new member, first post so don’t laugh. i worked for prestons of potto for a while in the late seventies, (yes i am not a young chap) but i loved working there, had the time of my trucking life, so to speak. so why leave? a mortgage and a fuel tanker beckoned. so my vote for greatest haulier goes to p of p, a real old school haulier.
harry_gill:
Buycrider:
You are some guy you Harry.
hiya,
You’d better believe it good buddy on a couple of occasions i’ve worked for a couple of firms in one day at one time lasted an hour and wrapped the grease gun round his neck he was under the impression my licence covered vehicle serviceing i had other ideas, got another job less than two miles away within a few minutes of jacking, i was single at that time and jobs was plentiful, several firms i worked for twice some i did the odd trip for a lot of jobs was cash in hand, did stick the BRS though actually had my cards in three times reason for leaving was redundancy had the job continued so would I that was BRS Blackburn twice and BRS Consett my last tramping employer, you are aware what they say about change being equal to a rest, still voting for the BRS does that count as two votes??
thanks harry long retired.
Harry!
Did you ever meet My missus’s uncle Bill Marshall, worked out of Darlington depot, in your Travels?
mizzo:
new member, first post so don’t laugh. i worked for prestons of potto for a while in the late seventies, (yes i am not a young chap) but i loved working there, had the time of my trucking life, so to speak. so why leave? a mortgage and a fuel tanker beckoned. so my vote for greatest haulier goes to p of p, a real old school haulier.
I was subbying for them in the late 80’s and they would probably get my vote too. For longevity and Generally being a proper Family run business.
How about J.R Adams(Newcastle) they don’t come much better. And have that old fashioned signwriting. 
It says ERF not RAF:
The ‘Greatest Haulier’ must be the ones who treats the drivers well, never mind fancy motors and how long they have been in business. Some of you have mentioned ‘Pollocks’ because they have a large fleet, nice motors and been going years. Fair enough, if they only treated the staff well ?
I think the only way of nominating a ‘Great British Haulier’ is if you actually worked there and were treated well, well payed, decent motor, decent work, worked legal etc etc as nobody else knows what happens behind closed doors ?
roadtransport.com/Articles/2 … driver.htm
This site will never reach a consensus on the “Greatest British Haulier” so how about starting at the other end of the spectrum and decide who was the Worst Haulier!!! Bewick.
Bewick:
It says ERF not RAF:
The ‘Greatest Haulier’ must be the ones who treats the drivers well, never mind fancy motors and how long they have been in business. Some of you have mentioned ‘Pollocks’ because they have a large fleet, nice motors and been going years. Fair enough, if they only treated the staff well ?
I think the only way of nominating a ‘Great British Haulier’ is if you actually worked there and were treated well, well payed, decent motor, decent work, worked legal etc etc as nobody else knows what happens behind closed doors ?
roadtransport.com/Articles/2 … driver.htmThis site will never reach a consensus on the “Greatest British Haulier” so how about starting at the other end of the spectrum and decide who was the Worst Haulier!!! Bewick.
Yeah, and we’ll get even more answers.
All Round Greatest is a bit subjective, but for innovation and adaptability it would have to be Heanor.
Berwick you could have a point there as the worst company I ever worked for at the time gave the best rewards, maybe came out of a brown envelope, working 23 hrs /day, but at the time it was needs must with 3 bread snatchers, and a large mortage.
Long gone is JF but I did earn some good bucks, had a good crack, and still keep in touch with the odd one, but there is a high % not left on this planet due to being worked to death, I bet a few Co’s like this could get a mention.
Stanfield:
What about Robsons of Carlisle.Smith of Maddison.and Mckelvies.
And I know a lot of lads dont like Stobarts but they keep a lot of lads in work these days
Stobart also put a lot of guys out of work too!!!
rich12:
what about brian harris transport,always ran a very tidy fleet doing devon to scotland every week for years,all run by one man from a little office in devon.
Brian Harris is a good choice,i remember the day he decided to sell up,i also workrd for Kidds transport from lancaster for 17 years and was treat well by them,they deserve a mention.
magnetman:
gotta be dukes transport!
Montgomery is ahead of them. In Eire Henry A Crosbie.
Bewick:
I think I would have to say Alf Sutton in the large haulier class and in the smaller class Curly Cargill of D&M Cargill of Penrith.I know I have named two but I couldn’t split them!!! Bewick.
A D Boyes maybe.
georgeking:
magnetman:
gotta be dukes transport!Montgomery is ahead of them. In Eire Henry A Crosbie.
Harold Montgomery bought Dukes out a number of years ago! Bewick.
Bewick:
georgeking:
magnetman:
gotta be dukes transport!Montgomery is ahead of them. In Eire Henry A Crosbie.
Harold Montgomery bought Dukes out a number of years ago! Bewick.
All with many others.
My choice would be A.M.Walker of Cosby,Leicestershire,bought out by TDG i believe in the 70s.They had a cracking fleet of Atkis and Fodens,and an early user of Volvo F86/88.
scaniaontheroad:
Stanfield:
What about Robsons of Carlisle.Smith of Maddison.and Mckelvies.
