MY driving and work history from 1980

[peggydeckboy]

I knew then that I was not most welcome ,maybe he was tired like I was, any way in for a penny Isaid my name is I am new to this work this is my first trip i never done this before, i got the job by pure chance ,i do not know anyone who had driven powder tanks,i am experienced in European fridge work that is it. I just thought i would say hello .

He sort of steps back a bit ,ohh ok ,the story going around is that you were from another tanker company and wanted the DA.F I said ,“i have had all the top range double sleepers “god ever made” why would i want a small sleeper like I have,now with someone else’s painted on the door.and they all knew the driver i was told later.

He said sorry misunderstanding , shook my hand and said lets have a brew.

I said ok ,nice,after tea please show me what you were doing, with the pipes he said you keep giving them a good clout with the rubber hammer to keep the product flowing and keep check on your air pressure do not let it drop below one and a half bar[ 1.1/2 bar]

Once the product starts to slow down you lift your tank up a little more,the telescopic rams do the work for you pushing the product to the rear of the tank but not to quick where you have your exit product pipe attached there is a product site glass that you can see the product flying past

Where did you get that from, “i asked” it belongs to the truck you will have one in the side box on the trailer you use it all the time when you are un loading i have not had any proper training it is ,like fridge work learn on the job but this is worse than fridge work, he said i also did the same ,but you will soon learn.”

He told me what i had let my self in for, you just get messed about by the factories you go to if they do not want the product, they send you somewhere else to unload if you have time limits for collection you are stuffed.

He told me this job is a regular for them ,[smits] when you are empty you will drive to Smits yard where you get the tank washed,what he meant was you!! wash the tank inside ,and the man who gives you your cleaning certificate is a right ■■■■■■■■

The wash man is so particular about the inside he will get in the tank with his socks on and feel all around the joints in the tank and under the tank lids .” Have you got you leather“yes! “that is what you need to make the inside bone dry, “now i got it” you will be absolutely drowned soaking wet by the time you have finished, about 5 tankers will be in the same area but differnt bays whatever you do, do not splash other tanks If you do the chap who dishes the certificate out ,will not give you yours.

You will see some tanks having small machines in the tops and a lot of steam coming out of the lids, these are called “spinners” high pressure, quick clean, mostly used if any type of non hazardous type product has been used ,mostly oily or detergent products in different d powder form that can be hard to get off the side wall as they are coated with like a bronze fine skin,that will flake off if spinners are used too much you must never use spinners unless you are told to by your boss no matter what the wash people say where ever you are. it is very expensive, and the hot /power takes a film off the inside of the tanks and leaves a blotchy whitish coat ,clean but you can tell if a spinner has been used,

The man in charge of you once you get to smits speaks English as well as you and me and you have to do exactly as he says as it is him you are working for and you represent your boss i seem to remember his name was like PETER. Yes peter the knob.

At the wash the boos wash man he will not pass your tank the first time he will make you wash it again, DO not get the hump, just do it, he does it to all new drivers he will know, as he will know the truck and that your a new driver just humour him once you get used to him he is ok …
.
My mind is already made up this is not the job for me ,to much f------g about, I am glad i have met this chap he either is telling the truth or ■■■■■■■■■■■■ i asked him why he does the job, he said ,he is going with a German girl from the village and hopes to settle down here ,well that was fair enough.and the tank cleaning man is her dad at the depot,and he then laughed.

I ask how do you get round the Tachograph if you have to break you break to get tipped, and it takes 3 hours to tip ,he said you write on the back and when you leave you go to the gate man at krupps or any of the German fasctories they will all do it and he will put a big krupps stamp, AND over scribble in GERMAN

Do you finish you break once tipped” “,no” Smits office will ring to see what time you have tipped and expect you at their depot ,that is the way they work, they are not bothered about your rest time ,the tank is important…you will find out.
BLOODY HELL just as fridges

[jelliot]

Hi Vic I tried sending you a PM can you check your mail and let me know if you got it…

Jeff…

[peggydeckboy]

After all the good information, I walk back and got in the bunk fully clothed,except shoes,i did have a break once I got of the boat a CALAIS but I was now ready for bed, i had this feeling that this work was going to be as bad as fridge work as regarding rest and sleep.

At 2.30 am the door is getting banged ,i get up, pull the curtains, the gateman is shouting something i put my thumb up ,pull the curtains right back,got dressed ,i can see no one else is parked here, bloody only the lonely again.
or it could be leave the English man to last.
I fire her up ,and move to the gatehouse, the man gives me a road plan of where for me to go, it was like a London underground plan, however I followed it and it took me to where the other driver was.a town of its own.

.I got my self all set up, on the unloading pad ,correct i hope , i start getting the hoses out of the side box ,and the flow type meter it takes two hoses to reach their pipe on the silo that i have to attach my hoses to
I know that there is a sequence of loading, and unloading ,to be honest you did need proper training, and maybe a book on the dos and do nots.

However i had to find that out for my self and that is what i did… it took a few loading, and unloading times,but i did get it in the end, however i was always aware that any time it could go ■■■■ up or make a stupid mistake , and just imaging getting it total wrong and the whole tank could topple over that is why the two back wind down legs plus the built in spirit level are used to stabilize the tank when it is right up as high as it goes.

Finally when the tank blows empty ,you hear the air rushing you have to switch your air supply off, straight away, from blowing just air in to their tank that is why I stand at the rear of the tank all of the time while I was unloading, I never moved from the rear any time,untill all the product had been blown out I made sure I had a warm coat, ■■■■ ,anything I thought I would need.thank god i never needed a dump or that would have been another load to contend with.

I was told by the other driver, that where you are unloading, and they are not sure their SILO will take all of the your load ,or they! have made a error, and you start blowing your product in to the silo, it will blow the product everywhere out of the top of the siolo if its a powder,it will be like a cloud [so i was told] a air horn will start blasting away, letting every one know.you would all ready know because you will be covered in the product.

You will by now might have guessed ,that I would have the biggest problem with Smits truck wash man. He did make me do the tank twice before he passed it inside under the rims where the lids drop on, there were smudges of left product,he may have been correct , but i know he got the best of my tongue I zbing hated him from then on he knew what i had said to him I though zb this no way will I be doing this regular.

If you have ever been to a self car wash, you know what it is like, imagine doing a 40 foot tank inside from the top then going inside and doing the upper top of the tank,of course all the regulars had all the proper wet weather gear, they looked like frogmen ,i had a coat and a flat cap,and you had to take your shoes off inside so you imagine what my socks looked like,a clowns big shoes not one of my better days.

BEFORE i had a full change of clothes i went in to their wash /rest room.one thing about the GERMANS they need no lessons in providing facilities for their workers large showers,a clothes dryer they must have known us english would not have the right gear! lots of room, not like our rest rooms ,a BEER vending machine, but they know that their workers will not go daft, as they have a beer for breakfast [as normal] not like us back home ,a beer machine would be temptation for a ■■■■ up.[what, really] jolly jack ,must keep up tradition.

Once i was sorted i went in to the office for loading instructions not a word was said about the wash they gave me my tank clean certificate also some running money maybe john had asked them to give me some ,the clean tank certificate was to be shown to where you were going to load up ,no matter what country you load, they are to have a clean wash cert presented to them [no cert no load].I was sent Ingolstadt to load for Civitavecchia just up from Rome now i get the running money road tolls.

Once there the same procedure, wait and they would come and get you ,i hoped later on and not through the night,i all ways made a point of getting to where i should be loading ,than getting up earlier in the morning,no matter where i worked.i would never have a alcoholic drink in the week at all ,i knew i would have never been able to do the job ,lots of men did ,some times you never got time to have a brew.

After i was loaded that all went ok no problems i was to catch the TRUCK train from near Munchen[i have completly forgotten the name of the place] to the top of the Brenner pass , it is so you miss the weekend driving ban in Germany and Austria, i had used the system before with a fridges from the same TRAIN place .

Once parked up in the yard ,i went to the office to collect my ticket and train loading instructions, i remembered it was the same office ,very clean and lots of signs i did not understand none however standing there not sure which window to go to in case they had changed the procedure ,another driver walked in and i watched him to see where he went and i followed him i assumed he was going on the train.

At a window he wanted all my the paper work, plus the truck registration papers i had with me [a must in Europe] they hand the papers back after about 10 minutes ,he gave me a number and it had a large B on it that was for a lane to park up in ready for boarding the train. to put in my windscreen.

He did a routine of pretending to put it in the screen ,yes!! i had got it,. and then a little box with a sandwich, apple,a small water and a flimsy paper sheet.for the couchette.

Back in the truck i got ready i had no idea when i would be leaving ,i parked up in lane B there were trucks already parked up in it ,there were about 10 lanes of full trucks next to me, so i could be a while, they were going to lots of different destinations .

What you had not got with you once in the sleeping compartment you went without .These trains are very low to the ground, when you looked out of the window it looked very close to the track i realized they must have smaller wheels

When loading the truck on the rail flat bottomed like a low loader, you were following the truck in front you drove on until a man stopped you he then put chocks under your wheels [just like the tunnel train,]or did I have forgotten.

You took all you will need with you thank god for duty free plastic bags ,as I knew the crack I had a single small gas burner a small kettle ,water tea bags [a must] ,sleeping bag pillow ■■■■ lighter,book, getting out of your cab with all your stuff and you run to the end of the train where there is a accommodation coach years of training take everything you will need.

The fun starts now, getting up the steps on the accommodation coach with your gear ,once you done that, you are in a corridor with sliding doors behind each door is a compartment with 4 bunks two are long seats and two bunks like luggage racks ,so the art is let no other fu-zb-er in the compartment ,so you draw the curtains and sit with your "foot"on the flat handle and hope no one comes in ,i have had it before, being on the train nearly last , getting in to a compartment can be frustrating in the end i have been banging on a door,and there is one chap inside, there is is enough room for all, but who likes to be on our own ,[we all do] .

We left the yard lots of clanging but once they get going it is not a bad ride it was at least 6 hours to the top of the “Brenner pass” time to get some food then sleep, if you could, because of the squeaking brakes.My that was worse than a fridge.

