Woodies week 16th April

[woodie]

Here's what I got up to in my work last week;

Monday, after I sort out the loads and get the drivers away, it's time to do the wages, catch up on paperwork and then finally get out on the road myself. First drop is Rutherglen with furnishings, next door to this is a classic car repair shop;

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700008.jpg

Another drop just up the road in Dalmarnock, then head north of the clyde to Spiers Wharf an old warehouse site on the banks of the Forth & Clyde canal which is now flats. Unfortunately this delivery is for an office and they have no means to get the stuff off, so it all has to stay on the lorry and will eventually get redelivered on a tail-lift truck later in the week;

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Drop off some timber at next drop then head along the Clydeside passed the new 'Squintie Bridge' (so called, because it crosses the Clyde at an angle)

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Under the rail bridge over the Clyde

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700013.jpg

Collect ingots at Cohen alloys, then head down to Diageo at Kilmarnock. Here's one of their Daf's liveried up in the Johnnie Walker colours;

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700014.jpg

Then I head up towards Stewarton, to collect a wind turbine bound for America from the premises of Proven Energy;

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700015.jpg

Then it's back up the M77 towards Glasgow;

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Finish the day off at Davies Turners, Cumbernauld before going back to the yard to do the paperwork for tonights trunks.

Tuesday, sort out loads and then head off to Caledonian Plywood, where I bump in to two of our Dalgety based vehicles who are in to load plywood for Belgian company Middlegate;

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Then it's down to irvine to drop off a pallet of steel at Universal Steels;

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700026.jpg

The pallets under it are for Kilmarnock and once they're tipped, I'm off up the A77 for Glasgow. On route I pass this Great Yarmouth based Volvo hauling a turbine mast for a wind farm;

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Two drops in Livingston follow, before heading to Broxburn to load fridges for London;

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Back to the yard and time to do paperwork for tonights loads.

Wednesday, and the first drop is Lidl, after being re-routed to their secondary warehouse. I park up next this 50th anniversary liveried John G Mitchell MAN;

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700033.jpg

After tipping Lidl's, it's back to the yard to load again. Then I head for the Holiday Inn at Edinburgh Zoo with a load of carpets;

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700034.jpg

The view across to the Pentland Hills doesn't look to great today;

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700035.jpg

I'm heading for a collection at Pure Malt Products at Haddington, I used to stay just round the corner from their factory.

This is the route into the town;

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Then the town centre;

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Heading towards Victoria Bridge, with the maltings on the left;

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I'm loading at their warehouse on the opposite side of the road from the maltings;

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Then back round the bypass, past the pentland Hills and the dri ski slope;

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700049.jpg

Before picking up a pallet of whisky at Glenmorangie, Broxburn (Glenmorangie is Gaellic for 'Sea of Tranquility');

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700051.jpg
Leaving Glenmorangie;
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700054.jpg

Another two collections at Broxburn, then back to the yard to finish loading and do paperwork before going home.

Thursday flies in, all the deliveries are done and the first collection is Schenkers at Hillington to collect 10 ton of groupage, surprisingly it's all in and I'm loaded and gone in twenty minutes. Next up is Mizuno at Cumbernauld, then round the corner to Davies Turners. Here I borrow there forklift, as the Schenkers goods are first delivery down in London, so I move it from the front of the trailer to the back;

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700056.jpg

Turners stuff is loaded on the front, then I head back to our yard. There is still another pallet for Turners, but they are going to drop that off in our yard;

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Friday, I'm in early and after sorting out the loads. I've tipped two drops and arrive at my first collection all in Cumbernauld before 8am. The collection is not ready so I think breakfast is the order of the day. Loaded and on my way, next up is the Morrisons RDC at Bellshill. One of their forklifts has had a little accident;

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700060.jpg

After tipping I join the queue waiting for paperwork (the checkers aren't very fast, however I complained when I first went in and surprisingly my paperwork takes only 10 minutes!);

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Next up is Albion Chemicals new plant at Cambuslang;

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700062.jpg

Then I nip into Cohen alloys to collect some ingots before they break for lunch, then I head down to Irvine to collect a load of racking. Back up to Inchinnan to drop off some fabric at Eclipses bilnds factory then back out onto the motorway, as the slip road is shut, we're diverted via Linwood and back down the flyover past the airport;

