Does anyone know what happened to Thorburn after his licence was revoked and his interim for a new licence was refused ? I dont know if he has shut up shop but a week before he lost his licence he was in the local paper for best business award!!!
It keeps running in another name by his daughter but even she has had her wrist slapped so there is more to come.
There was a story in Comical Motor a couple of weeks ago
All the trucks are parked in the yard,see subbies pulling his trailers,we load next door and theres about 15 Scania 580s parked up and about 20 fridges,hell be back,watch this space 
some how scaniamad i think your right wally will be back one day more likely sooner than later 
commercial motor reported that wally had applied for an o licence in his own name once again but this had been revoked.
i noticed toward the revocation date that he traded in a few of his trucks which were in his colours and took plain white r series scanias in their place, perhaps what you see pulling his trailers and think are subbies are actually his own trucks.
my personal opinion on this is that many years ago thorburn was a rogue, his drivers were running illegally and were openly encouraged to do so, speed limiters were adjusted to help too but over the past 3 years he has turned over a new leaf and has been trying very hard to keep things legal but has been let down by old hands that cannot or will not change their ways.
just a few months ago i was talking to one of his drivers that had worked for wally about 5 years previous but left due to the pressure placed to run bent and get the job done, he’s now gone back to wally and is very happy with the new operation - everything legal.
the other down side is that wally thorburn operated some of the smartest trucks on the road (without murials), the black paintwork with the white pinstriping and thorburn name along with the chrome and alloys made his trucks stand out in a crowd, they captured your attention and they presented a very good image on the road to other road users, that presence i think will be missed.
but like others have stated - i don’t think it will be too long before wally is back in full glory either running his own trucks or taking a leaf out of hayton coulthards books and getting subbies to run in his colours.
yes the trucks have all ways been kept in a wonderfull
condition and when he has not done any thing wrong
why not let him continue , as for getting away with it i could
name a few much bigger firms that are still running
bent,and have as yet not been caught,
All this nostalgia:
he his up in front of the commisioners on the 23rd of january to see if he gets his licence back all the new r series are sat ellsmere port scania at the moment there is 5 lorrys sat in his yard the ones he owns and he has sold 4 of the oldest trailers and i believe he has an order in for 4 new chereau trailers how i know this a friend works there and he has been sat at home since a week before christmas on pay till the 23rd till they know the outcome
I wonder what happens to his customers then ? It not as if they can all shut up shop til the 23rd jan can they !!!
so hes got 5 left in his yard and new ones on order from scania ? and new trailers on order ? has he sent the R series he had ( in his colours) back ?
Interesting to see what happens on the 23rd, doubt if he will get his licence back or a new one granted tho, the NWest TC is rather hard on people ( RF Fieldings for example); Hayton Coulthard carried on trading, quite successfully after he was revoked, maybe Wal will do the same;
dya still need an o licence just operating trailers ?
wondered why i hadnt seen any of his trucks on the road for a while, they do look smart & neat in them colours though
This is for Johnny especially:
I was never a rogue operator, although we have had over the year’s some rogue drivers.
So please get your facts right before you make such comments as ‘loose lips, sink ships’.
Wally Thorburn
I think Johnny was talking in your defence more than anything. Rogue drivers are always a major concern for any operator, big or small, but they serve a purpose at the end of the day. And I am not defending them, God knows they got me in enough trouble.
I hope things work out for you. I really do.
hi wally,
good to see you on here, whats the situation with you at the moment, hope its looking up for you. think you will find that mostly the posts have been in your favour on here, and hopefully you will be back, we have heard all kinds of rumours and written stuff in the comical motor, but it would be good to hear your side of things, thats the one thing this forum is good for.
To all
As you know, more than anything I have always taken a pride in my vehicles, and instead of giving credit where its due, people have tried to knock us down. I have tried to instill in all drivers that have ever come through the gates to behave like grown men and to take a pride in the profession they have chose. Unfortunately some would rather spend their time in cafes bragging about what they’ve done and what they haven’t, but thats a minority and unfortunately I have employed a few of them.
Yes we did have our licence revoked on the 08.12.06 and I was all for selling up. But why should I be forced out of an industry that Iam so fiercly proud to be a part of. I will be appearing before NWTC Mrs Bell on the 23.01.07 and will apply for a new licence that day. I have kept everyone on until that date and Im keeping my fingers crossed.
Wally Thorburn
good for you wallly . i have always been fond of your trucks and often think the likes of you and ralph davies set the benchmark for good looking quality trucks that are ambassadors for the uk trucking industry but the downfall of this is you are always in the spotlight and will always be a target for civil servants who think just because you are doing well you must be bent . good luck next week . p.s do you employ any foriegners out of interest ?
ALL the best WALLY with the application, and i hope
that you get a green light, as your trucks have all ways
been eyestoppers and well liked ,showing other countrys
that the UK does have good transport companys as well.
Best of luck on the 23rd, Wally.
There’ll be more ‘old school’ fellow operators and drivers rooting for you than you’ll ever realise.
Give our regards to Hitler’s Grand-daughter 
you all finished ■■■■ kissing now? 
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