Was the transport industry prior to (say) 1980 a better place for both Operators and Drivers as compared to the change that has taken place since 1980 up to nowadays ? Cheers Bewick.
That’s a good thread to start off Dennis, I know from my point of view as I started 1980 in transport after leaving the forces and it hadn’t changed a lot from when I used to travel with my Father in the 60’s and learning from him and serving my time as a fitter before joining the Army in 72. Drivers still used the log book, the dreaded road cones hadn’t become as widespread on the roads, flat trailers, flat body rigids and roping and sheeting were still very much at the fore. Driver etiquette was still strong and getting a hand or advice was no problem, the roads themselves were not as packed with traffic even then you only expected heavy traffic in the bigger city areas and many had not begun the change to motorway and dual carriageway, the A1 North especially still had many of the old roundabouts to slow you down and ease around. As a young distance driver I was loving it. I believe the changes didn’t really come until the end of the 80’s and into the 90’s. I always think when I started I would have young ladies in open top cars waving at me and smiling, by the 90’s they were sticking two fingers up and swearing at you, seemed like everyone disliked heavy transport by then. Only my take on it, be interesting to hear what others say. Franky.
A damned sight better back then Dennis , but we were probably spoilt up here . ICI paid premium rates for the lime job , they wanted their transport back ASAP and not swanning off for backloads . The hauliers gained by it and the wages reflected it . It was hard work and mucky at times , but we were young and fit and it didn’t do us any harm . Even other local rates were fair in order to keep their regular transport . It all went pear shaped later when the big boys started quoting backload rates for our work .
My first job on distance work.
I started driving in 1975 and have just retired at the end may, imho the 1980’s until the early 2000’s was the best times, i had the chance to drive some of the classic British lorries before they got too sophisticated. The job then was hard work and no in cab technology to worry about, good comrades and lorries that were not to big for our roads.the mobile phone ended the freedom of the lorry driver and is probably the worst and best thing that has happened to the industry in the last 20yrs. I have been lucky to have worked for some really good hauliers in my time but none survive today, I miss the old days and the job today is a thankless pile of crap and I will never go back, not unless it was in a time machine to the great days of the 80’s.
pollystag:
0
My first job on distance work.I started driving in 1975 and have just retired at the end may, imho the 1980’s until the early 2000’s was the best times, i had the chance to drive some of the classic British lorries before they got too sophisticated. The job then was hard work and no in cab technology to worry about, good comrades and lorries that were not to big for our roads.the mobile phone ended the freedom of the lorry driver and is probably the worst and best thing that has happened to the industry in the last 20yrs. I have been lucky to have worked for some really good hauliers in my time but none survive today, I miss the old days and the job today is a thankless pile of crap and I will never go back, not unless it was in a time machine to the great days of the 80’s.
236 x 45 gal drums on a 40 ft trailer ! Our subsidiary McGuffie Transport Services Ltd hauled hundreds of similar loads from Braby’s plant at Aintree to Albright & Wilsons plant at Whitehaven over a period of around 12 years until packaging in drums fell away and bulk movement gradually took over !
Most things were better pre 1980.Even better than that before 1975.
I was born at least 10 years too late.I would love to have started work in the 1964 with the early 1970’s ahead of me for the best days of my working life.Bonus points if we also could have had 1980’s trucks in 1970 but the 1970’s cars were fine. 
Carryfast:
Most things were better pre 1980.Even better than that before 1975.
I was born at least 10 years too late.I would love to have started work in the 1964 with the early 1970’s ahead of me for the best days of my working life.Bonus points if we also could have had 1980’s trucks in 1970 but the 1970’s cars were fine.
1980 was a great year for me,I got to drive my first 240 Percy powered Big J!!
David(with thanks to Dennis for providing the post opportunity!)
5thwheel:
Carryfast:
Most things were better pre 1980.Even better than that before 1975.
I was born at least 10 years too late.I would love to have started work in the 1964 with the early 1970’s ahead of me for the best days of my working life.Bonus points if we also could have had 1980’s trucks in 1970 but the 1970’s cars were fine.1980 was a great year for me,I got to drive my first 240 Percy powered Big J!!
They were everywhere at the time. 
Seriously I went from £110 pw works driver to £80 pw council driver overnight and that’s where I stayed for some of the best years of my working life.
