Tall Stories

Didn't they used to refer to "stinkies" also as glue pieces? I.E. boiled or rendered down?
Think there used to be an old factory just off what is now the Tulla Fwy (or Tollway nowadays) on R/H side heading into Melbourne, up behind where the twin McDonalds are now? An unkind work mate commented one day about the atrocious smell emanating from the area, also a couple of old tannery's, as coming from McDonalds!
Dave_64

Years ago, sitting in a line of 5pm traffic, Kessels Road Brisbane heading to Capalaba.
Semi goes up the inside lane at a good pace, big load of hides dripping a grisly trail on the bitumen.
He swings left at the island, heading into town, didn't slacken off one bit and there was a stream of blood/guts sprayed over the waiting pedestrians on the island plus any nearby cars.
I'll bet his number was taken down by one and all. No idea where he was going.
Presume he was looking for Creek Road??

Big floods of 1974, Warwick (Qld) totally cut off for cupla days, nobody going anywhere. Two blokes from well known Melbourne based refrigerated transport company, (now defunct) decide to break the seals on one of the pans. maybe not such a good idea, better to jam a tyre bar under the hinge pins and lever one door open. All well and good but after having a check out, can't get the door to realign properly. Mixed load of frozen chickens on board, couple of boards up to partition it, swinging meat on the back.
Down to the Horse and Jockey and being just about broke and not much chance of going anywhere until the Condamine goes down, get the bright idea of approaching the licencee and hold a meat raffle. OK, says the publican, but only because of the floods, and you gotta make me up a parcel (of meat) as well, I gotta get something out of it.
So, many beers and many raffle tickets later they decide they may as well do the rounds of a few nearby waterholes. Now, these not too bright paragons of road transport, both having the company logo as well as their first names embroided on their shirts and well and truly too oiled to go anywhere anyway, start to backtrack with a couple of boxes of booty to the H&J.
Local constabulary just happens to be going by , sees the pair of miscreants with wobbly boots on. Asks where are they headed and whats in the boxes. One enterprising driver, instead of coming out with some yarn that they were indeed the ones who won the raffle, walks over to the dog box, puts the meat box on the roof of it and starts trying to convince pair of Queenslands finest that if they were a half decent pair of blokes, they would spring for a couple of tickets. Copper passenger starts getting a bit antsy, gets out the door and has a look in the box. Looks to me like you just may be the pair of buggers who broke into that fridge pan and left the engine running full bore! We wouldn't have known other than someone had reported the fridge motor going flat out and all this water or whatever it was, leaking out the back! Looks like we are going to have to impound this lot for evidence, and if you pair of b#$%ards know whats good for you, you'll get back to your trucks and I wouldn't go near the Horse & Jockey for a while.
As it turned out, next day there was a bit of movement and last seen our erstwhile pair were seen heading towards Brisbane via Esk.
Worked with one of them a few years later, always used to get a laugh out of how they got around the shortages on the load.
Dave_64

Dave_64
Ha ha-
paragons of road transport, both having the company logo as well as their first names embroided on their shirts and well and truly too oiled to go anywhere anyway,
I resemble that remark
I'm sure you have many more similar stories
Cheers

As usual, no names,no pack drill. "The names have not been given to protect the offenders!"
I actually was one of the many who bought tickets. Met up with one of said drivers up at the old Rocklea Hilton cupla days later, he was as dirty as hell when the constabulary "impounded" the boxes of meat. Said he hoped that the meat was 'on the turn' and they ended up with food poisoning. I asked how they got the door back on the hinges and he said that they had to back the trailer up against a lamp post, take the weight off the door a bit and belt the hinge pins in. Left the bottom edge of the door slightly ajar, which meant it wouldn't seal properly. Rang his boss in Melbourne and told him some rotten bugger must have backed into the door whilst up at QTT.
Dave_64

