Yes when I started driving I had an old leyland Daf 85.... utter piece of shit and could pull nothing at any decent speed on the slightest of hills. When it rained the foot wells filled up with water, they couldn't find the leak so they decided to cover everything out side with silicone, that didn't work so the only option was to dill holes in the foot wells to let the water out... It was on hire from Hill Hire and the company I was working for had it on rental so cheap they just wanted to keep using them!
Right at the end of the film when they wanted to turn him straight round & back out. I used to hate that, but once you back out, you just get on with it. I lost my HGV through I'll health, but i do miss it.
I Can remember watching this as Kid and loved it! Such a true gritty view of an industry that by far gets not enough recognition! how the tides have turned since the EU became one and now the euro drivers are invading the UK!
When I started driving as a long distance lorry driver in my 20s all the older drivers used to say you don't know how easy you got it young'un .... now I understand what they meant! And all for a £100!
The main problem was running groupage to Istanbul. It took too long to tip and reload. I would take machinery down to Amman in Jordan and run with guys going to Istanbul. We used to park at the Londra camp then so it was a couple of years before this doc was made. I would tip at Amman my back load would be wine from Bulgaria. I would stop at Istanbul on my way back and see the guys I''d run out with still not tipped! Good to see Ronnie holding court at 38:23
Terry Leddra yes I've got a lot of respect for anyone who's done it as it must have been a nightmare, I worked with a few old school drivers who did it and one of my old employers used to do a round trip to Oman. Must of been hell with no air con and the older lorries used back then! I did Benelux, Germany and France but that's about it, mind you if somebody said your taking your truck down to Turkey I would have probably had a go!
Phil, in truth the old lorries of the mid 80s were not that bad. Granted you didn't have air con but going through the commie block and Turkey in the winter a good heater was more on your wish list. You didn't have speed limiters so overtaking didn't take 20 miles! The worst thing was the roads they were diabolical. No motorway in Romania or Bulgaria and very little in Turkey. Oman, wow glad I was never offered that I would have done it. 1990 I did two years of Ukraine and Poland, it was much better. Then I retrained became an electrician and never looked back. I would not like to drive today!
Terry Leddra I stopped driving around 12 years ago after only 6 years of it, I couldn't do it now with the way the roads are, to many people on this little island now! Yes he was a bloke called Les Mates and was from South Wales I think and had a haulage company in Avonmouth called mates international and then mates logistics, unfortunately he ended up going through the hoop and we all lost our jobs! Heard all the stories from the older drivers and it's only now I'm older I wish I listened to them more! I worked with another bloke who worked for Ralph Davies and went from Somerset to the China border! A fleet of 5-6 lorries went from memory and they were away for 3-4 months, again it's only what he told me but the other drivers clarified it! His name was Collin I think from the southwest.
Pill, I wouldn't say it's impossible to take a load to the Chinese border. Sometimes experiments have been run to see if it is commercially viable to transport loads over road as apposed to sea or rail. My old boss had done a run to Deli in India and was a regular to Tehran. Unfortunately there has always been a fair bit of one upmanship regarding destinations travelled which has led to some real bullshit claims. The advantage road freight has over sea is speed. But the further you go that advantage soon diminishes as it starts to take a day to just to clear customs of a country that you are only transiting. But I wouldn't say it's impossible.
Gordon Bennett, this takes me back, I had a Jennings Cab ERF and did a variety of Eastern Block as well as Greece and Turkey. Turkey was by far the worst place to go because of the bullshit carnies and everyone looking for a backhander just to do the job they were being paid to do. It was a blessing to do Poland and Latvia, but I wouldn't have not gone, the feeling amongst the English drivers was really good, I don't remember anyone being left to fend for themselves when the shit hit the fan. I always wanted to work for Sammy Jones in Aldridge doing the tankers to Dubai, really well paid job, unfortunately I never got in. I did some for Groveland and Howard shipping, that was mostly Benelux but a good experience.
