TRUCKIN IN THE 80's (International)

[dieseldog66]

mytruckerdad:
Hi I realize the initial posting was a few years ago, but I have only just found it

Aubrey Monger was actually the uncle of Johnny Monger, although the age difference wasn`t much. Dad remembers, Yap-Yap and said he did have the truck after he left Roba. Dad wanted me to mention that he was certainly NOT a Brummie, born and bred in Coventry and that is where he still lives. Johnny unfortunately died a few years ago.

Does anyone remember Ray Huxley??

My dad is still mad about trucks, but I guess if you’ve been driving them for 56 years you would be.

Dad finished off his career for a local firm but also drove with a guy in Canada, across all the provinces and way down into the States. A few disagreements with the Border Security, of which he has never been a fan, but at his young age of 77 they found him more amusing LOL:)

All of his daughters spent many times trucking with dad with the London - Swiss run and usually came back with something that ‘fell off the back of a lorry’.

We keep asking dad to write a book about his experiences while trucking and like many of you I am sure, it should be with a note to absolve you all for any future legal actions!!

Thanks for trucking guys, we would be screwed without you all.

Cheers!

I met Johnny once in Richard Fords yard, not long after he appeared on the front page of the Coventry Telegraph, about being smuggled out of…? Turkey was it, in the back of the tilt… more stories please.

[cb143]

it was crashed into the back of a car transporter and it was opened like a tin of beans it was brought back to Ireland from the crash and recabbed with a topline it was also hi-jacked in Italy for it’s load it came back from that to unharmed boomerang 112

adr:
Mackin’s, looks like it works hard!

[mytruckerdad]

Dieseldog66:

mytruckerdad:
Hi I realize the initial posting was a few years ago, but I have only just found it

Aubrey Monger was actually the uncle of Johnny Monger, although the age difference wasn`t much. Dad remembers, Yap-Yap and said he did have the truck after he left Roba. Dad wanted me to mention that he was certainly NOT a Brummie, born and bred in Coventry and that is where he still lives. Johnny unfortunately died a few years ago.

Does anyone remember Ray Huxley??

My dad is still mad about trucks, but I guess if you’ve been driving them for 56 years you would be.

Dad finished off his career for a local firm but also drove with a guy in Canada, across all the provinces and way down into the States. A few disagreements with the Border Security, of which he has never been a fan, but at his young age of 77 they found him more amusing LOL:)

All of his daughters spent many times trucking with dad with the London - Swiss run and usually came back with something that ‘fell off the back of a lorry’.

We keep asking dad to write a book about his experiences while trucking and like many of you I am sure, it should be with a note to absolve you all for any future legal actions!!

Thanks for trucking guys, we would be screwed without you all.

Cheers!

I met Johnny once in Richard Fords yard, not long after he appeared on the front page of the Coventry Telegraph, about being smuggled out of…? Turkey was it, in the back of the tilt… more stories please.

Hey Dieseldog66, yeah, Turkey. They held dad at the border for a long time, questioning him but he managed to convince them he was not a relative of Johnny. He also went back a bit later and they said that he must have been innocent otherwise he wouldn’t have had the balls to go back LOL:) My dad is such a wind up merchant!

[stevejones]

wow good ol campogalliano some gd memories and interesting watching the turks do running repairs in there spot

[robert1952]

[adr]

Pity the pic is black/white , because this was one of the smartest fleets around . Regards Chris

[saviem]

adr:
Pity the pic is black/white , because this was one of the smartest fleets around . Regards Chris

Evening all, Chris, I think the black and white adds atmosphere to the image…and as you say what a fleet!

The Family Leferbvre,M et Mdme Renee Leferbvre ran a spectacular operation from the unspectacular location of Aix Noulette, east of Lens, (where the rain pours down, and the sun never shines)!

A nice operation, EFTL, cold storage warehouse in Aix Noulette,TAFNOR, the dry freight associate, LOCARTOIS FRIGO, the rental operation, at Noueux les Mines, just up the road from Aix, near to Bethune, (mainly frigo trailers, but some of the units were re-liveried in blue and white as rental units),TAFOPAL, in Bolougne sur Mer, for the fish trade, then in Brittany, (TAFBRETAGNE), TAFSUD, in Nimes, (for Langdoc Rousillon),and of course the UK Atherstone branch…TAFINT. Plus Rungis, EUROPAL FRIGO, and TRANS RL.

Jacques Leferbvre had responsibility for the fleet of, (late 70s, early 80s, )60 units, 80 fridge boxes, and around 100 on rental, (location). But it is the units that really stand out…yowling, screaming Detroit powered GMC Astros…6x4s, blood red and white, and chrome, with the same livery on the boxes, and did they go…and how!

