Looking at a lot of your photos and the vast majority have drip sheets that just
end just to short for the load.
I understand moving from 33 to 40 etc would require new sheets but as you did this traffic on
a regular basis i carnt understand why the sheets are to short, just my opinion Dennis. 
That last pic looks good with all the B.T.S. markings in line but the short drip sheet 
marks must be deducted. 
i would take a guess that the drip sheets were a dead fit on the libbyâs traffic , if they were any longer they would have been too long for that type of load which formed a lot of bewickâs traffic . cheers , dave
Dave and Brian appear to be getting very âtechnicalâ on the matter of Bewick Transport sheets so Iâd better stick my 'two peneth in ! With regard to the Libby traffic,yes we did haul quite a lot of it but even from the mid '80âs onwards,until the factory closed, we had between 66/75% of all the outgoing tonnage from Libbyâs,this still never climbed out of single figure percentages within all the tonnage we hauled. For a little while around 1976/7 after we had taken Fellâs over,Libbyâs probably accounted for around 25% of our outgoing traffic.By the time the factory closed Libbyâs (or Nestles by then) was only accounting for between 3 to 5 % of our traffic so while it was handy and on the doorstep it didnât have the impact on us that the local press tried to imply! I was in America at the time when the closure was announced although Iâd been privy to the closure decision for over 2 years,but had been sworn to secrecy! The main of the Bewick traffic was generated within the paper industry and our sheets policy had been developed years previously,which was for a 40ft trailer and consisted of two 30 x 24ft main sheets and one 46 x 12.5ft fly sheet.This spec of sheets suited probably 99% of our loads and one thing we didnât reckon was to have sheets that were too long! it was just a waste of material as well as money!! The only exception to this was the sheets we used on the Bowater Scott traffic which again were made for the job at two 32ft x 28ft mains and a 50 ft x 12.5 âbottle sheetâ fly,the mains had a red panel in the middle and the flys had blue centre panel .We found that the standard 46 ft fly sheet was an ideal length for our work and we never got anything wet,honest !!! I canât for the life of me see why you need bloody great over long fly sheets more than the minimum required to do the job ! Cheers Dennis.
Comments please !!! 
Bewick:
Comments please !!!
hiya,
Dennis anybody who ânitpicksâ at this in in need of a visit to their local optician, an "expert"self praise being no compliment and all that is what I am, I can look at that and say âshades of Harry Gillâ the fly sheet ropes at the tail end are exact and thereâs need to fabricate âpigs earsâ in the fabric to get that squared off tidy look,quick flick down the ropes on the way to put the number plate in place kick the tyres just in case a "slack alice"has developed overnight yes Ive wound the legs ,put the safety clip on and fitted the suzies checked the lights when fitting the number plate, er Dennis am at Lancaster and have forgotten the delivery notes well no-ones perfect, did I hear you say âdonât ring me Iâll ring youâ.
thanks harry long retired.
Bewick:
Comments please !!!
hi dennis,
ten.
regards andrew.
pete 359:
Bewick:
Comments please !!!hi dennis,
ten.
regards andrew.
Aye,very nice,Iâd tek it,no problem with a nice âAâ series ERF with â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â fancy Scanias thanks. 
pete 359:
Bewick:
Comments please !!!hi dennis,
ten.
regards andrew.
At the very least I expected an 11/10 from you Andrew !! The only thing I expect you marked it down on was that bit of main sheet hanging down a bit across the back-end !!! but then again it wasnât entered into a competion,it just happened to be a shot of T46 stood in the rank.Fleet nos. 44/45/46 were origionally 3 x 33ft York LD flats I bought ( luckily) for a nightly trunk from Storey Bros. of Lancaster to Bermondsey.The bays where the trailer was dropped at the carrierâs in London were only short and our trailer stood there for 24 hours,our day man picked up the M/T from the day before and loaded it with pulp for Milnthorpe and returned to Daventry. So after a good number of years until Storeyâs finally closed I ended up with 4 X 33ft trailers that werenât a lot of use to us on the main trailer fleet,The odd one of the four being a 33ft York SL PSK,which we kept âas wasâ.The other three I had converted into 40 ft standard LDâs,as apart from the length everything else was the same.So I took this shot of T46 when it came back into service and had itâs first load as 40 footer on itâs back !!! Cheers Dennis.