Once the train arrived at the very top of the Brenner the routine of getting off was easy, getting back to your truck, the chocks had been removed from the wheels no paper work to do, just drive off, straight down to Italian border, /customs at vipiteno compound for road, and rail/road traffic, it was a silly o’clock in the morning, once in the compound i went to bed, i was not bothered what others had done or were doing ,bed for me.

Up at around 9 am their time, in to the agents ,i was told it would be 2 hour clearance [i liked the way they stuck two fingers up] if only they knew,c i could tell, he was trying to say you are late. i just shrugged the same as they do and walked out.

It was all cleared by 12 o’clock-ish my route would be Trento .Vicenza , Bologna, Firenze, Siena Grossoto,direction destination port Civitavecchia. How I remember it, when on pullens i took a load of steel for a ship in the dock in a tilt ,if I had come from the Aosta route it was a straight forward route. but from the BRENNER a bit different ,however it is fairly straightforward driving in Italy so long as you stay on their autostradas they incorporate nearly all of the major cities, you have problems once you start trying to cut across the country, the road may look ok but believe me you can get your self in a right messso cutting over form east to west or vise -verser you best bet is all ways stick to the major routes even when it looks longer in the long run it is quicker.

I never made it in one hit ,they had not given me a time for unloading soa nights proper kip in the bunk,all this in and out of the bunk does catch up with you in the end,the next morning i was not to far away .

Once I had found the unloading place it was a big chemical works , the routine of unloading was good , blowing off in to their big silo it took about 2 hours. I was getting better and more confidant i would go and make a quick brew before it was time to raise the tank and bang the sides, it took me a long time to get used to leaving the back of the tank while unloading for just in case it went wrong i was never 100% .however most men always stayed at the rear of the truck when unloading you never knew ,one good thing there was,there was never anyone to distract me by talking, it would be me, not them.

When empty i went for my C MR they said in good English you must ring SMITS In Germany.i got through to the English man, told him where i was etc he said you are reloading from there for Denmark, and come back via SWISS you will be heavy ,but use the train from Como it is called the [humpback] or something like that,it is all booked, ring when you are empty in Denmark.

I asked if i was to wash out and they said no it is the same product, i could not believe it.

After about 1 hour they told me where to park and indicated for me to open all the 5 lids on top of the tank, i thought they are going to check the inside of the rims, i did that and then climbed down, along came a fork lift loaded with pallets of product in[polythene in bags] and started placing them close to the truck. a small tractor arrived with a orga with a long Shute attached as high as the top of the tank .

Now i was seriously thinking ,what is going on, after 10 minutes 2 men arrived both had a breathing masks, hanging around their necks .i am still puzzled as what was going to happen, one man got up on top of the tank, and guided the nozzle on the end of the orga, over the tank top hole ,his mate lowered it down until it was inside the rim of the tank …then i got it… they were going to load the tank through the lids with the product from the sacks that would get taken up to the tank via the orga , with the man at the bottom splitting the sacks ,so the loose polythene goes up and drops in to the tank Jesus, who had ever heard of loading a tank [via handball] this is going to take for ever.

After a while 2 other men came so it was three men cutting the sacks open it was nearly 7 pallets worth of polythene sacks in to each lid, total about 28 tons,. after loading i was a gross weight of 44 tons .i was in no position to argue they knew what they were doing and the load was distributed evenly .it must have took about 5 hours to load, all the customs was done there i had finished locking the lids down a tight as i could i put the TIR cord through and attached the end to the rear unloading [door] and it was then sealed up.

[peggydeckboy]

I moved around to the wash ,and washed all the dust off the whole tank and cab, i went and collected the CM R. T. FORM and a transit document, i was ready to leave now i had a longish run in front of me

My route was back up to BOLONGA up to MILANO, COMO. CHIASSO ,
I knew the route very well however I had never been on the train from Como.

The very first time i ever transited como ,1984 ish like a ■■■■ I went in the the town ,on the old road i was on fridges [I kept it quite back then]and ended up at the old border in the town, down the narrow street I thought i am f—ked,luckly at the actual border to the right was a narrow entrance with a small blue finger post sign you would miss if you blinked in to a compound,thank god ,I still had to turn around and go back ,at lest I could , however it was tight ,it was the old border the drivers before my time used to use

. That back then was my first royal zb up but many more were to come ,only in this job you could have them . all is going well ,until something you!!!do yourself puts you back down to earth.

1. Getting to the actual train you go on past all of the COMO,chassio,compounds something I had never done before in fact I did not know you could, times before when i/you go to turn off the duel track to que up for the transit area ,over the flyover bit you drop down in to the compound it was very easy to miss or the signswere confusing or if you were not taking notice of the signsfor the transit compound i often wondered what would happen if you missed it well now I know there was another turn of so you would be able to return but it would not have been straight forward.

Transit Swiss via the train ,just the same routine as the German one , they gave you apple, i had to wait about 5 hours before i could get on a train and leave, so snatching sleep ,i decided to take the tacho card out as if i had booked off and was already parked up at the German border in my head but I was not , iwas still in swiss

Once the train had got me back at the German/Swiss border ,i would start a fresh a new day a new card.as if i had been booked off for 10 hours.the job seemed to have a certain way of swaying me towards being illegal again.

Out of the Swiss/German, border the drive was to FREIBERG FRANKFURT, HANNOVER ,HAMBURG. [DK] PAD BORG, deliver to Aarhus. With breaks, not much to say a good straight run,over ground I had covered a lot of times all though DENMARK, was new to me I had heard a lot about it ,and the danes are very big in to fridge work ,also they are one of the very best paid drivers through out Europe .all the tractor units have a large locker fitted on their units with a fridge installed just a added comfort for the driver,

Arriving at the deliver destination it was not hard to find i could see the silos from a long way off It looked more like a big farm complex, long low flat buildings ,lots of room to park up .i made my way to the office that was like a farmers kitchen, and a friendly greeting in Danish, they soon knew i was English, that is a lot of peoples second language in Denmark so at last no problem also they did not mind speaking English

I was soon told that they did not have room in their silos to take the product, they said it will be 8 am in the morning ,[what a result just what I like a full night sleep]there was nothing i could do about it. I could park where i was, i was told i could use the toilet and showers, open 24 hours ,they were they clearing the custom papers on site so all was good.

I had to make a telephone call to the smits office to let them know what was going on ,they were not pleased, and they [GERMANS]asked to speak to the boss ,who was there, lots of verbal went on but it made no difference it would still be tomorrow. ring when empty i was told, i bet that has put all the plans for me ■■■■- up did i care no!another full nights sleep.

[peggydeckboy]

As i did not have hardly any cash, especially Danish kroner about 10 DM to my name some English sterling, that was it but i did have quite a lot of cigarettes [my duty free 200 hundred ,as i smoke roll up tobacco i thought i would try to sell them here.

I walked in to the office and asked how much for one packet of cigarettes they all looked at me as if i was mad , they said they are very expensive here you should have brought them from Germany, so then i said i have 200 hundred English Bensons /hedges to sell !as i have no money, for beer

.The boss said, it is illegal to sell cigarettes here in this country, not allowed ,so i said ok, and walked out,i went back to my cab, however the seed had been sown ,but i did not know it , about half an hour later, a knock at the cab door, it was worker from there, asking for ■■■■, i said no sorry not allowed ,he said in English ,it is ok, the boss has sent me he smokes, he had kroner in his hand i think the ■■■■ were about worth £12 English, and i got about 15 kroner it turned out a good deal for me ,but i did not know until later.

As i had no idea of any prices for beer as i had never been to [DK]before, i walked in to a supermarket to look at the bottles to see how much, Jesus the beer must be gold, it was so expansive nearly 2 kroner one bottle 600 mls about 1 ½ pints but i did not want much and i brought 4 bottles ,that was enough… back to the cab ,fresh bread cheese ,beer, what more could you want.

I was woken up around 7 am and told that i could go to the silo to blow out the product. so i asked will it take it all, yes was the reply ,i am getting to know the right things to ask now,also make out as if it was a normal thing for me to do {just blow out a powder tanker

The ant static clipping point both sides of the unloading are were very visiable once that was done I got all the pipe I needed out clipped in to their silo then went and fired my engine up engaged the drive gear without shearing the shear bolts [lucky], air presser up to about 1 ½ bar started to slowly open the valves and away she goes you can hear the product rushing out through the pipes

It seemed as if it took hours to blow it all in ,i knew when i was empty the air is rushing in to the pipes no resistance, i had got in the habit of standing at the rear of the tank ,watching and listening ready to shut the exit valve of and run and shut the engine off so as no more air is produced.

Back to the rear of the tank ,there was a valve up by the ladder that takes you up on top of the tank you just slowly open it and it expels all the air in the tank so it is safe to go back down, to take the hoses off although no air can get into them .

You then uncouple your hoses from the silo, lift them up to get any product out of them that maybe in them ,[you wash the hoses through when your at a tank wash] you put them back in the side carriers on the side of the tank ,there are larger plastic pipes, and you push and clip the hoses back up inside them.
So no one can see the proper hoses ,why I do not know,.then you take off the rear coupling from the rear tank door ,then screw the plastic cap over the thread hole.you then do a proper walk around

You pick up your hammer ,and anything else you may have used, lift the rear landing legs up make sure all is secure, walk around again, make the TIR cord secure. make sure the donkey engine drive for the air and power is out of gear .it is like taking a power drive out from a tractor. then sit and think, then relise you have the static line still clipped and make sure you have done everything i should have .Iwalk in their office to get my C MR, and ask where there is a tank wash ,but first i would like to ring SMITS in Germany.

What I sort of begain to relise there is more movment of plastic pellets around Europe than you would belive,maybe they mix it with different products who knows ,as why did a load have to go to Italy, unloaded platic pellets then another of the same procduct get loaded then go to DENMARK the mind bogeles ,I expect that is why I was a driver, not in the loop.to know

Once my loading instructions were clear I asked what route to take it was not that far away i am loading fish meal for Germany,do i need to get a cleaning certificate he said yes ,however you must do the wash at the factory you are loading from ,so that was good all in one go.

The fish processing plant was called Triplennie, Esbjerg how i remember is the “lennie” bit in the name, once there i soon found out that the attitude was 100 %better than the Germans at the wash plant inside the factory.

