Category Archives: Odds

SCOOP: Scania Sauna Series

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Scania has launched its Sauna-Series cab, which has been specially designed to help drivers reduce their stress and improve their wellbeing on the road.
Available only on the S-Series vehicles, this edition includes a cab size sauna perfect for relaxing and taking the stress away.
Research carried out by Scania’s renowned Fiktiva department found that if a driver used the sauna for 45 minutes a day, they would sweat their problems away.
Vera Havinnuon, Head of Påhittad Technology at Scania AF, said: “We’ve been foolish not to focus on improving driver wellbeing. Some spend most of their week in the cab, so we’ve brought them some home comforts to improve their time on the road.
“After years of research and development, this was the most logical answer. The Sauna- Series is easy to use, perfect in all conditions, simple to maintain, and best of all, has a host of health benefits. All-in-all the project was no sweat for us.”
Research and testing showed that drivers who used the sauna were more productive than their other counterparts, with drivers claiming they could drive for an additional 4.5 hours a day – ‘no sweat’.
Each Sauna-Series truck comes equipped with an infrared heat cabin, designed to use minimal energy to heat up and doesn’t require extraction fans to remove steam. It means you can enjoy the sauna while watching TV, reading a book, doing admin or while having a nap.
To complement the Sauna-Series, Scania has produced a set of matching accessories to help you complete your look. Including a luxury, handcrafted set of towels and matching bathmat, which has been designed to absorb as much moisture as possible.


The first 250 people to register their interest in the Scania Sauna-Series will receive a luxury bathmat for free. It usually retails at £2,304.01.
Register your interest here: https://I www.scania.com/uk/en/home/products/trucks/sauna- series.html 😂

Is It Nearly Show Time??

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The long winter months are drawing on and I’m missing the truck show fraternity and the reminiscent fun we have at the various shows we get to. It’s an opportunity for us all to get together with other like minded folk who also enjoy the trucks that we fondly look back on from the golden years and also the modern day trucks that are comfier, safer and more eco friendly than their car equivalents. Its our favourite time of the year, suns out, tyres stay black and trucks stay clean, we even keep the breweries happy!

So what are your plans? I have no doubt there will be a couple of mini convoys, well I hope so anyway. I’m guessing there maybe a new show or two on the calendar if I can get along to them. I’d love to get to the Devin Truck show at some point, but that’ll likely be next year, I may do the Truckfest Southeast if it falls on the right weekend, of course I’ll do the Retro Truck Show and a maybe a couple more local shows, then fingers crossed I might just get the Gr814 along to the Truckstar Festival in Holland, although I might need to borrow someone’s fuel card! I also hope to do a few more jobs to the Gr814 before all this. I’d like to change the rear axle for a better gear ratio. I’d like to get the chassis shot blasted and repainted in factory gloss black. Finally if the budget allows, I’d love to get the cab painted too but I don’t think that’ll be this year because of both time and cash.

The other thing I’m looking forward to is catching up with and making new friends and acquaintances. Something about the trucking lot, that means there is never a lot of ice to be broken if any. We meet up with new people and we start talking, chatting or helping, this is where the romance of the roads originates. How often have you met a fellow driver, shared a table for dinner and a beer and then gone your separate ways and then met up again at a random delivery or overnight stop a year or so later. Well that’s much the same as the men’s bad women of the short circuit. We all know each other and we all get along but we may not see each other from one year to the next, but you just pick up where we left off. You also get to rub shoulders with the big boys, those who some expect to be different for some reason, but they are all drivers and truck nuts at heart. The generosity of people such as Richard Payne, Mark Farrow, Charles Russell, John Thomas, Fred Parker and a few others, almost knows no bounds. Always happy to help, always willing to get involved, totally approachable and won’t see anyone struggle, go short or miss out if they can help it. Proper old school bosses the lot of them! It seems that all of this is in the blood whether you’re driver or guv’nor we are all there for the craic, the beer and of course the trucks. Bring on the 2023 season and please, say hello.

Merry Christmas Bloggers!!

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Re-Post: Centurion List – The Final 4

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J727 TRO – 113M 360
J606 UOE – 113M 360
J5 LOS – 143M 500
J949 EDS – 113M 400

So what will come first 100 trucks on the list or a publisher??!

In the mean time we are now down to 4 confirmed Centurions we don’t have numbers for and amazing we have 4 empty spaces on the Centurion list. Is it a coincidence or have RP and myself (and all our informants) just about got 96 other trucks right?! Well there is a good chance as all the others are based on plenty of evidence, each number backed by at least 2-3 facts on the truck.

The above 4 trucks are all genuine Centurions, we know that for sure. Amazing we can’t get anyone with any concrete evidence on what number they were. I have even been having contact from Chris Kelly at Keltruck and even he can’t find any evidence of what number J606 UOE was and he drove it out to eastern Europa on an aid mission!

J727 TRO in Cambrian Pet food livery, but it does look a little tired in that photo.

J606 UOE. Well photographed and was a demo, but what happened to it after? Did it end up with a repaint and on the SEAS fleet after they parted company with #100? Just a thought.

J5 LOS. Perfect looking 143, we know a lot about it and have original photos from the owner before and after sign writing but no number!

J949 EDS. Had quite a few owners including Thomas Douglas Haulage from Glasgow. Still no one knows the number.

The remaining 4 numbers in the Centurion list we can’t allocate to a truck or a reg number are: #037 / #043 / #054 / #068.

