Just to let you all know, Fred has finally retired, a lot of us old timers have fond memories of Fred’s welcome at his premises, from the first dust bowl parking, with different nationalities of truck drivers fighting outside, especially if the football was on.
Weekended in Madrid, he would say get the bus or train to see the city.
Checking the change as he would short change you when buying something.
toby1234abc:
Checking the change as he would short change you when buying something.
…Have you got a good Lawyer Tobes?? 
It is ok, I know tbe Mayor of Coslada.
Ha, ha you did have to keep an eye on your cvNge at Fred’s.
What a great place it was, and a handy man to know, many a good night spent in Fred’s
toby1234abc:
It is ok, I know tbe Mayor of Coslada.
better keep your eye on the mayor then when given your change ha ha
Gutted am off to madrid monday for tues tip was hoping to visit freds after i had tipped havnt been there for a few years oh well hope he enjoys a long and happy retirement fred was a good lad.
Eastkent, there is good bar and drivers restaurant behind DB Shenker or the old Spain Tir depot off Avenue Fuentemar.
It’s called the Matador, the French and Italian drivers park up by the train track.
Good food and friendly staff.
EASTKENT:
Gutted am off to Madrid Monday for tues tip…
Leave (the UK??) Monday to tip in Madrid on Tuesday!!! Really? I have been out of the game for quite a while now but im sure it was (legally 
) more than two cards from loading, crossing the channel and then travelling down and tipping in Madrid!
I stand to be corrected though!
If got in to Ouistreham early Monday morning, it is a full shift to get about an hour South of Bordeaux.
Tuesday night gets you near Madrid to tip Wednesday morning.
soz lads in a van 
Flew out to Madrid once to pick up an artic to take on its onward trip to Morocco. Its driver had been taken ill and he’d left the keys with Fred. All I had to do was pick up the keys from Fred, have a meal and a kip and be on my way. Good as gold. Robert
good ol fred what a guy in the days of customs no gps no mobile phones any orobs always a friendly face
I used to sit at Freds for days waiting for a fax for the collections for the reloads.
As you said, no mobile phones back then, but a great craic, familiar faces that took the same ferry down from the French ports .
What a great feeling once you got the wheels going, it was 12 ceramic tile collections out of Onda and Castelon and take two days to fill the trailer.
The coffee shops and hotels on the road, that were open all night.
Factories shut for three hours for afternoon Siesta.
After the hussle and bustle of Madrid, Fred made everyone welcome with his wicked sense of humour.
I liked the half price beer tickets for the baghouses that he handed out at closing time.
He sorted a dentist out for me once when I had an abscess, I had one hit it down there as I couldn’t sleep if you paid me and went in with the idea of getting bladdered so I could pass out. He noticed the swelling and got on the phone to a dentist, less than an hour later I was back in Coslada with antibiotics and the best painkillers I’ve ever had.
ye the ol tile collections no rush think iv still got my tile map of castellon back in uk seen fred in 2008 his hair had gone grey ye he said but ive still got hair /thats fred for ya
On collecting tiles, the freight agent would give you the addresses of the head office of the tile firm, they didn’t produce tiles there, so gave you a map to find the production depots.
The Porcelanos factory is the biggest factory, hundreds of lorries a day being loaded.
Some collections, on arrival, there would be dozens of trucks in a queue.
Freds place on the hill on the National One, north of Madrid, didn’t last last long.
Most on here will remember the cafe owned by an Australian lady.
It was on the road between Castelon and Teruel, in a scenic valley with citrus trees.
I got my cab robbed, she offered to loan me some money or a free meal, she said pay her back on the next trip down, that was trust.
Other pit stops were Sunbilla and Miguels in the Vasco area.
My heart would sink if see those red beret Police, watching if the hand goes up to stop you.
ye freds north of madrid madrid used to be called the rocket but as u say he didnt stay long then he was in the repsol northbound on n 1 think the between castellon and teruel there was one on the right called the santander went into sunbilla in 2010 while on holiday its now just gas stop new place just up road on left many a good night in sunbilla .lol
Sunbilla truckstop, their famous Bocadilos with eggs or bacon.
Pork chop Bocadilos.The trout with ham inside was my favourite, the lentil casserole with meat in it.
Drivers menu with pasta dishes, steaks the size of Micra wheels.
Traffic police would take their breaks knocking back coffee with Brandy or Cognac.
I heard an English driver died there, found him in the river.
If you fuelled up, they gave you cash, a percentage of how many litres, the showers were top notch.
Locals used it, most drunk a lot, the atmosphere was quite unique.
ha ha ye u got it toby used to be 5pesatas a litre bonus had many hangovers there gr8 days glad i done it as it was
toby1234abc:
Sunbilla truckstop, their famous Bocadilos with eggs or bacon.
Pork chop Bocadilos.The trout with ham inside was my favourite, the lentil casserole with meat in it.
Drivers menu with pasta dishes, steaks the size of Micra wheels.
Traffic police would take their breaks knocking back coffee with Brandy or Cognac.
I heard an English driver died there, found him in the river.
If you fuelled up, they gave you cash, a percentage of how many litres, the showers were top notch.
Locals used it, most drunk a lot, the atmosphere was quite unique.
I loved Sunbilla. That trout was locally caught, I was told. I always had it if I ate in the big old mansion of a place below the more modern truckstop restaurant on the site. Often cancelled there on a Sunday afternoon, or before a bank holiday. Before they modernised the road it was a rotten route to negotiate to Irun at 4:00 a.m. with a hang-over, though! Nice going over the top of the Belate (Valleta) Pass going south before the tunnel was built. Robert