All though you had to do it your self there was no rush at all i was told i would be loading later that day so i had plenty of time to get the inside of the tank to clean and dry it out with the help of a hot air blower pipe put in the lid top, like a flex hose from a household tumble dryer.

And then to finish off drying with the massive chamois leather that i was given on my first day the inside of the tank gets quite warm ,as you are just standing inside the tank in your socks.and clothes of course,

I am able to reach the top of the tank inside with the help of a soft brush that i put the leather on, once inside they are much bigger than you think ,they would make a ideal nucular bunker under ground.

. As I have mentioned before you would never get out if the back door/lid was accidently shut with you in it as reaching the top lids from inside is impossible.it would be a good test for theses illusionist to get out of if the lids were open,instead of working for a living?

I always made sure that the rear lid could not fall and drop shut lots of tieing up with the tir cord.when I used to have to go inside to dry it out there is/was always the doubt.

The foreman at the factory s cleaning department gave you your cleaning certificate, and you were ready for loading, you had to go and park under a gantry that had a large canvas type hose hanging down from the roof gantry, that fitted over the open lid in to the tank, there were some workers up on the top on a walk way above the tank the guard rail was up so they were able to walk on the tank top ,and position the hose over the tank top lids that where open to receive the product .

My instructions were to drive forward when told and to stop when told by a man on the floor, by my cab. That is what i did you could feel the product dropping in to the tank, by the weight.

After about 5 moves forward, i was told to stop the engine and go up on top to close the lids down, they had a type of vacuum cleaner up on the top to ■■■■ up all the product dust.
There was not much, i brushed around the lid tops and then screwed them down, collected the TIR cord from the front and threaded it through the screw down handles around the lids and then to the back of the tank and the valves at the back…a customs man from the factory came and sealed it up, the office gave me my CMR. and T, FORM it had already been cleared just drive to the boarder .at Padbourg

Padbourg to me was like a mecca of transport firms on every road it was full of trucks and trailers nearly all fridges large transport yards all nice and clean so different .

Next stop was SMITS at Heilbronn i was going to change over trailers ,drop this loaded one and pick a fully cleaned out empty trailer and load at MASTRICHT [NL] for the UK now that was more like it for me, as i had been out a while and it was time to go home,

[chris_webb]

Great stuff PDB,can’t wait for the next instalment.

[sheepman]

PDB your doing a tremendous job and a good memory, very interesting, keep at it, sheepman

[sheepman]

PDB your doing a tremendous job and a good memory, very interesting, keep at it, sheepman

[dig]

sheepman:
PDB your doing a tremendous job and a good memory, very interesting, keep at it, sheepman

Hear hear
Dig

[peggydeckboy]

Thank you but do not ask me what i did last week.

[peggydeckboy]

I left all the paper work i had for the trailer ,the fitter Forman looked over the trailer with a view to find some defects, he checked the wheels ,tyres, hoses, tir cord ,every thing you could think of luckily all was good ,it was a trailer come what may.

I did the same checks to the empty one and asked him in broken English to do the same with me ,he made out he did not know what i wanted ,so i did no more and went into the big office and asked to speak to the English speaking chap who run us ,usual response from the receptionist making out she did not understand.she understood ,■■■■■■■■.

I knew i was going to finish when i got back ,they did not,she soon comprehended
The man [john i think] soon come out from his office being verbal to me in English ,so i said i am doing a walk around checks with the fitter it was easy, so off we go to the workshops [gods kingdom] he said a few words ,i get a few stares ,and out comes a fitter ,not the boss, we soon do the trailer inspection done.they could have put 12 defect tyres on ,[just for their crack].

I went and got the paper work, cleaning certificate, i am not coming back that i knew this is the last time i will ever be here again.

I made my way to Aachen ,stopped and did all the usual paper work being empty it was just formal,then a straight run-ish to Maastrict in Holland and followed the signs for industry[indutch] the loading factory, you could not miss it eventually i found the entrance and end up queuing behind other tankers to go on to the weighbridge, once that was done , i parked up and walked in to the loading office.

Being in Holland i would have thought they would be all nice and friendly they normally are the Dutch ,No, ,these seemed a bit cold,they may have been germans or belgien/dutch ,germans, you may laugh, but they are so zb up nationality wise in border area they do not know who they are,for all I knew, i put it down to them being so close to Germany and Belgium none of them need any lessons on being ■■■■■■■■■■ well, I meant anyone connected to transport in any way.in them area,s .

I was given my loading instructions verbally, and a paper diagram,in all languages except i have never been good with anything written down telling you what to do i am a ■■■■ it and see. i should have sat in the front of the class at school and not at the back with all the BRIGHT ones.

Instructions ? i am basically fu–ed, i have learnt to watch the others[especially when in a brothel at 16 in HONG KONG] and when my turn comes try to do the same!! as them [that is why a fanny is made round, to go round] there are 3 loading gantry’s so 3 trucks load at the same time next to each other in the same area.

Basically the system of loading is this = you drive under the gantry pull your ladder up on the tank, climb up, i have opened the lids before and it is not raining ,attach a flex static line that comes out of a reel ,from the tank.

You are standing on your tank top, the first hole/lid, is directly underneath a large flexi plastic material hose that the product will drop down in to the tank… however there is a electrical cable, also flexi hanging down on the end with control buttons marked red, and green,… you have to prees the green button to let the hose drop down first. and also plus and minus buttons… if you want 4 minutes you press 4 times however i had no idea how much product you get in how many minutes .

ie tonnage, so now i am total screwed , there is so much noise of banging and hissing, all the lorry engines are running on tick over and you are getting all the diesel fumes, i had to start i thought i will press the button for 3 minutes and see how much goes in to the tank, [i did not have a watch]so i pressed to 3 mins then the green button, and hey pesto, product started to drop out of the large pipe in to the tank, and it came out like a torrent

Whoosh, dust was coming off it ,f–k me in side the tank a massive pyramid was building up of product, as if it was going to come over the lid but it was starting to slide down inside, i had no idea of what weight was going over the front axel then it stopped. 3 minutes of time i am uncertain [have i done right] ]like a idiot ]i got on my knees and looked in side the tank and could see there was a fair amount of product inside so i judged that was enough , i had to press the button to lift the hose up, then get down. Get in the cab and drive forward to get the hose !over the next tank lid hole.!!

I guessed about the distance, so as the hose would be over the next tank lid,i stopped the truck and switched off the engine …went up on the tank top and i was miles away ,[not far enough]] so i thought about it ,it needed two men

The others seemed to be getting on better than me, but it was so noisy they would not here me …i thought perhaps one driver stood on his tank top and the driver wanting to move would be told when to stop going forward by shouting. Ie “you work together]”but that did not seem to be working like that i could tell ,i tried shouting oi,oi, but no response to much noise .

How do i get to know when to stop, because you can not see the lids from the driving seat, and you need your neck to be on a swivel , it was a matter of distance between the lids on the top of the tank , converted to the distance of how far you drove forward , to get it right.

I thought for a while and could not work it out at all, i thought it is no good i am going to have some help here or i will be here all day so i looked around to the lorry in the next bay ,as he was left hand drive and i was right hand were togrther both doors and he was on top of his tank, i have to shout him down, as i walked down his side but you have to stand back because if you stand by the tank, look up you cannot see the top.i noticed there were two working gloves on the floor by his wheels, but they looked placed not just dropped, i still could not work out how to do it.

After 2 minutes he dropped down off his tank, looked at me ,and grunted something walked passed me ,bent down and picked the furthest glove from the front of his cab up, and then paced himself, one foot in front of the other about 8 foot, then placed that glove down on the floor ,he then got in his cab put her in gear [as it was on tickover]and drove forward until his rear drive wheels on his tractor unit came to where he had placed the glove, and that was the” gap between the lids on top of the tank” ,converted back down on the floor the right distance you had to move forward to get them in line.

The penny dropped ,i did not have any gloves, so i got some socks and put some dirt from the grass in them ,and that is how you do it [and that is truth…i could go on for hours about how i put to much product through one lid ,not enough ,in another what i did not know was!! no matter where you put the hose in to the tank, only the amount of tonnage, that was allocated to that time you were under that gantry would be distributed while you were there
if you put it in through 3 tank lids it was down to you. so i need not have worried about the weight because there was movement with the product once you were moving and a few quick braking stops would settle the product down i found out all this later,.

After what seemed a long time i pulled out from the loading, bay parked up closed the lids down real tight threaded the TIR cord through and attached it through the end of the exit valve at the rear of the tank and used the company seal they gave and clipped that on.then took the static line off and moved away…

Apparently the customs were cleared at the factory works they would put there own seal on i went to the office, .they knew who i was ,and the man asked me for something and i had no idea What he wanted, another lady said in English where are the samples of the load, what did you do with the plastic bags you were given when you went to load , my reply was what samples ,she said you were supposed to take a sample from every time you used the delivery system that is what the bags are for. You could imagine my reply ,so what it meant was i was to go and get a sample of the load and put it in 5 plastic bags how the zb was i going to do that i had no idea.

I was in their parking area, so i new i would have to break the seals so i would be able to open the rear exit pipe just to get a sample, when i looked at it it was not possible to open it, if i did ,imagined it not stop pouring out under the pressure,you could imagine it a full pyramid of product at the back on the deck with me in my head sticking out of the top and say [did you mean this]. i walked back over to the loading area to see if there were any heaps of product on the floor i could just get and put in the bags , but there was not one bit.

My next move was undo the break the seal on TIR CORD, go up top ,open one lid get some product out fill the bags, then go back and explain the seal being broken ,get resealed and away … i undone the seal on the T.I.R cord. climbed up to pull the ladder, up it comes up automatically,so as i would not fall off the tank, i thought if i just pull the TIR cord up and out through the last tank lid that will be fine ,the ladders have 3 safety wires from the back to the front of the tank …

I undone the screw lugs holding down the second from rear lid so no one could see me,i opened it up and looked in the product it was not to far down inside, like a pyramid i would be able to get some out how. ,”Jesus do i create my self some problems…

The next thing that happened was one of the most stupid things i have ever done in my driving history i knelt side wards to the open tank lid and i had a plastic bag [a duty free bag] put my hand down in to the product scooped up a big handful of product squeezed it in the bag so as not to lose it as i done that i got a tingle static shock that gave me a jolt ,I threw myself from the top of the tank, against the guard rail , that saved me from going off the top, it all happened so quick i did not believe what just happened…you sometimes get static shocks from some type of clothing when you switch a light switch on well I do and it was like that.