No need to go over old ground but if you know anything on these 4 trucks or a Centurion number rings a bell as you’ve seen a certificate from Scania in a transport office, please, please let us know. Comment below or email me; ben@truckblog.co.uk

…..now where the yellow pages…. P for publisher….

Sheldrake Steamer

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It’s a truck, albeit a steam one, but a truck none the less. Love it when you send me photos of things you think I’d like. This photo was taken by a supplier of mine, Steve Bowdidge. Steve is in on the steam scene and has his own mini traction engines that he attends the various steam fairs around the south west of England and beyond. This beautiful Foden, in my favourite colour of the year, was spotted at a show sporting the right surname and two of my Dads initials. I have double checked, but my old man confirms that he doesn’t have a secret collection of steam vehicles for me to inherit. What a great photo though, thanks Steve.

If you have anything to share or that you think I need to see, please tag me in anything you can or send me an email: ben@truckblog.co.uk

Centurion List – The Final 4

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J727 TRO – 113M 360
J606 UOE – 113M 360
J5 LOS – 143M 500
J949 EDS – 113M 400

So what will come first 100 trucks on the list or a publisher??!

In the mean time we are now down to 4 confirmed Centurions we don’t have numbers for and amazing we have 4 empty spaces on the Centurion list. Is it a coincidence or have RP and myself (and all our informants) just about got 96 other trucks right?! Well there is a good chance as all the others are based on plenty of evidence, each number backed by at least 2-3 facts on the truck.

The above 4 trucks are all genuine Centurions, we know that for sure. Amazing we can’t get anyone with any concrete evidence on what number they were. I have even been having contact from Chris Kelly at Keltruck and even he can’t find any evidence of what number J606 UOE was and he drove it out to eastern Europa on an aid mission!

J727 TRO in Cambrian Pet food livery, but it does look a little tired in that photo.

J606 UOE. Well photographed and was a demo, but what happened to it after? Did it end up with a repaint and on the SEAS fleet after they parted company with #100? Just a thought.

J5 LOS. Perfect looking 143, we know a lot about it and have original photos from the owner before and after sig writing but no number!

J949 EDS. Had quite a few owners including Thomas Douglas Haulage from Glasgow. Still no one knows the number.

The remaining 4 numbers in the Centurion list we can’t allocate to a truck or a reg number are: #037 / #043 / #054 / #068.

No need to go over old ground but if you know anything on these 4 trucks or a Centurion number rings a bell as you’ve seen a certificate from Scania in a transport office, please, please let us know. Comment below or email me; ben@truckblog.co.uk

…..now where the yellow pages…. P for publisher….

Kepstowe Freight – Help (& Photos)

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For Mat Ireland:

Need some sleuth work! Maybe one for the blog? I am trying to find out what magazine/newspaper this came from. I have tried Googling all sorts but to no avail, does anyone recognise the stars after the date perhaps? John Gaskell, if the same reporter, passed away in 2008 and wrote for the telegraph, other than that it appears to be a character in Holby city which doesn’t help ha ha!

Can I have £2 Please??

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I’ve always wanted to try one of these social media experiments. You know the ones where the power of the internet makes something seemingly impossible, possible. I’d love to get back to having my own truck for shows and Sundays out and about as well as it being a source for new blogs. Also I fear that by the time I can fully afford one then there won’t be any left!! So if we were in a truckstop and I came and asked you for £2, not to borrow as who knows when we’ll meet again (some sunny day?!) but “Can I have £2 please?” I’ve had this before when a man in need asked for a couple of quid at Chippenham truckstop so he could get a shower. Of course I obliged as we are all drivers and in days gone by would always help each other when we can. I wondered if the same principle would work on the blog to help by a TB show truck. You might think I’m nuts but I now have the following blog followers; 

  • 1756 on Twitter
  • 3071 on FB page  
  • 4961 on TB email 
  • Total  Followers: 9788

For those capable of simple maths, if I could get every one of you to donate a minimum of £2, then I’d have more than enough to join the classic truck club! If some of you were willing to donate more then even better. What’s more I could put every name of the donators on the truck some how. 

So how about it?? Will you donate £2 or more to the cause? If you are a kind person then I think you’d happily donate to such a social experiment. 

My PayPal account is: ben@truckblog.co.uk

If only we could make this happen, it would become so we’ll known that I might start getting some national coverage! This is a donation and if your willing then it won’t be refunded. Come on it’s only two quid and you’ll have made a huge difference to my life. Come on help me out please driver?! 

PayPal: ben@truckblog.co.uk 


 

TBHQ

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So here it is people the selfless plea for all you unwanted trucking guff. Way back up in the woods among the evergreens, or down at the bottom of a Colchester garden is the home of the blog. Ok ok it’s a shed full of all the truck stuff I’ve gained and collected over the years. You will be able to make out no end of familiar items, cab flags, photos, badges and show stuff to name a few.  
 

Now, if like me you have a wife that would rather your stuff is outside the house as they just don’t appreciate truck memorobillia, then here’s the plug. If you have anything you want to get rid of and go to a good appreciative home then please feel free to contact me. If you have old stickers, badges or freebies from ferries or truck manufacturers  then send me a message with what you have and I’ll happily give it a new home!! As you can see, things like stickers are all mounted on plywood boards so I can move them onto the next TBHQ as and when I might move house. Any donations will of course be well loved and looked after. Message me and I’ll come back to you.