Cow skins from Liverpool docks to Leeds (Steads Leather). They’d been imported from South America. Loose on pallets, before the days of containers. The stink was spectacular and if you want a load that moves about, cow skins it is. That was a bad day. The dockers gang and myself “had words”, Not one of the buggas would give me a hand to get em sheeted and fasten them down. 
Hi all.i think the strangest load has to have been in 1975 i took a load of sand to saudi arabia.this was special industrial sand for a filter system.due to the fact that it had a chemical name it was easier to say when asked at borders,‘‘what is you’r load mister’’ sand,and where are you going.saudi.this caused me a lot of problems as many customs officials,who’s english was not so good were conviced i was taking the ■■■■ and at more than one border the papers were thrown back at me by angry officials. 
take care.mike
hi, fellow gentlemen?? stan-the-man, alias JUSTNIP!!
i worked for an irish chap once, on getting off the ferry in sranraer i rang him,
go to glasgow he said and pick up a load of oxide,
i queried this and he said definately, that it was chemicals(oh! yeah!1)
i arrived in due course in the street, with hundreds of seagulls flying around,
a very obnoxiuous smell surrounded the firm,
a high wall was around the said place but it was’nt hard to work out what the load was,
i went to the office and told the guy under no terms was i loading tha crap on a flatbed trailer, and iwas’nt going to ruin good tarps on it,(you’ve guessed )yes OX HIDES,
rang in and he said, you’re kidding, he told me it was oxide, (blood and guts everywhere),
just goes to show you don’t always have a boss that’s right,
ta-ta stan-the-man, 
it’s only a piece of metal
don’t fall in love with it,
hi, guys, stan-the-man again,(JUSTNIP)
1962, yes!! old sentinel four wheeler, without the drag, brs dunfermline, sent me to lossiemouth to pick up a crate for portsmouth,
on arrival a crate for a marine engine was duly put on, great no sheets needed, at 29 mph flat out it was going to be quite a long run,
two and a bit day’s later i arrived at the navy dock,
wait over there driver while we sort out what it;s for,
2 hours went by and then they appeared, captains, admirals, petty officers, i had em all,
sorry driver the ship that the engine has to come out of has sailed to PLYMOUTH,
you’re to go there, my own depot in stoke said see you next week, get going,
1 more day travelling and turn into the naval dockyard,
i’ve brought this box (by now it looked massive 8x8 x20ft)
for HMS--------,
NOT HERE, SHE,S ON HER WAY TO GLASGOW,
this being friday, i won’t get home till sat’ morning,
rang gaffer, he says bloody hell, i hope they are going to pay us for these cockups.
back home sat, away again sunday morn, glasgow mon, afternoon,
got rid at last, looked on body for woodworm, then fled out of the docks like a bat out of hell, all 29 mph,
ta-ta stan- the-man,
it’s only a piece of metal
don’t fall in love with it 
All good stuff Stan,let’s have some more 
Before you do post owt else can tha JUSTNIP to…
Chris Webb:
All good stuff Stan,let’s have some more
Before you do post owt else can tha JUSTNIP to…
hiya,
Trust you Christopher.
thanks harry long retired.
Familiar tale that Stan the Man - we earned some good money over the years with navy ships parts, e.g set off to Toulon
To be told no, change course for Naples, oh hang on no make that Chania on Crete instead - happy (and lucrative!) days
stan-the-man:
hi, fellow gentlemen?? stan-the-man, alias JUSTNIP!!
i worked for an irish chap once, on getting off the ferry in sranraer i rang him,
go to glasgow he said and pick up a load of oxide,
i queried this and he said definately, that it was chemicals(oh! yeah!1)
i arrived in due course in the street, with hundreds of seagulls flying around,
a very obnoxiuous smell surrounded the firm,
a high wall was around the said place but it was’nt hard to work out what the load was,
i went to the office and told the guy under no terms was i loading tha crap on a flatbed trailer, and iwas’nt going to ruin good tarps on it,(you’ve guessed )yes OX HIDES,
rang in and he said, you’re kidding, he told me it was oxide, (blood and guts everywhere),
just goes to show you don’t always have a boss that’s right,
ta-ta stan-the-man,Love it!! Oxide - Ox Hides. Sounds like it’s from that sketch the two Ronnies did years ago. Got any “O’s” ■■
it’s only a piece of metal
don’t fall in love with it,
Hiya …about 25 years ago i did a trip to Scotland 60 drops at about every John Menzies with Care bears,
up the eastcoast around the top and back down the westcoast. i was gone 4 days with a DAF 2100. 24ft box
full of the damed things.
John
Two loads stick out for me.
