South Wales Hauliers sixties and seventies onwards (Part 1)

[jinks_62]

pete 359:
sorry dennis mate,i was only a baby then.i guarantee 100% that nobody could accuse me of holding up traffic in my texan atki

bewick i have to admit i took that photo but i cant remember who was in the other two wagons.probably ron rees and charlie collier or ron howells i expect. the old m5 was a pain.remember when we couldnt overtake going north up the banks in a wagon.if empty youd be stuck behind a loaded wagon all the way up the bank before frankly svcs.ade.

[jinks_62]

kingswinford kit:

jinks@62:

kingswinford kit:

jinks@62:

pete 359:
hi john,
brilliant photos mate.i cropped this one.

andrew,this photo i took in the layby on the way out of stourbridge.ron rees and myself very often met there and had a cuppa before running down together.ade.

Would you have delivered to Hayes tubes in Lye ? Blueline were regulars here as well regards kk Ps Richardsons of Oldbury also hauled steel in here from Port Talbot

hi kk,we delivered to lots and lots of places up ther mate hayes included…ron and i at the time were on the midlands run regularly.though i used to cover the north as well.we used to leave at the same time and then meet in that layby on the 454 stourbridge road to the m5 jctcn5 i think [stbridge and brum turnoff] and then sometimes stop at wentwood for a cuppa too.anyone remember dianne who ran that place?you had time then not like today.then into llanwern for a west wales back down.ade.

Hi jinks thanks for that info did you ever backload from Baggeridge at Sedgley ? Got a pic of Marathon JWN X parked up at Harlescott Shrewsbury with such aload will post up at weekend regards kk

i think i did the name is very familiar.yes baggeridge brick wasnt it.i think ron howells had jwn for a while and eddie evans later tho eddie did mostly local work.both boys are dead now, ron died fairly young.most of the boys with joint were a good bunch.ade.

[bewick]

Thanks for that comprehensive reply Andrew,very interesting! “Sods law” being what it is you could always guarantee that if you had any tyre damage it was always the “newer” cases that attracted it! never the the ones that were due to be changed in a week or two!! I eventually stopped running Bandag re-caps(our own cases re-capped and returned) and went for Premium grade on the tractor units,Mich and Brigestone,and the lesser known brands for the trailers, Goodyear,Uniroyal,Yokahama and of course Mich and B/Stone if the price was right.Then I sold the cases for decent money which reduced the unit cost of the new ones that replaced them.We never carried spares from very early on in the buisness so when,on the odd occaision, we had a tyre breakdown we always had a new Mich fitted where possible or possibly a B/Stone then when the Tractor/Trailer returned to the depot the tyre fitter removed the new tyre and re-fitted a case of similar tread depth to the ones on the vehicle.We always insisted that the damaged tyre was also returned and we assesed the damage and decided on the course of action from Repair,Claim or scrap!! Cheers Dennis.

[pete_359]

jinks@62:

kingswinford kit:

jinks@62:

kingswinford kit:

jinks@62:

pete 359:
hi john,
brilliant photos mate.i cropped this one.

andrew,this photo i took in the layby on the way out of stourbridge.ron rees and myself very often met there and had a cuppa before running down together.ade.

Would you have delivered to Hayes tubes in Lye ? Blueline were regulars here as well regards kk Ps Richardsons of Oldbury also hauled steel in here from Port Talbot

hi kk,we delivered to lots and lots of places up ther mate hayes included…ron and i at the time were on the midlands run regularly.though i used to cover the north as well.we used to leave at the same time and then meet in that layby on the 454 stourbridge road to the m5 jctcn5 i think [stbridge and brum turnoff] and then sometimes stop at wentwood for a cuppa too.anyone remember dianne who ran that place?you had time then not like today.then into llanwern for a west wales back down.ade.

Hi jinks thanks for that info did you ever backload from Baggeridge at Sedgley ? Got a pic of Marathon JWN X parked up at Harlescott Shrewsbury with such aload will post up at weekend regards kk

i think i did the name is very familiar.yes baggeridge brick wasnt it.i think ron howells had jwn for a while and eddie evans later tho eddie did mostly local work.both boys are dead now, ron died fairly young.most of the boys with joint were a good bunch.ade.

hi kk,
that marathon at harlescott was probably?cliff ashley’s,he lived there at that time,near the heath gates pub.
regards andrew.

[kingswinford_kit]

pete 359:

jinks@62:

kingswinford kit:

jinks@62:

kingswinford kit:

jinks@62:

pete 359:
hi john,
brilliant photos mate.i cropped this one.

andrew,this photo i took in the layby on the way out of stourbridge.ron rees and myself very often met there and had a cuppa before running down together.ade.