Just on Tall Stories, went to a combo retired drivers/R&R night last year or so. First thing struck me was ,"Jeez! These blokes are looking OLD." Then I had a look at meself in a mirror when in the washroom.
Second thing was by about 9pm, the diesel fumes in the air were starting to knock the heads off the beer!
As is always the case when truckies get together and share a few pots of the amber ink, the trips in bygone days got longer, the weights heavier, the roadhouse waitresses were getting prettier (or uglier in a few instances), running times slashed to the point that a few blokes were arriving at their destination before they had even left.
You guys know what I mean, the usual
.One hell of a good night, except for just the one instance where two mates from 30 odd years ago almost came to fisticuffs over an alleged misunderstanding over one of them being accused of "back-dooring" the other with a barmaid at their local waterhole. Which neither of them could remember her name anyway, had to call in a third party to identify the bird involved. One of these guys, "wondered whatever happened to her, used to call her the Malvern Star!".
The third bloke called in to adjudicate the woman in question, replies, Oh, I married her. We got 4 kids now. Come to think of it, the eldest son bears an uncanny resmblance to you, funny that!"
Thought it was time to exit the scene and leave them to it. Time I left, all three of them had arms on each others shoulders swearing eternal allegiance and everlasting brotherhood.
Cheers, Dave_64

Was Axles Harry the bloke with the limp and the big hat ? I have known him to close the railway gates whenever he heard a heap of market runners coming down from the roadhouse on Sunday nights.

Would have thought that there just may have been the odd "Tall Story" posted up. Maybe everybody's too busy trying to scrape a quid together?
Don't blokes congregate in the pubs or even truck stops any more to shoot the breeze? Back a few years ago,( If I say the 60's and 70's I'll give myself away), it was a given that you would get a half dozen blokes having a coffee at a roadhouse and the talk would inevitably lead to who carted the heaviest, who had the fastest, who out smarted the authorities in the most convincing way. Maybe timetables are too tight these days for blokes to congregate. Was thinking about how back a few years, the Sturt Highway runners used to get out to the "Birdcage" at Darlington Point on a Friday night, be a great fire blazing and chances are that if you were one of the blokes who did the quick hitches in Adelaide, or Sydney, the same couple of trucks would still be there late Saturday arvo or even Sunday morning. The stories that were told there! Or, on top of Jugiong Hill when the old double decker bus was there, another favourite stop.
Was a bloke from South of Sydney who used to leave his depot with a 'poultice' on, old Flintstone Macks, on about a Thursday night heading for Adelaide. Did he used to load them up! Only bloke I'd ever heard of or seen who would do the Syd-Adel run via the PUTTY Rd. Go way the hell out the back of Jerry's Plains, go in a big loop and get back on the Sturt somewhere down around the Maude turnoff. Always very secretive about his actual route. Used to lob into Adelaide after dark on a Sunday night. Another one used to do Syd-Brisbane, also via the Putty Rd, go "bush" not far from Singleton and reckoned that he would get into Brissy up the back of Beaudesert and not travel on a major highway. Reading about the bloke called 'Axles Harry' shutting the railway gates at Willow Tree, reminded me of this same bloke who ran heavy to Brisbane, got sprung around the back of Kankool trying to sneak down to the Quirindi road. They frog-marched him down to the railway yards at Willow Tree under police escort and weighed him. Portables couldn't do the job, so put each axle on the rail bridge.
Story goes that they grounded him there and then, he had to arrange for TWO local carriers trucks to off load the overload onto! Can't swear to the authenticity, but made a good yarn and having seen the truck/trailer up around Garland Valley, may not have been too far from the truth. Used to tow one of those "Elephant" Fruehauf, or Freighter 'Super Hefty' trailers, had a bow in it like a banana. In those days, it wasn't unusual for these blokes to load the floor with steel plate, or fire bricks, and then 'top' em off with general, then load them up to the skyline with cubic.
I would reckon there's a few blokes here who could relate to the above.
Cheers, Dave_64

Me nose nutn
But did hear of a joker from 20 years ago th@ ran 2 trailer road trains from the NSW Border into Melb
n only crossed a few main roads n all dun on back tracks etc he did this for a few years

cya

If I had my time again, I would start a business transporting cattle.
Nothing strange or unique about that, I hear you say.
But:-
I would have an advantage over the others,
I would specialise in only transporting MALE cattle.

I would be very good at it and my excellent service and fair prices would make my services very popular.

I would transport cattle all over the country and eventually, ship them all over the world.
I would become an "Artiste" as they say in some countries.

I would become so successful, I would become known as
The Biggest Bull-Ship Artist in the World!