Apsalute Hero's these men are and seriously skilled at there trade nothing but respect lads. He was a gent hope he's doing well today keep on truckin Howard law
True international tramping. The 90's only seems like yesterday to me, there again so do the 80's, the 70's seem a little further away now ;) But this was not as unrestrictive as some would believe, tachos, speed governed (on many) etc. It wasn't the easiest work by a long shot. Great video. Also Leyland-Daf, before Paccar got a hold of it..
I did international driving pulling fridges and tilts i loved the job and would love to drive to Iran again. but times are changing. fresh produce come in on air freight. groupage in intermodal boxes on trains and containers on ships. ten companies nr me did European work those that survived have not sent a truck over the water for 15 yrs or more. Iam just so glad i had a chance to drive abroad. being hurt or killed never seemed bother me it was something that kept nagging me to do more. now iam getting older i tell my stories. the younger ones don't believe its possible to get a truck to turkey, iran. spain or Russia. but the world is changing middle east was a good place to go. but sadly not anymore. the days of the truck are coming to an end. trains to a hub, electric short distance vehicles will deliver to the customer. has it made me a better man? probably not. I wouldn't want my lad to do what i did when i was in my twenties and thirties. but the 80s were a bad time for work. i would love to say long live the truck but like the steam train they will disappear. but for now keep on trucking and if your going a long way. pick me up iam coming with ya.
They didn’t mention the German tax on excess fuel levied on foreign trucks transiting Germany….Middle East trailers had ‘belly tanks’ underneath the trailer chassis which enabled the haulier to buy fuel in the Middle east at very cheap prices, which saved haulage firms a lot of money….they were very big tanks that held many hundreds of gallons and you pumped the fuel up to the wagon tanks using compressed air….
Bu vatandasi hatirliyorum.Eski halkalı gümrüğü.5 numaraya yükü indirdi.Yolda Willy Bayerlein arabayı gördüm o zamanlarin en güzel arabaları o firmadaydı.Londra camping...Eski günler ne guzeldi
Fair play to them I passed last September. Can be stressy today with sat navs automatic trucks and the rest. Wouldn't catch me doing that back in the day.
I enjoyed watching that. Hats off to H and all lorry drivers. Special breeds. I hope families Understand all the hard work and emotional dilemmas just to put food on their table. All lorry drivers need more respect. They are ships of the road for everything. 2024.... Still treated like dirt from governments and road planners in the UK. Any big roads are now turned into unused cycle paths and bollards everywhere and also stricked entry into some towns/cities. Narrowed to make a lorry driver look stupid. Not great pay for some still......
bloody hell... looked like hell! I'm pretty sure Turkey is still in a bit of a state but now thanks to the EU you can fly through those borders, shows how much can change in 20 years.
@@laugesteffensen8768 I'd assume crossing the channel will become a massive pain in the arse, but I reckon it would still be faster than back then because of the Eurotunnel.
There is no long haul left for the UK you obviously have no idea whats happened to the Uk haulage industry since we joined the EU. 99% of all EU loads coming and going from the UK are done by none UK firms we cant bid low enough. Why do you think they import drivers from Somalia.
@@Hedge-Hog Bollox There's plenty of firms operating x-continental based in the UK. Whomever told you that the industry was dead has fed you false information Best of fucking luck getting a Somali to pay up the cash for his HGV 1 license
@@lionsroar9811 LOL, fuckin Thread Necromancy. You say, "Our Jobs" yet I bet you shit yourself when there's talk of shipping them over to pick fruit. No Matter. We have an unholy trinity looming of Cov-19, an economic recession and Boris's hardon to Brexit in the post but go ahead and blame the foreigners for your troubles, lol
@@Tehgoat yeah can't wait till December when we leave the eu properly. Hopefully it won't be that long the way they're pushing their luck and then we can start deporting
Abi...sleepy, sleepy o/k...puty me fookin heady downy to sleepy, sleepy yeah? Good International Lingo, us Brits can easily travel anywhere in the World with our command of foreign languages.
i went for a job at davies turner in 1989 in trafford park but my boots were shiny and i didnt have any tatooes. endid up at dhl .doing spain to morroco .
