Well ,yes jeff , the dockers always ruled ,I expect you were not in transport back here during the boom years of export ,1970s via the docks, the dockers exported the milantcy from the uk to Aussie, then they took it a step further…in my view they get what they deserve zb all.
Did you know any A.C.H drivers. i have forgotten a lot of their names.vic
I’ve had a few run ins with dockers… the most memorable was at Genoa docks where I waited for 4 days in a queue of 80 trucks …WHY? It turns out that Italian dockers didn’t work when it’s raining …
Now …here… it’s all about safety and productivity… all the docks are overloaded with security … Sorry not “Security”… " Safety cameras " so if any “Safety” breaches occur, they’re straight onto it… To get into the docks everyone has to have high security clearance to go any where near them… I had to do a 4 hour course and produce over 15 documents ( Passport, Drivers license, Police check, etc ) shell out a load of cash, then wait 5 weeks for my chip card to turn up…
ACH drivers … I know Wolfie ( Wolfies model trucks ) used to drive for them. Most of them I knew by sight only … Mate, Pall, Geezer, Dude… that sort of thing… Most of the time we didn’t even drive through Aylesbury as we were based at Charndon ( A41 Aylesbury Bicester Turn left at the low rail bridge, and head through Marsh Gibbon towards Buckingham ) so we used to use the M 40 as access. The only time we drove through Aylesbury was if we were tipping at St Albans…
Jeff…
YES, Jeff those wonderful dockers the world over they can bring a country to its knees, my god they tried it enough times here and nearly succeeded, how I detested containers however they were the saviour of this country by not needing the militant commie dockers doing general cargo, the modern day drivers have no idea what it is to be zb about for days ,Southampton was the worst when there was a slight speck of rain 104 BERTH THEY WERE OFF.i could go on for hours ,as also many other drivers could tell their unhappy times in the docks.
Did you live in the Bicester area, , or? did you finish army service there ,as for the ACH men if you never worked with them you would not know their names as I have forgotten them and I was there 3 times ,I never knew of any other European company in the area ,was it a one man band type .i don’t think i know you unless you were a fridge man as i did not start European until 1981 .as for wolfie not a clue. keep the aussies supplied with fish that must be a long day from the ferry then on the SYDNEY then do they shunt loaded trailers down to you. and you stay there to deliver the fish , do you have to wait while it is sold then just go and do the deliveries like we had to with the meat from Rungis Paris .DBP VIC.
Hi Vic, I wasn’t in the armed forces at all. I started driving trucks for my dad at 19 when the place I was doing my diesel fitter apprenticeship went bust, I only had 4 months to go to finnish my time so the local tec let me finish and do my final exam…
We go from Hobart usually with a near full load of fish… then top out at Toll Melbourne with oysters and mussels… It’s a night sailing on the boat which docks at about 6 am. The Toll pick up is only the next berth and only takes about 10 mins. then we get going for Sydney, Brisbane or Adelaide. Sydney is 11 and a 1/2 hours drive. Bris is 2 days and Adelaide is about 10 hours… It’s usually timed for a delivery around midnight, and normally pretty smooth going. But some times we are asked to get there quick or late so that the traders can manipulate the prices a bit, depending on how the fish prices are going…
Next day we reload ( usually supermarket stuff ) back for Tas but only take the trailers asfar as Melbourne and swap them at Toll for another set full of fish for delivery. Tasmania has a massive Salmon farming industry we normally export 200 to 300 tons a day… more on the run up to Christmas… normally it’s 2 weeks on the north island, and one back in Tas. But depending on what time of year it is and what fresh fruit is coming south I might be out anything up to 5 weeks… We can go as far north as Darwin…
Jeff…
Fish, I could never work out why it went where it did. Back in the early eighties I loaded whiting from Iluka to Brisbane wharf, for export to NZ. The following day I loaded whiting from NZ to the cold stores at Lytton. 
