bird's eye view by the hawk Commercial Motor takes road
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haulage very seriously. However, once a week our quirky correspondent, the Hawk, 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, Rm 11203, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 MS, or fax him on 0181 652 8969.
Road hog
ahey say size doesn't matter, well phooee to them! The Hawk was well impressed by the magnitude of this load, reckoned to be the biggest ever seen on a British motorway. The combined length of the truck and trailer was 100 metres. It weighed 650 tons in total, with the cargo weighing 370 tons. The 60-metre trailer has 26 axles and 102 wheels. It took two trac tors to pull the load with another pushing from behind. Maintaining an average speed of 4mph, the load made the journey overnight from Tilbury Docks via junctions 30-25 on the M25, to deliver the turbine at the gas-fired power station which is being built in Enfield, north London. Four miles per hour? Isn't that slightly faster than the average speed normally reached on the M25, or is the Hawk just an old cynic?
Time goes by
I] he Hawk and Foden the dog took to the streets of the Capital recently to cheer on the sidelines at the Lord Mayor's show. The highlight was the "transport through the ages" xrade for the Worshipful Order of Carmen. Aficianacos will know that this noble order representing the freight industry was founded in the 1500s and is one of the original London livery companies. Vehicles representing the past and the future topped and tailed the parade. This original 1880s wooden handcart (below) belonged to the transport company Evan Cook & Co. It led the procession which included a 1902 horse-drawn pantechnicon on loan from removal company Michael Gersen, and a 1952 single-decker Leyland Tiger coach from Bluebird Coaches. Bringing up the rear was this Isuzu 7 .5tonne NQR, aka the "urban space shuttle". The 18-foot box body is composed of a resilient polyethylene honeycomb core. It was designed by RDL (Resinject Development Ltd), a specialist in engineering reinforced plastics. Very impressive, but why does the future always have to be silver?
Watch out—duck!
0 t's a dangerous place out on today's roads. There are myriad obstacles to look out for. The Hawk is therefore grateful to R Purdue of Whitchurch, Hampshire, for sending in this photograph, warning of the hazard of skate-boarding ducks. As R Purdue so succinctly puts it "You have to be quack to cross the road A. here in Whitchurch_" Well said! A man (or a woman even) who, like the Hawk, appreciates the nuances of a deftly ..i.l. placed pun. Too clever by half ily pensioner Norton Astley (isn't that an early make of British motorcycle?) from Derbyshire, figured a way to get round his driving ban. He fitted a lawn-mower engine to his push-bike to put himself beyond the reach of the law as he cruised effortlessly up hill and down dale. However, he was observed by two police officers as he mounted his bike in a pub car park. As the two bobbies watched, they were surprised so see Norton turn on to the road and ride up the hill without peddling. They pulled him over and heard the noise of the engine coming from the bike's trailer. When they asked him if he had been drinking the intrepid 70-year-old replied: "Of course I have!" He told the officers he travelled three miles a day on his conveyance. Experts who examined the vehicle (top speed lOmph) found it to be extremely dangerous.
Norton was fined £100 for drink-driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance. He also received a conditional discharge for a year and his driving licence was endorsed with six penalty points. Looks like it's Shank's Pony from now on Norton!