1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172 
Rikki Chequer TruckNet UK's community manager ponders some inexplicable jobs and the ECTC's role
Page 15
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Over the years, drivers have been given jobs that might have made sense to someone, but certainly not the drivers themselves. They're coming up with stories of taking steel coils to Germany and Italy where the sticky labels were removed and replaced with ones in the local language. Then the drivers brought the steel back to the UK.
A tipper operator tells how he took a load of potash from Teeside to Great Yarmouth, tipped and reloaded round the corner with... potash and headed back for Teeside. Domestic potash down, imported potash back!
And it's not just the loads. Tales abound of planners not really thinking things through. Take the case of the driver who tipped in Dartford and was told to reload at Cwmbran. On the way, he spotted another one of his firm's drivers going the opposite way. Giving him a shout on the CB, he learns the other driver had Upped In Bristol and was heading for Tilbury to reload.
Just to show the drivers are not totally innocent, a few brave souls admit to mistakenly taking out empty trailers for the day's deliveries.
A big mention here for the East Coast Truckers' Club. One of their members is a regular contributor to TruckNet UK. Many in the industry will be aware of the famous run by ECTC that takes disadvantaged kids to the seaside in a huge convoy of trucks. However, the crew also organises other days out during the year. A photo diary of a trip to a local safari park shows smiles a mile wide from the children. Unlike the incidents mentioned at the start of this week's column, I think we can all agree that it's a job well done!