newmercman:
The wagon n drag next to UFO is one of McKellar’s, next to that is Solstor (could be me, I was on there early 90s) there’s a Wm Mark Young, a Noel Zwecker, Murfitts with a Euro trotter, ACH, a few Thompson Jewitts, an old orange and white Merc that can only be Prince, an Eric Vick over in the corner, one of Norman Lewis, a Carna Scania 3rd row far right. A Lagan in the same row, JSL maybe? next to the Dangerousangle Renault. The Foden next to the Curries possibly that Weisel? That did Austria. MacBurnie with the white tilt, red back doors facing the other way. As well as Poland’s finest (and they were in those days) there’s a lot of Yugos in there and maybe a couple of CSAD.
One of 3 Volvos in these colours we ran. 2 F10’s & an F12
milodon:
great thread! don’t wander around here too much but it’s great to see some of the places I’ve been 10+ years later and the roads haven’t improved much
Jelliot:
Rynart Trading ( the ones with peacock green and red graphics ) were quite a common site but must of them were Polish subbies, and I was told ( not confirmed ) that most of them were Muslim as well.
I know many guys who used to work for rynart and they are all estonians. deffo not muslim though, if the amount of vodka we’ve burned through is to be considered even some Rynart trucks were registered in Estonia, some had dual plates (estonian when needed, dutch when needed). here’s one registered in Estonia, not my pic though
now manned by turks etc, it’s not only the westerners who don’t get to travel south-east anymore
Thanks for that Milodon great photo…we often met Polish and Czech drivers on for Rynart, and were told that some were Muslim… But we were also told other stuff that wasn’t quite accurate as well.
I often wonder if western European drivers will eventually get a shot at doing the Ultra long haul stuff again… What goes round, comes around…
As a former Kazakhstan-run driver, Jeff, I’d have thought you would know that Islam more or less began in east Bulgaria, Turkey and ‘the Stans’ going east, not in Eastern Europe which was Communism mixed with (previously) suppressed Christianity (Catholic and Orthodox)… Robert
Sorry it looks like we’re all getting a bit confused with this…I wasn’t saying that the Polish or Czech drivers were Muslim… However I’m sure there may actually be a some somewhere… I’ll make this a bit clearer, I was trying to do it bit short hand…
When I was doing Kaz we used to meet both the Rynart companies… Peacock Rynart Trading and the not so colourful Robbie Rynart usually white with blue writing…We used to see quite a few … 6 to 8 ( not that I actually counted ) Rynart trucks per trip, but we didn’t stop and speak to all of them. Due to the nature of our work we weren’t encouraged to socialise, but if we parked up and there were other trucks about we didn’t want to seem rude. The guys we used to met down the M32, on a regular basis we usually from Poland, Holland or Czech Republic, ( it was the same guys all the time ) and they seemed to be running a regular route to southern Uzbek, and Tashkent. Because I was running with Danes and Swedes most of the conversations were in German, not one of my strong languages, and there wasn’t much English spoken so it was hard to keep up.
I’m not saying they didn’t have Estonian drivers, just that I never met them… But I would also like to add that I never met Dave Mackie or Frankie White, but I know they were at it the same time I was doing it. Kaz is a fairly big place and I’m sure there were loads of other trucks out the that I never saw … Of course they might also say that the guys they met on the Italian trucks were all Scottish, Swedes and Danes…I hope that takes care of that, if not, just ask…
Right the Muslim thing… A few years after I was doing it Robbie Rynart was on a contract to supply the US and allied forces in Afghanistan ( so I was told ) They set up a depot down south, not sure what country it was but Usbek Afghan, somewhere about there. They were ( maybe still are ) employing local Muslim driver form that area, and Robbie commented on Top Run that it was a good idea to employ those blokes as they had a better understanding of the local culture and if anything started to go wrong they would have the inside edge of fixing it before it got out of control… ( I would also suspect that part of the contract they had with the country they set up in was to employ a certain percentage of locals )…
I don’t know if the southern drivers were/are going right up to Holland or are just doing the southern stuff, but I can’t see why they wouldn’t. After all, think of the Turkish driver that were doing the Middle East for European companies in the 70’s and 80’s, there’s really no difference … Willi Betz is also doing a similar thing.
I also got similar information from a guy that was doing the run after I’d stopped doing it…
Loads of southern photos on Top Run by a guy that cycled the route on a bike…and I though I was tough doing it in an FH…
In the 90s I delivered a couple of loads bound for Kazakhstan to rynart-trading ,
the boss there was a really nice guy ,
They had some really good photos on the wall in the mess room of his trucks and the sticky situations they’ve been in ,
I remember one photo where the snow was that deep the driver had opened his door and walked out , the snow was level with the cab.
Jelliot:
Thanks for that Milodon great photo…we often met Polish and Czech drivers on for Rynart, and were told that some were Muslim… But we were also told other stuff that wasn’t quite accurate as well.
I often wonder if western European drivers will eventually get a shot at doing the Ultra long haul stuff again… What goes round, comes around…
Jeff…
I’m sure there were as I was about 16 in the heyday of estonians working for Rynart so no first hand knowledge but like in this photo, have only seen estonian nameplates on Rynarts trucks on the internet. from what I’ve heard from the guys who did the kazakhstan and mongolian work, it was turks who replaced estonians with no mention of any other nationalities, but like I said, I’m sure there were, I just didn’t know about them.
Nice photo… I remember Dons getting about… where was that taken■■? White RC 2 and a Turbo Star in the back ground… nice…
I remember when most of the Romanian trucks had a big Geronimo sticker on the side window !! I really never got that… But then I also used to see a lot of dream catchers as well… ooooommmmmmmm…
Jelliot:
Nice photo… I remember Dons getting about… where was that taken■■? White RC 2 and a Turbo Star in the back ground… nice…
I remember when most of the Romanian trucks had a big Geronimo sticker on the side window !! I really never got that… But then I also used to see a lot of dream catchers as well… ooooommmmmmmm…
Jeff…
Sorry Jeff, no idea where it taken, just a random pick I came across! Regards Chris
Sorting through the loft again . Like me no doubt many of you had the little note-pad full of scribbles/instructions etc etc . Just found 1 of mine, here are a couple of pages from the days before In-cab computers/I-pads/ floppy-discs/lap-tops/ mouses etc , when you stuck the phone under your chin & scribbled down collection/delivery instructions etc . Regards Chris
Pic of the Horse with this 1 , & taken at Cold Store in Recklinghausen, Germany. Went OK this old DAF once you got her wound up, but had a stupid little fuel tank, always stopping to fill the ■■■■ thing up . Regards Chris
and the roads haven’t improved much 
. Like me no doubt many of you had the little note-pad full of scribbles/instructions etc etc 
Regards Chris
. Regards Chris