.definitely stupid thing to do and i was very lucky and the best bit is that no-one seen it or knew what i was doing ,i put it down to not being connected to the static line as i was in a parking area.

Once i had got over the initial shock i still had the product tight in my fist and i put some in each of the sample bags ,and told them i had to break the seal and the customs seal ,the dutch use string seals and clip ot with a birt of lead, that went down like a lead balloon however it was all sorted after a hour.

If they told the head office i do not know ,and i did not care . I rang the office at home told them i was loaded and i would be finishing when i get back in 2 day and said i was going back on the fridges, they assumed back to Pulleyns .

[peggydeckboy]

The old saying “the grass is always greener” do not believe it, if it is a change you want do it, but always leave a job on good terms.as i have done more than once. If managers know that you can do the job and be left alone to a certain degree you will always get a job.

I was once again in the world of the unemployed, my decion my fault i got my old diary out with numerous names of firms all over the UK and beyond i used to just jot,/scribble, drivers names mostly fridge companies.

I did try to get on Bowkers, at Bamber Bridge, Preston , 20 minutes away from where i now lived, but at the moment no spare trucks ,all their work was dry goods, tilts ,i did not want to go back driving in the UK at all so i had to start thinking further a field.

However out of the blue I received a phone call from BOWKERS, would I go in to see MR Turner it was a Wednesday ,once there I was taken up stairs and walked into the office then in to another one, where I met two of the most fairest men I have ever met in all my transport driving years MR Bowker MRTurner I will state the very best!! company and bosses and,staff.

I was asked would I like to work as a relief driver on the European side I do not know how or why, I was not bothered and of course I said yes iot would be for about 2 months never had a driving test either.

What the big suprise to me was the were left hand drive road trains with the bed /UP the top just two seats and your back was on the bulkhead I had never seen anything like it before, also you did not need a class one to drive them back then

It was strange going up through a hatchway in the roof to your bed,there was a escape hatch in that roof so you could get out and get on to the tilt top,thank god I never needed it,I got used to it for the time i was there I new it was not a permanent position but I thoroughly enjoyed it there all the drivers I met were ok ,there was bit of banter between the HULL depot drivers and the Bamber Bridge LANCASHIRE and YORKSHIRE i never got involved i was a Foreigner,from down,south.

You would never believe the war of the tea pots [sorry roses]still existed you would get blokes not drink tea if it was made with lankashire water[water]and vise versa all good stuff but i was never included again as far as they were all concerned I was a southerner ,well they thought I was,buti was from the midlands but that did not count …

AS far as LONDONERS or southerners as far as northern transport drivers was concerned there was never no quarter given just a dislike and being in the middle I could side with who I liked because I lived UP north lad.ehh.

Ithink all the European trucks Bowkers had were BELGIEN REG they had a depot in ZEEBRUGE right behind the very first garage that I ever went to and the same bloody system still existed, men would leave their filling hoses in the tanks filling up and they would be sat around the same table talking crap and not bothering about the others , waiting to fill up that used to annoy me about the only thing that did.some of the English men were as bad but this time i was in no hurry to get moving.

They had some very good work, nearly all ITALY, a country I got to know my way around before ,well any one can with a map, cant they!.i must have been working there for a couple of months or maybe longer my dates are never right plus I have never written any at all down I go by different thinks what happens around me.

Time for me to move on again I think someone was off sick and got back fit for work back to the drawing board, however I had a idea where I would try my hand i would be driving in DENMARK i hoped.

As you know i had recently been there and while i was there i did ask around about getting a driving job to most drivers I met up with,in fact most men i came in to contact with ,their response was overwhelming yes
However there was more I did not know.
The now modern trend of Employing drivers from Eastern Europe was not yet in the Danish thought of cheap labour like it is here in the UK ,so that was not a concern of mine then.

I talked it over with my wife ,no guarantees ,what so ever of getting work ,so i said i would give it a week, if no work i would drive down to Holland and try there if no good i would come home ,Money was the main goal.i did not have a lot to throw around ,well the credit card did.

I did no more than got in touch with the ferry company from Harwich to Esbjerg and booked ,one way car and me ,for the next crossing the next day, all my gear was in the car just my clothes to put in i had to be there by 5 pm so it was a fair old trot from Blackpool to Harwich but it had to be done.

I made a point of getting a early start i decided to drive down the M6 then cut over around Northampton more or less the old route that is now the new-ish A14 i did not stop until i needed fuel ,way over the east side of the country. I reached Harwich about 3 pm , in fact MORTONS briefly had a depot there.and BRS elmstead market was near by.

I had not been around that area since the late 1970s it had not changed much. Once i had pulled in to the parking area i made my way to the ticket office, there was no problem there at all i was given a lane number, go wait there until called to load i was in a multi occupancy cabin ,it was cheaper, what did i care i only wanted to sleep anyway .

I had just a night bag, i was used to traveling on ferry’s ,so it did not need much sussing out, i found my 4 berth cabin after getting a key from the reception, found out meal times , and knew it was time for a beer or two.

Once i had settled down from my long drive, the pint never touched the sides,[ i did, and do still like a beer] so i was soon up for another at the bar there were lots of men just like myself so you just hang around ,the bar and you will soon get talking to someone [well I do],there sounded like a lot of north east [Geordie ] accents so i figured they are not drivers as they all seemed to know each other, so i asked one of them if they were go to a match, [what match i have no idea]

And he said no we are all oil rig workers, well that got my attention straight away anything to do with sea, rigs ,ships i am interested in, it turns out they normally sail to Denmark from Teesport but the ferry had a problem so they were all bussed down to Harwich, then taken onwards when they dock

It turned out, i am in the same cabin as 3 of them, so in the conversation they asked what i was doing so i told them, no job just on the off chance, one of the men who was a Forman said to me if it does not work out come to us in the north of Denmark and he gave me his card and said with my ships experience and driving as they were land rigs as well[not a pun] there would be a job for me, and he was sincere , i asked the other men when he left ,and they said, if he said it, that it was true…

Only a couple of pints, a dinner and i was soon of to bed…no sooner was i in bed ,the other men were getting up ,I must have died ,it was time to disembark and i had missed breakfast, it was straight down to the car deck and not long before i was driving off in to the unknown .

I stopped at the ticket terminal on the way out to change some money up ,i had forgotten on the ship ,another blunder…it gave me chance to look around get my bearings and get the exit right instead of driving around looking lost…

Once i had studied the signs and i had changed about £200 into Kroner
I knew where i was going, it was to the border town of PADBORG when i was there that once before i had never seen so many road transport companies in one place, if there was work that had got to be the place…

Once i was on the correct road, it was signposted ,and you had to drive in daylight with your side lights on ,i was soon away from the port it turned out to be not such a busy road and it was not long before i was driving in to PADBORG.

It was about 90,odd ks 1hour and half ,blimey i did not realise it was so close, i pulled in to the massive transport ,garage ,estate and started to drive around the roads to get my bearings of what was there it was like a village on its own .

There seemed to be a awful lot of trucks parked up in neat rows in all the transport yards .more trucks that i had ever seen i did not give any thought to it at all, after driving around there were 2 main truck stops, diesel pumps ,restaurants /shops and parked up trucks some filling up with fuel, so i found a safe car ■■■■■■■■■■■■ away from the trucks, i did not want my car crushed by accident by being parked in the

[peggydeckboy]

sussed the place out, got out and rolled a ■■■, did not see many people around i locked my car up ,and walked in to the shop /restaurant , and had a look around again to see what was on the food menu and could i understand it, it seemed and looked like they had a lot of types of pork ,roasted, pork ,baked pork ,fatty bits pork with the fat all baked brown it looked good, but i went for the spaghetti.without pork.

There were a few men busy eating ,and i kept a close ear to see if they spoke English but they did not ,i had my mealand my first danish black coffee,[me and coffee are not the best of friends] and i thought i would go to the fuel filling kiosk get a can of drink and try to get some information from people working in them places all overeurope knew most things what went on, and you could also get a coffee Free,!!

In my mind i was pricing things up that we had at home/ chocolate, etc,also [truckers trash] my biggest pet hate all the bloody stuff some men put in the cabs and windscreens,i us to tell men when the old windscreens were scratched, and like square port holes ,and mirrors like the size from a budgerigars cage you would not fill the screen up with crap ,also and it seemed a bit more expensive here, i got chatting to the man behind the counter and asked if he spoke English, of course was his reply so i asked him if i could ask a few questions please ,and he said no problem.

First i asked where i would be able to stay in a bed and breakfast around here he looked and said it is not called a bed and breakfast here, it is called [A CROW] and yes there is one close, but why are you not staying in your truck,[he assumed i had a truck that would be normal]i then said “i am in my car and have just got of the ferry and i have come he to get a driving job,he then said you already have a job to go too” no i replied have come here to look for one on Monday

He looked at me and shook his head, and i said, “why what is the problem with me looking for a job on Monday”
He said we are on our months shutdown holiday every where is closed down for the month except a few local transport firms, and swedes and norwegians transiting .

OH Bloody hell what the zb have i done you stupid ■■■■■
He said ,go find the CROW he told me the road name, and come back Monday morning and see me i will be here i will see if i can help you ,bloody hell !i thought I could go back get the next ferry and forget it, treat it as a quick weekend break[what you cannot afford]
At that moment my guts just nearly fell out, you zbing idiot

Driving around the estate looking for the [crow] hotel, was proving to be a waste of time i will have to ask someone ,trouble was it was like a ghost town no one around ,well you would not normally walk around a factory estate on a Saturday would you,i went back to the garage, and got him to write the name of the place and road down, this time ,it turned out it was about 5 minutes drive from the garage.

Once there ,i just took the small ruck sack with me , like a overnight bag with just essentials just to look like a traveller, it was nothing like a hotel it was a ordinary house from the front, until you went in and it was massive, i took a room for one night, signed in ,paid in advance ,no food served, until breakfast and settled down to review my future.my dinner was biscuits chocolate and water.i still cannot believe it ,my wife would say typical [bull in the china shop]

After a fill up at breakfast “i was going to have my monies worth” all continental , cheeses, hams cold sausage ,eggs, toast, i thought that will do me for a time, i signed out, and said i will probably be be back tonight I spotted a visa sign on the checking in desk, yippie, and left in the car, back round to the garage, to try to get information about any type of driving job.