And I know a lot of lads dont like Stobarts but they keep a lot of lads in work these daysStobart also put a lot of guys out of work too!!!
And the supermarkets put a lot of corner shops out of business. And where I live (Dumfries) the centre of town is deserted, even at weekends, because of the retail parks. Deal with it, unless you know some way to turn the clock back to the sixties!!!
This argument would go on forever between drivers but from my point of view it has to be Stobarts for the way it catches the publics eye everyday on our road networks. They have tried to change the public image of hauliers and to some extent that has been a success. Lots of other companies have been mentioned on here but if you ask joe public there answer nine times out of ten will be Stobarts big green trucks. As for the image of international side of things astran has been mentioned as the front runner and that will be true but they have always been more of a company with more subbies pulling their trailers than their own drivers and act more like a freight forwarder than a transport company and always have done. So as said Stobarts has to the clear winner for me 
dexxyy:
scaniaontheroad:
Stanfield:
What about Robsons of Carlisle.Smith of Maddison.and Mckelvies.
And I know a lot of lads dont like Stobarts but they keep a lot of lads in work these daysStobart also put a lot of guys out of work too!!!
And the supermarkets put a lot of corner shops out of business. And where I live (Dumfries) the centre of town is deserted, even at weekends, because of the retail parks. Deal with it, unless you know some way to turn the clock back to the sixties!!!
How about Curries?
In my opinion this thread is just running amok as I believe that you can’t possibly compare yesteryears hauliers with to-days “logistic providers”!! I think you have to first split the “industry” into two distinct era’s i.e.pre “curtainsider” and post “curtainsider” (and before you Stobart worshippers get your knickers in a twist you are firmly within the “post” catergory!) Conveniently the pre curtainsider era was a lot more fragmented and of course the “dead hand” of BRS spoiled a lot of good traffic but they were eventually “seen off”!However during those"pre" years we still had, in the UK, a strong manufacturing base that unfortunately we no longer enjoy!Consequently the Hauliers of yesteryear were possessed of far more skill and knowledge than to-day’s regimented “by the manual” contract logistic suppliers! Therefore in my opinion to-days “curtain sliding” sat-nav guided steerers,managed by " computer assisted" desk bound “traffic planners”(who more than likely haven’t/couldn’t do the job at the wheel in any case)cannot be seriously compared to the old fashioned traffic manager and the multi skilled long distance driver of yesterday!!! these guy’s operated successfully without the aid of Computers/sat-navs/mobile phones ect.and in the main they did not run many empty miles either! You can’t tell to-day , at a glance, wether a “curtainsider” is loaded or M/T!! To-day the UK is no longer a manufacturing economy and todays "logistics providers"are "controlled by the giant supermarkets and secondly by their suppliers.The other side of the coin is the imports that enter the UK in ISO boxes (little skill needed there then either!) So I still maintain that the likes of Alf Sutton,J & A Smith of Maddiston,Robson’s,Gordon Plant, any number of the origional TDG firms,Harris & Miners,D & M Cargill, to name but a few were far superior operators than those involved in a “similar” industry to-day!! I hope I have stimulated further debate on the matter! Bewick.
Bewick:
In my opinion this thread is just running amok as I believe that you can’t possibly compare yesteryears hauliers with to-days “logistic providers”!! I think you have to first split the “industry” into two distinct era’s i.e.pre “curtainsider” and post “curtainsider” (and before you Stobart worshippers get your knickers in a twist you are firmly within the “post” catergory!) Conveniently the pre curtainsider era was a lot more fragmented and of course the “dead hand” of BRS spoiled a lot of good traffic but they were eventually “seen off”!However during those"pre" years we still had, in the UK, a strong manufacturing base that unfortunately we no longer enjoy!Consequently the Hauliers of yesteryear were possessed of far more skill and knowledge than to-day’s regimented “by the manual” contract logistic suppliers! Therefore in my opinion to-days “curtain sliding” sat-nav guided steerers,managed by " computer assisted" desk bound “traffic planners”(who more than likely haven’t/couldn’t do the job at the wheel in any case)cannot be seriously compared to the old fashioned traffic manager and the multi skilled long distance driver of yesterday!!! these guy’s operated successfully without the aid of Computers/sat-navs/mobile phones ect.and in the main they did not run many empty miles either! You can’t tell to-day , at a glance, wether a “curtainsider” is loaded or M/T!! To-day the UK is no longer a manufacturing economy and todays "logistics providers"are "controlled by the giant supermarkets and secondly by their suppliers.The other side of the coin is the imports that enter the UK in ISO boxes (little skill needed there then either!) So I still maintain that the likes of Alf Sutton,J & A Smith of Maddiston,Robson’s,Gordon Plant, any number of the origional TDG firms,Harris & Miners,D & M Cargill, to name but a few were far superior operators than those involved in a “similar” industry to-day!! I hope I have stimulated further debate on the matter! Bewick.
Well said that man
It’s still Astran though