TAF had a reputation…and I will not go into it here…for I personally got on well with the Family Leferbvre…even though I never was successfull in doing business with them, and enjoyed their hospitality on a number of occasions…not least the Sunday, when post lunch, I was given the opportunity to drive, (to convince me), one of their Astro 6x4 frigo combinations, loaded, (and to the roof at least), with "fruit de la mer "

Bloomin heck…pressed up against the drivers door, with little room to move, but surrounded by the warmth, (and fish odour), of the Astros cab, I instantly realised why Leferbvres never had any shortage of driver applicants, those Detroit , so vocal horses, screamed as they pulled 38tonnes, (or nearer 40plus),up the wet road at a quite unreal rate…with M Fullers 13 speeds like some great conducter of a famous orchestra, creating the overture that any red blooded driver would rejoice to spend his working hours with!

You could say I have a soft spot for TAF…that is an understatement!

Cheerio for now.

[jazzandy]

Deathless prose Saviem with that description of the screaming Detroit V8. I sat next to one for over 100,000 miles but unfortunately instead of Mr. Fuller I had Mistress Alison to contend with. An automatic box with ten gears only five of which you could use without stopping and selecting either high or low ratio. Owing to the set-up the accelerator had to be kept pressed to the floor against quite a strong spring resulting in an almost permanently aching right leg. However I still maintain she was one of the most stunning tractors on the road!

[john_byrne]

Just came across this site by chance and glad I did. Certainly brings backs the memories . Just taught I’d share a story that I have never told anybody until now as to how i started off driving. My first ever driving job was in 1977 a company called Eirhaul in Dublin. Tony pluck was the manager . How things have changed since them days. I never drove a lorry until I started with Eirhaul. and never drove on the continent not even in a car, I did my test in a small rigid, I think it was a 2 ton flat back no bigger than a van, on a Tuesday and found heading for Runjis in Paris that Friday night. it was a scania 110. I was only nineteen at the time and had to change the date of my birth cert to say I was 23.It was easy them days as they were written out in ink so just erased my date of birth to 1952. I Took a chance and told a few porkies and got a job there and then. I taught the game was up, as Tony the manager decided to take me out to the yard to test me. As luck would there was no spare lorries in the yard so he asked me would I mind getting the boat over to Holyhead and take a truck off a driver that was going home.
I was delighted if he tested my driving I was gone. I remember him saying “I am sure you are a good driver, you look honest enough” So I headed to Holyhead with a load of permits and a bundle of different currencies. After getting the papers off the other driver i was left alone to hook up a fridge . That was only the start of many problems. I just could not do it. as I never even sat in an artic before , I managed to find reverse and backed into the trailer but missed the pin . The fifth wheel over shot the pin and the tractor was stuck . It was now about 3 in the morning and I must of burned all the rubber off the tyres trying to get the unit out, I was about to give up when another driver came to my aid he lifted the legs and hooked it up for me. sweating like a pig I left Holyhead and pointed the truck for London with about four maps opened in front of me.
I often taught after that if it was anything other than a Scania I just wouldn’t been able to drive it. I started up the old A5 still in the lower range and the engine roaring like ■■■■, I did not cop on to the higher range for a good half hour. How I got down the road I will never know, First mistake I stayed on the A5 and drove over the top of the mountain I drove all night (if you could call it driving ) about 7am and with pure exhaustion I fell into the bunk , it was February and the snow was thick on the ground.

i arrived at the first services outside Birmingham on Sunday at about 2 pm. I should have been in Calais by then ,Anyway to make a long story short I met another Irish driver in the services , think his name was Pat he was driving a six wheeler for a company called O Shea’s Oversea
This man saved my life and after about ten cups of tea during which I told him the truth that I never drove an artic before, but needed a job, he drew a list of roads to take me to Dover. Only for him that would have being the finish of my short driving career. . He told me I would not have got a job with any other company only Eirhaul ,he called it the driving school, he took me around the car park and showed me the gears. He gave me one more bit of advice he said “you will never make Paris in time now …attack is the best form of defence , get on the phone now to Eirhaul and tell them the truck broke down, you managed to fix it and you are not happy with them for sending a tractor out when it was not fit for work”. That’s exactly what I did. What happened on the rest of the trip and over the next few months you could not make it up. Basically I must of cost Eirhaul hundreds of thousands of pounds , I almost got shot in Amsterdam , was jailed in Milan after I was beaten up in a club, knocked a balcony down off a house in Italy, send a poor man driving a little dinky car a fiat 500 into orbit at a set of lights in Milan, almost demolished the Shell garage in Runjis, Caused the Paddy (ferry from Roslare to Le harve) to be late by six hours as I tried to get a high curtain slider onto the ship but got stuck under a steel beam, have to let all the air out of the tyres and get pulled out by a tug, the frame of the trailer had to be replaced . but, I have to say by the time I was sacked I had learned how to drive an artic as long as it was not a crash box.,Dublin Meats this time being the victims for my crash box training.