Chris Webb:
pete 359:
Bewick:
Comments please !!!hi dennis,
ten.
regards andrew.Aye,very nice,Iâd tek it,no problem with a nice âAâ series ERF with â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â fancy Scanias thanks.
Are you going to couple it up when you come in or do I get the day man to do it for you !! I know you âneet menâ donât like getting âones hands soiledâ anymore than is necessary !!! Weâll check the lights as well !!! gan canny noo!! Cheers Dennis.
A shot of a Bowater Scott load standing in the depot prior to going south on the Daventry trunk.The made to measure sheets we used on this traffic can be seen,a red panel in the middle of the main and a blue panel in the middle of the fly sheet.now what is wrong with the length of that fly sheet? it was the same length down the backend,but like the âphantomâ Big J 8LXB shot of the back end,youâll just have to take my word for it!! Cheers Dennis.
Bewick:
Well done ddbrsn !! you thoroughly sliced and diced my last post,you should write a thesis on all my posts !! You would definitely get a âfirstâ at Oxbridge mate ! Suggested title " The prehistoric thinking of an old time,knuckle dragging Haulier". Anyway,that fly sheet didnât have a âbottleâ rope stitched round the edge,we only used bottle sheets on the Bowater traffic that we hauled on flats.They were much too heavy for general use,so what you are seeing is nothing other than a very well made fly sheet with good ties that can stand some tension. Oh! and Iâll have you know I was always very welcome around the table in any of the cafeâs our lads frequented,wether I was in my boiler suit with an artic parked outside or I was in a suit and the Merc was sat on the park,not among the artics Iâll hasten to add!!! Itâs just that we did have certain standards at Bewick Transport and always wanted to present a good example,which was sadly lacking at a lot of other hauliers Iâm sad to say.Plus we never asked any of our drivers to do anything I or my manager wouldnât do ourselves ! Nothing wrong with that surely,is there? never-the -less I enjoyed reading your take on my posts,keep it up !! Cheers and regards Dennis.
Hi DennisâŚIm sure reading a thesis entitled "The prehistoric thinking of old time, knuckle dragging Hauliers and their Drivers" would give the new generation of graduate traffic personnel nightmares. I agree with you on bottle sheets, good for what they are intended for, but a pain on general haulage. Mind you Ive had brand new sheets that had eyelets popping on first pull and tie strings fit only for decoration. Setting a good example works both ways with drivers also trying, with poor quality gear, to show pride in their ability.
I can believe you were welcome at the cafe table, you were buying the teas, you were, werent you. :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:. As for parking your Merc out of sight you have obviously read the story of the truck driver and the Hells Angels. :laughing: :laughing: I agree that its a good thing when managers and owners have personnel experience of the work they are asking people to do on their behalf. Ive also worked for firms were the people at the top didnt have this knowledge. They still showed an understanding of the problems their drivers faced in completing their tasks to the satisfaction of all parties⌠Dave.
Iâm having a 'deal of trouble weighing up where your âcoming fromâ ddrbsn,I really am !!! Have you been a driver or were you an office wallah that has never done the job? Where did you buy your sheets from,the local builders merchants? sounds to me like all they were good for was covering a pile of bricks on a building site mate!! I never believed in parking cars among HGVâs for obvious reasons,nothing to do with a driver bearing a grudge!!! and yes I did buy teas and breakfasts and lunches and dinners and pints and fish and chips and pies and ------- all in the spirit of âgoodwillâ you understand and I didnt mind in the least I can honestly say !! if I had done I would just have avoided the cafes and truck stops period.But there was no substitution for getting âin among 'emâ regularly,ear to the ground ect.ect. I fully realise that I grew up in a different Transport enviroment to that which exists to-day,but from what I gather from to-days participants boy am I glad Iâm out of it !!! Health warning,donât take personal offence to any of my comments,itâs only my opinion which dosenât count for much nowadays !!! Cheers Dennis.
