Hi Wheel Nut, no it was his partner John he was at Sykes all the time I was there around 10 years I have lost touch with him since the 90s cheers Johnnie
one of about four aec mercury,s carriers had in the early 60,s these units did very high mileages,they ran from wellingborough to gretna green on night trunk,then day driver took over and did c&d work,up to glasgow and bring trailor back to gretna for the return trip.no motorways then,just single carridgeway roads.they must have run twenty hours a day from sunday till sat morning.parked next to the aec is one of a number of morris seven tonners used on c&d and night trunking,its still painted in frank willis colours (red/green).united carriers were formed by frank willis carriers,grant express,and k&d transport,in 1963.
here,s the last truck i drove for ucl or geodis as it was then,they ceased trading soon after this pic was taken.iwas the last employed driver to leave ucl.
diesel dan:
here,s the last truck i drove for ucl or geodis as it was then,they ceased trading soon after this pic was taken.iwas the last employed driver to leave ucl.
Hell, I don’t even remember that livery, but I think by the time that happened Howden had closed. As I previously mentioned I lived right opposite the depot, or rather my Mum did and when I left home I was working away.
One thing I do remember there were a few lads from Howden who worked for United Carriers after they bought Willmot Motors, they were C&D drivers and I remember them talking about the nights out around Skegness and South Lincs. There was only ever two other lads who had nights out, Me when I had to go to Alton because the other truck was smashed up and a driver from Howden who got snowed in for 3 days in Lincolnshire 
hereyou are wheelnut. this is how you remember them. pict taken of my brand new erf 1983.
do you remember this livery.
diesel dan:
do you remember this livery.
I remember that one but not with the AE at the front 
You may remember how the workshops worked, as I mentioned earlier, Howden mainly rebuilt TK engines for the group and they also refurbished swap bodies, so Tony was busy repairing and repainting the boxes for Sovereign and United Carriers, although some were subcontracted to a body shop near Beverley.
When I left UC for the second time I had just bought a 2800 DAF and they used me to do some trailer changes at customers or occasionally to Walsall Wood. A difficult place with a twin steer DAF 
Rapid Returns
Multifreight
Sovereign
German Parcel
re. wheelnut.i drove these renaults on a osram bulb contract,wellingborough to wembley to leeds and back,i was sorry when that trunk came to an end. your my hero if you put a trailor on the bank around the back at wally wood with a twinsteer,it was hard enough with a merc unit
re wheelnut. heres one of your sovereign swap bodys,this is on the short wheelbase daf,it pulled a trailor with two of these box,s on, making it the max length allowed.
did willmots have a couple scammell handyman mk111? i remember fitting a new steering box on one of them after the howden driver refused to drive it back it was painted in carriers colours.
My dad - Kenny Challenger - worked for United Carriers pretty much his whole working life, best part of 30 years anyway, out of the Howden depot. He did multi-drop work in York and surrounding area. I used to spend all my school holidays out with him and I’ll have some pics of his wagons at home in the loft, old Bedfords mostly. My earliest memory is of one of his old trucks, cos I memorised the reg number as a kid and it’s stuck with me all my life - MRP 741V! His last truck was a D-reg leyland daf 50 series I think, can’t quite remember, and that was around the time they were taken over by Bunzl. I still work in Howden, the old depot site has just been redeveloped into a supermarket and car park after standing derelict for years.
I know Jock McLeod, he’s a good family friend and came to my wedding last year. He was depot manager at UC when my dad started in Howden and went on to set up his own parcel and hanging garment delivery firm in Goole - JEM Transport. I worked for him at JEM in the warehouse and then driving vans when I left school, but then ended up getting the boot. JEM became part of the Nightfreight franchise and now his son and son-in-law run the business in Goole and Jock spends his days pottering around an allotment next door to my dad’s allotment!