I had many experiences on the road, some funny, some dangerous . I was jailed about six times in France Spain and Italy. Got barred from driving in France for driving through a French farmers road block. I was an owner driver by then, They had just burned an English truck and wanted my truck as I was carrying lambs. As I drove over the burning tyres I went through one of the cars that was parked in the centre of the road a French man jumped onto the passenger side and started to smash the window . I kept going with about four cars full of his mates chasing me. I was doing about sixty or seventy mph, going from from side to side trying to shake him off he was trying to break the window of the truck, at the same time I throwing anything I had in the cab at him as he hung on for dear life.I never stopped until the police surrounded the truck. The other time I was locked up over night in France was some farmers took exception to me taking a local girl to a hotel room , but that’s another long story.
i was driving up to 1995 then went coaching driving for a quieter life, or so I taught. As I look back now I often think about the times I had and the mates I made it was not just a job it was a way of life , and what a way of life it was. In them days we felt like we were kings of the road and in a way we were. driving night and day one week bribing Police and customs , faking permits, struggling to change tyres or diaphragm’s on the side of the road , (in the rain of course) The next week on the ■■■■ with six or seven paddy’s and maybe an English man all stuffed into the cab heading down the Rue St Denis in Paris or week ended in the arse hole of Spain. Them days when you met an english speaking driver on the road you became mates, you might never meet again but for them few hours you were mates, and unlike today you never ever passed a truck on the side of the road if the driver looked like he needed help. No ■■■■ thing as multi drops or timed deliveries , no tracking devices or mobiles , no getting into the back to load or unload you opened the doors or lifted the tilt cover. you were the driver you called the shots, but one thing you did was get there and back and I often drove for twenty six hours non stop ■■■■■■■ in a bottle in the cab if I needed to catch a ferry. i remember ruining with a driver Charlie was his name worked for Shannahans he had no heat in the truck and used … Sorry lads , getting a bit carried away. that’s another story… think I will have to write a book.

[newmercman]

Superb John, look forward to hearing some more of your tales.

[john_byrne]

Thanks for the comments Newmercman, I got a bit carried away and not sure if I should have posted some of the adventures or things we got up to , but I am almost 60 years of age, and my driving days are gone so I suppose it makes no difference now, But it was all true I assure you. there were some great characters on the road them days we did not really obey the law all the time but had a sense of fairness that was part of who we were. I wouldn’t survive these days with all the rules and regulations and every car driver acting as a want to be policemen on the roads. I often laugh to myself when I see the stickers on the back of trucks"How is my Driving" it invites people to ring a telephone number and complain about your driving. I can honestly say if they had tried that in my day all them stickers would have ended up in a bonfire. Last year I read about a truck driver who got fined and points on his licence for having a cigarette while sitting in his cab parked up in a lay by. wait for it, A traffic warden reported him to the police. I think a lot of people now are burdened down with so many rules in their every day life that it almost consumes their spirit and that’s one of the reasons why we don’t have the great characters any more.People now are conditioned not to challenge things…it makes life very mundane and predicable.

When I think of the amount of times we blocked boats from loading cars by pulling trucks in front of the loading ramp , during the summer especially they would leave the trucks standing on the docks while pushing all the cars on. the rows and arguments I got into on the Spanish and German borders I ended up jumping over the counter many times with German border guards over permits and tank-shines ( not the correct spelling) there were times when you were treated like ■■■■ especially in Turkey and Greece you had no choice you had to stand up for yourself. Over the years I must of spent thousands of pounds on Irish whisky major cigarettes and cash payout to every ■■■■ on the road that was wearing a peaked cap.The French cops used to line up at the payage outside Paris almost demanding money. Which reminds me of one particular incident I had with French police.
I was driving from Holyhead heading for Milan with a load of frozen boxed beef I stopped at the kaast services the last services just before you hit London on the M1 Gateway services. It was a very hot Saturday afternoon as I came out of the cafe walking back to the truck I saw a young woman standing beside the cab, she looked in her early twenties,she had a suitcase with her, she asked me was I going to Dover and could I give her a lift, in a wonderful broken English accent , I hesitated at first but temptation got the best of me and as she had a near perfect body and very attractive looking i decided to take her along. As we started talking she made it clear she had no money but was prepared to pay her way. ( hope the wife never reads this). A few of the lads were tipping in Smithfield that night so as were were driving through London anyway (no M25 them days) so we landed in Smithfield with the intention of having a bit of grub and heading off to Dover,that was the intention until we met an ex eirhaul driver Mick was his name from the west of Ireland.