Would you have delivered to Hayes tubes in Lye ? Blueline were regulars here as well regards kk Ps Richardsons of Oldbury also hauled steel in here from Port Talbot

hi kk,we delivered to lots and lots of places up ther mate hayes included…ron and i at the time were on the midlands run regularly.though i used to cover the north as well.we used to leave at the same time and then meet in that layby on the 454 stourbridge road to the m5 jctcn5 i think [stbridge and brum turnoff] and then sometimes stop at wentwood for a cuppa too.anyone remember dianne who ran that place?you had time then not like today.then into llanwern for a west wales back down.ade.

Hi jinks thanks for that info did you ever backload from Baggeridge at Sedgley ? Got a pic of Marathon JWN X parked up at Harlescott Shrewsbury with such aload will post up at weekend regards kk

i think i did the name is very familiar.yes baggeridge brick wasnt it.i think ron howells had jwn for a while and eddie evans later tho eddie did mostly local work.both boys are dead now, ron died fairly young.most of the boys with joint were a good bunch.ade.

hi kk,
that marathon at harlescott was probably?cliff ashley’s,he lived there at that time,near the heath gates pub.
regards andrew.

Hi Andrew yes Cliff Ashley is a name that is familiar , before that Marathon he may have driven the Renault 340 it was parked up in the same place . that Renault i remember was sold to a Coventry company but i could be wrong regards kk

[pete_359]

hi kk,
as i remember? the last driver of joints renault was welshman alan evans.he was told to tip at gkn leeds,drop the trailer and leave the renault at doncaster auctions to be sold.alan’s trailer was then decked and one of the shrewsbury drivers brought him back to port talbot.cliff did drive the renault on many occasions.i would love to see more of your photos
regards andrew.

[jinks_62]

pete 359:

Bewick:

pete 359:

3300John:
Hiya …it shows how fast we could go before limiters. trucks was a blur between birmingham and the steel works.
thats right is’nt it andrew.
Cheers John

hi john,
yes mate,you are right.look at the “day run” trips many firms used to do.before congestion,speed limiters,gatso’s etc.those old marathon’s could go well ! i remember one of joint’s many proper drivers,billy hathaway (rip) had a front right blow out north bound past frankleigh services fully freighted at just over 70 mph.that would quicken your heart rate . in those days a ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ and rockwell back end were a brilliant combination.bill still managed to tip at walker blackburn and load baled scrap out of sheperds at rochdale for the abbey.home by 5.30.ready for another north west in the morning.these days the speed limited plastic crap that we have now,would probably have to be towed in because a sensor de-rated the engine.
regards andrew.

Now then Andrew,setting aside the individual heroics of the various Joints drivers! Were they required to operate at speeds of 70mph to complete the work they were given? Also would the two loads be connected i.e. both allocated by BSC or was the return leg ex Rochdale Joints own traffic sourced independantly of BSC? Final question,what kind of tyre policy did Joints operate? was it with one main manufacturer or was it " it’s black and round,and “cheap” Cheers Dennis.

hi dennis,
i wouldn’t say joints made the drivers speed,remember dennis,as a former operator you would know only too well that the company had to buy fuel ,even though it was a fraction of the cost it is now.in my opinion,there was something about the welsh steel wagons,hard work,long hours and trip money all these factors and more made the drivers more often than not press on a bit however,cardiff transport were one name that springs to any welshman’s mind when you talk about eccesive speed and steel,those boys were in a league of their own.bsc allocated the outward traffic and joints found their own work back.in all the years i was involved with joints,the maintenance,tyres etc etc was always,without compromise and given the work they were doing,in and out of scrap yards and steel mills the tyre bill’s were horrendous.
regards andrew.

