Ok we’ll give this another go this week as last week seemed to be quite popular. A great big stick this week and not one I recognise so a challenge to most Europeans but give it a go anyway. 3 criteria required please, you all should get at least one right!;
Make?
Model?
Country?
Go………
The qualification round consisted of Defensive Eco driving, Drugs and Drowsiness, Cargo Securing, Checks before driving and First Aid, leaving the last qualifying round for Saturday morning, with everybody doing the “Combo” exercise in front of the main stage at the Scania factory. The event is run like clockwork, with briefings, technical meeting, jury members, Scania crew members ensuring fair play and that you are on time for each event. Whilst I was confined to a green room between events, Ryan and Dave (the runners up) and the other Scania UK guests were flying round the demo track in an assortment of Scania trucks and and Scania powered machinery, an experience that is not available to the general public and is a once in a lifetime experience in itself.
Another TB sticker out and about on the road with H.E. Payne Transport from Wyboston. Driver Trevor Forsey added the sticker to the back of his fridge trailer as he seems to be a bit if a sticker fan, I love a fan of a sticker! A proper looking back end on the back end of a proper trailer, Gray & Adams.
Show season is upon us once again! Whether you are thinking of one of the many Truckfest events, or one of the independent shows such as the Peak Truck Show, the Barnard Castle show, Full of the Pipe in Ireland or one of the smaller up and coming shows such as the Cornwall Truck Show, the Evesham Truck show or even the only single marque show in the UK, The Gathering of the Griffin held for Scania owners, drivers and enthusiasts alike, what ever your show the season has begun. If you run your own show then please email, tweet or some how send me show details so I can put it on the blog for you.
There are shows up and down the country and it is high time that all dates and locations were in one simple easy location for everyone to find, but as yet, even on the blog, we have all failed to compile a singular list of all shows. The list in Trucking International magazine is about as comprehensive as it gets. Speaking from my simple show experience, it doesn’t seem to matter if you are entering a truck or just a day visitor there is a show for you some where. My days of entering trucks in shows are some what over unless some one is kind enough to loan me one. Even as a day visitor I still don’t get round to as many shows as I’d like, we specially the independents where there seems to be an increased sense of atmosphere and a smaller number of trucks. The Retro truck show at Gaydon in September is the best example of this and incidently according to a Poll I did here on the blog, the Retro Show was also your favourite truck show of 2014.
The effort that drivers, owners and their families are putting in to keeping the trucks in top condition gets better and better every year. Just look at the well known Fallen Heros Scania above. I saw this truck up close for the first time at the Gathering of the Griffin last year. It’s a stunning truck, a rolling tribute to all the fallen soldiers in Afganistan, so it deserves to be well looked after. Therefore it isn’t possible to question the amount of effort Kian Humphreys and his family put in to keeping it clean. This does allow me to publish one of my favourite photos from last year. The following photo sums up the effort required to maintain a top custom truck………
I do have a hand in the Gathering of The Griffin, held in Ipswich every September. I am known as a Scania fan amoung other things, so I take great pleasure in judging the Best 3 Series Scania every year. There is no other one marque truck show in the UK, never mind the fact that last year there were over 115 Scania trucks all in one place. Including for the first time ever, at least one truck from very series sold in the UK. I can email you an entry form if required. All I ask is that if you enter please turn up as the parking for the weekend is all arranged in series order and does give the organiser the odd head ache when trying to make the final plan, so drop outs or should I say those who can’t be arsed to turn up, certainly aren’t flavour of the weekend!
This year myself I will be trying to attend a few events, most of the time I’ll be wearing a Truckblog Polo shirt, so feel free to come and say hello. I am currently planning on going to the following shows for the day or the weekend;
Yes Interlaken! I can’t wait for that one. I am a lucky man as Mrs Blog allows me a weekend away every year on the continent to endulge myself in plenty of continental trucking! Sorry I meant in a manly way, I tell Mrs Blog I’m going!! I’ve wanted to go to Interlaken for a number of years now, but Truckstar Festival in the Netherlands has always been first choice mainly for logistical reasons and my weird wanting to be Dutch! As for the rest, they are my annual mainstay of shows, but I’m always keen on trying some thing new if I can or if time and family commitments allow.
As it’s physically not possible for me to get to all shows this year, although it would be some challenge for a single person, I’ll happily accept any show reports written by you lot to publish on the blog, so you can tell us all what we missed out on. All I’d need are some photos and a good write up. Email me at ben@truckblog.co.uk and I WILL publish all reports I receive, you’ll also get a free TB sticker for your efforts! So where ever you’ll be showing or visiting please share your show with us all. Keep on trucking! – These are all my own photos.