He was, as we would say, your typical bog man, always wore an open neck check shirt winter and summer with a mountain of thick black hair body hair bulging out through the shirt and up his arms. To complement his image we always wore a pair of tight jeans with the customary thick silver chain hanging from his back pocket holding his wallet in place, and a pair of pointed cowboy boots that Clint Eastwood would be proud of. and could he drink ? on his suggestion we headed up to Camden town to check out the pubs and ended up in the Galtymore dance hall a famous hangout for the Irish community at that time. Mick spent the night trying to get my new friend to stay with him, but I think my charm and better looks( won the day ,ha ha) it also helped that I was bigger then him. So after a serious night on the drink and leaving most of my expenses behind in the bars and clubs of north London we eventually got back to the truck in the early hours of the morning. I have to say the one bunk bed I had in the F12 I was driving at the time got a lot of action that night. I was driving for Maurice Leahy at the time, who was a hard man to work for, and no doubt wouldn’t too pleased if he knew where his load of boxed beef was.

I managed to come alive about ten o clock on the Sunday morning, coming alive , is not the right expression as I was still half dead suffering from the mother of all hangovers and lack of sleep. as I looked around the cab there were bits of ladies personal clothing thrown everywhere and what looked like a dead body lying beside me. If you ever had that experience you may understand , but everything you did the night before starts flashing in front of you. I quickly realised that I was supposed to be tipping in Milan the following morning at 6am. So with just my underpants on i jumped into the drivers seat I headed off for Dover , It had already being decided that this girl was going to France. A quick breakfast in the Gate cafe on the way down and on to the ferry, as I had done many times before the passenger stayed in the bunk no passport needed. they very seldom checked the cab on the way out of Dover. it was late when we got to Calais and I had resigned myself to drive through the night to make Milan the next morning, off down the national A6 only stopping to drown my face in water to keep awake, helped, I have to say by the constant massages my friend was providing. At this stage she was in love and wanted to come to Ireland with me. I was starting to regret I ever met her and wondering how I was going to, I wont say get rid of her, but , needed to part company. in fairness she kept me awake throughout the night as the F12 Volvo purred on through the small French towns which always seemed to be deserted at night.

Getting back to the activities of the French Police it was about 5am in the morning and the sun was shining on the deserted roads , which was making me more tired. I had just turned I off at Macon Nord heading for the blonc and in fairness was driving just as hard as the Volvo would go, almost standing on the pedal trying to get every last drop of diesel into the engine.I had just overtaken a little French car when in the mirror i see the blue lights flashing. Two youngish French Juan domes , with all the time in the world pull in front of me and by the look on their faces i knew I was in trouble. The taco was in at that time , I had not changed mine since leaving Holyhead on Saturday morning.I also had very little money left , so trying the bribe was not on either. We went trough all the usual talk in my few words of French , all the police wanted was Pappier, Pappier.Passport. I ended up crossing my hands as if to put handcuffs on and pointed to the car telling him to take me away. One of the guards pointed to my lady friend who was sitting in the cab saying nothing , He kept saying famme ,famme i think he was asking me if was she my wife. I turned around in a joking way and took his hand walked over to the passenger door and said to him " you take, I go Italy. "
He looked at me and started talking to his mate , I have no idea what he said but it looked like if she went with them, I could go. I spent the next twenty minutes asking the girl to go with them and promised to meet her in Cluses on the way back. She eventually agreed to go with them, just to stop me being arrested, and believe it or not she got her case , kissed me goodbye, and got into the police car and drove away. I have no idea what happened after that, but I got to Milan late that afternoon all hell broke loose with the Italian customer not only because I was late but when I was in London I turned the fridge off ,as you do when you have a guest staying ,but completely forgot to turn it back on until I arrived in Milan . by the way I never stopped in Cluses on the way back and any-time I passed through there again I always kept a low profile and had a little scan first , in case she might make an appearance… sure they were the days.my friend.

