Is there anyone on here who remembers this place, they started out as a Newspaper Distribution contract under BRS/Exel in 1986 but finished in '97.
I was at their Manchester depot but they had others at Glasgow, Spennymore, Coventry, Bristol and London. Around 60 drivers were taken on at Manchester when the depot started up from new, and were sent out with empty trucks each night for 2 weeks prior to deliveries starting to get to know the runs and give management an idea for strictly timing them. One of the drivers got back from one of these empty runs really late one morning, complaining that the so called high powered ERF he’d been given was a waste of space as he couldn’t get more than 30mph out of it all night. He had no idea of anything called a range change as he’d never been given one before, so he must have kept it in low range all night.
Manchester started off with 20 x VW LT vans, 20 x 7.5 tonner Leyland Roadrunners, 2 x 16 tonner Leyland Freighter’s and 7 drawbars a mixture of T45 Roadtrains & ERF E10’s, but the 3 drawbar trailers which came with them only ever got used on a busy Saturday night Birmingham/Coventry run. All the drivers took on had HGV licences and used each vehicle in turn, as they where rostered for each of the runs, (class 3’s could use the drawbars then.) But these had swivelling front axles on the drawbar, and were impossible for everyone to reverse. The rest of the week they were sent out solo with loads of only around 5 ton on them so would romp around the Peak District and Woodhead. After a couple of years these Sed/Atki 211’s replaced all the VW vans and most of the 7.5 tonners, three Volvo FL6’s also came with them and they began carrying for the Express & Daily Mail papers as well.
Three Mercedes SK artics did away with the drawbar trailers wich finished up being used for storage back in the depot. Even these new artics didn’t get much use for a while. One sat outside the Ancoats - Express print each night as it took up to much room inside, and one of the rigids would bring out one of the smaller loads to tranship onto it, usually around 2 tons to go to Crewe (1 drop, job & finish.) The other two where sent to the new Mirror Print at Oldham, one doing Liveropool and the other Sheffield, so those sleeper cabs were only put to use while waiting to load up at the start of the night.
Around 1991 the livery was changed to the silver of Exel and the Seddons, Roadtrains & ERF’s were all replaced by these Leyland’s, the Volvo’s were kept and the 7.5 ton Roadrunners were swaped for 7.5 tonner MAN’s.
As you can see we all lost heart in keeping these wagons clean as every driver would be put on a different but identical truck every other night, sometimes part way through the night when we did a change over with a scotch wagon at Forton services.
It was said that the quickest way for a driver to get promotion was to have a bump, after one of them coming back from the Aberystwyth run one morning dozed off. It was around 3am passing through a village that everyone knew as having a big sign up announcing it as winning the award for the best kept village in Wales each year. The driver wasn’t injured but demolished that proud sign, ripped up 100ft of grass verge and flower beds before stopping the wrong side of someones garden fence, (probebly the local vicars.) But after the wagon got towed back to Manchester the driver had a short spell of suspension before getting a job in the transport office.
Hi Tipit, I worked at Tankfreight on Trafford park, we painted all the rigs and then the VW vans you mention. We (about six of us) then moved them all to a field next to the Anderton boat lift, (not sure why there) so they were all together ready for the contract start up.
Sounds Naff, but I was the only one that could reverse draw bars so I got the job and they left me there to arrange them for the photo
Another one, close up of one of the prime movers, I seem to remember that all the 18t rigids had drawbar couplings ?
I remember in the early days we had the trucks back for accident repairs but after a few months they stopped coming, I think there was so much VOR time that management gave up and they ran until bits fell off !!!
I wonder how reliable they were compared to today trucks
Really good photos there Sniffy, I didn’t really expect anyone would have found any. As regards those 18 tonners, three were kept at Gorton and the other four and trailers were sent up to a small depot they had at Spennymoor. Your right about management giving up on keeping them in order, a nice all new fleet like that and a few weeks later you would get put back onto the same wagon again. Only to find radios damaged, chunks gouged out of the steering wheel and interiors covered in tea stains.
Bumped into John Heath today, John used to work as a contract operator on the Newsflow Job starting around 87ish, recognises all the names on the photo and passes on regards etc. Tells me that he had a good time too
John will know these then, I think it was Kevin Henry he first worked along side on the Daily Express contract when he first came.
Alan Walsh wasn’t with them long and went to work with Metro trams, I don’t know what the rest went on to do.
Not much to go on but i recon the picture with the Exel truck with the yellow tank in the back ground is that porta cabin on the A49
just nr the M56 juction. And that cafe has now closed.
John
Not quite 3300John but as you say there isn’t much to go off in that picture.
It was taken on my way back to Manchester from Scarborough, I pulled in to just take the shot about 5.30am. It’s on the A64 near Ganton, (the only section along that road where 6ft high silver leaved plants grow along side the road.)
Sniffy:
Hi Stanfield
yes, the very same John Heath, now a buisness director for DHL somewhere in the NW
Hi Sniffy.Nice bloke John,very easy to get on with,worked with him at Albion as one of his transport supervisors for about 9month and about 3month later after I left Exel pulled out of the contract and I lost contact with him after that.If you see him again gave him my regards.
John
TIPIT:
John will know these then, I think it was Kevin Henry he first worked along side on the Daily Express contract when he first came.
Alan Walsh wasn’t with them long and went to work with Metro trams, I don’t know what the rest went on to do.
for i minute there i thought that was TIMMY MALLET seated…
A timeless portrait of a classic british truck…How lucky were we !!
Well done Sniffy, you’ve managed to capture a good piece of history there.
Bye the way around '89 when the Seddon’s came, they also had 1 or 2 Roadrunners delivered painted in light blue and a Volvo FL6 in royal blue / yellow, can you remember if these were also painted at Tankfreight ?
Sorry Tipit, can’t remember any others only the the Newsflow trucks in Red and yellow. I wonder if Chatfields have any old pics, I think they were the main Leyland dealers, or was Lex at Dumplington circle still around then cos they had their own paint shop. Not sure about the Volvo’s, Exel were buying centrally by then so they could have come from anywhere
