Truckstar Festival 2014 by Jack Rigby

Posted on July 30, 2014 by truckbloguk

Truckstar Festival 2014, What an amazing show. It was mine and dads first time for visiting the show. What an atmosphere the show was, all of the people where there to have a good time, not just to show off their trucks, they were there to show off their speaker systems and to see who had the biggest swimming pool!!

In the main arena there was truck racing and motorbike stunts which made you cringe, but amazing how they did it. The trucks were outstanding, the amazing paint jobs and the inviting interiors were so mind blowing that you didn’t know how they came up with the ideas!!

The truck for me at the show was this Scania R520 highline, it just stood out, there was nothing shiny on the truck there was just a brilliant paint job and a new idea that know body else had thought of so it just stood out from the others (Agreed – TB).

Then the show ended 😟. So on Sunday afternoon we left to watch all of the trucks come out of show. We stood in the middle of the duel carriageway with two lanes of traffic coming by us to watch all of these trucks leaving for home. All the world (or so it seemed!) came out to watch with dec chairs and picnics, there was a coffee van and an ice cream van all out to see the leaving of these amazing trucks.

The Truckstar event i think is about having something different to anybody else, it is not about seeing how many light bars you can put on, it is about having something unique to you, something that you have thought of, like a special paint job, because you aren’t buying something off a shelf that somebody else has thought of and what somebody already has. The Hoogendoorn Scania below won the ultimate trophy, The Most Beautiful Truck in the Netherlands.

MAN in Black – Part Deux

Posted on July 20, 2014 by truckbloguk

I featured this little MAN TGL the other week after @steviebloke met him at Bestlogs yard in Chichester. The truck belongs to a German Bestlog subbie by the name of Patrick Pralat, so I emailed him to ask a few questions and I got just a few answers. Here’s his reply;

Danke for the compliment. Sorry, I’m not by twitter. Stevie can make more pictures if he want, I have no new pictures. Inside looks the MAN normal. Original Radio blaupunkt 2x 5w speaker is out. Now is a multi media Alpine inside, little office with internet, GPS, printer, scanner, laptop/tv and so on. The Alpine has 300w, 6 speaker, 1 woofer with bluetooth handsfree. Sorry for me bad english.

Best Regards
Patrick
PRALAT – CAR – PERFORMANCE.

Even though it’s a short answer it gives the idea that it isn’t just another run of the mill 12 tonner. I’m surprised none of the Photographers in Dover and the Kent area have spotted it yet, not that I’ve seen anyway. In MAN in Black I mentioned that Patrick can winch the trailer up inside the truck body when not required to save length and more importantly road tolls. This photo was taken by another Bestlog driver @patsmithf1. If you spot a Bestlog truck or the black one then please send me a photo to ben@truckblog.co.uk or tweet me @truckbloguk. There is more Bestlog action to come in the next week or so.

Mr Wilson’s Wednesday

Posted on July 16, 2014 by truckbloguk

A Wilson Wednesday with few words. These few photos came from one of the Wilson brothers, the quieter one of the 2 is the expert planner of the delightful red fleet from Suffolk. Just because he doesn’t write a blog and plaster himself across the internet like other bosses of high profile fleets, Mr Wilson is definitely a bit of a spotter and is definitely proud of his fleet. I often used to spot him take a sneaky photo on his afternoon yard walks. His spotter knowledge is amazing and his mind is full of priceless info, although my mother had to remind him of some ACH knowledge during a conversation they once had! Anyway here’s to you SW, thanks for the photos.

Doing a Double Dutch

Posted on July 9, 2014 by truckbloguk

In the last week I have been sent a couple of decent DAF photos. If you want to get technical DAF do have approximately a 16% market share of the European heavy vehicle market so it’s not surprising that you see one on two on your travels. The one above was a top spot it has to be said. Blog favourite Steve Marsh spotted this white DAF in Dublin port, nothing unusual about a white DAF in Dublin I hear you say. The reason it’s a top spot is that the Space Cabbed XF105 is over 3200KM from its base in Casablanca. I have no idea what he was loaded with coming to Dublin from North Africa but I’m guessing it was clothing, well why not?! What I’d love is for it to have reloaded is a full load of Guiness bound for warmer climbs. Marshy was driving in Dublin port and spotted something different about the truck, on further inspection it turns out it is from some where different. I’m fairly confident there have not been many trucks from Casablanca to Ireland although I guess it could be a regular run?? With a lack of photos on the social media sites I think it could be more of a one off trip.

Next up from not so far away, is another blog favourite, Transam Trucking. This one was spotted on the M25 in Essex near the QE2 bridge by Dodgy Dave. Nothing too out of the ordinary in a big black Transam Trucking DAF truck I know but have another look…….this one is the little short one axle trailer. This makes it almost a mini artic I guess, so top spotting Dodgy!

Spotted something a bit different from the rest?? Then why not share it on the blog. You can email me; ben@truckblog.co.uk or you can post your photos on the TB Facebook page, just search for http://www.truckblog.co.uk in the Facebook search bar.