I’m too young to comment much really as I wasn’t driving full time until 1984 when tachos were then in general use, but I do remember that things seemed a lot more relaxed back in the 70’s than they are nowadays? With a logbook you could do in one day work that would take two days now, not strictly ‘legally’ of course! 
I remember one of our former drivers at Tilcon saying that his first driving job was from the brickworks at Owler Bar near Sheffield to Uttoxeter and back empty which he was allowed eight hours for, on Tilcon (many years later of course!) he was expected to do Ashbourne to Lenham and back in a similar time! Back in the seventies/ early eighties a days work was five or occasionally six loads of dust up to Charcon at Hulland Ward, about a one hour round trip. Later six loads were normal and seven when needed, one chap reguarly did a Derby first then seven loads. Likewise we did three loads daily to Bisons at Lichfield, then possibly a dust to Hulland Ward, later it was either four loads to Lichfield or in my case three Lichfields and a Sheffield. Cardiff was another occasional run with tarmac, but then usually a Sheffield afterwards. I know the trucks were more powerful but the downside was that more work was expected from them and us!
Pete.
Carryfast:
5thwheel:
Carryfast:
Most things were better pre 1980.Even better than that before 1975.
I was born at least 10 years too late.I would love to have started work in the 1964 with the early 1970’s ahead of me for the best days of my working life.Bonus points if we also could have had 1980’s trucks in 1970 but the 1970’s cars were fine.1980 was a great year for me,I got to drive my first 240 Percy powered Big J!!
They were everywhere at the time.
Seriously I went from £110 pw works driver to £80 pw council driver overnight and that’s where I stayed for some of the best years of my working life.
So you earned less driving as an overnight council worker!.,lol!
David
There is a lot to be said for the "pre Cell phone, pre computer, pre H & S, pre PC brigade, pre Tachos days ! Those were the days when common sense permutated through the operation and traffic desks were ( usually) operated by individuals who had “done the job” . Happy days long gone ! Cheers Bewick.
5thwheel:
Carryfast:
5thwheel:
Carryfast:
Most things were better pre 1980.Even better than that before 1975.
I was born at least 10 years too late.I would love to have started work in the 1964 with the early 1970’s ahead of me for the best days of my working life.Bonus points if we also could have had 1980’s trucks in 1970 but the 1970’s cars were fine.1980 was a great year for me,I got to drive my first 240 Percy powered Big J!!
They were everywhere at the time.
Seriously I went from £110 pw works driver to £80 pw council driver overnight and that’s where I stayed for some of the best years of my working life.
So you earned less driving as an overnight council worker!.,lol!
David
He obviously couldn’t “cut it” in the real world David so he joined the Council dosser brigade and was probably well over paid at £80 pw IMHO !
Bewick:
There is a lot to be said for the "pre Cell phone, pre computer, pre H & S, pre PC brigade, pre Tachos days ! Those were the days when common sense permutated through the operation and traffic desks were ( usually) operated by individuals who had “done the job” . Happy days long gone ! Cheers Bewick.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+1
that sums it up nicely and accurately.
being on tramping, then you worked to suit yourself and could have a life of some sort as all the big factories,shipyards and delivery points mostly worked mon-fri 8-5
all thats going for the job better today is non british built superior trucks and satnavs.
mobiles make the job easier when it suits you which is about 2% of the time.
apart from that,most of todays transport industry is for lemmings instructed my unskilled plobbers with everything working 24/7.
windrush:
I’m too young to comment much really as I wasn’t driving full time until 1984 when tachos were then in general use, but I do remember that things seemed a lot more relaxed back in the 70’s than they are nowadays? With a logbook you could do in one day work that would take two days now, not strictly ‘legally’ of course!Pete.
The criminals will always be criminals tachos or not.
With log books you could take a break anywhere any time without the guvnor knowing.Hence the hey dey of the Brit transport cafe.
As a new works driver I was expected to book an hour’s overtime just for the run down to Southampton from Feltham to collect fibre glass tanks from the boat builder we used or risk the wrath of the other drivers for ‘carving the job up’.
Many happy Summer days spent parked up to waste the time needed.
Also room for plenty of unauthorised breaks on the Council under log books too.The Guvnor knew it and moaned about it enough similar to Blakey on On The Buses.
Bewick:
He obviously couldn’t “cut it” in the real world David so he joined the Council dosser brigade and was probably well over paid at £80 pw IMHO !