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700064.jpg

Final delivery is the Glasgow Harbour site on the Clydeside;

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700066.jpg

Opposite this site is the factory of BAE Systems, where the Royal Naval ship HMS Lyme Bay is being moved around in her berth when I arrive;

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The next stage of this site is being cleared, this Malcolm plant dumper is on 'muckaway' duty;

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700067.jpg

The Clydeside Expressway is busy with rush hour traffic when I leave and makes slow going, so I take a couple photo's of Glasgow landmarks; The Finnieston Crane, preserved as a reminder of the Clydes once famous industrial past;

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700069.jpg

The Glasgow Armadillo concert hall, so called because of it's resemblance to the animal, although it is actually based on the Sydney Opera House;

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700070.jpg

Back to the yard and one of our customers has arranged for goods to get delivered direct from a site to us for our trunk. This Scania rigid Hiab from Fraser Dunlop has been given the job;

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/woodie_bucket/21-4-07/21-4-0700073.jpg

With everything loaded up, it's time to go and do the paperwork, unfortunately it will be a late finish tonight as it's just 18:30 the now. Normally Friday's I manage to get home at a reasonable time, no luck tonight. Oh well maybe next week..

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[Harry]

Thanks for all the nice picture, telling us about a week of Scottland driver :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

BUT I NEVER would drive over there, until you people learn to use the right side of the road :harhar: :harhar:

[Accremonious]

Woodie, that is excellent documentation! Several thoughts came to mind. In our competitive scene over here the management and dispatch would just freak at such open disclosure of what and where! Our market place is very competitive and much is done to conceal what, where, when, and how, etc. Our LTL loads are mostly inside closed vans with either barn doors or roll up back doors are more common on the "grocery wagons". Some flat bed loads are LTL and there are some with sliding canvas hooped tarps but more usually the wooden rack and tarps.
We have companies here under bidding just to try to keep alive until the pace picks up. The cost price squeeze is unrelenting and there are numerous bankruptcies in the industry every year. Hence the don't disclose or discuss policies prevail.
I see that the bushes are already starting to leaf out, but we have a late Spring happening here!
If I get a chance I will try to get a few shots of what happens here but it will probably be "from the street". What is visible from the street is considered in the public domain here.
Does your laws governing the transport industry have an open for bid competition situation or have they not been "deregulated" like we are?

[woodie]

I suppose that to a certain extent it can be bad to display information about what is moving and to where, however the marketplace is pretty open in the UK. Many manufacturers have several transport suppliers and in the smaller cases, the companies they use, sub-contract work out to whoever is cheapest and/or give the best service. I know that I sometimes take phone calls from more than one customer about moving the same job.

The market in Scotland is worse than England, due to the lack of manufacturing jobs in Scotland. In fact some of the worst culprits for undercutting are the medium to large sized transport companies who are desperate to get their trucks down to the more lucrative English market.

Can I ask, what does the term LTL stand for?

We too have similar problems to you, with regard to bankruptcies. The transport industry is a very tough business to make money in, I think that is a common problem all over the world.

[hellcat_99]

Less Then Truckload. 1 or 2 skid's from various companies. Like what you do.

Thankx for the great pic's.

Holly :cool:

[Accremonious]

Yes. LTL = Less than Truckload Lot and TL is (full) Truck Load (Lot). Hence they are bid differently according to the usual factors for miles and other contract requirements as maybe warranted as extras. eg. Heated or Refrigerated, also hazardous commodities requiring extra insurance, placarding and driver qualification, etc. Special delivery appointment scheduling, or warehousing and with partial deliveries and other factors. Some require airride suspension for fragile cargo. Rolls of paper on end require swept clean and no nails projecting from the deck, food stuffs require no hazardous or aromatic other cargo aboard. This is only a partial list which others can and will no doubt enlarge on.

[Drifter]

:yikes: Woodie, don`t mean to nit pick and i`m hoping your answer is just took them off or haven`t put them on yet. There seems to be a lot of loose freight, not tyed down with straps or chains. Is that normal? They would fine us down to our boot laces here for insecure load.... Nice pictures..