If your a Facebooker then there’s a good chance you’ve seen the project being undertaken by all at Phillip Judge International. The above Scania R620 is being fully converted to flat bed wagon and drag for carrying straw bales, tractors or what ever else you can carry on a flat bed (that’s quite a lot). The driver will be the one and only Will Pringle, yes he of other notable custom truck fame. As you can see the truck started life as a hydraulic loader and was bought from well known Dutch truck dealer VSB Groep.
Over to Mr Pringle to tell us all we need to know;
“VSB stripped and fitted the new facelift grill and it had been to Steves Place (truck customiser in Holland) for the fitment of the changeover valve and pipe work also side pipe. Then James Burrow did the fitting of streamline corners additional lighting headboard roof rack and ladders,also rear bumper! The body was made by Euro Axles at Stoke on Trent. The chassis was extended by Northwest Commercials at Preston. The full paintwork was done by Ian Bone & sons and of course the airbrush work was done by Matt the painter. All the electrics done by Kev Larkin. Once finished at Bones’ it is going Coles Customs for full interior rebuild and the fabrication of lockers, tank wraps and various other little tweaks.”
What a change from how she started life back in 2008, a different country and a different way of life by all accounts;
“Yeah I know, it’s originally from Norway and I think it was a fridge motor. VSB had just finished putting the cable lift side skirts bulbar and everything on it when we went to look at it in Holland.”
The truck is nearing completion and does now look close to what the finished show ready article will look like. Knowing a little bit about Will in sure he’ll be doing all he can get all the little touches done to the truck that will make it a cut above most of the rest. I look forward to seeing it when it comes out if the Coles Customs workshop. I will do another update as and when it appears and before it hits the road to claw back some of the cost of creating such an awesome working truck.
p.s. The 3 series sun visor is a perfect match to the High Line cab.
Wilson Wednesday is back! Back with bang as well, a lot of entries this week from a lot of HC Wilson’s drivers including the illusive but awesome Arnie in R80 HCW. Now Arnie has a bit of a reputation for not hanging around for much so I was dead chuffed to get his photo in today, although please note that R80 seems to already be on its way out of its own photo! Seen here in France today heading down to Belfort.
Next up is the “White Wilson”, WIL2217 driven by Matt Lamb. Seen here in Wilson’s yard loaded with Caterpilar D6 heading upto to Cannock. Seeing as it’s the only white truck on the fleet, Matt is often mistaken for being an owner driver, but I can confirm he is a fully fledged, long serving Wilson driver. The Scania R620 was already heavily customised when Wilson’s bought it off the South Wests original owner driver Tim Rigby, but driver Matt has added his own touch and keeps the red wheeled V8 is tip top condition.
N5 HCW driven and co piloted by husband and wife team, Dave and Sue Ramm. Quickly, happy belated birthday to Sue. The big Scania R580 was on relative locals today but never the less still earning her keep and pulling some big machinery about south Essex and North Kent. The lump below is and industrial press weighing in at 110,000kg and standing at 4.38m tall, it was slightly more taxing than the 15,000kg piece above.
Above is SW51 HCW driven by little Terry Alderton. Seen today on UK manoeuvres from Felixstowe to Pershore. Looks to me like this was lifted from a flat rack onto to Terry’s trailer as that’s clearly not Terry’s high standard of sheeting!
Another R480 Topline below driven by Nick Garlick. I bet Nick was dead chuffed to see the delivery point for his packing cases was near the Dead Sea. Unfortunately it’s only going as far as Felixstowe although I know Nick would have been more than happy to take it overland, it’s only 22 ton and 3.3m wide, a boys load. Well if Nick had started heading east it would have made a great tale. I quoted on a number jobs out to Turkey and even Azerbijan in my time at Wilson’s. For me that’s when it all start getting romantic, big red truck heading east, crossing the Bosphorus into Asia, dust in your air vents and cook ups with the locals, random animals in the road, oh the romance of the road!………………..Pity nick was only heading to Suffolk.
Above and below is part time driver turned office Waller James Cartwright out and about in HC Wilson’s gracefully ageing V8 HCW. More packing cases heading for Felixstowe, at least the UK seems to exporting something. The big case stands at 4.05m high on the floor so one of Wilson’s super low step frames was required to keep it under the UKS height limit of 5 metres. Wheels need a polish JC!
Above and below we have 2 of Wilson’s finest engaged on importing packing cases this time. Both loaded from Felixstowe to Melksham at 4.25m wide. As you can see they were escorted by an accompanying van as the law dictates for all loads over 3.5m wide in the UK. Both Doris DAF and the European Charger have their own Facebook pages, so click on the links and like the pages to start following their activities. Great photos taken by driver Steve Pattison below, with the moody skies against the red trucks it almost looks a bit arty.
