bird's eye view by the hawk
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Commercial Motor takes road haulage very seriously. However. once a week our quirky corre
spondent. E11' , steps off his perch to take a humorous look at the industry to keep us all sane. If you have any off-beat yarns that illustrate the stranger, or sillier, side of the business he'd like to hear from you. As a softhearted old bird he's also happy to publicise charitable works— and is always interested in events for the vintage vehicles he drove as a fledgling. Drop the Hawk a line at Commercial Motor, Bird's Eye View, Pm H203, Quadrant House. The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS, or fax him on 0181 652 8969.
Pull another one
ecent fuel increases in the Budget have led to some hauliers taking drastic measures to cut fuel costs. Witness this Bedfordshire operator, for example, who has been reduced to employing strong teenagers to pull his vehicles on local runs rather than use any fuel at all. It seems the cost of two teenage boys per day is For less than the equivalent fuel bill and the operator has won praise for such an environmentally friendly approach to the lob. Cleverly the "operator", Iveco Ford dealer Hartwell Truck in Dunstable, provided the press with an ingenious cover story, saying that the measure was, in fact, a charity truck pull. It identified the teenagers as James Hodge (left), one of its telesales staff and student Paul Heath, both keen weightlifters. The pair dragged a EuroTech tractor more than 100 yards, raising around £300 for Children in Need, including £100 donation from Iveco Ford.
Let the gravy take the strain
ecent health scares have combined to give the humble meat pie a bad press so the experience of motorist Ken Webster proves that it still has some use even if only to unfreeze lips stuck to the keyhole of a Ford Monde°. It seems our Ken, a resident of Scarborough, was having difficulty opening his frozen car lock and decided to blow on it, whereupon his lips stuck to the keyhole. Although he was parked outside his house his muffled yurgghs! for help went unheard, or unrecognised. Fortunately, a fellow Yorkshireman wandered by eating that staple northern accessory, a hot meat pie. The unselfish fellow came to Ken's rescue by trickling some of the hot gravy on Ken's lips allowing him to come unstuck, in the best sense of the word.
Blockin' all over the world
0 ome good did come of the French truckers' blockade. Two of the vehicles held overnight at Calais contained stage equipment and instruments for elderly rockrneisters Status Quo, thereby sparing the good folk of Belfast the "opportunity" to hear that old three chord trick. Unfortunately, Quo have several more UK concerts planned before 21 December—you have been warned.