Warning, its a long pic heavy diary.
Monday
A late start for some. 07.30 and i dodge the scrapper tippers on my way into work.
I’m not off to anywhere special , just Kirkby for a 8am tip. Where i watch this guy, he’s checked everything before he hooked upto his trailer except for his back doors.
Once i’m tipped i ring in and sure enough its round the corner for me to unload my empty container and pick up a fridge container for a collection. Collection is in Peterhead, thats up North East Scotland way i’m sure? A look on mysat nav reveals it is !
Get the container on and nip to Carlton fuels round the corner to fill right up, i have three quarters of a tank of Adblue wich usually lasts me a week so i should be ok. Fuel up and off on my way. About 1pm its time for a cup of tea and some dinner so i pull into Teebay services, why Teebay? I’ve no idea, even though its won lots of awards its pretty crap for lorry drivers. No room for a start,.
Although they ‘keep’ some spaces for the precious coaches.
Break over and bat on northwards, long way to go.
I pull into Sterling Services for a shower and some food as i have no idea what lies ahead of me as i havn’t been up here before. Usually i could of waited for a shower as i hadn’t done a full day yet, but i’d had a Sunday on the beer, and Indian meal and on Sunday night i thought i was Oliver Tobias when i went to bed and i never got one before i went to work, so to prevent me from smelling like the Haddock i’m going to pick up i grab it now. Next over the A9, the old ‘Broom of Dalreoch’ as some of us know it. And apparently Tom Tom does too !! 
Carry on past Dundee and Aberdeen . And if you thought “Errol Rait” was a black American ■■■■ star (as i did), you’d be wrong. Its a village along the A92.
Carry on along the coast, what a nice scenic place for a night out if you fancy staring out your window all evening?
Reach Peterhead, sometimes if i fell down a toilet i’d come up smelling of roses, hows this for lucky? A lorry park about 200 yards from my collection point!
And its free. How cool is that? Why don’t us Southerners have stuff like this?
Hows this for a boast?
‘Aberdeen to Glasgow daily’ !!! Thats gives you an idea of how far it is. Anyway its been a long day and i book off at 9.30pm.
Tuesday
Book on at 7.30 am, do Wheelnuts recommended daily checks 
and then mosey on over to my collection point. Turns out they have a few depots all within half a mile (or less), so a few phone calls from the helpfull guy and i’m over the road to the right one.
Now one of the best things about driving a lorry (i think) is that we get to see just what everyone else does. And here they fillet fish and allsorts. They fillet Mackrel and then the bodies are dumped down a shute into this…
When its full they tip it into a tipper trailer, you can see it tipping in just above the Mitsibushi shunter that comes in every half hour or so with fresh fish.
When the trailers full, another shunter pyulls it out, puts another in its place and lets the full one drian all the blood off into a grid. I reckon it was over an hour to drain it all off.
Occasionaly they spill fish and the seagulls love it!
I’m loaded and ready to go at 12.30pm. A hike ahead of me. When you see this sign and you’re southbound then you know you have a long way to go!!
I did say i was taking the load back to Liverpool docks didn’t i? !!
I have a stop in Strathcaro services on my way back for a cuppa and stock my fridge up. All i really seen up here is either fridges, i guess they’re hauling seafood or flats pulling oil drilling related equiptment.
Bat on homeward and i get slowed down by heavy rains. On the M73, or somehwere around there i have to stop for the rest of my break.
Break over and its off again. I’m thinking i’m going to make Carnforth Truckstop, but its about 8pm and i’ve run out of everything.
Pull into Jenkins truckstop at junc 40 M6 (i think), fuel up but no Adblue. So i pull round the corner to Johnsons truckstop where my mate is and he has sorted a spot for me with the loud fridge i have on. Cost is a tenner, they have Adblue but its in containers and i don’t fancy spilling it all over the place trying to get it into the narrow opening on my adblue tank. Its now 8pm, i’mnot going to make it home no matter where i get Adblue from and my next stop is Carnforth .So when in a crisis i chose to head into town for a night on the booze and hit the Glouscester Arms !!!
Book off 8.30pm.
Wednesday
Book on 5.30am, do my daily checks in case something has come lose over night !! And i’m off ! Now i’ve filled up with fuel but i am out of adblue? So what happens? Well…
…like it says on the tin. Power is reduced. Its drives fine, it goes automatically into manual !! if that makes sense?!! It does drive ok though. Downhill or on the flat it gets up to 50mph plus it just suffers on the up hills (35-40mph). Get myself into Teebay services. Well ok, not Teebay Motorway Services but junction 38truckstop, THE REAL TEEBAY SERVICES !! And fill up with Adblue on my card. Set off and into Seafoth docks for 8.20am and its nice and quiet.
Just like Karate kid its…box off, box on and i’m off to Wolverhampton ! Tip in Wolves and take my empty container to Brum. I have a big delay here as the container is not booked in. But its here i’ve brought it, Bakers.
Now this DAF as smashed as it is has a funny story. I know, you’re probably thinking what can be funny about that? Well, the driver of it survived the accident just fine. About three days later he opened a container door and a huge tractor tyre fell out and hospitalised him !! There is photos of him on the wall, ok you can laugh now, he did !! The i’m over to Smee’s place, Pentalvers. I’m going to get an empty container on and take it home.
