AndyRead1960:
Hi All
Just picked up on this thread, loads of names I remember, started my life at S.Jones then 8 years at Trans Arabia. Reading through 52 pages of posts brought back loads of memories. THANK YOU ALL.
Hi Andy
At what point did you join TA as I don’t remember you?
Kenb
Hi
It would have been 86/87, reading through the posts you were the trail blazers. Jerry JD had returned to Anglian Rd ( The true S.Jones site) I believe I Carmicheal & Campbell Waddell were fronting the operation when I transferred from S Jones to TA. I took over from Andy Wisdom as fleet engineer and the transport only ran out of Jeddah to all points of KSA.
The drivers were in the main Philopeanos with the introduction of Thai drivers.
A big part of my life lost really as unless you have done it you can not start to understand the life and culture. Its good to look through the pictures and memories come flooding back, will post some further details later.
ONCE AGAIN THANKYOU
Andy Read ! Welcome to this thread which we all have in common ,you will be able to bring us up to date with transformation of Jeddah with your time at Trans Arabia !! And inform us on the fleet, and driving in that crazy land of sun and sand , I believe that a new road was constructed to climb out of Jeddah by passing the old Taif mountain road , Ron
The driving Licence which I got late on in my 2 1/2 years with T/A ? I took with me to Taseco TMS in good faith that it was genuine ?!! Getting pulled over by Saudi Cops in Al Kohbar i could not believe what happened next , they looked at this light blue photo stamped document , and escorted me to there patrol car . And took me to the local Nick ? I thought bloody hell what’s wrong? my driving was impeccable !! Well not speaking there tong and they not mine I was worried , no phones this Nick was just out of Khobar on the Dammam main road , it was full of unsavoury brown people shouting though the bars at passing traffic , I was English for christ sake this is not right ,I could do no more I to started shouting !! " May be John West will hear me "Har Har , These men had been chained up to a bar running across this oven of a place ! I was not one of these , and have never been one of those ? Eventually the top brass came and after some gibberish and finger waging they let me out Ron
Everyday scene somewhere in the KSA and then night night !! up on a ridge catching a slight breeze and listening to the traffic away down on the highway
AndyRead1960:
Hi
It would have been 86/87, reading through the posts you were the trail blazers. Jerry JD had returned to Anglian Rd ( The true S.Jones site) I believe I Carmicheal & Campbell Waddell were fronting the operation when I transferred from S Jones to TA. I took over from Andy Wisdom as fleet engineer and the transport only ran out of Jeddah to all points of KSA.
The drivers were in the main Philopeanos with the introduction of Thai drivers.A big part of my life lost really as unless you have done it you can not start to understand the life and culture. Its good to look through the pictures and memories come flooding back, will post some further details later.
ONCE AGAIN THANKYOU
Hi
So you arrived 10 years after me - September 76. Yes those times we very interesting !! Life changing to those who embraced the experience.
Would welcome to hear how those Kenworths performed and lasted ? Also your thoughts on those second hand ERF s that were purchased having done a life in Europe and then shipped out there?? Probably a maintainence nightmare, also the switch to Thai drivers is an interesting one I hadn’t heard of as when looked at them there was an issue with no experience on American or European trucks and spoken language? Interestingly when those Kenworths were purchased their was a price difference of £10k per truck against the ERF. Had/Did the new weight regs come in whilst you were there? If so that must have made a huge change - hence the switch back to 4 X 2 tractors and certainly the Volvo must have been a good choice, certainly my experience of Volvo both as a truck and distributor network in the UK was top of the tree.