Hold The Front Page

Posted on July 7, 2014 by truckbloguk

Who else’s diary has a front page line up like that?! Uncle Dick Snows that’s who’s. It’s kept a rulers length from my head every night and I have to say hardly a week (or a day, Mrs Blog would argue) goes by without me flicking through the pages of the 1969 diary Uncle Dick kept. I never met him as he was always away but I knew why he wasn’t there and I think he’s partly to blame for my crazy obsession with bloody old trucks! If you want to read one of the trips in the diary then all you’ve got to do is buy a copy of Ashley Coghill’s book; The Long Haul Pioneers, all about the history of legendary Middle East trucking company Astran nee Asian Transport.

Wilson Wednesday – Geoff Special

Posted on July 2, 2014 by truckbloguk

He’s back!! (For one week only?? Who knows) Geoff and Daisy DAF have taken a break from there holidays and this week they are putting in a shift or two. Not to over do it HC Wilson gave Geoff a steady export that was just over length. At 1.5 metres over length from the North West out to the Netherlands dear Daisy and her ever-tanned pilot should have a nice little run out to the land of Cloggs and Cheese.

MAN in Black

Posted on June 28, 2014 by truckbloguk

Trying to think of a title with the words “black” and “M.A.N.” In the title was no easy task I can tell you. In the end I’ve gone for the song title option courtesy of Johnny Cash.

These photos how ever are courtesy of @steviebloke on Twitter. Mr Bloke is a professional driver working for Bestlog UK delivering vehicles across the UK and Europe in his little green MAN TGL. There is also a Bestlog GMBH, the German parent company if you like. As you’d imagine between the 2 companies there are a fleet of top specced trucks and on the German side there is also a subbie or 2. Now as it stands I can’t tell you anything about this German subbie that Steviebloke saw in Bestlog UK’s yard this week but really what else do you need to know?? A picture tells a 1000 words and all that.

Just look at the shine on the bodywork. The truck is a Euro 5 MAN TGL LX 12.250. It must be Euro 5 as it’s not got the Euro 6 grill. So for a truck that is a year or 2 old to have such a shiny paint job is fairly impressive. The truck has an internal ramp that can lift a car enabling a second car to be put on the lower deck, or even his trailer can be put on the ramp to avoid paying road tolls on 4 axles. Even with painted wheels it makes for a truck that delivers the kind of impact and professionalism you’d want the driver to have when delivering supercars. Hopefully we will see or even hear from this truck/driver again in the near future but in the mean time I’ll thank @steviebloke again for the photos.

Wilson Wednesday

Posted on June 25, 2014 by truckbloguk

A quick return this week for red Wednesday. HC Wilson Transport’s famous fleet pounding the roads of the UK and Europe once again. Above we have Terry Alderton and below we have Doris DAF and Slim, both trucks on locals today a little run round to Middlesex with 2 loads of machinery.

Next is driver Geordie and European Charger. Having started the week with a run to Wick, Scotland and reload from Muir of Ord back to Wilson’s Elmswell yard in Suffolk. The Charger is now heading off mainland Europe to load 3 trailers in Stromberg, Germany. Check that route out on your Google map!

Above is part time driver and part time office waller James Cartwright. Called into action this afternoon to load some military vehicles in Norfolk for delivery to Wiltshire tomorrow.

Wilson fans favourite European Dream really living its name today with 24 metre long steel rails loaded from Luxembourg back to the UK. She looks well.

Mick “Snug” Farrow today on a little reach stacker move from Doncaster down to Maidenhead. Micks big Scania, European Colossus no doubt making easy work of the big load.

Husband and wife team Dave and Sue Ramm in N5HCW also on a UK job today. Loaded with some 23 metre long beams heading down to Harwich, Essex.

Just when your thinking it’s all go go go with Wilsons trucks and trailers today, we head to Germany where top Subbie Mike Tasker and Wilson driver Mark Gladwell have been waiting all day to load storage vessels back to the UK. A warm day sat in the German sun, trying to get some sleep isn’t a great day by my reckoning especially when you’ve got a night move out of Germany back to Rotterdam. Oh don’t forget the 17metre long tank in the well of the low loader too! Thanks for all the photos.

And the morning after the first night move……

Transam Truck Spotting

Posted on June 25, 2014 by truckbloguk

Truck spotting at 0730 on a Wednesday morning?? Well it’s got to be done. A good friend of mine drives one of these black beauties and as you can imagine I very rarely get to see him and truck together. Off round Europe most of the year until this weekend when he is on tour 5 miles from my house in Colchester, but as you’d expect I’ll unlikely to see him. Transam arrived at Colchester Stadium in the early hours of this morning, so when I popped in this morning they were still asleep. Later today while I’m at work the drivers are all off home for a few days as the Gig isn’t til Sunday night. But I’m away this weekend til Sunday afternoon. Typical. Any way the black trucks were looking stunning as usual in the early Essex sun. Luckily for me they were accessible and I could get a couple I photos without disturbing anyone, although the increased Police presence at the stadium at the moment certainly gave me some funny looks!

Who owns #35??

Posted on June 24, 2014 by truckbloguk

Centurion: #35
Reg Number: J988 BYA
Current Owner: ???
(This is not my photo!)

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