He was a very helpful man, he wrote down some companies addresses but did stress.he knew they were closed maybe some had skeleton staff there was no more he could do for me ,he printed of a map of the estate and marked where they were and that was it. I just drove around trying to get the layout of the area like a nomad.it was not a populated area at all.i did not see any type of community .

So another good night,no dinner, but i had filled up all day with junk food, after another fill up of their breakfast the adventure [zbup] begins ,and i was none to hopeful, as every transport yard i went passed was full with trucks and trailers parked up gates and locked.

However there was one yard that had movement, so i parked out side and walked in towards the warehouse [no dogs]there were two men ,well dressed,on the loading dock, they spotted me and said something, i waved and walked over,and told them what i was doing ,they said come back in 4 weeks they could use meas i told them all while we stood on the dock they could have been cleaners for all i know. it was anders-anders company for north africa well that but some spring in my step.and one of the men was a duty manager.i filled that away in the old brain. then the last one i spoke to in perfect English said i think the agencies are still working, ”

It did not register for a minute of what he had said ,for some reason i turned and said “AGENCIES”
“Yes” he replied, i said “sorry” “what agencies “the driver agencies” he said, i was still not sure what he meant, so he then said the company that supplies drivers when other companies need more drivers when they are busy , i had heard of agencies but never had anything what so ever to do with one.

He tells me where to find them he felt sure that going to see them would be a good idea as they were about the only people working in the area.

He wrote down the name and address Euro Driver Service.Lejrevej4 Padborg. What had i got to loose ,nothing it looked as if i had made one big mistake ,coming here on day one, however only i knew .
Luckily it was not far at all i had been past the Bungalow/type house/yard/warehouse before, but there were no signs about the building at all it looked like a large bungalow on a trading estate.

There were a few cars parked so i stopped outside on the road and knocked the front door ,as if visiting family, and waited. Soon a rather large man emerged and spoke Danish, i interrupted him and said” excuse me am looking for the driver agency, that was fine because he said “yes it is here what do you want!

“I have come here to Denmark to find a driving job and i did not know it was the holiday time ,my mistake, he asked me to come in to the office, it was a ordeniary living house with no furniture in it.
He told me yes this was the driving agency and then said would you like a coffee ,yes please i thought i will be bloody hyper if I have any more.

He started to ask lots of relevant transport questions , about transport in general ,i had written a list of my list of driving jobs, and companies and what countries we ran to, and cargo carried, refrigerated or dry goods and the main Phone numbers and names of bosses or manager , also a short history of my other work and included my old discharge book from the M.N.all good stamps so it was now up to him.

He said go and get a coffee [again] in the other room, and have a seat it was like a proper house kitchen ,i looked like a driver, check shirt jeans ,where as the other man had shirt and trousers on ,and he would see me in a while , after a few minutes, another man came in and i could tell he worked there in some capacity they way he walked about the place he did not speak for a start ,but later he came and got a coffee so i said hello ,and he replied in a Lincolnshire accent

Now that pleased me a lot, so i started chatting, and told him what a ■■■■ i was for coming here in the holiday time ,i should have thought as Italy, Spain ,Germany, all take the same break, but it was too late i said i will just get on the ferry and go home, he said No just hang about a bit, there maybe a opening here ,as yesterday one of the regular drivers has been caught drink driving in his car and here, it is a complete no , zero tolerance.

We got chatting , he come from Lincolnshire a ex owner driver, and never elaborated so i just asked what happened here ,what do you do, but first he asked me who i had worked for and to see why i was here so i told him the lot.then he started to tell me what work they do.

To start off the company have a large bungalow, divided into 6 single rooms ,shared kitchen ,and large walk in bath room ,tv lounge ,all services paid ,however they de duct the rent out of your wages plus service but he said it is very good ,some of the drivers are away home at the moment and there are only four at the moment ,well 3 now as one has just got done for drink driving in his car

, He will not be able to work here from today ,with any type of charge regarding drinking here, zero limit, so he will have to move out as the accommodation is for drivers only so maybe when they have checked you out you and they will, you might be lucky .

Well that was maybe good news for me, yes I know some readers may say what a load of load ■■■■■■■■■,it was true .

The job! entails you drive, a persons truck[ a shift] to wherever the office say, as the driver will be taking their rest period in the truck asleep, in other words you are getting the truck another 8 or 10 hours further on in the journey so then the original driver goes and starts another shift whenever you are told to be

.[double manning the wrong wayagain us in England take thelaw to the extream we are supposed to start a journey together and not operate the way they are here??

If you are getting the job and live in the bungalow ,we all share cleaning the shower room toilets kitchen,general cleaning all round ,they check every week if its not good they charge you more rent you have your own fridge in the kitchen we all have our own locks ,there is a communal cupboards if you don’t mind sharing dry goods if you use the oven or cooker you clean it etc,it sound ed good

Some jobs You will be woken up by the other driver you are to take over from , it could be at any time 12 midnight .3 am when ever they get here you will be given a near time to set your alarm,but you know trucks hold ups etc …each company they work for [the agency ]have a key to the front door and they will be told what room number to knock on, to get you up, it takes a while to get used to it, you will have time for toast and coffee, then you must go as the driver will be knackered or pushing for time That is if you get a job first ,after a time i heard someone call this chap and he said excuse me and left, i never thought anything about it at all and sat down.

About 15 minutes later, another young man came in the rest type room and said my dad wants to see you …” ok”.
I walked in to the office and it was like a family gathering and he did not ■■■■ about he said victor! i would like to offer you a job ,as from now .that was it, he introduced me to his family they all run something within the company, and the other chap was there Frank

Frank , said get in your car, and follow me, i will take you over to the bungalow and get you settled in ,to be honest i could not believe my luck, apparently they had cleared the other chaps gear out, and cleaned the small room up, wardrobe, small chair ,table bedside table, lamp a window blind big enough, like a small cabin on a ferry. I did not take my gear out of my bags yet i had some ferry sheets, from years ago just right for a lorry s bunk bed that was the size of the bed in the room.

Once i had settled in after a hours lie down i walked in to the kitchen and Frank was there, and he said they did ring some of the numbers you gave them ,and then he said i was asked to pump you as well ,and i knew you knew the job.

He then explained that there were 6 cupboards one each some still locked, put your name on stuff in the fridge, if it is not named it means it is free for all, most times milk is used by all we all clean up when we are finished ,the big shower room gets cleaned by all, a vacuum cleaner is provided ,do not use if any one is on nights or at night.

. So, i would soon get in to rhythm, weekends if not working we all chip in for a big dinner, we all try to cook he said , i said no problem there with me i can cook ,and idid later on for all ,I even introduced them to Yorkshire puddings ,some thought it strange but frank and my self scoffed them down .

THE JOB.

[peggydeckboy]

As i was told by Frank early you are there for pushing the trucks further down the road [basically] on their journey and the name given to us/me /you/ is “A SPRINGER” That makes sense you jump from one truck to another ,hence “Springer.”.

All Scandinavian ,and most European drivers now what a Springer is, however in the UK i/ we have never heard of them.
You are best always take a sleeping bag with you ,a change of clothes and a pair of shoes [slippers] to drive the trucks in, and always take you shoes off when you get in any ones cab.

Most drivers have carpets[drivers side] and drive in socks only, as there is not much gear changing on the Auto- bahns, etc i.have a pair of clacks shoes ,slip ons .also the driver is in charge if he says this is where we change over and i have to get out that is it.

Once the truck,me, and driver get to where I have finished my shift i am to sleep normally in [a motel] already booked by the office they had permanent rooms booked every day or night in most places they were needed.

I would not know where I would be going once ,with another truck, once I had my sleep break, you would be picked up by another driver going back to DENMARK. or it could be another way ,some drivers were ready to get in the bunk once you got in to the cab ,well ,you did not have to try to talk over the engine noise, some drivers would just drive until they would have had enough,I would not have liked to have trusted many of them because they did not respect the law ,sometimes when I opened the tacho head to put a card in their card was like a big smudge but they did not care god knows where some of them had come from .i never asked. and i never seen any paper work.

On quite a few occasions I was dropped off at the border for GERMANY AND HOLLAND AT EMMERRICH OR HENGLO
Then you make your own way back to Denmark after you have got over the other side of the autobahn by stealth ,
No bridges ,then you either thumb a lift, or get to the nearest town and catch a train, coach whatever, you will be on pay all the time even sleeping time ,and all expenses paid ,from when you left the Bungalow until you get back to the office all are paid whatever .

A lot of the jobs, you will drive maybe a full shift through the night and then go to a MOTEL the room will be booked in the company name, and you hopefully sleep through the day you will be told by the motel ,what time you will be picked up when they wake you up.

Another truck will pick you up, you will not know where you are going until it arrives, it could be going to Italy, or back to Denmark wherever , you will drive a shift as soon as you get in the truck you stay with the truck and driver and complete the round trip with him that never happened to me although others did,you never know knew what work you will do…

Some of the drivers at this[agency][Padbourg] have been doing full time work for some of the firms based in Padborg but still working for the Agency, the majority of local firms will not give you a full time job, because you are working for the Agency, as most of the haulage companies relies so much on their service the companies will not take the drivers “like me” away from the agency because drivers were always needed

.Frank one of the drivers staying in the bungalow said he has tried for a year [that started to ring the alarm bells]with no luck to get a permanent job with any of the firms, and he is a experienced ex-owner driver from England it seems once you get onto the agency books ,you will not be employed by any local firm for distance work for the reason stated.

I did meet 3 other English men who had been working within Denmark for a time but were unable to move around the companies, they seemed to have good jobs however where they were living was a bit rough ,in fact is was not good at all
someone ,the owner of the house i expect, had made a large room out of a very large attic room, low joists ,covered in hard board, on a 4th floor 3 beds were portioned off with hard board with little finesse.

My first thought was it was a fire trap no way would I have lived like that ,odd bits of furniture odd chairs ,not the place to call home however, they did , it was the best they could get also they were away most of the week but one man had a local driving job he had managed to brake away from the same agency.