You got the name of the track that starts playing at the 53:14 minute mark? Not sure if it's an actual song or a short tune made for the doc. Either way this was very insightful to watch!
Any info on the picture in the thumbnail? It looks a lot like my dads magnum when he was pulling for DT’s I have no pictures of it, would be great if that’s the lorry!
For those who went further into the Middle East and down into the ‘Gulf’ it was even worse, I remember drivers used to get stoned driving through small villages, and once the Arabs realised they could get money out of these foreign lorries they started throwing crippled children under the truck wheels to get truck driver arrested and get a payout….(my uncle used to do Doha and the Gulf) I’ve done Tehran plus Ireland / Europe with Fridges.
95% have to bend it, and there you are that's why there will never be enough drivers if your over 40 your going to tell them to fk off )unless your slow to grow up) I haven't driven for over 15 years now I'm over 60 I'm not even going for the medicals so I don't have the license and good fk luck to it. I recommend any young man thinking to drive for a living think before you do, no personal life, never see your family or kid's, living in a metal box for minimum wage you would be better of stacking shelves based on the same hrs you would earn twice as much. Do I miss driving ? of course I do, I don't miss the assholes on either end of the driving that think drivers are the scum of the earth and don't forget its your fault, that's everything from being late because the load wasn't ready on time to get there, to having the right load at the wrong depot even though that's the address you have for the delivery . The government rating skill for LGV drivers is the same as a traffic warden, traffic wardens get a better rate of pay and get to go home every night even though most of them don't have enough skill to walk in a straight line never mind drive in one. If you want any respect in life never get a LGV license.
It's true mate, I drove in my 20s for 6 years on mainly long distance work, nothing like the guy in this video but up and down the country and across to Ireland and the continent every now and then! To many rules and regulations now, this CPC is something I'll never do, drove lorries long before it came out like thousands and did the job in a safe and efficient manner, now I have to sit in the classroom and be told how to do the job I've been doing already! I here now the EU have bought another great regulation in... your weekly rest can't be taken in the cab, you now have to find some hotel! I loved the traveling and especially chatting with the older drivers about their experiences but if I never sit behind the wheel of a lorry again then I'll not be bothered in anyway... Shit wages, shit hours is part and parcel of driving a HGV!
Couldn't have put it better myself, when I started I loved it I'm 50 now and doubt I will ever do it again the changes in 20 years are huge . Micro managed by telemetry and you have to do it their way but still carry all responsibility. ?
Trucker Daddy - AKA John in Québec why does a Canadian wants job in Europe? You guys are in the top of the world But yes there is plenty of work if you are willing to take it
Guard Walker I don’t wana sound like stupid but 10 an hour is not that bad in my shithole Im thinking about getting my license Are you a truck driver ?
@@spear8492 60hrs a week, £10 an hour, £25 for a night out. You'll be driving for 9hrs a day, working 12hr days most of the time, up to 15. Think of it as a lifestyle. Volunteer to be a drivers mate if you want to see what the job is like for a few days. There are companies out there that will pay for you get your C2 and C1 licence, although usually you have to sign a disclaimer to say that you'll stay with the company for 1 year or two. Stobarts were doing it, Turners apparently if you already have your C2 they'll take you on and train you up to a C1. Everybody complains about the bigger companies, but they give you experience and they won't want you bending rules. If they want to send you somewhere and you're a day driver (not sleeping in the cab) just got to say "haven't got the time to get there and back". You'll have to stand up for yourself. Good luck if you do choose to do it.
back then drivers spoke english but the companyes where they delivered cargo to deed not. today the companyes speak english and the drivers NOT A FU... word most only speak "vodka" we see those drivers every F.... day here at the factory
Here we are in October 2021, a shortage of truck drivers leading to supermarkets with empty shelves and queues at the petrol pumps and a Conservative Party that behaves as if the experience of 1990s truck drivers was a new thing. Wake up