KB , what are you on about ? UK drivers ? Again and Again ? Are you trying to exonerate yourself ■■ Ron
The original order was for 24 but the balance were cancelled after Hines started to blow up with valve float issues caused by Uk drivers not understanding operating instructions for the Mack Engine brake which wad different to the Jake Brake system - they never you us this until afterwards !!!
HI kenb throughly intrest in all your banter and responses on this very good thread .having never encountered a JAKE brake, or a retarder, only exhaust brakes,knowing how safe they were as ie a engine brake i think i do understand the theory of its working ,however not as much as you men i would like to know how a jake brake works, how do you operate it, what does it use engine power,revs .the right gear at the right time ,i do know how difficult it is to change down ,going down a mountain too fast, screaming revs and no exhaust brake.why did the jake brake not enter the continental market ,or did it.
thanks dbp.
DBP I wrote this article some time back , I hope you will understand the set up ? If the engine is allowed to reach 2100rpm it’s to late to changed down , the brakes must be applied to bring the truck Under control then you can change down , IF you have any lower gears !!! but on the descend we had in the mountains ? It Was down hill for miles and miles the brakes are applied to assist the engine brake to keep the revs down ? But you must understand this mountain area, it really must be treated with respect , to start a descend with to much WEIGHT is suicide and you will be in fear of your life !! This was the cause of all this talk that the Brit drivers where not up to the job , the heat of KSA was Hot Hot and must be treated with extreme caution the brakes can over heat quite quickly if the load is to heavy nothing can stop a runaway truck only the mountain Toni Cope did not know how close , He came to grieve With a Jake on his ERF RON
ronhawk:
KB , what are you on about ? UK drivers ? Again and Again ? Are you trying to exonerate yourself ■■ Ron
Ron
Not sure what you are on about however I will tell you about an experience about 8 years ago
We decided to train a driver trainer!! Volvo a Trucks did it for us cost about £5k as I remember
When the trainer came on site at Stoke he notice at that time we had mainly Daf 85 series
When our man had passed his certification we then set about testing and retaining about 80 existing drivers - some had driven all sort of trucks over a 30plus years
The results were eye opening - most ( all put 2) did not how to use a gearbox properly nor did they know what was available to them and road awareness as horrendous - at the end of that testing the benefits in terms of fuel consumption was amazing - huge saveing and the unexpected gains was the reduction to accident rates resulting in improve insurance costs
Is it any wonder that all big trucks today are fitted with auto boxes!! With auto criuise - and again training required for proper use of that device
So you comment about engaging correct gear before decent etc is very true - I guess a lot did not have a clue.
I have sad before I remember Gogi telling me about his run north through the mountains towards Medina and he knocked it out of gear on a decent with 80ton rebar on a road train - he sh-t himself - said he would never do that again - imagine doing that coming down Taif - a no brainier
Anyhow when you going to answer my question about this Macks??
Ken b
Just a start with an overview on TransArabia Staff…please feel free to add and correct!
The overview on the TransArabia Fleet is in progress…
At least Stan Brindleys (RIP) on the TA 104 has been skipped, not forgotten though
ERF-Continental:
Just a start with an overview on TransArabia Staff…please feel free to add and correct!The overview on the TransArabia Fleet is in progress…
Jerry Cooke is your man for this: he has been painstakingly piecing together the Trans Arabia fleet (list) for some time now. Robert
robert1952:
ERF-Continental:
Just a start with an overview on TransArabia Staff…please feel free to add and correct!The overview on the TransArabia Fleet is in progress…
Jerry Cooke is your man for this: he has been painstakingly piecing together the Trans Arabia fleet (list) for some time now. Robert
Hi all
With all respects to Gerry but he will struggle with that. I found a loaf of stuff the other week in an old brief case inc an original Trans Arabia brochure plus 100s of photos and schedules inc budgets and accounts
I am away from tomorrow for at least a week so will look into the stuff on my return
Ken b
Kenb:
robert1952:
ERF-Continental:
Just a start with an overview on TransArabia Staff…please feel free to add and correct!The overview on the TransArabia Fleet is in progress…
Jerry Cooke is your man for this: he has been painstakingly piecing together the Trans Arabia fleet (list) for some time now. Robert
Hi all
With all respects to Gerry but he will struggle with that. I found a loaf of stuff the other week in an old brief case inc an original Trans Arabia brochure plus 100s of photos and schedules inc budgets and accounts
I am away from tomorrow for at least a week so will look into the stuff on my return
Ken b
Hello Ken
a) I agree, and Jerry isn’t finding it easy - he’s the opposite of the classic know-it-all, bless him, so I’m sure he’ll get there in the end!
b) Your ‘stash’ sounds amazing - look forward to seeing some fruits of your harvest, insha’allah!
c) Safe travels in the meantime (tareek salaama) and I look forward to your return to the forum
Robert
robert1952:
ERF-Continental:
Just a start with an overview on TransArabia Staff…please feel free to add and correct!The overview on the TransArabia Fleet is in progress…
Jerry Cooke is your man for this: he has been painstakingly piecing together the Trans Arabia fleet (list) for some time now. Robert
From #101 till #144 the register is rather ‘easy’ to produce out of all 26 pages here, at a certain time however
the numbers are re-used as previous/old chassis were replaced. The overview on the TA-staff is counting 40
employees now, with corrections on the nicknames like Taffy etc. Let’s await some weeks for Ken’s and Jerry’s
input however.
