JUST AN OLD TRUCKER LOOKING TO SHARE OTHERS STORIES

But I could hold it a lot longer back then if I needed to!

 

sorry to trawl an old thread.

Trevor here, retired last year. Started driving trucks at 18 (1975) in Melbourne Australia, no heavy vehicle licence, I didn't last long as I was a country boy and couldn't navigate my around a big city. I got back into trucks (with the correct licence), tippers, in July 1976, also drove an Chamberlain tractor with a front end loader attachment for the same boss. He had a 1946 KB6 International tipper, a 1958 AR160 International tipper (both Aussie trucks) and a 1962 TK Bedford tipper. I then joined another company doing deliveries of packaged and bulk pasta around Melbourne, I drove a C1800 International tray body and a 1967 short door, twin steer, bogie (tandem) drive tray truck, an International ACCO tray truck, it had a 6-354 Perkins engine, with a 5 speed non-synchro and 3 speed 'joey' non-sychro box - 2 gear sticks. In 1980 I joined a dairy company in regional Victoria and drove a HUGE range of different semi's (tractor trailer combinations) picking up milk from dairy farms and taking it to the factory for processing, I also took milk and cream to Melbourne. In 1987 I joined Australia's largest heavy (HV) vehicle driver training organisation as a HV driver trainer, specialising in training professional company drivers on better fuel economy driving, correct use of transmissions, engines, brakes etc and defensive driving techniques. My avatar is a picture of me in one of their training vehicles, a B-Triple (3 trailers). I travelled across Australia and even did some work in New Zealand for them. After 13 years and working for a sh|t boss, I left, I got a job driving intra-state in an International B-Double (similar truck to in my avatar, but only 2 trailers, but same prime mover (tractor). 20 speed Spicer transmission, not a Road Ranger, I did drive some of their single trailer Kenworths as well. After then I got a job in a food factory as the OHS Manager, lasted 18 months, sh|t money. I then got a job delivering driver training across Victoria for another training provider for the next 10 years. Then moved into training OHS for the next 10 years, then retired - that's me

 

Hi Trevor, welcome to the happy world of retirement. "Tippers", to us Yanks, as the name suggests, are dump trucks here and regardless where you are, always a tense job. By the sound of your "resume", Swift would love to get a hold of you. Good luck, and keeping busy is the key.

 

A company I worked for a company many years ago who specialised in transporting open top ISO containers on 20 foot tipping skeletal trailers. OK, very steady, but then they bought some 30 foots and things started to go wrong, they started falling over when fully raised. This alarmed me and I was very careful when I got one. I was tipping one day and remained half out the cab watching it go up. I was sure I could see it starting to go and shot out and started running for my life. When I stopped and turned round, it was still there, up in the air. I walked cautiously back and looked up at the scudding clouds racing across the sky relative to the top of the body. And the penny dropped.

@Trevor 57 I spent several years in Oz, Northern Territory on A-triples, Queensland on all sorts of stuff and finally Sydney on taxis. I did pass through Victora on my way down from NT and decided to look up a mate who had an office job in Melbourne. Walking along an east/west street I got to a corner and turned left, south,......and nearly got cut in half by an icy blast straight from Antarctica. Bugger the mate, turned straight round and headed for the railway station and jumped on the overnight train to Sydney.