I actually wondered what hit me when I ‘joined’ ( not by choice ) the Council in terms of the work load, as usual in the case of local zb work and holidays and got paid less for the privilege.
Log books and dodgy timesheets were the only thing making it tolerable and lucky it was a County job, not Borough, which mean’t plant and bulk refuse haulage around a larger and nicer area.But still lots of yard work between short runs.
Bewick:
There is a lot to be said for the "pre Cell phone, pre computer, pre H & S, pre PC brigade, pre Tachos days ! Those were the days when common sense permutated through the operation and traffic desks were ( usually) operated by individuals who had “done the job” . Happy days long gone ! Cheers Bewick.
I know what you mean Dennis but couldn’t have managed without a mobile phone in my last job, I had to find my own work a lot of the time and phoning various quarries for a load from a phone box (if I actually found one working and could park near it) would have cost me a fortune and wasted a lot of my working day. Tacho’s:, most of the drivers I spoke to back when they came into general use were happy with them as they stopped the dispatch folk from saying ‘just nip here’ etc and ensured they did the job legally, the office couldn’t argue with that. When I was fitting I did most of the tow ins on the very occasional times when a Foden broke down and I was on log books back then. I remember going down to Clapton Common and dragging one back up the M1 without having a break (apart from when I was removing the propshaft) as the driver wanted to get home and I was knackered, at least with a tacho I would have been forced to have a break. Of course they got abused when drivers figured out how to fiddle them, just the same as with log books, and even I was guilty of that at times to suit the situation! 
Pete.
I agree about the ‘job’ and working conditions being a lot better in the eighties, but my abiding memory ( and nightmare) at the time was the crippling mortgage rates!! At one time it was around 17% 
I very nearly lost my home then. Regards Kev 
If I’d had a lorry in the 80’s I’d be very wealthy by now or dead or may be in jail .
I remember my Dad saying he’d gone from 2 loads a day with an 8 wheeler and going on his speed boat on a Friday for a long weekend to having a 38 tonner 4 loads a day 5 and a half day a week and a recession.
Yes Dan we have to remember the recession then, as a fresh ‘Civilian’ I found it difficult to find a driving job especially around the Northeast despite what my military careers officer had told me about firms crying out for drivers, even more so with a Class One license, which turned out to be the opposite. I managed to get something with a couple of local companies but one was a cowboy outfit and the other not very transport wise but I had to get a foot on the ladder until I finally got with a reputable firm. So not so happy days for me at the start of the 80’s but I kept the family fed. In truth I should have listened to my older Brother who told me to get into Computers as they would become the big thing, he was involved with setting up the system for the Met Police he was with then. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Franky.
Bewick,i know you looked after all your drivers and had good kit, paid a good wage had good work you were a exception and fair play to you…
I read the newbie posts on here,90% i would say are chancres,second time around office men or ladies who ,i think, i might like to drive a truck for a living
it was not a living it was a way of life and that is never going to come back so no comparison what so ever in my view,think back to time,just say in the hollies all drivers ,black cut snarled hands,from roping ,sheeting ,dirty overhauls,big boots,excessive hours,■■■■ lorries low wages, but we loved it…yes the 1970s started to change.so i for one know at lest we did it.
who used to pinch the sink plugs from the digs ,other drivers, now they must have a shower before they start, thank god i am 76 like a lot of you drivers on here
we are better off well away from them,let them get on with it like we did…they will think they are having it hard.
we had a passenger cab side, full of 8 x30 foot chains ,snappers,sack of wedges, as many ropes as you could get hold of,and maybe a new sheet,corner boards if you were lucky,that was just half the kit you needed,timber bearers undr the legs a BACK SCOTCH at lest 4 good 6 panel sheets,maybe a 8 panal one ,a fly sheet very rare they would vanish…as you all, or maybe not. know all loads were sheeted think of a commodity and it was sheeted some good examples on the "kent fruit thread "… SO NO, the little darlings would not hack now ,the odd ones maybe,but there again why should they, i expect if i was in their shoes ,you will know no different ,so i have just wasted my time ,but feel better ,i can only write as a driver always employed …never no delusions of a owner driver, never had any backing or money,or place to keep any truck ,not on a council estate ,as i was a driver on driver wages and enjoyed it…you will all ways find your place in society and driving was mine at 21 years old…as normal i drift off the original question.pdb.