ramone:
I only ever did 2 trips to Italy in the very late 90s and i cant remember too much about them apart from being very non eventful. i remember my first impression of the Blanc and the conversation about the return trip back into France was originally a two way road .We used a mix of nationals and motorways but ours was always a rush job. The loads always had to be there before theyd set off . I do remember coming up through France on my second trip and we left the motorway and went on what seemed to be an endless road to avoid Paris , 1 driver told me he didnt like using that route due to the long narrow dead straight sections with lorries coming at you at high speed , he said all it would take is 1 driver coming the other way with nodding dogs or a split second lack of concentration and that would be it. There was a bloke from Leyburn who originally worked for Arthur Green at Silsden but then bought his own motor that allegedly did 48 trips in 1 year ,2 weeks holiday and 2 weeks the Italians had off, not bad going if it was true, Pete Stalliey i think was his name
I sent a text to Andy Green, Arthur Green’s grandson, about the above Ramone, because I know he doesn’t come on here. His reply as follows:
Pete Stelling came to us from t plaice timber of Northallerton mid 1960s. Once did 100 hrs in 5 days at 33mph. We got him an 88 in '75 and he did 90,000 miles in 10 months.
ramone:
I only ever did 2 trips to Italy in the very late 90s and i cant remember too much about them apart from being very non eventful. i remember my first impression of the Blanc and the conversation about the return trip back into France was originally a two way road .We used a mix of nationals and motorways but ours was always a rush job. The loads always had to be there before theyd set off . I do remember coming up through France on my second trip and we left the motorway and went on what seemed to be an endless road to avoid Paris , 1 driver told me he didnt like using that route due to the long narrow dead straight sections with lorries coming at you at high speed , he said all it would take is 1 driver coming the other way with nodding dogs or a split second lack of concentration and that would be it. There was a bloke from Leyburn who originally worked for Arthur Green at Silsden but then bought his own motor that allegedly did 48 trips in 1 year ,2 weeks holiday and 2 weeks the Italians had off, not bad going if it was true, Pete Stalliey i think was his name
I sent a text to Andy Green, Arthur Green’s grandson, about the above Ramone, because I know he doesn’t come on here. His reply as follows:
Pete Stelling came to us from t plaice timber of Northallerton mid 1960s. Once did 100 hrs in 5 days at 33mph. We got him an 88 in '75 and he did 90,000 miles in 10 months.
John.
The last time i saw him would have been around 1990 and i think he had a new 143 in blue , we were on for DU Forest , he worked from their Leeds branch we were out of Trafford Park , like i said i wasn`t a regular but our company had a reputation , Du Forest had a scotish branch and 1 of their subbies had a new driver starting , he was instructed to “follow our drivers from Dover because they go like **** but when they stop park away from them” , our lads had a work hard but enjoy the brief breaks too philosophy … i dont think anyone could match Mr Stelling though
WELL RAMONE that could all be true ,do not forget the motors back then were not governed and some would slip along at 70mph plus…fully freighted if they chose to ignore the euro speeds, well good on them however it did make the "normal " drivers look a bit slow. was down to them the drivers like that ,were classedas mad however they were just kids grown up who were HPYERACTIVE.
I found out in my driving time we were all different if one driver went shooting off, and did the job a day quicker,down to them so long as i was not asked to do it. fine by me…
MEN who did that jobs quicker than others would lack some other quality.but a asset to the boss.
Even when i first started on the cattle trucks in 1965/6 it would amaze me, and i was “the young buck then you would not believe it” … as i have been named “miserable old git” on here,“you know nothfing” anyway, most of the men a started my driving with were well into their 40 years of age the hours all of the men did back then,it was normal start at 6 in the morning and still be at it 10pm or later more like midnight just to get back to the depot.a swill under the outside tap and get in the cab while it was still warm, get under the old coats and blankets crunched up on the engine cover you will see all the old trucks at shows and yes we did do strange things for a boss,so yes that old boy could or would have done what was written about him ,i thought i could, and did work a lot of hours at sea however the driving back then taught me different …
MAYBE on here i might make a lot of comments about drivers or whatever, but what you have to remember, not only me but hundreds of us my age group were brought up different and no poncing about, because we did not know any difference ,we followed the then old boys…end of rant ,lie down now. pdb.
peggydeckboy:
…it was normal start at 6 in the morning and still be at it 10pm or later more like midnight just to get back to the depot.a swill under the outside tap and get in the cab while it was still warm, get under the old coats and blankets crunched up on the engine cover…
That’s a great description PDB!! I wouldn’t mind betting that there are a few operators around now who, if they could get away with it, would still run like that!!
peggydeckboy:
…it was normal start at 6 in the morning and still be at it 10pm or later more like midnight just to get back to the depot.a swill under the outside tap and get in the cab while it was still warm, get under the old coats and blankets crunched up on the engine cover…
That’s a great description PDB!! I wouldn’t mind betting that there are a few operators around now who, if they could get away with it, would still run like that!!
And still pay one & a quarter weeks wages for two weeks work per week…
I was also a young lad working with older drivers when I started out PDB as were most I would say, it’s quite difficult to fit in because there you are all young, full of energy and enthusiasm and you’ve got these old boys that are full of cynicism and experience that make the job look easy.
Then life goes full circle and us young uns become the miserable old gits. It’s a funny old world.
peggydeckboy:
WELL RAMONE that could all be true ,do not forget the motors back then were not governed and some would slip along at 70mph plus…fully freighted if they chose to ignore the euro speeds, well good on them however it did make the "normal " drivers look a bit slow. was down to them the drivers like that ,were classedas mad however they were just kids grown up who were HPYERACTIVE.
I found out in my driving time we were all different if one driver went shooting off, and did the job a day quicker,down to them so long as i was not asked to do it. fine by me…
MEN who did that jobs quicker than others would lack some other quality.but a asset to the boss.
Even when i first started on the cattle trucks in 1965/6 it would amaze me, and i was “the young buck then you would not believe it” … as i have been named “miserable old git” on here,“you know nothfing” anyway, most of the men a started my driving with were well into their 40 years of age the hours all of the men did back then,it was normal start at 6 in the morning and still be at it 10pm or later more like midnight just to get back to the depot.a swill under the outside tap and get in the cab while it was still warm, get under the old coats and blankets crunched up on the engine cover you will see all the old trucks at shows and yes we did do strange things for a boss,so yes that old boy could or would have done what was written about him ,i thought i could, and did work a lot of hours at sea however the driving back then taught me different …
MAYBE on here i might make a lot of comments about drivers or whatever, but what you have to remember, not only me but hundreds of us my age group were brought up different and no poncing about, because we did not know any difference ,we followed the then old boys…end of rant ,lie down now. pdb.
i dont think Peter was a young buck he was getting on a bit in 1990 , he just kept going week in week out , it obviously doesn’t sit too comfortably with some people though
Remember these from back in the day? In the mid 70s I remember going to the South of France in a camper van, family holiday, and stopping at one of these cross over services. I was pretty amazed at the size of them. From driving in the 80s I remember the bridge having a motif of three little men in caps as their company logo. As NMM mentioned earlier in the thread, these crossover services also enabled a few peage ticket swaps to take place.
That’s a great description PDB!! I wouldn’t mind betting that there are a few operators around now who, if they could get away with it, would still run like that!! 