i gotta say dennis, andrew is right there was never a problem maintenance wise or tyre wise with joints.we used to carry our own spare and alan used to pay us £10 if we had a puncture and had to change it ourselves.we were on trip money but we didnt do any more than blue line or raymonds did.except for billy hathaway that is.i was there for 9 years and only once i can think of he got stuck on a night out and that was up bacton great yarmouth way which we had some work for at one time.if we went there we found loads back from somewhere but billy had a homing instinct and got home from all sorts of runs.hence he allways had the best and biggest motor at joints.he was a grafter was billy and alan loved him.how he stayed awake i,d love to know.you could earn good money there in them days.on local we had whichever was the greater the hours you worked or the amount of loads done.alan jones was a very shrewd buissiness man and he knew how to get the best out of you.we had lots of return loads and didnt run empty much.some was given to him by BSC but most him or bobby found.the wagons were serviced regularly by a good bunch of boys in the workshop led by clayton alans brother who now runs owens workshop i believe.my father worked for alans father and i knew alan when we were kids.we used to play in the lorries on sat morns.i know the family well,alan, clayton,cousins bobby and his sister linda and uncle arthur,john,deryl,dil,and i even remember the old man eddie jones.they were based in kenfig hill then and were called jones motors.i lived in kenfig hill then and they also had coaches and a hearse.that was arthurs baby.the only other bus firm around here then was pioneer.owned by don [apples]evans.long gone now.jinks.

[jinks_62]

pete 359:
hi kk,
as i remember? the last driver of joints renault was welshman alan evans.he was told to tip at gkn leeds,drop the trailer and leave the renault at doncaster auctions to be sold.alan’s trailer was then decked and one of the shrewsbury drivers brought him back to port talbot.cliff did drive the renault on many occasions.i would love to see more of your photos
regards andrew.

hi andrew,alan evans lives around the corner from me.he works for harsco now.his old man like ours was an old hand.we called him curly bill and when he saw you he used to say “got a ■■■” .i remember him well.alan is known as “mr steel” as he,s been on it all his life.cheers,i,m going to sighn off now ive been on here hours and her indoors is moaning.{nothing changes}be on soon i expect.ade.

[bewick]

One of the reasons we never carried spares was I didn’t like drivers jacking motors up,seen too many sat on their brake drum(not ours) plus we always had twin tanks so carrying a spare was not an option really.Cheers Dennis.

[slugger39]

sammy dog:

terry western brs:
the last time i saw this truck it was in a yard at the back of the shops in pontymister

Dave the Renegade:

mechanic77:
Here are two recent photos kindly sent to me by forum member Tonytranscont of his ex. Hoover [Merthyr Tydfil] tractor unit which he has began work on to get her back into show use.

That’s going to look a smart motor when its back on the show circuit.
Cheers Dave.

i cant remember the drivers name but i worked next to that truck hauling coal from newport docks to uskmouth p/station ian is ringing a bell cheers martyn.

It was Ian Jones!

[pete_359]

Bewick:
One of the reasons we never carried spares was I didn’t like drivers jacking motors up,seen too many sat on their brake drum(not ours) plus we always had twin tanks so carrying a spare was not an option really.Cheers Dennis.

hi dennis,
i dare say that bewick’s mileages were far higher than a firm like joints.the south east is a fair old hop from ■■■■■■■ ,i know what you mean about jacking super singles were the ones that would ■■■■ me off changing one of them on the side of the motorway was a real adventure,especially in the rain.i know that in our area at least,the authority’s close off lane 1 if you are on the hard shoulder these days with a blow out on a truck/trailer.i saw an irish scania fridge van recently,sunday morning front left blow out,less than a quarter of a mile from the exit slip at port talbot.the law closed lane 1,for just over 1.5 hours,caused absolute chaos as you can probably imagine.now to me,the easy way would be to let paddy crawl off the m4 and keep the traffic flowing.that’s to easy for the police and highways agency too carry out though ,lets cause mayhem instead and ruin everyones journey .well done everybody.
regards andrew.

[kingswinford_kit]

pete 359:
hi kk,
as i remember? the last driver of joints renault was welshman alan evans.he was told to tip at gkn leeds,drop the trailer and leave the renault at doncaster auctions to be sold.alan’s trailer was then decked and one of the shrewsbury drivers brought him back to port talbot.cliff did drive the renault on many occasions.i would love to see more of your photos
regards andrew.

Hi Andrew as yet i have not posted any pics up as yet , but this weekend will have ago at putting up said marathon. It has come back to me tht the Renault was with skeltons of Coventry . whom were big Renault users regards kk

[sammy_dog]

slugger39:

sammy dog:

terry western brs:
the last time i saw this truck it was in a yard at the back of the shops in pontymister

Dave the Renegade:

mechanic77:
Here are two recent photos kindly sent to me by forum member Tonytranscont of his ex. Hoover [Merthyr Tydfil] tractor unit which he has began work on to get her back into show use.

That’s going to look a smart motor when its back on the show circuit.
Cheers Dave.

i cant remember the drivers name but i worked next to that truck hauling coal from newport docks to uskmouth p/station ian is ringing a bell cheers martyn.