Not all the trucks are on UK work, two of the big boys are out on the continent bringing a pair of transformers back from Germany to Hertfordshire. N50 HCW is a 150ton GVW tractor unit driven by Graham Daniel and WIL 2580 is a 250ton tractor driven by the one and only John Stocks. WIL 2580 is a bit of legend in my own book. The best part of my time at HC Wilson saw WIL 2580 tramping to and from Austria with 90 odd ton of cargo on her back every few weeks. Bearing in mind every time she entered Germany from Austria both truck and trailer had to pass a German TÜV test (MOT type test carried out by the Germans) at the border before the long run back up through Germany, this truck has well and truly earned her name of European Giant.
Two great photos of N6 HCW driven by Garreth Rowlands, loading out of a multi million pound development in London SW18 today. Great photos showing the dismantling of a tower crane, note the chap in his high viz right above the counterweight at the top of the tower crane. Some view from up there I reckon. N6 is one of the newest vehicles on the Wilson fleet. The truck is an R560 V8 Scania, which by day looks like another in the long line of red trucks with the big white “W” on the front. But by night she looks a real treat, LED lights to the front, a fully lit big white “W” on the front grill, rear cab perimeter lights and a smaller red “W” mounted at the top of the back of the cab.
Escort driver Sully sent the photo below in today. Three of the Wilson trucks loaded here in Immingham heading to Lesmahagow, Scotland. All loads over length and over width.
Last but by no means least we have 3 photos taken by Simon Wilson himself. I have to say they are pretty good photos SW. Especially good is the one of N7 HCW below. A good looking truck with a well matched trailer and load, all colour coded too. Even though they weren’t all taken today the following 3 photos were taken by Simon Wilson himself. In my book that covers any technicalities over not being out on the road as they are all his trucks anyway!
Great photos all round today and a big thank you to all drivers who participated, as always it’s much appreciated.
After a quick pop in to see the chaps at HC Wilson the other week I put a competition on the blog to win one of Wilsons excellent A3 sized wall calendars. I opened the competition to the whole world and I did get a few entries from further afield than Europe including somewhere called Australia! I received this photo from Joseph Hupp of a delightful Foden he spotted at a show in Oz.
I was looking for photos of drivers trucks but as you know it’s pretty laid back her on the blog, so it ended up being general truck photos and there were a lot. I did say I’d post them all up here but I’m not going too as there are a few too many and too many names! So here a few for you too enjoy……
PLEASE RESPECT ALL PHOTOS AND THEIRS OWNERS COPYRIGHT.
Now on to the winner. I sent some of the best off to HC Wilson and the larger of the two brothers, Graham choose the photo taken by James Smith, bizarrely from Ipswich. James photo is of a Mark kendrews Death Race Scania that he took at what looks like Truckfest Peterborough, but I might be wrong. Anyway you have to agree it is a great photo and I have to say I’m a massive fan of night time show shots. Saying that I haven’t quite perfected them as well as James has! Excellent photo James, congratulations. As promised I have the calendar and a few TB bits winging it’s way to Ipswich. I will change all the Blog header photos on the www, twitter and the FB page as part of the wonderful prestigious prize (might have over done that a bit!).
I don’t usually run competitions on here as I don’t get sent much to giveaway, but the kind chaps at HC Wilson always like to achieve what others haven’t! We might just be heading through February but these calendars are few and far between unless your one of HC Wilson’s customers. The calendar is A3 size with 30+ photos of Wilson’s big red Scania’s and DAF’s carrying all sizes of cargo across the UK and Europe.
Here’s the competition; Between now and midnight on Friday the 13th February, send me your best photo of YOUR OWN truck or if you don’t have one kids, then send me the best photo of your favourite truck that YOU HAVE TAKEN yourself. I’ll have a look through them and the lads at HC Wilson will have the final decision on the winner. I will publish all photos received on here but the winning photo will be used as the header on the TB website, Twitter and Facebook until at least the end of February. I will post the calendar to you ASAP and you will also be glad to know you’ll get some TB goodies too.
Please title everything “Calendar Comp”‘
Email: ben@truckblog.co.uk
Twitter: @truckbloguk
Or post them on the Facebook page: www.facebook.co.uk/truckbloguk
Competition closes 2359hrs on Friday 13th February.
Not open to HC Wilson drivers or families!
Open to bloggers across the world.