A few year ago.apparently the laws have changed for foreign workers and that was it.,however i did not think too much about it. as such, they were short of drivers and the foreign drivers filled the gap .when I think back it was not a lot of difference from the situation now here in the uk by foreign drivers the difference was the Danes had to pay us the same going rate.

The Agency company took me to the local council office to get you registered ,as a foreign worker ,and for income tax ,etc. so you are legal.
i had no idea as what to do but it all has to be done legal to protect the company and me, also to open a Danish Bank account as all wages are paid in to the bank plus i set up a direct debit to send home money every week once i got paid…l one of the bosses sons did it all, in Danish ,but i felt it was the right start .

That was on the firstMonday all done there was a direct phone from the office to the house and they new where every one of us was at most times we were like on call, they told me i would be picking a Scania fridge truck up at dinner time at the main garage the next day the details would be in a pigeon hole box outside the office if i wanted to fetch them …

I was to drive the truck to LOCKEREN Then sleep in the drivers motel, the same driver and truck would pick up next morning, the drive back to PADBORG…He was going on to a market in northern France , i knew all that area well so it must have been around Calais Lille area.
Next day i was a bit nervous ,found the truck ,the driver was waiting the fridge was roaring away. I knocked the door and opened it he was already in the passenger seat , i got up took my shoes off put my clacks on then shook the drivers hand ,he grunted, a hello.
I asked do you speak English he said “gruffly," of course” so i said my name ,and said sorry i do not speak your language, he just looked at me vacant so i said to him i do as i am told, if you are not happy with me to drive your truck just pick up the phone and phone the Agency, ” he said no i was expecting the irish guy,are you from ireland, i said no i am English” ok he said ,we must go I think the usual driver he had was the man who lost his job.
We shook hands again and i stated the truck up i
I was ok with left hand drive so that was no problem I checked mirrors, got ready to pull away pushed the clutch down started to engage 2nd gear and it just stated to crunch, i thought what !I tried again and the gear would not engage at all ,well the look on the drivers face was a classic ,as if to say what the ■■■■ are you doing.
By now i am starting to wonder is this different to what i have had, so i pushed my left foot down hard again, tried to engage gear ,still no go, so just by chance i looked down it to the foot well where the pedals were, my left foot was pressing the foot-rest down a! i soon said sorry ,and a smile come on his face ,so i used/ the clutch ,promptly drove out of the Garage and all went well.
The load was FISH, he soon went and got into the bottom bunk all his gear on, once we were on the main autobahn i knew i would have to have break ,but if i got out and the door opening would i assumed wake him up, so i just smoked a few more ■■■■, had my break, and drove on it was not far and not hard about 7/8 hours driving i gave him a shout as i was turning off to go in to the garage at Lockeron
Everyone knows this stop,[i dId show it to you BEN] i turned the truck around, took my gear ,and he said he will pick me up at about 5/6 pm that night i went into the Motel, a room was booked and off to bed.
I had asked for a call at 4 pm ,that went well, he arrived about 6 pm god knows what he was loaded with but the truck was heavy i did mention about me getting out when i have a break, [waking him up ] he said ok no problem .
It was a straight run to Padborg i arrived about 4 am the driver was well awake he smoked nonstop when awake i drove round to the bungalow ,grabbed my gear said bye and off he went.
I soon made a tea and in to bed however i was not tired, as i had not done much at all, i thought this cannot be the job, but it turned out it was it was regular and irugular and we all took turns doing that run.and more like it.easy money as we got paid on the kilometres how that worked i have no idea…
I soon got in to the run of things i under stood i was last in so i would not get the good jobs, but i excepted what they gave me ,there was now the 6 of us in the bungalow when they were there , then gone again what jobs they have been given i have not the faintest idea but I sussed I was at the bottom of the job dish out.
You could be on days ,then nights then afternoons however they made sure you had your proper rest /time off every time you got back to the yard/office. I cooked a Sunday roast for about 4 drivers it went down well all except the oxo cube gravy that was all i had.
No one every mentioned about getting full time employment with the companies, they all seemed satisfied with what they had got. I never asked where any had come from, or why they were here, i could tell they were not old hand experienced drivers, driving up and down from A.to B was about right from them doing nothing else.
,I did start think i am a bit to old for this type of life like a wandering nomad i sort of released some of the others did not have family they gave me that impression, you never knew from one day to another what would be happening
.One day i was told to catch a train to Esbjerg , get a taxi to the docks and there would be a road train parked up there, keys in the office i was to change the two boxes from empty, to two full ones in another compound #
To be honest i said yes ok, and never thought about it ,but when i got there Jesus it was a Scania 6 wheeler and a dolly with the trailer the usual european rig, that was a tandem not a straight frame, with a A bar coupling, like at home i was out of my depth. Just the same as a farm tractor and trailer
.First i got in the cab started her up, went on tick over so i went and looked around i was told to drop the empty boxes where they were and the ones i wanted were next to them, ZB ,i walked around the container boxes and undone all the twist locks .
After i had the air pressure right up i went and lifted the trailer up on the air bags to its max, and pulled the landing legs out from the sides of the trailer where they are kept [fixed] and pulled them out to the max, un done the twist locks dropped the chassis of the trailer down the box will stand firm on its 4 legs you have pulled out from under the box on to of the chassi
so you can drive the chassis out from under it leaving the box standing up on its legs ,i hope you get the picture,…
i had forgotten to lift the front end up at the same time so it was not good to pull out from the box as it was not level after i had undone the 4 twist locks so i thought i will now drop the chassis down from under the box, so i just did it and the chassis dropped down slowly with me on the lever letting the air pressure out.
Do i now do the same to the front box drop it there or pull the trailer out from under the rear box and park it up somewhere so do the same to the front box and leave it in front of the rear , i did that and it worked ok only half the job done now for the hard part…
The 2 boxes i had to pick up were behind each other, so i have got to back the rear chassis for the trailer through under the front box so it is under the rear box… how the am i going to do that.
Because the box at the rear had got to be on the rear trailer, so i thought i would drop the empty rear chassis, now , and with the front end, go under the front box, lift it up pull it away, from the rear box and then drop… it pick up the rear chassis again,
So now i can see the rear box to get under ,i now have the rear chassis attached to the empty front end ,i am trying to get the rear chassis under the rear box, well as i was not used at all to the sharp turning it was hopeless ,lets face it i had never done it before, i suspect i was drawing attention from the high office window
,
I did no more i went to the office where i got the keys from i asked for a person who spoke English and they nearly all did so i explained my situation ,held my hands up ,and asked if there was anyone who would back the trailer under for me as i was useless the trailer was going every where except under where i wanted it to be,

[peggydeckboy]

.Next thing the same chap pulled his florescent coat on ,and said to me you must have one of these ,so i said sorry i have not, he shrugged, gave me a coat and walked over to the cab of the Scania i got in the passenger side and sat opened mouthed by the time i had looked in the mirrors he had got the chassis under ,that was what i called a experience.

I could not thank him enough, i did not know what to do offer him money ,i had hardly any, so i said to him is there anything i can do for you He said no i know you English do not have hardly any of these combinations , only on farm tractors… and he was correct, i made sure everything was secure and said my good bys .

Once i arrived back at the depot/base i went in to the office and told them what had happened ,they were not worried one jot, so i asked am i taking the truck somewhere, and they said no another driver is taking it into GERMANY.

That was me finished for the day ,no run tonight so that was ok , i was a bit ■■■■■■ off that i was not taking the road train ,however it would have been a bit embarrassing for me if i could not reverse on to a ramp somewhere so on reflection i was glad i was not going with it.they had probly rang the agencie

I had done numerous runs in to BELGUIM and slept over, also fish runs with other drivers, we stopped over in Holland at a house the Agencies use . 4 bunk beds very clean.

We arrive about 5 am at this fish type factory ,and the driver said [we get coffee] like a command, we walked past this old wooden type warehouse on the side of the quay with double doors half open.

and i could hear some type of music like chanting, i looked in through the doors and i was blown away, something i had never seen in my live before ,there was a long oblong table that was covered in a small type of fish , about twenty ladies ,young girls, all swaying , all doing the same movement in unison like a rhythm ,they all had a very thin bladed knife in there right hands and a fish in the other. they were gutting the fish at the same time… it was mesmerising .

Why they were doing it to a rhythm? i did not find out, it was impressive they all had clogs on and like the Dutch national dress type head scarf’s done up like from the 1940s
We had another black coffee i must say i am getting sick to death with bloody coffee ,that is all they think about in Holland and Denmark We eventually went to the house there were other drivers,
First thing they said you want a coffee,this place was like a small hostel i knew iwould not be having in depth conversations with them

. Another driver took the truck and went off and did the other deliveries then loaded it for us to drive back to Denmark, it worked very well as i did not do a thing, the driver he was not Danish but the truck was he had the same sleep as me and. drove it himself and i was passenger. god knows where he went too but we made a short stop in a street in Hamburghe was not long, unless he went and had a “short time” at some brothel i did not asked,so i said can idrive as i was falling asleep.i did not want him falling asleep to be honest I never thought of the danger being with other drivers driving,mind you they probly thought the same about me.

I drove back to Padborg stopped outside the Bungalow [not tired] but silly o clock 4 am and went to bed…

Life in the bungalow was ok for me and we all seemed to keep all of the communial areas clean.as well as our rooms ,we were told that they would be checked by the boss at some time ,that was ok by me.
Work seemed busy for all us drivers, i knew i would not get the best of runs ,but I was glad of the work up to a point

.Afew times the job I had was drive the truck to the border at Bad Bentheim park in the border layby
,[why I did not take it further to a truck stopI do not know as it would have been better for getting home,]
Waking the sleeping driver up from the bunk, and I would then get out rain or shine and make my own way back,by crossing the carriage way and thumb a lift,or make my way to the nearest town and get a train, time was not a problem untill I got caught in the rain I would be paid until I got back to Padborg .

