1; Carbon black in leaking 1000 lt bulk containers, stuff got everywhere.
2; My last driving job delivering for Spar supermarkets, 40ft trailer, mainly London, nearly all handball into poxy corner shops, double parking, no help and thieving b******ds trying to nick the booze and ■■■■ out the back when you were’nt looking. Horrible.
3; Any removals, be it domestic or commercial, bloody backbreaking and rarely as straightforward as you’re told it will be.
One of the most unusual loads I did, was to take an M/T 20’ Dart container, to a beach in Dorset, to load loose stones. I parked on the beach and they shoveled them in with a loader.
Apparently, they shipped them to the States, where they crushed them into powder to make cosmetics ■■?
Another unusual load I did from time to time, was a container full of old USA mail bags to the paper works in Whitchurch, Hampshire.They manufactured the special paper for bank notes, the old mail bags gave the paper it’s longevity… allegedly
worst load i had to pull was chipboard sheet out of kronaspan up in chirk.that stuff was like glass, it was bundled into 8’square packs with 8 steel bands on them. no matter how many straps ,ropes you put on it it moved all over the place.you had to drive realy carefully .have seen a few loads of that stuff lost on roundabouts
They used to ship this stuff unaccompanied into Ramsgate years ago and there must have been a load lost on one of the roundabouts on the A299 between Ramsgate and the Thanet Way proper every month.
Jobs I hated? Anything that involved a lot of waiting around. Anything that involved RDCs. I became a wagon driver to drive, not to spend all day trying to unload. I would say RDCs are the single biggest reason why I will probably never drive again.
Semtex, it was not you who said where there is muck there is money
Semtex:
Whats the betting that if this was in the PDF it would be full of
3663
Brake bros
British/allied bakerys
etc etc
I’ve not been doing the job long enough to have some real horror stories but I suppose the closest I came was the Sewage tankers for Gregory. I only got the gig because everyone else on the agency chicked out at the mention of Raw Sewage
To be honest once you got used to the smell (couple of days) the job itself was a doddle…domestic hours too
Mark, I did removal for a while for a Coventry firm Frank Hawthorns, it did get your back and legs, but I found it ok if the weather was good.
brookie:
1; Carbon black in leaking 1000 lt bulk containers, stuff got everywhere.
2; My last driving job delivering for Spar supermarkets, 40ft trailer, mainly London, nearly all handball into poxy corner shops, double parking, no help and thieving b******ds trying to nick the booze and ■■■■ out the back when you were’nt looking. Horrible.
3; Any removals, be it domestic or commercial, bloody backbreaking and rarely as straightforward as you’re told it will be.
My worst was back in the 80’s, we used to load salted animal skins to Spain a couple of times a month and the smell wasn’t at all pleasant especially in the summer. However, I once took a load of (sheep) “casualty pelts” which absolutely stunk and the fat and blood that dripped down the side of the tilt was something to behold, when we got to La Jonqera the agent wanted a sample for ‘the vet’ and gave us each a screw topped plastic container and a knife!!
Off me & Carl went to the TIR park trying to decide which of us would do ‘the deed’ Somehow I got the job so into the stinking hot (July sun!!!) tilt I climbed with knife in hand, trying not to look into the eyes of the multiple sheep heads staring at me. I eventually cut part if the ear of one (sample 1) and the same from another “Larry the Lamb” for the second sample. We eventually got cleared and tipped the loads in Vic later that day, I’ve tipped many skin loads since but never seen casualty lambs, thank gawd!!!
The worst jobs I ever did was human sewage from the water board treatment works at Sowbrey Bridge to the lagoons at Earls Heaton Dewsbury it was a 7-30 to 4-00 four loads a day and paid extremely well but I could not stomach it ( one of our drivers fell into the ponds as he pull the rope of the loading arm it snapped and he went into the SH*te and another driver pulled him out I told him if it had been me there I would have put my foot on his head lol ) he was treated in hospital and then sent for a sauna, another place I got barred from as already been mentioned at Bishops Storford as I would not drive over dead gas filled caucuses and the boss there told me everyone does so I said you drive your roller round and I might consider it so our T M ended up sending me somewhere else and I was told they would never have me on their site again so everyone was happy
Now I see where you got your name, Sammy was ■■■■■■ off with the job.