Jelliot:
Hi Vic, I wasn’t in the armed forces at all. I started driving trucks for my dad at 19 when the place I was doing my diesel fitter apprenticeship went bust, I only had 4 months to go to finnish my time so the local tec let me finish and do my final exam…We go from Hobart usually with a near full load of fish… then top out at Toll Melbourne with oysters and mussels… It’s a night sailing on the boat which docks at about 6 am. The Toll pick up is only the next berth and only takes about 10 mins. then we get going for Sydney, Brisbane or Adelaide. Sydney is 11 and a 1/2 hours drive. Bris is 2 days and Adelaide is about 10 hours… It’s usually timed for a delivery around midnight, and normally pretty smooth going. But some times we are asked to get there quick or late so that the traders can manipulate the prices a bit, depending on how the fish prices are going…
Next day we reload ( usually supermarket stuff ) back for Tas but only take the trailers asfar as Melbourne and swap them at Toll for another set full of fish for delivery. Tasmania has a massive Salmon farming industry we normally export 200 to 300 tons a day… more on the run up to Christmas… normally it’s 2 weeks on the north island, and one back in Tas. But depending on what time of year it is and what fresh fruit is coming south I might be out anything up to 5 weeks… We can go as far north as Darwin…Jeff…
i dunno how big hobart is but by any chance do you know a dude called alex nicholson.
he has relations in eire.
i sold him a campervan 3 years ago and never ever met him…small world ect.
HI jeff, blimey they seem to get their pound of flesh out of you men i hope the pay reward is a long as the journeys. does another driver take over while you have your brake at home .are you subbies, and work for a owner driver or is it your truck…
Is toll the same company as the ferries ,i read about them in a magazine called sea breezes.
It seems to be a well set up operation, just like doing a 3 leger back here in the 1980/90s in Europe. did you do any i well remember loading frozen south African fish from containers in Spain BARCELONA DOCK loose and all handball, and it coming back to the uk cold stores .
I thought it was for pedigree pet foods but it was not ,also to load fish tuna, looking fish it could have been porpoise I don’t know, for from la-corona Spain, to Peterborough pet foods. what a waste, although the hygiene there was as stringent as any meat abattoir… THE OLD story you must get it a lot ,[they are waiting for you driver]and sometimes they were but not all ways .
As most fridge men know the[ load ]rules, do you have many problems with the fridge units in the constant heat , what temperature do you run the fish at 0c to +1c are the fish boxes filled with ice , are the units on your trailers thermo-king ?units…
you did not say from where you come from ,im from a village not far from Bicester, well Banbury near the Bicester area.
also being on the spanners was a bonus ,is that how you got out to Aussie TO WORK its interesting how other men use what they have to better their selfs and it seems you cracked it.
cheers vic.
Yes I know Alex Nicholson and I know Mick as well… not close up personal buddies but if I see them at shows and outings I say Hi…
It’s the same all over in transport… one day you’re hauling stuff one direction the next it seems to be going back to where it came from. I stopped asking questions a long time ago, and just accept my meager pay packet at the end of the week… No questions asked…
Toll have their own boats that do the Melbourne Tas run every night ( One each direction ) I think they carry about 1200 containers each as well as unaccompanied trailers which are out side on the weather deck. … and they have some coastal cruisers as well doing bulk ore…
Toll is very much by the book as far as rules and regulations go… every piece of equipment they have is satellite tracked and that’s linked to a computer which monitors everything. If you go over 104 kph or drive continuously for more than 5 hour straight then the computer flashes a warning and they’er straight onto you ( usually with in 30 seconds… text normally ) 2 verbal warnings… then out the door never to return … It’s the insurance companies hat has them by the short and curlies …
However as we’re on fresh fish @ 0 to -2 part of our contract ( not written, just an understanding ) is that the fish must get to the market… Toll don’t do that job, and any kind of work like that is handled by sub contractors… so minor mis demers tend to go unnoticed, so long as it’s in the spirit of the job… However if you’re coming south with supermarket stuff it’s strictly by the book… On closer inspection it was found that most of the dedicated fish trailer sets there seemed to be broken components on the satellite trackers which never seem to get repaired…
As far as the money goes… it’s good…interstate pays a lot more than local stuff… about twice as much, and I can live good on local wages…However you’re expected to work for your money… fish shifts are usually about 14 to 18 hours start to finish… which is actually legal cause it’s fresh and not frozen. We very rarely have any problems with the fridge units, and because the fish is such a high value load if we do then they’re straight onto it… or it’s a straight dash to the market… Because the fridge pans are for fresh meat they have to hold their temp plus or minus 2 degrees for 4 hours without the motor running, to get a meat vehicle certificate which has to be inspected and renewed every 12 months.