kevchalluk:
My dad - Kenny Challenger - worked for United Carriers pretty much his whole working life, best part of 30 years anyway, out of the Howden depot. He did multi-drop work in York and surrounding area. I used to spend all my school holidays out with him and I’ll have some pics of his wagons at home in the loft, old Bedfords mostly. My earliest memory is of one of his old trucks, cos I memorised the reg number as a kid and it’s stuck with me all my life - MRP 741V! His last truck was a D-reg leyland daf 50 series I think, can’t quite remember, and that was around the time they were taken over by Bunzl. I still work in Howden, the old depot site has just been redeveloped into a supermarket and car park after standing derelict for years.I know Jock McLeod, he’s a good family friend and came to my wedding last year. He was depot manager at UC when my dad started in Howden and went on to set up his own parcel and hanging garment delivery firm in Goole - JEM Transport. I worked for him at JEM in the warehouse and then driving vans when I left school, but then ended up getting the boot. JEM became part of the Nightfreight franchise and now his son and son-in-law run the business in Goole and Jock spends his days pottering around an allotment next door to my dad’s allotment!
Say Hello to Kenny for me He maybe wont remember me because he never stopped running round York with Micky Robinson as his ■■■■■. I ended up with Roys lad as my ■■■■■ on Hull 1. I also taught young Andy the ropes, he was related to Kev Archer.
I am trying to remember Jocks son in laws name, (maybe Pete) but seem to think he worked for Brian Leighton Garages at the time.
diesel dan:
re. wheelnut.i drove these renaults on a osram bulb contract,wellingborough to wembley to leeds and back,i was sorry when that trunk came to an end. your my hero if you put a trailor on the bank around the back at wally wood with a twinsteer,it was hard enough with a merc unit
hi mick, i know your name put can’t place you! years ago my dad kept the prince of wales pub in well street, i since lived in w,boro rd and ewenfield rd, will ask my mate nigel lawman we used to work together,and i think he will know you and i bet you know him, you might remember back in the 80’s we used to park along w’boro rd outside nutts factory i drove a blue roadtrain and nigel drove a merc? anyway i did not work for uc but did some subbing for them, mainly on the mod work but some trunks to leeds and walsall, the pic of L749WVV i had that truck from harborne when they sold it and L746 but for some unknown reason the speed limiters used to pack up!!! took me back to the pre 1988 days. the pic of the AEC is was that at Earls barton rd depot?
steve owen.
hi steve, i know nigel lawman,i think i went to college day release with him when i was a apprentis mechanic. his dad had some lorries then,be late 50s.but i remember we were friends. i lived in kenmuir road,i married a girl who lived in ewenfield road.
re speed limiter.it was proberly me who broke it,i used to turn the ign off and on and this used cut out the limiter,time i got to leeds my wrist felt as though it was broken,it did go well though,what a bad boy i was the aec was at turnells mill lane,it does look k&d gray in the pict but was yellow.
re steve owen,
here,s me in 1972 do you remember me now.
Wheel Nut:
Say Hello to Kenny for meI am trying to remember Jocks son in laws name, (maybe Pete) but seem to think he worked for Brian Leighton Garages at the time.
what’s your real name Wheel Nut and when were you at Carriers? Yeah, I still see Micky Rob around Howden from time to time. I think it was Trev Appleyard on York 2 as my dad’s oppo, but I don’t think they got along! I’ve got some great memories of dashing round York like a blue-arsed fly with my dad - quite often if we were doing drops to shops in the city centre he’d give me a couple of parcels to carry on my own with the delivery note to take to one shop while he loaded the barrow up to take elsewhere! I was only about 8 or 9 and was dashing into shops shouting “sign this love please”
Pete’s son-in-law is Pete Ullathorne, not sure if he worked at Brinny’s but he is (was) a mechanic. When I started at JEM he was their in-house mechanic, servicing all JEM’s own wagons. Now they’re a proper Nightfreight franchise everything’s contract hire and Pete is an area manager or something!
who remember these.
I remember them! I once went with my dad on a saturday morning overtime run to take a drop-body daf just like that from howden to cheadle and swap the box!
the best place for those wagon and drags were hooked up onto the back of this.i only drove them a couple of times and that was enough. horrible things. 
diesel dan:
re steve owen,
here,s me in 1972 do you remember me now.
HELL HOW DO YOU PULL ALONG FACE LIKE THAT !!
diesel dan:
re.trucker 4067 if anybody remembers united carriers.? i worked for them for over thirty years at their wellingborough dept mostly on night trunk. i have loads of photos of their trucks but will have to learn how to post them
Nights …well you dare not go out in daylight,you may get reckognised,no what i mean John.