It was Ian Jones!

he was a good bloke i remember him telling me he used to haul nfor hoover cheers martyyn.

[pete_359]

kingswinford kit:

pete 359:
hi kk,
as i remember? the last driver of joints renault was welshman alan evans.he was told to tip at gkn leeds,drop the trailer and leave the renault at doncaster auctions to be sold.alan’s trailer was then decked and one of the shrewsbury drivers brought him back to port talbot.cliff did drive the renault on many occasions.i would love to see more of your photos
regards andrew.

Hi Andrew as yet i have not posted any pics up as yet , but this weekend will have ago at putting up said marathon. It has come back to me tht the Renault was with skeltons of Coventry . whom were big Renault users regards kk

hi kk,
sorry,i thought we had seen some of your photos previousley .i remember skeltons,black and grey renaults on the coal,a mate of mine,jamie elliott subbed to them during the 80’s.
regards andrew.

[bewick]

pete 359:

Bewick:
One of the reasons we never carried spares was I didn’t like drivers jacking motors up,seen too many sat on their brake drum(not ours) plus we always had twin tanks so carrying a spare was not an option really.Cheers Dennis.

hi dennis,
i dare say that bewick’s mileages were far higher than a firm like joints.the south east is a fair old hop from ■■■■■■■ ,i know what you mean about jacking super singles were the ones that would ■■■■ me off changing one of them on the side of the motorway was a real adventure,especially in the rain.i know that in our area at least,the authority’s close off lane 1 if you are on the hard shoulder these days with a blow out on a truck/trailer.i saw an irish scania fridge van recently,sunday morning front left blow out,less than a quarter of a mile from the exit slip at port talbot.the law closed lane 1,for just over 1.5 hours,caused absolute chaos as you can probably imagine.now to me,the easy way would be to let paddy crawl off the m4 and keep the traffic flowing.that’s to easy for the police and highways agency too carry out though ,lets cause mayhem instead and ruin everyones journey .well done everybody.
regards andrew.

Dead right there Andrew,the Highways Agency are a total joke just like the Community Support Clowns.The H/way agency delight in closing the lanes at the drop of a hat for the slightest of reasons,they think it makes them look important as otherwise they would just be sitting in their Portacabins supping coffee!! Both these Labour imposed agencies are a total waste of hard earned taxpayers money!! Cheers Dennis.

[pete_359]

Bewick:

pete 359:

Bewick:
One of the reasons we never carried spares was I didn’t like drivers jacking motors up,seen too many sat on their brake drum(not ours) plus we always had twin tanks so carrying a spare was not an option really.Cheers Dennis.

hi dennis,
i dare say that bewick’s mileages were far higher than a firm like joints.the south east is a fair old hop from ■■■■■■■ ,i know what you mean about jacking super singles were the ones that would ■■■■ me off changing one of them on the side of the motorway was a real adventure,especially in the rain.i know that in our area at least,the authority’s close off lane 1 if you are on the hard shoulder these days with a blow out on a truck/trailer.i saw an irish scania fridge van recently,sunday morning front left blow out,less than a quarter of a mile from the exit slip at port talbot.the law closed lane 1,for just over 1.5 hours,caused absolute chaos as you can probably imagine.now to me,the easy way would be to let paddy crawl off the m4 and keep the traffic flowing.that’s to easy for the police and highways agency too carry out though ,lets cause mayhem instead and ruin everyones journey .well done everybody.
regards andrew.

Dead right there Andrew,the Highways Agency are a total joke just like the Community Support Clowns.The H/way agency delight in closing the lanes at the drop of a hat for the slightest of reasons,they think it makes them look important as otherwise they would just be sitting in their Portacabins supping coffee!! Both these Labour imposed agencies are a total waste of hard earned taxpayers money!! Cheers Dennis.

hi dennis,
once again,you have hit the nail on the head .it’s been busy on here tonight.i forgot to post some pictures here’s another of adrian jenkins’ photos.g.e.keedwell’s f12 seen here when grahame first bought it,still in the volvo colours.

[pete_359]

hi rowland,
the sister to your 141, both photos are borrowed from scania thread.
regards andrew.

[pete_359]

i am sure-ish ,that this 141 was on the a6 at shap lay by back in year 2000 on ted hannon’s north of england run.the 141 had a loaded step frame behind her.you can imagine the sound .

[steved]

That is one great looking 141…what a motor.

[mechanic77]

XEE 74V is pictured on page 10 of the classic truck section of this months Heritage commercials magazine. Restored by Carruthers as a white/green 4x2 unit.
Neil.