[newmercman]

No need to apologise for getting carried away, not on here, this is where we share our experiences and as you well know, there were lots of people having “experiences” in those days. Quite a few of them are members on here

I too started before I was old enough, got nicked for it too, got in a few punch ups here and there, but managed to avoid the clink luckily

You keep them stories coming mate

[stevejones]

hi newmercman just done trip to rome m8 boy have things changed . seen only about ten uk trucks all the way down ,

[jmc_jnr]

Blimey! I thought I was pushing my luck piling on the miles at Fridged Freight without an HGV licence. I got a LB76 (SVB300F) stuck under a railway bridge outside Aviano air-force base. The six wheeler was low enough, but the draw bar was a wee bit higher! And then I knocked down a gate-post backing into somebodies drive-way to turn round. Fastest tip ever before the Carabiniera turned up. The Yanks thought it was hilarious. Jim.

[archie_paice]

Hullo,
Thanks for writing about your memories of the job, it was well written and a very interesting account of life in those great days. I’m 76 years old now and can equate with your memories and opinion of the times when we were all at it. Please don’t apologise for your post, it was very interesting, if you have any more stories I am certain a lot of people on here would love to share them with you.
Now we have two, maybe three good writers on here, all good. So keep at it and Thank you.

[john_byrne]

By the way i have a good few photo’s lying around the house from them days of both English and Irish drivers and trucks. If I can figure out how them put them up, I will do it. Does anyone remember a company called PIE I think they were based in the south of England… They ran Daf’s all kitty out with sinks , cooker the whole works. Tell you a good story sometime about one of their drivers who was with in in Italy, up the back of beyond in the mountains, when following a little Italian farmer on a motorised bicycle who we stopped to get directions from, I was following the bike as he suddenly turned into a small street that was just about the width of the lorry. All of a sudden I heard an almighty bang the bloke on the bike kept going as with the noise from his little engine i suppose he heard nothing. I small fat Italian Woman ran out in front of me screaming, I really did not know what was going on I actually taught we were in the middle of an earthquake. It was not until i got out of the cab and looked I saw the balcony of a house sitting on top of my fridge. what happened after was a complete scene out of a carry on film. The whole village stopped work, your man that I was following comes back on his little bike this time he has this little balding fat man actually standing on the bike behind him waving hands and screaming , he turned out to be the lord Mayor. … maybe a story for another day.

[newmercman]

stevejones:
hi newmercman just done trip to rome m8 boy have things changed . seen only about ten uk trucks all the way down ,

Alright Steve, so how you liking it? I hated my last trip in 06, all legal, most boring trip I ever had

[sammyopisite]

John Byrne:
By the way i have a good few photo’s lying around the house from them days of both English and Irish drivers and trucks. If I can figure out how them put them up, I will do it. Does anyone remember a company called PIE I think they were based in the south of England… They ran Daf’s all kitty out with sinks , cooker the whole works. Tell you a good story sometime about one of their drivers who was with in in Italy, up the back of beyond in the mountains, when following a little Italian farmer on a motorised bicycle who we stopped to get directions from, I was following the bike as he suddenly turned into a small street that was just about the width of the lorry. All of a sudden I heard an almighty bang the bloke on the bike kept going as with the noise from his little engine i suppose he heard nothing. I small fat Italian Woman ran out in front of me screaming, I really did not know what was going on I actually taught we were in the middle of an earthquake. It was not until i got out of the cab and looked I saw the balcony of a house sitting on top of my fridge. what happened after was a complete scene out of a carry on film. The whole village stopped work, your man that I was following comes back on his little bike this time he has this little balding fat man actually standing on the bike behind him waving hands and screaming , he turned out to be the lord Mayor. … maybe a story for another day.

Hi John and welcome to funny farm regarding posting photos as long as you have them scanned onto your computer it is quite straight forward

1. click onto post reply and at the bottom of the reply panel you will see " Upload Attachment " at the bottom left, left click it and a small window opens
2. left click browse which will take you to your pictures and select the picture you require and this will then come into the box between browse and add file
3. left click add file and then it will move up and you will see place in line
4. left click place in line and it will then appear into the post reply panel ( at this stage you can click preview and you can see what you are posting )
5. If you are satisfied that with what you see as to what you want to post just click submit and job is done
6. If you are not happy you can go to the top of the page and click page back arrow and it will take you back a page and you can start over again

cheers Johnnie

[adr]

The joys of Groupage

[merton]

Hello,

Some guys on here mention my father Les Merton, it’s so funny seeing pictures of the wagon he loved! Does anybody hear from Eric Lucas at all? Sadly Les passed away last year July 2013. It would be great to hear more stories, as I’m well aware my Dads antics I have a few stories of my own from when we travelled to Spain in the scania back in the summer of 1982’ I was 7…