In and out at Pentalvers, it is one of the better container yards. Quick stop here on the way back for a cuppa…
And then on home. Now some people think satnavs in the windscreen can distract you, others know this and just stick it in their crotch !!
I book off at 7pm. I get home and the decorator is still there, he’s been decorating our box room for about a fortnight and lucky for me he’s got the missus out of harms way.
About another two weeks he reckons should do it.
Thursday
6.30am start and i’m off toFreightliner Garston to pick up my box, and then i’m off to Manchester to deliver it. Manchester International Wood Terminal or summat…
When i tip, ihave to ring in so not being able to stop on the weighbridge i pull outside where i can’t park on double yellows either !! But i do, being the chancer i am !! And watch these Canada geese get nearly wiped out by this car !!!
Then same dance again, drop my empty box off in Kirkby, go to Seaforth and load one for Wolverhampton. The journey on the M6 south see’s me delayed loads!! And i’m late for my booking by an hour. Luckily thats not a problem. HOw come when we get in a jam can coaches use lane three?
■■? Now a lotof miles AFTER this we come to a sign that says lane one closed, so i hit lane two and it was fairly light traffic, of course everyone uses lane one and by passes me, making me look a bit of a pratt in lane two!! Then i come to a sign saying ‘M5 junction 38 miles estimated time 38 minutes’, so i think all is cool now i’ll hit lane one. Then another sign, lane one closed again, well i’m not falling for that again so i stay in it !! Bad mistake.
If women want to meet nice Eastern European guys i’m sure there’s an easier way to do it? Anyway, tip Wolves and then head home. Back to the yard and book off at 7.30pm. Lucky for me to be back on a Thursday night as i’m a member of CCM. Container Drivers Classical music Club.
Me and a few of the lads who appreciate the finer things in life have an organ recital on a Thursday and a few glasses of champers and asparagus tips too boot !!! We love it. Boss gave us an old container specially to hold our meets in too.
Friday
7.30am start and i’m off to Warrington for a collection. Its a farm i’m going to. I can’t find it and its on this lane
To cut a long story short I get the fone numer. Guy says go to the flagpole and then turn. It looks tight but it can be done. ‘it can be done’ is not the most reasuring instructions i’ve ever been given but the guy is correct. The flagpole is just to the right of my dream catcher !! And i’m coming back on myself!!
Once i’m in and down the half mile long drive then its like Aladdinns cave !! I have to back in here first
And, being nosey i have to go and have a mooch in them old trucks !!
Anyguesses as to what this is?
And i just love the ‘retrofit spy in the cab’…just like digital, it’ll ■■■■ the job !!!
Load the rest of my recycled computers bound for Pakistan, which will later hold all my bank and insurance details at some Bangladeshi call centre !!
Dump it on the train at Freight liner Garston,.
Then, off to Kirkby again to pick up a fridge so i can do another Fish collection in Scotland. Here’s the fridge waiting for me in the foreground.
And we’re off !! More numpty antics in the roadworks…how !!!
Pull into an empty Southwaite services for a cuppa and a buiscuit…
Thwn onwards to Lockerbie, i did think i’d make Lesmahago but it was not to be. Now, allow me to digress !! One of our lads got lost going to Lockerbie truckstop. How!!! Well, he was given directions to it and he approached it fron the south. Come off at the junction then follow the signs and it comes up on your right…etc…blah,blah, blah !!! As he was heading North he seen this and turned, make your own mind up as to whether you woulds have done the same, but it leads to a single track road for miles and miles with no where to turn around. He ran out of time down there and spent a night out down there. Make your own mind up if you would of turned for it or not…
I get into Lockerbie and book off at 8pm.
Saturday
Book on 7am. Quick checks and off to Larkhall for a 8am booking. I get there at 8.10am.
Greatstuff, i should of been here for 8pm last night !!! Wellit all goes on the same boat and it looks as if i now have what they call a boat chaser as Seaforth docks closes at 3pm !! 9am they start handballing the load on !!
10am and i’m on my way!! Luckily these guys are closed.
2.05pm and i’m in Seaforth docks and book it in, then its off onto the ship
The ship is the ‘Atlantic Compass’ and it sails at 10pm Saturday night.
It’ll be in Halifax in about 7 days time with the load of 'fresh Salmon ’ i ave just sent onto it, and maybe the frozen Haddock from earlier in the week too. Meanwhile, i have my own problems now, like being last one in the yard at the wekend !! No space.
Fuel up, sort out paperwork and book off at 3pm.
Now for the number crunchers here’s a few stats (if i have my maths right !)
74 hours paid.
50 hours and 3 minutes for the WTD.
45 hours and 12 minutes driving time.
2877 kilometres covered.
And beforeranyone says anything, first of all i would like to thank my photographer who was with me all week and without whose work this post would not of been possible.
And secondly, this is not a ‘typical week’ for me, its a good week !! Well depending upon how you look at your job.
Cracking diary Mike-C, Thanks.