Great to hear from you -.another period in TA s life
Cheers
Kenb
The KW was the truck in the oil fields of KSA , built with 6 wheel drive these trucks are strong purpose built monsters ,they where certainly King of the Desert ,I was told that the King of Saudi when he went out on his desert adventures he had a fleet of these impressive KWs with all his entourage including his falconry birds of prey , into the vast desert towards the empty Quarter it must have been incredible , to become a Bedouin again with the best that money can buy I can only imagine the scene and the adventure he must have had in the vastness of the dunes that rolled on and on as far as the eye could see , driving that road on a TMS recovery I witnessed the wonders of these Virgin sand dunes it was unbelievable with no arisen in the heat of Saudi the sand glistened like glass , I also had the good fortune when working for GCC to go off road on my own , road testing a brand new C500 ■■■■■■■ of cause ,in the sand dunes on the east side near to Dammam with its balloon tyres , the truck was fantastic I loved the experience it was unsinkable this really was a true ship of the Desert , Ron
Don’t have my saudi HGV licence any more and to be honest can’t remember what it looked like! To get one, you presented your UK driving licence and your heavy goods licence. - at the time two separate documents. I do remember receiving it. Hundreds of people milling around in a yard in Dammam. It must have been winter because it was warm not hot. A man kept coming out and shouting a name and waving papers, including the Saudi licence.
When I heard ‘Ali Nasser, Ali Nasser!’ I guessed that might be me. My sponsor, and owner (well, 51%) of Caravan Trading was Sheikh Ali Nasser Al Ghoson.
Sure enough, I had my Saudi Licence to drive a heavy goods vehicle. The only time this was ever produced in my memory, was at the port gates. The soldier looked at it, sometimes upside down, then handed it back to you and you were allowed to proceed.
The causeway to Dammam port was (I’m sure it still is!) miles long. The gulf is very shallow. To get to a place where big ships can berth requires a long causeway.
Even when you went through the port gate, it must have been a mile or more to the berths (maybe someone has a better memory than me?) I remember taking a normal control Kenworth unit to collect a trailer for MSI in Riyadh. The phillipino driver didn’t have a Saudi licence, so couldn’t go on the port. I got it up to 90 (that’s miles, not KMs) before easing off for the trailer park.
Happy days!
John
Hi
Arrived at night, flew up the coast and over the large fountain off the corniche. Landed at the new international terminal and thought not bad, collected by an Indian with a card with my name on it, who drove me with not a word to the T/A villa, left in apartment which can be best described as basic. Sh… I thought welcome to Saudi Arabia.
Next Morning woke in sweltering heat with a note under the door to go to the office next door when I was ready, stepped next door and was introduced to Campbell (head of operation) Jim ( finance ) Mohammed ( customer relation, chief briber to get things out of the port ) Dante ( Transport organiser ) Gill ( yard / diver organiser ) Danny ( assistant to Gill ).
Jumped into a car with Campbell and was taken to the yard, parked up and was told the workshop was over there and off I went to be met with what could only be discibed as a grave yard of trucks, Mack’s, ERF’s and a couple of American cab overs (INTERNATIONALS I think ) in varying states of cannibalisation. At least 5 other trucks in the workshop with cabs over ERF’s waiting for repair, HEAD IN HANDS
Those who have taken this same journey would be thinking where is that airport, but this is what divides the boys from the men, sleeves rolled up it couldn’t be as bad as it seemed or could it?
Andy
Happy days ? hard work ,but rememberable with smiles John , but being on the desert floor so to speak to be responsible for your own survivable for days on end out there with dead trucks in that heat ,was an experience that has burnt into my brain , I do think you have to be a little insane and to have the good luck on your side to have got away with it , the reward of it all is for me to write it down on this thread , ((( just seen Andy 's first contribution)) I like it, keep it coming Ron
You will notice the truck fleet number 126 is a replacement for a 7MW that overturned and was wrote off in KSA why they copied the fleet numbers I don’t know as they did the same with 105 perhaps Andy can shed some light on this?? Mick Jona Jones
Jona:
You will notice the truck fleet number 126 is a replacement for a 7MW that overturned and was wrote off in KSA why they copied the fleet numbers I don’t know as they did the same with 105 perhaps Andy can shed some light on this?? Mick Jona Jones
Here’s a pic of the 7MW it replaced, at the scene of the incident. Pic by Jerry. Robert
What was your introduction like Ron? Similar to John’s?