ERF-Continental:
robert1952:
ERF-Continental:
Just a start with an overview on TransArabia Staff…please feel free to add and correct!The overview on the TransArabia Fleet is in progress…
Jerry Cooke is your man for this: he has been painstakingly piecing together the Trans Arabia fleet (list) for some time now. Robert
From #101 till #144 the register is rather ‘easy’ to produce out of all 26 pages here, at a certain time however
the numbers are re-used as previous/old chassis were replaced. The overview on the TA-staff is counting 40
employees now, with corrections on the nicknames like Taffy etc. Let’s await some weeks for Ken’s and Jerry’s
input however.
I’m not getting involved in the staff names. Many are quoted in Lorries of Arabia books 1 & 2 but only where they directly concern ERF NGCs. However, Dave Anslow and Gypsy Dave on your list are the same person!
As for the fleet: there were far more than are shown on this TA thread, including day-cabbed RHD B-series ERFs like the one shown on the left of the pic below. The fleet list shown in Jerry’s REVS article is only a fraction of what he has uncovered since. Robert
PS You can add against John Davies on your list, A-J, the nickname ‘Dr Truck’ - apparently a good mechanic!
Lest anyone doubt that I share A-J’s enthusiasm for this fleet, here is a quote from my book: The Trans Arabia outfit really was an amazing operation for anyone interested in Middle-East trucking. Even the fleet name was inspiring. Their routes were rugged and their destinations exotic. They ran an impressive fleet of ERFs by any standards, but they almost certainly ran the largest fleet of NGCs (12) and indeed probably the most comprehensive fleet of LHD ERFs ever assembled in one place…
Robert
You may find this helpful: it is a list I have compiled (while researching ERF NGCs) of articles and books directly covering the subject of Trans Arabia in Jeddah.
REVS magazine issue 78 (Arabian Knights: article by Jerry Cooke)
Heritage Commercials magazine 256 April 2011 (Jerry Cooke and Trans Arabia)
Lorries of Arabia: ERF NGC, by Robert Hackford; Old Pond Publishing 2015
(Lorries of Arabia 2: ERF NGC by Robert Hackford: Old Pond Publishing 2016)
Staffordshire Hauliers Two, compiled by Ros Unwin, Churnet Valley Books 2013 (Trans Arabia / Vince Cooke / Jerry Cooke)
Beyond the Bosphorus by David Bowers, Old Pond Publishing 2015
Robert
Thank you all for some useful hints, additions and corrections…herewith an update on TA’s-staff, version 2
Nearly version 3 with close to fifty names…
Who is Scouse? Jack the hat? Any pictures of the TA-White available?
Trans Arabia from 1976 till 1997/1998
Well, I now think some more memories with relevant names will pop up soon!
Enjoy the register on TA’s staff-members, as said, feel free to add, correct and share memories!
I believe you could add:
Tony Pearce (Footsie)
Stevie Whitehouse
Ian Roberts
Andy Wisdom
John Harris (Percy)
Taffy Brunt
Mike Dunstan
John Matthews
Billy Reynard
Bernard Broad
Billy Clements
Derek Farrington.
Robert
A-J , brilliant register what a good idea !! will you include Jonnie Mathews ,driver of " "Mac "Sorry to say RIP but he was a lovely lad and good friend of mine , he would always stare at my breakfast so much so ■■ I would say !! Do you want some ? He would reply Did I ask for any ?he was just great ,I remember him well ,sitting on the bonnet with his 8track blaring out country and western ,along side the ship in port in Jeddah by the way Jonnie Longhorn was a owner driver so to was John West both very experienced truckers , Good friends of Mirlin not T/A Ron
Thank you very much Robert and Ron…I updated the
register and will post the updates frequently!
I am convinced the > 60 names now will remind several
ex-TA-employees to more specific memories and data.
It would be top (let’s await Ken’s briefcase when he is
back) to gain more pictures to give an extra accent!
By the way…do we need to ‘exclude’ Johnny Longhorn and John West?
Who was Scouse? Some more info on Matt (with the saucepan)?