All Tas Trans truck are single drivers although I did have to give Lanky Len a lift back from Sydney one night as his truck had spun a bearing… It was very tempting to leave him at Glenrowan about 2 in the morning…
I’m originally from Southern Scotland, but got stuck in Abingdon when I returned from Australia in the early 90’s as my sister was married to a pongo based in Bicester. I kewn a few guys that drove Italy Spain from there and got a job through them. so I stayed there as it was good money and acceptable work… rather than going back to Scotland which at that time was on it’s arse…
Living the Dream … Unfortunately its not my dream… I think I’ve done better here than I would have done if I’d stayed in the UK I’ve certainly got bigger toys to play with… and as for sitting round border crossing for days at a time, I certainly don’t miss that… The rules and regs are a bit more relaxed than Europe but they still have the same kind of personnel at inspection areas… however I think if you tried to offer them some " coffee " it wouldn’t go to well…
On the whole Australia seems to be a lot more conservative in it’s general out look… You can’t judge them by the ones that go back packing round Europe as they’re normally the more out going ones… the ones that stay here seem to be about 20 years behind Europe in their thinking and I was surprised to me how big a hold the church had across society… certainly no ( or very little until after 11pm ■■■■■■ on tele ) and " ■■■ sells " not on Australian TV …you won’t see cleavage on any TV presenters
Jeff…
Hi jelliot .
exactly what I thought your a gypise ,the wanderer, I get it ,I would have done the same as you, thanks for the info, if you read all my posts on my driving history, if I had the freedom there would have been no stopping me ,middle east , wherever ,however in 1965 after a long sea trip I got married quick,it would never last ,my wifes dad was a master navigator on queens flight out of R.A.F.Benson,i was a merchant navy AB…
I was a cattle truck driver from BADBY,WELL to be honest when I got married I was a railway plate layer on the British rail IF ANY ONE COULD USE SHOVELS WE COULD…3 boys in quick order 11 months between 2 DRIVNG CAME MY WAY sort of.
HOWEVER The lure of Europe was never around on ,because I never knew about it… I WOULD HAVE GURRANTEED I would have been one of the first if I had know sadly I did not so it was not untill 1980 I started to spread my wings as the children had their own lives such and my wife knew I had itchy feet. so if theory you were one of the lucky ones ,well done… thanks for your candid answers.
I had no idea how drivers work the regs with yous, fresh produce never made any difference here only in EUROPE ,you could run on Sunday actual on A.C.H When running to Greece via BARI OR Brindisi WE WOULD BE RUNNING kodak film, for ATHENS AT +15 but dropped it to +6/7 in case you got stopped I never did.
then collect fruit back but fridges only in the grape and melon season all other times in a tilt …I do not know alexes surname and it was micky saddler .Ido not watch the aussie truckers program I did see you fridge one but some of them men are beyond a joke ,all a shame… so jeff thanks again keep your elbows in do you know how to get the fish smell out of the trailer I do .
.as for ■■■ on telly, NETFLIXor AMAZON PRIME or just google whayever you want
vic.