Bewick:
Iâm having a 'deal of trouble weighing up where your âcoming fromâ ddrbsn,I really am !!! Have you been a driver or were you an office wallah that has never done the job? Where did you buy your sheets from,the local builders merchants? sounds to me like all they were good for was covering a pile of bricks on a building site mate!! I never believed in parking cars among HGVâs for obvious reasons,nothing to do with a driver bearing a grudge!!! and yes I did buy teas and breakfasts and lunches and dinners and pints and fish and chips and pies and ------- all in the spirit of âgoodwillâ you understand and I didnt mind in the least I can honestly say !! if I had done I would just have avoided the cafes and truck stops period.But there was no substitution for getting âin among 'emâ regularly,ear to the ground ect.ect. I fully realise that I grew up in a different Transport enviroment to that which exists to-day,but from what I gather from to-days participants boy am I glad Iâm out of it !!! Health warning,donât take personal offence to any of my comments,itâs only my opinion which dosenât count for much nowadays !!! Cheers Dennis.
hiya,
Donât forget the brown sauce with my fish and chips Dennis oh and two sugars in the tea please.,
excuse me Dennis but did the second word rhyme with cough, couldnât quite hear you someone
on the car park revving the knackers off a Big J powered with a 240 G must be a SOM driver they
have several havenât they?? lends your camera, now which way round do I point it.
thanks harry long retiredâŚ
harry_gill:
Bewick:
Iâm having a 'deal of trouble weighing up where your âcoming fromâ ddrbsn,I really am !!! Have you been a driver or were you an office wallah that has never done the job? Where did you buy your sheets from,the local builders merchants? sounds to me like all they were good for was covering a pile of bricks on a building site mate!! I never believed in parking cars among HGVâs for obvious reasons,nothing to do with a driver bearing a grudge!!! and yes I did buy teas and breakfasts and lunches and dinners and pints and fish and chips and pies and ------- all in the spirit of âgoodwillâ you understand and I didnt mind in the least I can honestly say !! if I had done I would just have avoided the cafes and truck stops period.But there was no substitution for getting âin among 'emâ regularly,ear to the ground ect.ect. I fully realise that I grew up in a different Transport enviroment to that which exists to-day,but from what I gather from to-days participants boy am I glad Iâm out of it !!! Health warning,donât take personal offence to any of my comments,itâs only my opinion which dosenât count for much nowadays !!! Cheers Dennis.hiya, Donât forget the brown sauce with my fish and chips Dennis oh and two sugars in the tea please., excuse me Dennis but did the second word rhyme with cough, couldnât quite hear you someone on the car park revving the knackers off a Big J powered with a 240 G must be a SOM driver they have several havenât they?? lends your camera, now which way round do I point it. thanks harry long retiredâŚ
The second word actually was to do with travel âHâ, it was OFF !!! Cheers Dennis.
Bewick:
harry_gill:
Bewick:
Iâm having a 'deal of trouble weighing up where your âcoming fromâ ddrbsn,I really am !!! Have you been a driver or were you an office wallah that has never done the job? Where did you buy your sheets from,the local builders merchants? sounds to me like all they were good for was covering a pile of bricks on a building site mate!! I never believed in parking cars among HGVâs for obvious reasons,nothing to do with a driver bearing a grudge!!! and yes I did buy teas and breakfasts and lunches and dinners and pints and fish and chips and pies and ------- all in the spirit of âgoodwillâ you understand and I didnt mind in the least I can honestly say !! if I had done I would just have avoided the cafes and truck stops period.But there was no substitution for getting âin among 'emâ regularly,ear to the ground ect.ect. I fully realise that I grew up in a different Transport enviroment to that which exists to-day,but from what I gather from to-days participants boy am I glad Iâm out of it !!! Health warning,donât take personal offence to any of my comments,itâs only my opinion which dosenât count for much nowadays !!! Cheers Dennis.hiya, Donât forget the brown sauce with my fish and chips Dennis oh and two sugars in the tea please., excuse me Dennis but did the second word rhyme with cough, couldnât quite hear you someone on the car park revving the knackers off a Big J powered with a 240 G must be a SOM driver they have several havenât they?? lends your camera, now which way round do I point it. thanks harry long retiredâŚ
The second word actually was to do with travel âHâ, it was OFF !!! Cheers Dennis.
hiya,
Tut Tut Dennis and you a gentleman.albeit of leisure.
thanks harry long retired.
Bewick:
Chris Webb:
pete 359:
Bewick:
Comments please !!!hi dennis,
ten.
regards andrew.Aye,very nice,Iâd tek it,no problem with a nice âAâ series ERF with â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â fancy Scanias thanks.
Are you going to couple it up when you come in or do I get the day man to do it for you !! I know you âneet menâ donât like getting âones hands soiledâ anymore than is necessary !!! Weâll check the lights as well !!! gan canny noo!! Cheers Dennis.
Sod the day man,Iâll couple it mesen,then I know itâs been done rayt. Iâll check the lights as well,just mek sure thereâs a bloody number plate in tâcab.âGan canny nooâ? WTF does that mean,canât tha talk rayt your lot ovver theer.
anoniom
Chris Webb:
Bewick:
Chris Webb:
pete 359:
Bewick:
Comments please !!!hi dennis, ten. regards andrew.
Aye,very nice,Iâd tek it,no problem with a nice âAâ series ERF with â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â fancy Scanias thanks.
Are you going to couple it up when you come in or do I get the day man to do it for you !! I know you âneet menâ donât like getting âones hands soiledâ anymore than is necessary !!! Weâll check the lights as well !!! gan canny noo!! Cheers Dennis.
Sod the day man,Iâll couple it mesen,then I know itâs been done rayt. Iâll check the lights as well,just mek sure thereâs a bloody number plate in tâcab.âGan canny nooâ? WTF does that mean,canât tha talk rayt your lot ovver theer. anoniom
Not âa dickyâ about the new A series Iâve rushed out the paint shop for to-nights trunk!! thereâs gratitude for you,ungrateful git !! and for the benifit of our âoff shore bretherenâ origionally from the the plains of southern Yorkshire and the Lincolnshire wolds ( I think ) Gan canny noo , in broad âNorthumbrianâ translates to,in length, âPlease go very carefully and donât( divent) do anything silly,there now grand ladâ Larry has probably repeated the same phrase many times to his drivers !!! Larry, over to you to elaberate more !! Cheers Dennis.
Bewick:
Chris Webb:
Bewick:
Chris Webb:
pete 359:
Bewick:
Comments please !!!hi dennis, ten. regards andrew.
Aye,very nice,Iâd tek it,no problem with a nice âAâ series ERF with â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â fancy Scanias thanks.
Are you going to couple it up when you come in or do I get the day man to do it for you !! I know you âneet menâ donât like getting âones hands soiledâ anymore than is necessary !!! Weâll check the lights as well !!! gan canny noo!! Cheers Dennis.
Sod the day man,Iâll couple it mesen,then I know itâs been done rayt. Iâll check the lights as well,just mek sure thereâs a bloody number plate in tâcab.âGan canny nooâ? WTF does that mean,canât tha talk rayt your lot ovver theer. anoniom
Not âa dickyâ about the new A series Iâve rushed out the paint shop for to-nights trunk!! thereâs gratitude for you,ungrateful git !! and for the benifit of our âoff shore bretherenâ origionally from the the plains of southern Yorkshire and the Lincolnshire wolds ( I think ) Gan canny noo , in broad âNorthumbrianâ translates to,in length, âPlease go very carefully and donât( divent) do anything silly,there now grand ladâ Larry has probably repeated the same phrase many times to his drivers !!! Larry, over to you to elaberate more !! Cheers Dennis.
Evening Dennis. Calm down,I do understand all these dialects really. Sorry,I didnât know that âAâ series was especially painted up for me.Iâll take good care of it,can I call at home for tâlegover on me way back from Daventry?
I forgot to tell you what trailer you had to pick up Chris,itâs this load of waste and the Mill are "screaming " for it so I said âno probsâ well er! there is, thereâs no crane working to-night,but I said ,not a problem,the neet man is a handy Lad and he will bar the bales off no probs !!! Donât damage that net as it cost a âfew bobâ !! Couple the ERF up T287 when you get back 'int morning.Tâtraffic office.