First was a 20’ container, to load loose pebbles off the beach in Dorset,to go to the States ( Something to do with them containing something special, they was crushed up, and made into medicine !!! )
The other, was to collect a load ( early '70’s ) from a warehouse in Rome. Backed the trailer on the ramp, and left it there for 2 days, I was put up in a hotel, and spent the 2 days sight seeing. When I went back to collect the trailer there were 2 police cars with 4 coppers in each one, 4 motorbike cops, and 2 cars with people from the “warehouse”, They escorted me to the French boarder, where the Italian cops left, and we were then escorted by the French police to Le Havre, then the UK cops from Southampton to London. The 2 cars with the warehouse men stayed with the trailer, it was never left unattended at any time, including all the overnight stops. The value of the load, un-insurable / priceless. The contents were just some of the works of art, pictures / statues / drawings and models, by Leonardo de Vinci, for an exhibition in London.
hi, gents, stan-the-man, mate of mine reckoned his was the strangest load ever,
full load of pigeons on a little b m c, great big box on back,
he had to stop every half hour to bang with a big stick on side of box
when asked what he did that for he said, if i can keep em" flying i’ll use less fuel,
and i wont be overloaded, (believe at your own risk)
ta- ta stan-the-man.
it’s only a piece of metal
don’t fall in love with it,
hiya,
Not a strange load but i used to run up to Paisley every Sunday with a multi dropper last drop in Dundee, well a near neighbour of mine had a brother who was also a near neighbour of the digs in Paisley, my neighbour at home had two boys who were older than his brothers two boys near my digs, get it, well as a favour i used to transport outgrown clothes from one family to another did’nt cost him postage and i got the odd pint at both ends anyway my pal near home asked me if could take a couple of outgrown bikes up to Paisley for his brothers sons ,no problem says i and promptly plonks them on top of the load and tied them to the ropes and away i go when going through Penrith an eagle eyed person looking out of their bedroom window phoned the police saying that a lorry with two stolen bikes hidden out of sight on the top of his load had just passed his house and had got my reg No the law pulled me in open country and checked my load of course finding the bikes which were just there not even covered, the police contacted the police near me who in turn contacted Jock who verified the bikes were from him and were being transported legitimately but it took an hour and a half before i got clearance to continue, it was a ten hour trip in those days and i was going to be over my hours but the law signed my logbook to say why i was running late but i could’nt book the overtime and that logsheet mysteriously disappeared.
thanks harry long retired.
stan-the-man:
hi, gents, stan-the-man, mate of mine reckoned his was the strangest load ever,
full load of pigeons on a little b m c, great big box on back,
he had to stop every half hour to bang with a big stick on side of box
when asked what he did that for he said, if i can keep em" flying i’ll use less fuel,
and i wont be overloaded, (believe at your own risk)
ta- ta stan-the-man.it’s only a piece of metal
don’t fall in love with it,
A firm i used to work for supplied a unit to take a specially built trailer load of racing pigeons away every Friday.
They would be taken to,usually somewhere in the Midlands but have gone as far as Belgium,where they were released to make their way home.
My job was to collect the pigeons from all the local racing clubs with a Ford D-Series flatbed.
The baskets were obviously tied down but as i was driving back to the yard,looking in the mirrors watching the wind blowing feathers everywhere,i always used to wonder how many birds would make it home.
I was once sent to Scarborough to load a tanker of seawater for delivery to Manchester. Thought it was a wind up, but did end up driving on to the seafront and pumping 28,000lts of water straight from the North Sea complete with cockles, jellyfish, crabs etc and taking it to Manchester University Aquatic studies building.
Still waiting for “load of dogs for Barking,wheels for Barrow,arrows for Bow and glider engines” etc 
Chris Webb:
Still waiting for “load of dogs for Barking,wheels for Barrow,arrows for Bow and glider engines” etc
hiya,
Or even armholes for Burtons.
thanks harry long retired.
we had a stuffed buffalo once had been used in dances with wolves
Chris Webb:
Still waiting for “load of dogs for Barking,wheels for Barrow,arrows for Bow and glider engines” etc
Well if your going to East London Chris don’t forget those horns for Tooting .
The worst one I had to carry was a load out of a London. 2cwt sugar sacks filled with dried flies from India, loaded into a eight wheeler box. They were used we were told in cosmetics… we scrached for days after. The funniest was when two of us were pulled onto weight bridge on M62. We were 60ft long 9ft wide and about 15ft high, vehicle check OK then onto w/bridge, what you carrying we were asked, flying saucer we replied. Very funny was the unamused reply, then they went to town on us, we just kept laughing at them. Eventualy we showed our notes and there it was, we were carrying plywood and foam panels for a flying saucer shaped building, from Gateshead to Liverpool.
legion:
we had a stuffed buffalo once had been used in dances with wolves
There’s got to be a joke about a stuffed buffalo on a wagon…