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My introduction Johnny to Jeddah,was an eye opener ,coming in on a Tri Star with a full load of drunks in mid summer I thought blimey it’s going to be great ,the atmosphere on the plane was equivalent to the time we won the World Cup in 66 ? You remember that game ?!! Well looking out of the widows it was at night the lights of down town Jeddah was nothing special a bid dull I thought , the approach was down the main road with blocks of flats ether side ,the wing tips of this Tri Star almost touching the dimly lit sleeping workers bedrooms of these 8 floors up .The doors opened and walking down the steps passing the Engine on my left I thought !! Bloody hell that’s hot ? Getting to the Tarmac it suddenly dawned on me that this was the temp of Jeddah , eventually getting through a chaotic customs , there was a party of lads holding a big cardboard sign on a broom handle which said in big print welcome to TRANS ARABIA ,NO BIRDS, NO BEER , AND NO BONUS .how very true this turned out to be , Ron
Hi Ronnie …my arrival in Jeddah was a carbon copy of yours …we flew in on a half empty Saudi Air Tristar very early in the morning I was charged with picking up a crate of spares off the same flight ■■? it was ok in the terminal but there was supposed to be someone there to collect us 3 new drivers anyway they were a no show … we hung about till I got the crate still no pick up …anyway having been at sea for a long time i had been in similar situations before so got some local cash (rats) and stepped out to get a big enough taxi ■■? then it hit first the heat then the smell and the beautiful “lake” seen from the air when circling was littered with all sorts of stuff (dead stuff too ■■)…I knew our terminal was in Mina road so it was,nt to hard to find and not to far away really …arriving at the yard it was to early for anything but all feeling hung over from Duty free scoffed on the flight we eventually found some one so the rest later
Mah Salahm
At leased I had a lift Backsplice , my Wellcome to Trans Arabia ,Waking up early next morning ,I was wide eyed to meet the lads ,the majority I knew from S Jones, breakfast was basic, every body had shorts on and no shirts , I must have looked like an albino in comparison , Talk about in at the deep end ? I was given a port pass and a bottle of water by Bill Smith and he said follow the lads the truck are in the street , going outside !!! It was ■■? how can explain it , the sun was up it was already stinking hot ,busy busy people allover the place dressed n white,abandoned cars covered in dust dead animals , kids poking a stick in the eye of a donkey which was already blind in its other eye ,I shouted at them , it made me take a deep breath which was the wrong thing to do breathing in this fowl stench of Jeddah air , this is in the cool part of the day , checking over the truck oil and water ,no air con it was the pits to say the least , going to the port to pick up containers then waiting for clearance in the heat of the midday sun , driving up to Kilo 21 on the Mecca rd , Was my first day , it only got worse after that , Har Har ,Ron,
I remember my first time to Arabia I was in Heathrow at night looking at a 747 and wondering how the hell was that gona get off the ground. I was 23 and on my own, I boarded the plane and just as they shut the doors people were getting on their knees to pray and call out to Allah. WTF I carnt get off now its to late. Sure enough it took off headed for Riyadh. Several hours later we landed there was a mad rush for the door we hadn’t even stopped, I thought what was the rush? I eventually got into customs into a massive que, there were Indians Pakistanis and flips everywhere. I was there 4 hours then I had the pleasure of getting my suitcase to join another que. I could see at the front the Saudi Customs were emptying the cases all over the floor and counter they just didn’t give a ■■■■. Two hours later and totally knakered I met up with my driver who took me straight to the company office to get me booked in. I remember thinking what a mad place, red hot, and what the hell have I let myself in for. Mick Jona Jones More later.
Thanks for your experiences. I was in India a few years ago on business. It was rather tame compared to yours.
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