We did have lots of vehicles on contracts over the years, mainly Leylands except the Rental fleet which had lots of different makes.
Chris drove one wagon on the odd day which was Vetrotex of Wallingford , they had D272HOU e10 290 ■■■■■■■ Erf (this was meant to pull a drawbar but the driver was not keen ) driver Paul Collett , then there was D273HOU E10 250 ■■■■■■■ (he pulled the Pauls drawbar as he was keen (cannot recall the first drivers name but the second driver to take over was the late Ron Willmot "rocket ron ) , the last Erf was D274HOU E6 16T rigid which was driven by the late Jock fulton . All these drivers were Ex general haulage men who after the general fleet was reduced were forced on to contracts .
Other contracts were Habitat of Wallingford , Rover , Halls brewery and loads of small contracts ,some with drivers some with out.
When Brs Oxford took over supplying Drivers and wagons from just wagons , they were to shave a million pound of Habitats wage bill .if they ever did this we don’t know.
Before I came out the workshops and went on the road , Habitat drivers were booking night out at every run , I did do Dodgey night aways but allways parked away from priying eyes .
I know Oxford ex engineer has 5 photo albums but he does not do computers .
A lot of the brand new vehicles for the Midlands went through the main repair centre at Ettingshall road Wolverhampton, I remember picking up 6 buffalos from there painted in Unipart colours which were operated from Smethwick, they were all HBW —S. Most of the Guy big J’s got painted there as we collected them from Guy motors on the other side of the town, we had big j’s of all descriptions ( no 8 lxb’s though probably a tad too expensive for the penny watchers ). There could be as many as a dozen tractor units in there with the cabs off for major engine overhauls, a friend of mine only did engine replacements on Big j’s, what a grim job !
adr:
Leyland ? ?, anyone want to have a (educated)guess?
Super Comet with Homalloy cab. I used to drive one like it for Ray Holden, that was 294 NC, ex-Bolton BRS. The most uncomfortable seat my bum has ever been sat on. Swapped it for a seat out of a Seddon which had come to the end of its working life.
adr:
Leyland ? ?, anyone want to have a (educated)guess?
Super Comet with Homalloy cab. I used to drive one like it for Ray Holden, that was 294 NC, ex-Bolton BRS. The most uncomfortable seat my bum has ever been sat on. Swapped it for a seat out of a Seddon which had come to the end of its working life.
adr:
Leyland ? ?, anyone want to have a (educated)guess?
Super Comet with Homalloy cab. I used to drive one like it for Ray Holden, that was 294 NC, ex-Bolton BRS. The most uncomfortable seat my bum has ever been sat on. Swapped it for a seat out of a Seddon which had come to the end of its working life.
.if they ever did this we don’t know.
.
probably a tad too expensive for the penny watchers ). There could be as many as a dozen tractor units in there with the cabs off for major engine overhauls, a friend of mine only did engine replacements on Big j’s, what a grim job !