It was normaly around 7am ishwhen we arrived at the border,
At that time in the morning most of the drivers in trucks parked up were still in bed,I would walk around and look at the reg plates to see if I had a chance of a lift , danes ,swedes ,norwiegens would give you a ride ,normally they all would be heading HAMBURG WAY.and they all used [springers]

One such trip took me a while I was dropped atBad Benthiem the route home would be Osnabruck Bremen Hamburg the truck I was in broke down so a double f—k up, it was a low loader slow as it was.it had a ■■■■■■ car he was behind, he was not a fitter so they said the would take me to the next service station ,that was fine but wherev we were they would not let me out at any road junction like in England

If you know the german roads they work different so I had to go past the turn off to Osnabruck and the service station was on the directionHanover ,however I got back by luck the same day.as it was a direct route to Hamburg /Denmark And that made me relise a driver my age should not be zb about doing this work ,as good as the money was it was for younger men ,that was the biscuit .

The next day I was off until the night time ,I went around in my car looking for a permant job again for myself with no luck anywhere I wondered if the people I approached told the agency boss .

I did the nights run I stopped in lockerenand was collected by the same driver,with a load back for somewhere in Denmark,a lot better than thumbing a lift.
The next morning I went into their office and told them my decision that I was leaving ,they did not like it one bit I told a large [porky] because they had been so good and nice to me I thanked them all and walked out
I went back to the bungalow it was empty of drivers i got my gear ,put it in the car,did not see anyone else I went to the bank.with the cheque they had given me changed it back to English ,and drove to Esberg got on the ferry the agency even booked me on the ferry that is how good the were, to Harwich ,off the ferry at Harwich the next morning and here I was back in England no job again

[peggydeckboy]

I had thoughts of going back to ACH ,but then maybe Pulleyns, I looked in my book of “rubbish” and SOLSTOR fridge work stood out ,they were in Charlton London I was on the A12 why not.

This is a long story so I will be brief I phoned David the boss told him a brief history I knew some of the drivers etc I was ready to start anytime ,ok come and see us he said ,I did ,i was there in a bout 3 hours ,we had a chat and he gave me the job,as a relief driver ,i had no where to stay, i did not like not having a truck of my own,however there were always empty trucks everyone shared in the yard to sleep in.

I was not the only relief driver i did now some of the drivers , there were quite a few like me waiting in line for the next truck to have for your self ,so you had to take turns in doing European, Spain for the, sainsbury veg contracts i knew i was never going to get my own truck as there were a drivers before me waiting to have their own unit to drive on a regular basis.

After a time I had seen the light, I knew what my role was,there were some good lads on the company in fact i knew a few of them one had just left A.C.H after many years,two from up north good lads,in fact all I met were,but I think I just wanted a permanent job and a truck to drive I did the same again and i left.

I had told my wife where I was working ,as a relief driver ,she did say you will not last long and she was correct I was going home again no job

Once home my wife was ok about it ,she knew I would not be out of work for long after 3 days I had to get something going ,I went back to my book of rubbish, [I call it that ],as it has nearly every European haulier I knew of ,i did just put company’s phone numbers down,for that "you never know"moment from the early start of my European driving my reverence book.indescribable to others but i knew.

Back home,I started to think maybe I should go back to the uk driving ,although I did not want to, as European gets as a way of life.
Flicking through the trusted book again, PandO “Pandora” had been written down ,and I could not remember why, i know they used to use the Fleetwoods docks ,but that was not why I had written the number down.

Then it come to me “Transcon”PandO out of Waterford ,Rosslaire southern Ireland .i thought never, they would not ,but the only way to find out was to ring them.
At this time the peace agreement with the North and south had just been signed ,i got the number from the telephone service, and I dialled it,it was answered I asked to speak to the recruitment person ,or the transport manager, and I briefly told her,that I wanted a job, she asked where I was, my age,i also told her I was a experienced fridge man.

,She told me to hold on some one will speak to you…,time just seemed to go nearly 10 minutes then a mans voice said ,hello victor,[now that was a good start to use my name from the start]I replyed and his next words were ,as true as I sit here were. “if you want a job come over and see us”…and he put the phone down.this is a Friday afternoon…

I thought ,bloody hell,i knew i would have to go over to southern Ireland but with no job in the bag , just as a off chance…then I thought about it,maybe ,it was test to see if i did want a job.
I did not more thinking, i told my wife what was said to me,and she knew I would go, at this point I did not have a lot of cash but a trusted credit card.
The passenger ferry went from Pembroke south wales to Rosslare , the ferry was Sunday night, I loaded all my gear up in the car the whole lot cooker ,telly ,tinned food ,clothes ,bedding,you would be surprised how much gear we used to have ,well what I had…

I was driving from Blackpool to Pembrook it was quite a long way, I was trying to decide what to do ,to take my car or just go as foot passenger and take a chance,I would decide when I got there.
That was one long driver I only stopped for petrol and ate on the hoof,like a bloody seagull.

Arriving at the ferry port that was also the rail station the were a lot of parking areas,I picked one close to the exit from the port ,as I might need to unload my gear, however I put some clothes in a small suitcase just to keep me going,iwas making it up as I went along I could well be back on the returning ferry.

I asked about parking ,and it was free i am at the P.O.ferry ticket office,I brought a open return ticket and waited to board the ferry,It was time to board as I walked to go through the security to the ferry i was stopped and asked not so politely, where I was going ,and how long for ,so I told the police man [special branch]what my intentions were ,he said fine ,however you can only board as a foot passenger with one plastic bag.gods honest truth, and I am not religious

No suitcase,for a foot passenger,[true]he said you go and leave it where you got it from, I was bloody furious , no wonder the Irish did not like the English Police, I had to run outside ,go to my car it seemed miles away ,I put inside a plastic bag, a razor,tooth brush etc,scarf, gloves,undies[2] socks [2] a balaclava hat,■■■■. Wallet passport .that was it I still could not believe it .

I ran back the same way to the ferry, the same man stopped me again made out he had never seen me , he let me pass, and I was on the ferry,it was now getting late, I was hungry and tired, there were no cabins -beds left ,all couchettes taken. Jesus I thought this is a very good start –not…

Other people around me were in the same situation, but all Irish ,I never spoke to anyone,the lorry drivers were in another area and they had their own eating area ,I had a sandwich,and believe it or not I settled down under some stairs as i was ,on the carpet .dont ask I just did it.
Others were all over the floors sleeping ,apparently there had been a big rugby match in England,and Ireland had lost ,that is why it was crowded…

After a sleepless crossing,in need of a good sleep after the drive down in the car I was not in the best of form…the Tannoy announcement told every one to get ready to disembark looking out side it looked foggy and icy…once off the ferry I stood out side the termal to get my bearings,but having never been to Ireland before ,it did not make much difference, however I had a tongue in my head…

Most of the trucks had driven out of the ferry ,also the cars just people waiting for taxes or cars, here was me not knowing where to go ,I went back in to the terminal and asked at the desk if they had a map of the area,one thing led to another and I am quite good at talking ,and told the women where I wanted to go she told me husband, just happened to be a dock shunter driver pulling the trailers off the ferry, into the dock or up to transcon yard she said she would go and ask him to see if he would arrange a lift up to Transcon,s yard with a shunter .

,That is how I got to the yard at 7am only a night security man was there and me, and the shunter he took me inside to where the security man was it was like a little room off the workshops ,they made me a brew and I told them my [abridged] story.

It would be 8 o’clock before anyone from the transport office turned they told me all so the day shift fitters, I knew I would not be of any intrest until they were ready, I was right, however they let me stay in the room apparently they were used to drivers in their mess room, that was good of them.eventually I was taken to see the transport manager, he said he remembered talking to me last weekend but did not expect to see me, he said he normally says that [come over and see me ] just to put people off ,and laughed.

It all went well,I had to go and open a bank account with the allied irish bank,that was fun I only had about £10 sterling no irish punts but the old trusted visa credit card worked its magic also I drew some ]punts out]also i was getting hungry, a little shop next door served its purpose it had pies in a little heated cabinet,just like Lancashire pies i was better after them…

When I got back the manger said take my car and go to the company doctors for a medical,[a first] it was a few villages away it took me some time to fined after sketchy directions , it was just a ordinary house a few cars in the drive ,like a normal property.
I parked up, knocked the front door and a lady told me to go in the waiting room with the usual doctors afternoon surgery ,and quite a few stares i got as they seemed to know that I was not local,i did not speak to anyone,not long after elderly man called me in by the name of “Transcon”the name of the company .

Usual medical ,then a urine sample, I had to walk through the full waiting room holding a kidney shaped dish and fill it up no lid so i balanced my way back through the chairs, hoping not to spill a drop…all was good until the blood pressure check, a bit high!! he said, I said, I have been up since Saturday morning ,travelling, he said when you go to your own doctor when you get home and that was that ,however I knew I had a problem as I was all ready taking tablets for high blood pressure it was now Monday late afternoon…and i had forgotten to take the days tablet too much going on.

Once back “I was about bushed “ tired out …and the manager said right victor I want you to take this unit and trailer to Dublin and work out of the dock they will give you instructions via the gate man.

I had to tell him, that I was so tired I would kill myself if I was driving right now I need to go to sleep and explained how long since sleeping ,he agreed ,and said be here for 8am and now we will put you in digs down the road it was now 5pm =ish

Someone drove me to the house on the main road, they were expecting me I received a warm welcome, and made to feel at home, the lady told me dinner would soon be ready, I was just about keeping awake ,it was toasty warm in the lounge, sitting in the arm chair looking around at the well placed photographs on the four walls, they were all portrait images of men, on closer inspections they were all of the I.R.A. High Command from the 1916 uprising.blimey I thought jesus, I am in a I.R.A.stronghold of republicanism, that was to expected, as I was in the south of IRELAND I.R.A.territory however never being as close to the “troubles” I was now very awake.

I never let on to the landlady about her photographs ,and not a lot conversation was had over a very nice meal.As it looked ,I was the only guest that night .Her and her husband[I assumed” ]started to chat and asked about me about myself ,I made sure that I said I was in not or ever been in military service ,but the Merchant Navy

Then it got a-round to why I was there ,I told them I have come over for a job driving European for Transcon.and have got a job start tomorrow ,she then replied my,you are lucky two ENGLISH men stopped the previous night ,doing the same as you and they were told they were not needed, and went back to England.

Bed time, there was a old paraffin heater on the landing ,stinking fumes, it was freezing in the bedroom, and I opened the window [I thought might get murdered ,but not by the fumes!! ]I retired to bed in all of my clothes including my balaclava hat, just my boots were left outside of the bed, I just hoped” no one came to look in on me .