[Accremonious]

Woodie, here are 3 examples as seen parked at the Fifth Wheel in Bowmansville, Ont. just about at dusk tonight. See posted in the gallery. Sorry I still can't get them to copy into a post![/img]

[woodie]

Drifter, in answer to your post, I haven't taken the straps or ropes off. That is the way I loaded and after travelling nearly 500 miles it was still in the same condition. There is one strap holding the back customers groupage from moving forward under braking. The front customers goods are stacked tight against the headboard. In the event of severe braking, then it is probable that the pallets would move forward, however as you can see, they are all packed fairly close to each other. The basis is that if they're tight, they can't go far.

We night trunk the vehicles, therefor 4 drivers are involved from start to finish. The Scotland day man who loads and goes back to the depot, the Scotland night man, who takes it down to Preston. The London night man who takes from Preston to London and finally the London day man who delivers the load. All the drivers are all very good at their job and use their skill (hopefully) to read the road ahead and to drive appropriately for the traffic conditions.

[woodie]

Acc, thanks for the photo's in the gallery. Tell me, do you have curtainsiders (tautliners) across there. I haven't seen photo's of them. You seem to use mainly boxes and flats with sheets. We have used tautliners for years. They are now the main form of cargo movement. Some are fitted with sliding roofs to enable overhead loading.

[Accremonious]

Yes there are some around, Woodie. But that black trailer shown is the preferred design. The back doors swing open and there are floor locks on either side at the back that release with a wrench, then the canvas, (doors and all) on the hoops all slide up to the front on the rails just at the deck edges. It is known as a Conestoga by brand name and because of that historic name from the horse team & wagon days. The roll up canvases are more common on the straight trucks that deliver cases of soda pop and bottled water, crates of milk jugs etc. in the plazas and strip malls were there are a lack of docks.
Many of the newer malls have rear delivery docks. There is also the problem of cargo security from the sticky fingered crowd! I can remember when I was young you would not even have to worry about leaving your wallet on the dash but today there are no scrupples, and no manners. I heard warnings that this would happen 50 years ago from some university professor types. They said when the population triples and quadruples, plus zoning starts to pack people into tighter confines, there will be more crime and social problems. Were they ever right! As one Texan said it, They all ain't got no swave at all! I think he meant Sauve, but with Melt Shop types you never knew! (I was in the Rolling Mills)

[buzzy]

Less Then Truckload. 1 or 2 skid's from various companies. Like what you do.

Thankx for the great pic's.

Holly



IT IS!!!! Damn, all these years I thought it meant LITTLE TINY LOADS!

Woodie, I gotta admit you're a lot more patient than I would be. I don't know how you guys/girls can navigate around European cities and have the patience of Jobe while doing it.

Another thing............................................. ........

Your zookeepers really must pamper the animals over there. CARPETS for Edinburgh Zoo!!! WHEW!!

http://www.truckstopcanada.ca/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/mouse_rofl.jpg

[buzzy]

Hey woodie!


I really don't want to poop on anyone's parade but a suggestion to maybe post your weekly diaries and photos in the DOWNTIME AND FAMILY Forum might be in order as they do require considerable time to download if someone is on a low speed dial-up or wireless internet connection.

Placing a link to them in here would be acceptable.


Just a suggestion.

Dennis

[woodie]

Buzzy, the carpets were for the Hotel next to Edinburgh Zoo, but the Zoo does do an excellent job of looking after their animals, maybe carpets in all the animal enclosures will be the next step.

Will heed your advice about the diary. I post a diary section more frequently on the UK site and I have made a 'Diary forum' in our site for it. Some of the other users have also posted their own diaries, perhaps there may be interest for such a section in your site. You can check out our site, I won't tell anybody that your spying... :harhar:

[buzzy]

You can check out our site, I won't tell anybody that your spying...

Actually, woodie, I wouldn't be spying.


I'm already a member there. :harhar:

[woodie]

Doh!!!! I forgot.

When you gonna get somebody in Canada to come up with a diary? I'd like to read what a typical week is like for you guys (and girls).

I know it takes a little time to do, but personally it makes me feel good that I get the posts of thanks for sharing my view with you guys. So I'd like to say a big thanks to everyone who appreciates my diary and also to the guys that raise questions about things I've written about. I'm always glad to answer them as best as I can, so keep firing them at me.

All the best to everybody at CA.

:cheers: