Quite ironic really…they spent the last 10 years re-painting the fleet in white/turquiose now they’ve got to paint them red again 
I was thinking today about NEVER working weekends in those days 
We would go in on Saturday mornings and wash the truck and get paid 5 hours for it 
Ok so some would be running in from a week on the road … well what I mean is driving from Newport Pagnel or Watford Gap depending on where you fiddled from ? we never started before 6.00am no matter what the job was and never drove after 6.30pm unless on night trunk. If malcom the traffic manager gave us a heavy night on night trunk we just took our time and ran out of hours at either of the above service areas then he would have to send a driver with a car to get us and pay us overtime on top of the night out money
Pat Hasler:
I was thinking today about NEVER working weekends in those daysWe would go in on Saturday mornings and wash the truck and get paid 5 hours for it
Ok so some would be running in from a week on the road … well what I mean is driving from Newport Pagnel or Watford Gap depending on where you fiddled from ? we never started before 6.00am no matter what the job was and never drove after 6.30pm unless on night trunk. If malcom the traffic manager gave us a heavy night on night trunk we just took our time and ran out of hours at either of the above service areas then he would have to send a driver with a car to get us and pay us overtime on top of the night out money
Saturday was the busiest and best day of the week. Bacon butties from the Langrick Cafe, everyone running in and loading up for Monday. Mondays I started at 8am and the smoke from the F88’s leaving at 5am had almost cleared… happy days.
p.s. i’d forgotten about Malc, the famous Roadrunner!
I must have mellowed out in my 50’s
As far as I am concerned a weekend is two days, friday night to monday morning 
I have a new dispacther on my job (never seen him because he is in Iowa) he has been working for our company on other contracts for years and has those other guys working 7 days a week then 34 hours off and tried it with me the very first week, I told him just what I wrote above and I would not work more than the monday to friday I was employed to do even though I get fixed minimum that is higher than his other drivers… I leave that refinery in Yonkers to come home on friday mornings with mondays delivery and I am not gonna change for him or anyone else or he can keep his job… luckily I have a terminal manager who backs me up
I look back and realise that my last two jobs in the UK (Tesco and Concord road shows) involved working weekends but I didn’t mind 
… It must be that I am actually very happily married at last
while we’re on names , Bob Desborough , Mick Rogers , John Humphries(the animal) ,the Pinney brothers ,Mike Bryant(zoot) ,Roger Swain ,Mick(henry) Ford ,Georgy Thompson ,Stevey Tasker,Robbie Jardine, Roger Day , little Mick Taylor ,Rod Spear ,Mick Moulton , Jack Larby(joe 90) ,Trevor Lewis ,Dave & Gary Wykes ,Fred Love ,Jim Whitehead ,Poggy ,Pete Coleman - just some i can remember from 30+ years ago .
Think Bob Desborough is still there or rather at Norberts 
tonyhogi:
while we’re on names , Bob Desborough , Mick Rogers , John Humphries(the animal) ,the Pinney brothers ,Mike Bryant(zoot) ,Roger Swain ,Mick(henry) Ford ,Georgy Thompson ,Stevey Tasker,Robbie Jardine, Roger Day , little Mick Taylor ,Rod Spear ,Mick Moulton , Jack Larby(joe 90) ,Trevor Lewis ,Dave & Gary Wykes ,Fred Love ,Jim Whitehead ,Poggy ,Pete Coleman - just some i can remember from 30+ years ago .
Think Bob Desborough is still there or rather at Norberts
Bob Desborough, Rod Spears, Steve Jolley, Jum Hollowell and Alan Amos were all at my 50th party when i came back over.
Gary Wykes (bless his soul) was sadly killed in a motorcycle accident in the early 90’s.
Mick Moulton was a funny guy he came to a Swifts social club dance about 3 years after leaving and wore the blue swifts uniform and red tie
Trevor Lewis was probably the man I had more respect for than anyone else. george Thompson ? hmmmm I think you had better ask Stuart Pinney about him ?
Jack Larby (was Joe 90) Pete Coleman was a real good man, who taught me so much. Mick Taylor was my partner in crime on the motorcraft contract.
Steve Tasker was best man at my first wedding I remember all these blokes so well with fondness (except Jim Whitehead who was a pig.
tonyhogi:
while we’re on names , Bob Desborough , Mick Rogers , John Humphries(the animal) ,the Pinney brothers ,Mike Bryant(zoot) ,Roger Swain ,Mick(henry) Ford ,Georgy Thompson ,Stevey Tasker,Robbie Jardine, Roger Day , little Mick Taylor ,Rod Spear ,Mick Moulton , Jack Larby(joe 90) ,Trevor Lewis ,Dave & Gary Wykes ,Fred Love ,Jim Whitehead ,Poggy ,Pete Coleman - just some i can remember from 30+ years ago .
Think Bob Desborough is still there or rather at Norberts
Remember some of the fitters 
Poggy was a character & old 'mucker Wykes , went tech with Gary Leigh & remember an other big lad going thin on top & had a tash called John ? Wasn’t their foreman called Trevor who lost some of his digits on a breakdown ?
boris:
tonyhogi:
while we’re on names , Bob Desborough , Mick Rogers , John Humphries(the animal) ,the Pinney brothers ,Mike Bryant(zoot) ,Roger Swain ,Mick(henry) Ford ,Georgy Thompson ,Stevey Tasker,Robbie Jardine, Roger Day , little Mick Taylor ,Rod Spear ,Mick Moulton , Jack Larby(joe 90) ,Trevor Lewis ,Dave & Gary Wykes ,Fred Love ,Jim Whitehead ,Poggy ,Pete Coleman - just some i can remember from 30+ years ago .
Think Bob Desborough is still there or rather at NorbertsRemember some of the fitters
Poggy was always whistling, Dave (Mucker) Wykes had Leukemia the last I heard, Trevor lost his finger working on a brake chamber, I remember it well.
Look what i found! 
is that Tracy Pinney on the forklift?
It is Tracey. I see Ray Brown is named at the bottom, I hated that bloke, I once phoned him at 05.00am to complain about a run he gave me, he said “Do you know what time it is ?”
“Yes I do … I have been at work for half an hour you lazy git”
a picture of a swift motor i took years ago,at i think p/boro.
rich12:
a picture of a swift motor i took years ago,at i think p/boro.
Nice pic Rich , would have got great mpg with that one & The chin spoiler 
thanks for posting it
When i was on the road in the late seventies i met a swifts driver and had a good night out with him in sheffield.i never new his name but i remember he was German,and he worked out of the skegness depot,its funny how you remember some nights out more than others.
jeffreyk:
When i was on the road in the late seventies i met a swifts driver and had a good night out with him in sheffield.i never new his name but i remember he was German,and he worked out of the skegness depot,its funny how you remember some nights out more than others.
His name was ‘Max’ … one of the best european imports, he was a prisoner of war who stayed here and I remember when he applied for a passport (before the EU existed) his application was revoked because the German embassy said he was offically dead.
anybody remember chief engineer at swifts late 80s …graham gardham came from a one transport
Swift used to do a lot of the haulage out of Fisons at Goole.
mazz:
Nice pic that’s Bob Desborough’s Transcon & the dropside 4 wheeler cargo’s loaded with Ford spares ready to be sheeted