[peggydeckboy]

Breakfast was special, all you could eat, so I did not let the side down. I was taken up to the depot for 8 am by the man of the house in his car I thanked him again ,and was left on my own to go to the office ,they were expecting me, I was given keys to a unit , no ■■■■■■■■ or companies regulations just get on with it no driving test,I was told where to fill up diesel in Dublin, then go solo to Dublin Docks collect a empty trailer from the pandoro depot, then drive to a large peat factory within a massive peat bog,area then take the trailer when loaded and drop them at the docks the gate man will tell you where i carried on for nearly 4 days just doing that work .

I was living in the cab,any work instructions were left with the dock gate man by phone then a note given to me,it would have been easier for me to phone them direct but that was what I was told to do, I had little money,nothing, I ate at a dock cafe that was cheap,also sometimes in a village on the way from the factory, I had also brought a sleeping bag, with my credit card and my megar supply punts were soon going down.

At the peat bog place/open factory bloody hell it was vast the odd driver going past gave me a usual driver wave like we all do a little sign of recognition,I bet if they new I was English they would not have …
Idid not come into contact with any men from the same company all though there were pleanty of other men from different firms there loading some did not bother with me at all only the fork lift driver seemed ok he would sort of make the time of day,also the man in the portr cabin office did at lest talk ,I had the feeling they did not want me there I wonder why !

The method of loading was they blew loose peat in to the trailers from a large blower machine fed by a fork lift putting bales ofit looked like compressed peat in to a hopper ,then it was like minced up and blew in to the box van trailer with sides like a taught linner and a soft top roof there were a few side bars from the floor to the roof looked as if the bars were holing all the trailer together when the trailer was nearly full they put polythene up at the back doors shut one door then blew more in so the side bellowed out, they pushed the rear doors shut with a fork lift, job done I had no idea where the loads were going to.

On the fourth day I was asked to unload a trailer within Dublin area which I did and gained a little insite to some of the roads within Dublin Industry area I did not have a map just kept asking.and bits of paper with map drawings on.
Back to the depot at waterford that evening,and was asked to pick a trailer up with four delivers in England,I did not show any excitement, however I would be able to collect my gear from my car…,and that is what I did ,that other job was hard lots of hand- ball.

So after a hard days work I was catching the the night ferry to fishguard /pemborke,once loaded on the ferry, tacho card went flying as with the previous 4 and put one in for it to show the rest on the ferry and if anyone asks I have just started with the company[officer dibble].
I went in to the drivers eating area and obviously they were all southern irish so they were all full of chat [but not me included but i expected that] eat and bed was my main thought.

I reloaded from England in a million years you would never guess from back to Ireland,no other than BANBURYgenerial foods what no one would never know I actually worked on the building of the said factory on HOD CARRYING for the bricklayers then on S.G.B SCAFFOLD COMPANY FROM BIRMINGHAM also when on BANBURY BRS from 1967 untill 1971 ish yes years ago but here I was and a lot of my family was 9 miles away but I had no time to go any where near.

Once loaded I shipped from Liverpool.deliverd to Dublin, I was now getting in to the swing of things, and feeling ok .
Next load was to Spain, 5 delivers of groupage, no main agent all deliverd to companys,funny groupage I ended up ,well west in spain,OURENSE AREA not to far from VIGO the trailer was a step frame,small wheels, when empty I was told to reload ceramic tiles, 3 collections from quarrys , god knows what weight was on the trailer I did not even care then a full fill out shoes on top meaning not a space to be had completly full .god I never stopped.

Once loaded I was told to ship from Cherbourg they gave me my booking number and the whole run that gave me like 36 hours.
I never moaned I just got on with it ,but I had just seen the light it went [■■■■] stop soon.no wonder drivers saying the Irish did not give two f-cks was correct ,total disreguard of the law I did it caught the ferry I was booked on, I was now officialy a “nutter”IE as running bent as the others.

A good calm crossing ,I slept well and got back to normal,if you have never” knocked your bollocksd out””drive nearly non stop” you will not know the feeling of proper rest,and if you avoid it well done you…
Once docked in Roselair, I drove up to the yard, nothing was said to me,it was normal to drive “one hitters”I had gathered that, I was told to go to Dublin and tip the trailer around 6 delivers .

The tiles had to be deliverd first,I asked about the moving of the boxes of shoes,around off the tiles i was told where I was delivering they would do it and they did also they new where the deliverys were ,had no idea so I let them get on with it.at one delivrry there was a mcdonolds on the estate that is where I went

[sandway]

Blimey peggydeckboy. The more I read of your exploits the more convinced I am that you had a sadistic self harm steak coursing through your body. You didn’t have to get a job as a lorry driver, you could have bought a whip, took your shirt off and served up a dose of self-flagellation every day in your own back garden. My driving hardships were nothing compared to yours though but in the 70’s I had a friend who drove for Sainsbury doing store deliveries all strictly legal like and very unionised. “You’re a knob”, he would say to me as I left for another trip working round the clock. “And I’m paid a lot more than you” he loved to say. Yes, no doubt he was right but I was never going to die of boredom.

Keep the stories flowing pdb.

[peggydeckboy]

After doing 2 tile deliverys the third one was within the fruit market I was told all this at the previous delivery, there were factory type warehousing in the market area so I was told however I did not know this[but others did??] I was given rough instructions of how to find it, once over a river bridge turn left at the first lights,drive on unti I would see a small paper shop on a corner named [ mc something] go and ask there and they will give me instructions,and they did ,I was only 3 minutes away, they also told me where the warehouse I wanted.

Once in the market, turn sharp left ,and drive down to the end and there they werethe paper shop chap told me ,and that is what I did slowly, I reached the road end ,and there was no tile place to be seen, I stopped and looked about, I never got out of the cab ,I looked into my offside mirror and in like a dream the rear door was open ,then I looked in the other mirror and that door was already open ,I thought what do I do now, if I drive back I could kill someone so I just laid on the hooter and pumped the brakes so hard and made lots of air noise.

I thought I am not walking back so I put the truck in reverse and drove backwards with the rear doors swinging back and forth i thought if the doors come off im still out of here.the trouble was I could not ,reverse direct back as there were like concrete raised platforms that were for loading hand ball on to lorries for men to stand on ,like steps at a horse riding stable to lift you up higher.

Once I was back to the start of the road I thought I have to close the doors and f—ck the tiles I am off I will go to Dublin docks, the depot is there [not manned], when I got to the rear of the truck they had taken, god knows how many boxes of shoes,two whole rows had gone , stolen
Once i had closed the doors I managed to get the truck turned around and headed out to the main road ,at the market entrance there was a house with railings around it, I never noticed it going in,there were about ten young teenagers all sat on the railings, laughing and jerring me , given me the fingers etc ,they new !! I was not Irish

It dawned on me quickly,it had all been set up from the last delivery,as I drove out of the market ,thinking that was that,I turned right, down to the lights past the shop i had to stop at some red lights before I went over a bridge to turn left towards the docks.

I do clearly remember a PUB called something like the “quill” or the “quin” I was stopped at the red traffic lights then I could hear car horns blairing I looked in my mirror and zb me the back doors were open again for zb sake.I thought no way am I getting out until the lights change ,they did, I pulled away, I left the doors swinging the blokes car hooter was non stop once over the bridge I stopped, I jumped out, he also got out and said a load of youngsters had run off with lots of boxes , I thanked him closed up again ,and drove off to the docks at least I knew where I was.

Once on the dock, the gate man let me in I parked up and had a think,what to do, it was to late to tell the office it would be closed if I told the gate man he could help himself I had no lock for the trailer doors

I had to make that delivery to make at the market again in the morning I new it was at the end of a building, not near where I was sent to go , I knew I had been set up.that was then ,zb um.
Idecided to lift the tilt cover at the front ,and get in there were boxes all over the place so I started stacking the boxes at the rear doors as if a block of a full trailer when they open the doors as it will be back door delivery why I did that god knows but I did.my thinking was that the forst shoe drop people will not know that some were missing .

I decided to go early to the tile delivery and just wait, and say nothing,to see if anyone mentions it ,they never did, I lifted the tilt sheet side up with the side boards so the fork lift could get to their tiles lots of moving boxes around to get to their goods ,they took all there tiles they made me a tea and gave me directions to the next delivery, that left three shoes delivery ,now I knew that some one was going to be short by a lot
All the boxes were labelled to each customer it was going to be pot luck I had no idea.i did not say a word, the first customer signed 12 boxes short, the next was 6 boxes short I now knew that the last one was well short, but I never said anything just found the place it was like a old school yardi opened the doors and left them to it ,they were well short like 15 boxes.

I asked to use their phone to phone the traffic office and tell them what happened, I got through,the manager was not there,it was now going home time however I told his deputy what had happened ,and when I get back I am going home ,leaving.

I asked when the next ferry is going to Pembroke ,he said about 10 pm tonight I said right I am going to come back solo, and that is it ,I will leave the unit at the dock he said no come to the yard and a fitter will drive it to the dock.
And that is what I did my TRANSCON days short and sweet .

Once on the ferry I was pleased that I had made the move to leave quickly ,not as if I did not want to face the traffic office and try to explain the shortage of shoes again as I had told the traffic clerk.
.The one thing I never thought of untill I was driving home, was ,that they maybe think I had somethink to do with it,that would be rubbish, I put all thoughts out of my head.i never heard another word ever again from anyone and I was paid my wages maybe they were all in on it■■?

The drive home was slower than going down, the car was all intact quite remarkable really just left where it was ,good old people from Pembroke…I phoned home and asked my wife to get fish and chips for two.

[peggydeckboy]

NO,SANDAWAY,
not a self harmer,just the way the cookie crumbled,as for the ex c licence drivers own account drivers [sainsburys]etc regular 8 hour shifts ,van boys, OK union run, but self intrest, they never gave two moneys f–ks for the men bringing the products from europe for them to deliver, bunch of r-soles.my opinon, and when you got treated like we/i did at basingstoke , stripping pallets down in there warehouse, [ UNION] bothers bol—ks .

your opinion would have been the same.yes years ago but i still get the hump, i hope all their jobs have gone ,and work subbed out to contractors.[willie betz]