shugg:
I`am sure MR Bewick will keep me right but didn’t WRM buy a company in Shotts ( Lanarkshire Scotland ) owned and run by a guy named Allison ?.
A M Transport of ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ no more,what a bunch of ■■■■■■■ they were ! 
Mr. Bewick.
Bewick:
shugg:
I`am sure MR Bewick will keep me right but didn’t WRM buy a company in Shotts ( Lanarkshire Scotland ) owned and run by a guy named Allison ?.A M Transport of ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ no more,what a bunch of [zb] they were !
Dennis my good friend I wonder how many of us good reliable blokes who ran haulage concerns as you & I plus lots more did & looked after their office staff, Who did a great job in traffic control. & of kept our customers happy, Speaking for myself who started of as an owner driver & ran a very small family haulage Co., Had good levels of communication when required, We did canny over the years , But never made a fortune, But we did make a very good living, & Now that we a retired we are spending what we salted away, & Living life to the full. Regards Larry.
I would agree that among many of us there was a certain secretly felt pride in working for Jack Henley, we knew that we were just slightly better paid than others in the area and that the work we were doing wasn’t subcontract, cut-throat rubbish taken on to keep the wheels turning. I don’t recall us losing work to anyone else either. It was also usual for it to be Jack who personally handed you your wages if you were in either yard on a Friday afternoon. There was always the confidence that even if the vehicle was one of the oldest on the fleet, it was still presentable, legal and would get you wherever and back. Walking through the workshop one day, I stopped to talk to Peter Golding (years before he became foreman). He was just finishing off a service on a 10 year old Mercury which was nearing its time for disposal, his last job was to repair the bottom of the passenger side cab door because it was starting to show rust bubbles through the paintwork. On the back of the lorry were two broken rope hooks and a short section of slightly damaged floorboard which had all just been renewed.
robert1952:
lawrence2765:
robert1952:
At that time I was doing a fair bit of free-lance writing for the truck mags, and also I had done some casual work for RJ Wood (and A Wood too), so T&D asked me to do one their regular columns about what is was like to work for well-known companies. WRM wouldn’t let me on the premises in the capacity of journalist; but I knew lots of their drivers so I conducted the interviews in pubs and truck stops anyway. The result was quite positive. I think drivers were just relieved to get into decent, new lorries with new trailers and earn an acceptable wage. I haven’t got copies of anything here in Cairo but you’ll find the write-up in a magazine somewhere around '97 time. RobertQuite interesting comment regarding the lorries,i can recall seeing R J Woods pulling out of Victoria Trading in Paddock Wood and they were running quite smart scania units and decent fridge boxes too.
As for Henley Transport Co Ltd where I was traffic manager we ran MAN and ERF units (Jack was a big ERF fan) we ran trailers with Boalloy bodywork all new fridges boxes came from Gray Adams.
All vehicles and trailers were meticulously maintained irrespective of costs,it was not unusual for a tractor unit to go in the workshop for service and be in there 2 to 3 days where it would be gone through with a fine tooth comb,we paid a good wage with overtime and bonuses and a company pension scheme.I didn’t intend to give the impression that WRM waved a magic wand or that it was particularly better. I simply reported on drivers’ contentment with the status quo. Certainly, RJ Woods were running good kit (a lot better than the stuff I drove for them 14 years earlier!), and Henley Transport was always regarded as a rather prestigious to work for, with good lorries; but I knew little about them at the time. As I said, my findings were positive, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that what came before was not positive either. Robert
PS. If you were traffic manager at Henleys, you’ll enjoy this delightful classic I nicked from another thread!
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Thanks for posting the AEC photo,it came from Jack Henleys personal collection which I borrowed and up loaded onto the Henley Transport thread.
I did like your posts of the Francis Davis pics,i used to sub work to Chris Dillow and David Pilcher in the early 1990s,great old school transport men a pleasure to deal with,nice smart vehicles and good drivers.
cav551:
I would agree that among many of us there was a certain secretly felt pride in working for Jack Henley, we knew that we were just slightly better paid than others in the area and that the work we were doing wasn’t subcontract, cut-throat rubbish taken on to keep the wheels turning. I don’t recall us losing work to anyone else either. It was also usual for it to be Jack who personally handed you your wages if you were in either yard on a Friday afternoon. There was always the confidence that even if the vehicle was one of the oldest on the fleet, it was still presentable, legal and would get you wherever and back. Walking through the workshop one day, I stopped to talk to Peter Golding (years before he became foreman). He was just finishing off a service on a 10 year old Mercury which was nearing its time for disposal, his last job was to repair the bottom of the passenger side cab door because it was starting to show rust bubbles through the paintwork. On the back of the lorry were two broken rope hooks and a short section of slightly damaged floorboard which had all just been renewed.
My Erf was an example of their standards ,although owners since Jack have altered things nuts and bolts come undone with ease as they have been greesed when removed ,also someone went to the effort of fitting extra shock absorbers to the second steer was this done by Henley fitters ?
lawrence2765:
I did like your posts of the Francis Davis pics,i used to sub work to Chris Dillow and David Pilcher in the early 1990s,great old school transport men a pleasure to deal with,nice smart vehicles and good drivers.
Hello Lawrence! Yes, you are right both Chris and David were a pleasure to work with. I also taught Chris’s delightful kids! Do you remember, as you climbed the stairs in the office, there were fantastic old framed pictures of by-gone Francis Davies lorries piled high with hop pockets - very evocative (that Henley AEC in front of the oast house reminded me of them). I hope those pics have been preserved - perhaps by Faversham Heritage Centre… Robert
robert1952:
lawrence2765:
I did like your posts of the Francis Davis pics,i used to sub work to Chris Dillow and David Pilcher in the early 1990s,great old school transport men a pleasure to deal with,nice smart vehicles and good drivers.Hello Lawrence! Yes, you are right both Chris and David were a pleasure to work with. I also taught Chris’s delightful kids! Do you remember, as you climbed the stairs in the office, there were fantastic old framed pictures of by-gone Francis Davies lorries piled high with hop pockets - very evocative (that Henley AEC in front of the oast house reminded me of them). I hope those pics have been preserved - perhaps by Faversham Heritage Centre… Robert
I only went to their yard once,to be honest I don’t recall the photograph I think because at the time I went upstairs with Chris Dillow to the office he was telling me about that they used the office upstairs because downstairs suffered from flooding from the creek next door!
i see. what a shame. hope you got your millions dennis before they messed it up