For me this is the best truck I have seen in 2014. It might not be the newest, it might not be most practical for most of Europe and it certainly won’t be everyones taste but for me, spot on.
If you live in the UK and haven’t been to one I strongly advise that you make 2015 your first trip to a European truck show, the standard of trucks is amazing. I can’t deny that the trucks here in the UK are getting better and better but the Europeans just seem to have it right, they all look good. To me the best trucks have always been out of reach of what I could afford or achieve and the T560 is no different. We all joke about winning the lottery but a Tcab would be very close to the top of my list. It’s blue, it’s got two sets of pipes, it’s got a subtle custom interior and enough lights to make it look good but not over the top. As with anything I would make a few subtle changes as I’d want to put my mark on it.
2014 has seen a big rise in the blogs popularity through all mediums, the Facebook page, twitter and the good old fashioned http://www.truckblog.co.uk website. I’m not going to link to any of those this time round as I’m sure you all could do with a break from the ruthless links and plugs for the blog. I have no idea where the blog will be in another 12 months, hopefully you’ll all still send me stuff, photos, info and the odd piece of trucking memorabilia to decorate TBHQ and I’ll keep bugging the TV companies in the vague hope they’ll see that we need Truckblog TV!
Hopefully I’ll be visiting, Truckfest Peterborough, Crowfield Truck Rally, Gathering of the Griffin, Retro Truck Show at Gaydon, more than likely (and hopefully) Truckstar Festival at Assen as my foreign trip, although I have heard on the grapevine that there is quite a convoy of English motors heading to the International Trucker & Country Show held at Interlaken, CH. I have always wanted to go James?? Finally if the offer is still there then I might just make it to Belfast too.
Anyway thank you for following and thank you for making the blog what it is, without your contributions I’m sure you’d all be bored silly of 143’s, MAN TGL LX’s and Mercedes-Benz photos! As we all do secretly say now and again Keep on Trucking!
A few posts ago I put up Steve Marsh’s last trip out in his old faithful GB05 STE, his ageing MAN TGL 12.210 tilt that has served him well, but as with all ageing European cruisers, GB05 had to be replaced to take advantage of lower toll prices and meet higher emissions standards that are required across the EU and beyond. Read the last post (ha ha) by clicking HERE.
Above you will see a couple of photos of the new motor GB14 STE killing time on a Saturday afternoon in Hull waiting for the Hull – Europoort boat. The new ride is once again a cracking little Tonka from the stables of MAN, it’s a TGL 12.250 this time. A bit more horse power, a Euro 6, 250hp engine attached to a KUDA high roof conversion. Marshy opts for the higher KUDA roof over factory fit LX cab from MAN as the KUDA option gives a little more headroom and also you have to say it does look the part being that bit higher. The truck is fitted with a Euroliner style rigid body fitted with a sliding roof and slash proof curtains and is one of only a handful of rigids registered in the UK with full TIR certification. Now don’t ask Marshy about the body build and the MAN dealers involved in this complete farce of a build, for let’s just say it took a year from order to handover and over 2 weeks for a PDI and tacho calibration, dealer standards MAN UK?? Duty of care?? Disgraceful. Another story for another day I think. Anyway so far so good and it would appear Marshy has ended up with another little stunner, a real head turner I think. If you see it on the road try and send me a photo, as yet I’ve not seen it in the flesh although my time will come……sooner rather than later I hope!
So the first trip to mainland Europe started with a Saturday load up in Hull and a Saturday night boat to Europoort courtesy of P&O Ferries. I’m told that it’s no longer a party boat on a Saturday night! Here’s the rest of the first trip;
Sunday: Drove to destination near Koblenz. Waiting at Venlo border before crossing into Germany at 10pm Sunday evening.
Monday: Tip Koblenz and drive to Paris for reload.
Tuesday: Load Paris & Oostende, then drive to destination near Bournemouth for 1st drop.
Wednesday: Tip goods from Oostende in Bournemouth and goods from Paris in Stockport. Through Lymm truckwash then a quick Bury – Warrington load.
Photo above unloading near Koblenz with tailift. Photo below was taken somewhere in France while taking a tacho break on the way to Paris.
It looks as though GB14 has carried on where GB05 left off and is already getting to grips with life in the world of international light haulage and express deliveries. I know there has been a trip across the Irish Sea for GB14 too, another very regular destination for Steve Marsh Express over the last year. I’m hoping as time goes by that GB14 will feature on the blog as much as GB05 and that the truck will find itself and it’s pilot, Mr Marsh, ticking off European countries and islands month after month much like before. If you see Marshy give him a hoot and a wave and try to get a photo in between. I’d love to see your photos of the little MAN as would Marshy.
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