sammyopisite:
The worst jobs I ever did was human sewage from the water board treatment works at Sowbrey Bridge to the lagoons at Earls Heaton Dewsbury it was a 7-30 to 4-00 four loads a day and paid extremely well but I could not stomach it ( one of our drivers fell into the ponds as he pull the rope of the loading arm it snapped and he went into the SH*te and another driver pulled him out I told him if it had been me there I would have put my foot on his head lol ) he was treated in hospital and then sent for a sauna, another place I got barred from as already been mentioned at Bishops Storford as I would not drive over dead gas filled caucuses and the boss there told me everyone does so I said you drive your roller round and I might consider it so our T M ended up sending me somewhere else and I was told they would never have me on their site again so everyone was happy
Norman Ingram:
Now I see where you got your name, Sammy was ■■■■■■ off with the job.
sammyopisite:
The worst jobs I ever did was human sewage from the water board treatment works at Sowbrey Bridge to the lagoons at Earls Heaton Dewsbury it was a 7-30 to 4-00 four loads a day and paid extremely well but I could not stomach it ( one of our drivers fell into the ponds as he pull the rope of the loading arm it snapped and he went into the SH*te and another driver pulled him out I told him if it had been me there I would have put my foot on his head lol ) he was treated in hospital and then sent for a sauna, another place I got barred from as already been mentioned at Bishops Storford as I would not drive over dead gas filled caucuses and the boss there told me everyone does so I said you drive your roller round and I might consider it so our T M ended up sending me somewhere else and I was told they would never have me on their site again so everyone was happy
Hi Norman no I was christened that very early in my life by my dad as I was inclined to argue over everything and with anyone over the least little thing and it stuck for about 20 years or so until I was around 30 ha ha our lass says I ain’t changed yet.My ma used to say I could cause an argument in a empty room but I never understood what she meant.
Hiya …I see a few of you dislike carrying carbon black(yes i have to Ellesmere port) one day i was traveling noth bound on the A34. I think i was about 5/6 miles north of the M3 roundabout(Theres a Cloverleaf car repair shop nr the south bound carrage way) back to story… A flat 45ft outfit was motoring south bound and had bulk bags of carbon black on two rows front to back and one in the middle at the back. THEN it was’nt Pooooof one came off the back just as we passed. A massive black cloud went up.I had a brush and shovel But did’nt stop and the other chap did’nt. (I hope they never got him)But someone had a mess to clean up.It was a dry evening well you would’nt want rain would you.
John.
Hi,
Occasionally I had to do holiday cover for tankfreight drivers at Goodyears on the carbon black powder tanks, an old hand told me when going into Ellesmere port or Avonmouth to keep all the windows shut tight and not to open the door. The loading staff directed you to the plant to load, opened the hatches loaded it sealed it back up and sent you back to the gatehouse/weighbridge to collect the notes,only there did you get out, away from the plant to collect the paperwork. First trip halfway down the road I looked in the mirror and couldn’t believe how black my face was , I had wondered why somone had put masking tape over all the air vents, door seals and joints in a relatively new Sed Atki now I knew ! After a week I had this stuff ingrained in my hands, face and I never ever saw any of it, god knows what it would have been like handling it in bags, but I did get 30 bob a day black money
sevalco (think they used to be colombian chemicals - always made me smile ) have now shut down, we were asked about moving some of the kit to spain a little while back, maybe their loads won’t be missed but another sad closure all the same
See you lads are still enjoying the thread. Here is a lighthearted attempt to bring a smile to your faces, did any of you have a load of condoms, if so, did you f**k the job up !
I once did a mixed load of glider engines and sky hooks.Got pulled on the weighbridge at Abingdon and got done for overweight.What a bummer.Regards Charlie
Norman Ingram:
Charlie one, it would not have happened if you load was light aircraft !
Norman Many years ago I drove a tanker for Harp Lager.Coming out of the brewery early one morning,I lost my trailer.It rolled over on top of a milkfloat.The milkman crawled out unhurt.He was lucky I was only carrying light ale! The horse was unhurt as well
However, I once took a load of (sheep) “casualty pelts” which absolutely stunk and the fat and blood that dripped down the side of the tilt was something to behold, when we got to La Jonqera the agent wanted a sample for ‘the vet’ and gave us each a screw topped plastic container and a knife!!
Somehow I got the job so into the stinking hot (July sun!!!) tilt I climbed with knife in hand, trying not to look into the eyes of the multiple sheep heads staring at me. I eventually cut part if the ear of one (sample 1) and the same from another “Larry the Lamb” for the second sample. We eventually got cleared and tipped the loads in Vic later that day, I’ve tipped many skin loads since but never seen casualty lambs, thank gawd!!!
