issues almost 1000 litres of diesel was wasted - it would be cheaper to hire a vintage rolls to deliver that parcel 
bugcos:
Sat on a bay for just under 3 hours today, fell asleep, paperwork got bought out to me, “pull off the bay briver and seal it up”I did and this is what I was loaded with, i kid you not
It weighed 16 kilos in total!!!
you need to keep an eye open in future,that you dont go over your axle weight.
I was asked to work on boxing day for £200 to do one run up to Peterborough from Hitchin. I was told that I’d be taking 800 units, which didn’t mean much to me at the time, but it turned out there were 400 (sat-navs) on a small pallet. So on they went, two small pallets onto my eighteen tonner, boss went home, I locked up and left. I was back in the yard a little over two hours later.
Best day I’ve had in ages!
Remember,
These tiny loads , and when the boss claims he cant afford to
give you a pay rise.
Point out , that if he had proper transport managers ,
he might have more money to spend.
It makes me wonder,
why people voted earlier this year,
that they would take a 10% pay cut. 
I did a run for Peter’s Pies recently. Pick up a car at Bedwas at 4am, 4 pies in a box and take it to the Co-op in Manchester!!
chooch:
I did a run for Peter’s Pies recently. Pick up a car at Bedwas at 4am, 4 pies in a box and take it to the Co-op in Manchester!!
Did you get paid class 1 rates?
bugcos:
Sat on a bay for just under 3 hours today, fell asleep, paperwork got bought out to me, “pull off the bay briver and seal it up”I did and this is what I was loaded with, i kid you not
It weighed 16 kilos in total!!!
I hope you ran it over a weigh bridge■■? to keep mr vosa man happy, 
saucyboar5:
bugcos:
Sat on a bay for just under 3 hours today, fell asleep, paperwork got bought out to me, “pull off the bay briver and seal it up”I did and this is what I was loaded with, i kid you not
It weighed 16 kilos in total!!!
I hope you ran it over a weigh bridge■■? to keep mr vosa man happy,
In hindsight it would have been better to spread the load over both sides of the box and then secured them in place, dont want to risk a rollover do we .
Which reminds me. coming back from Germany on a groupage run i had1 box of hazardous cargo (oxidising agent IIRC)wheighing about 2 kilos in with the rest of the goods.
No problem for road but IMDG rules state all haz must be declared for ferry.
On arrival at Zeebrugge to catch Dartford ferry they said top deck only you have to wait for tomorrows ferry.
I asked if I could take package out, put on open deck then load truck below and catch night ferry.
OK but we have to secure box on deck said loader
2 kg box was secured to deck with 4 ratchet straps two in each direction
what happens if the chemicals go off i said.
We have to chuck it overboard they said
Best of luck then says I
Macka Packa:
Remember,
These tiny loads , and when the boss claims he cant afford to
give you a pay rise.Point out , that if he had proper transport managers ,
he might have more money to spend.It makes me wonder,
why people voted earlier this year,
that they would take a 10% pay cut.
Ah but we get cap load rates plus so much a drop, so the lighter the better when you are dragging it over Colmar or St Die 
Ezydriver, yes but I was supposed to do the same run the following day but it got cancelled. They must have eaten the pies!!!
For a short period of time I worked for a small European haulier in the Midlands on a jobbing basis. I was called up at about 7am on a Monday morning to be told, “get in quick, we have panic job for MacDonalds” Having previously delivered from one of their suppliers to a Golden West Foods RDC, the TM had hired in another 6x2 tractor unit and triaxle fridge trailer. I was told to go to the supplier and collect the consigment for MacDonalds in Frankfurt. I did as I was told as arrived at the supplier’s yard about 40 mins later. I did wonder why the security asked me whether I was winding him up when I arrived, but pulled onto the deisgnated loading bay as instructed.
Five mniutes later, one of the supplier’s staff came out with two single meat patties (the meat “bit” in a burger) in a plastic coolbox about the size of a small lunchbox and said this is to go to Frankfurt Quality laboratory .
I called our office and told them this - the TM just said, “dont worry about it, weve charged them for a full arctic load” so off I went…