Recovery
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Tytn
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Re: Recovery
“Oi Ty! Where do you think you’re going” I stopped my progress down the darkened corridor. I had a place in mind, but clearly, I wasn’t going there now…
“Well I…” a glance back and the boss was just standing at the end of the corridor. He had his mobile in hand and was glaring. So I decided against retreating to the back yard to the deckchair in the shade to have my lunch. Of course, I didn’t have any food either, but a sit down in this heat was worth it.
“Do you know where that eight legger is?”
“Um, yes, and it’s running OK now. We’ve got that concrete block on the back still after its load test”
“Even better. Robbie’s broken down at the gateway. Fully loaded, and you’ve got a ticket for that…” I groaned; I knew it was a mistake to mention another task for it when they considered getting rid of it.
“In this heat… That truck hasn’t even got Air Con!”
“You’ve got windows. Now, grab the fuel card and the paperwork for a recovery, and make sure you’ve got the extra lights from stores, oh and the powerpack. We don’t want to set the electrics on fire again plugging in your phone to charge”
“ONE TIME!!!! One time that happened!” the boss retreated to his office, grinning. I didn’t even have Robbie’s number. But there wasn’t many places he’d be around there. I just hoped I’d have room to turn the beast around. I was familiar with 35 point turns in something as wide as 3 motorway lanes where the police had closed the road for you to turn around….
I know why they kept that truck. It was paid for. It was cheap on tax and did the same fuel consumption as most of the fleet – 8mpg. Maybe 9 if you’re careful. We wouldn’t be careful today. Pulling another LGV, Large Goods Vehicle, probably weighing 26 to 44 tons from another truck would drop the MPG to half or quarter that. Bugger.
The walk to the office went via the canteen to return the hidden drinks can I had and grab a bottle of water. From the office I got the paperwork needed for taking a vehicle out of the yard on an irregular run. A regular run has something generate by the computer and stuff. For everything else we have the other bits. I asked for the fuel card and the keys for the brute, and also grabbed the new lithium Bluetti power pack one of the sales droids had picked up. It was for the sales staff to power their laptops on the road. Today I’d be using it to power my satnav, my phone and the LED hazard light bar I’d be running.
The old Volvo FH16 750 8x4 was a 4 axled (2 driven) ‘8 wheeler’ 520kw 16 litre engined tractor unit with a 10-ton concrete and steel block braced on the back of the truck and locked into the fifth wheel. The ungainly block was used when we needed weight on the truck for things like the MOT test or garage work. It was best suited for working in quarries or forestry and pulling very heavy loads. Along with the concrete block there were side lockers sitting on top of the mud guards with bars and recovery parts to go out and rescue the fleet. We could swap out the concrete block for a large winch that ran off the hydraulic system on the truck. So far they’d not let me play with that…
It was quite a beast, but it was now quite old and didn’t have working air con, stereo and was a manual gearbox. At least it wasn’t a Scania I mused.
So I decided I needed a minion. I wasn’t going to be carting this around in this heat
“Mandy, got anyone available to help me load up the old 8 legger? Robbie’s broken something” she smiled
“Yeah, he has hasn’t he. But you’re not dragging me out there. It took me ages to get the grease out of my fingernails”
“But you had fun didn’t you” she grinned at me
“So. Anyone else?”
“What about that new kid”
“I thought he went out on a run?”
“Nah, it was going to an RDC and you know how they hate passengers, even staff members”
“So he’s here is he?”
“Somewhere. He might be over near the wash”
And so, with the paperwork, keys and powerpack I left the office.
The sun was hot, the sky was clear, and I was already working up a sweat by the time I’d walked down the yard to the corner where the dark blue Volvo sat quietly in the corner. Dusty. Splattered windscreen. A real bug fest. It was a flat front, raking lines down the side to give it a ‘streamlined’ look and the new ones had nice snazzy LED side lights. This one didn’t.
Putting the powerpack on the mudguard for the 2nd axle I unlocked the cab and then hoisted it up into the footwell. Then climbed up the 3 steps into the cab, lifting the power pack up into the middle of the cab.
It was a two-seater, with a mostly flat floor. Behind the driver and passenger seats where normally there was a bunk, was a window to look out over the back of the truck. Lower there were some tool rolls and tool boxes. Normally the bunk would be down but because we mostly used this for recovery and heavy-duty work, the engineers in the workshop had rigged this up. The bunk was locked in place in the roof and when descended would be in good condition to sleep on rather than be messy from having kit dumped on it. It worked out well for us.
I stuck the power pack back there and plugged in some of the external power lines into it. We had connections into the cab roof for the light bar. Assuming it was still in the stores.
I slid out of the cab again and checked the fluids; oil and water levels and stuff like that. A bit messy but has to be done, then popped the ignition on. Nothing untoward and shortly later the 16-litre diesel engine was happy burbling away building up air and happily using 2 gallons an hour…
After building the pressure up I slowly drove it forwards out of the weeds, the popped out for a light check, and then back in the cab over to the wash. Leaving it idling I made sure the windows were closed and went out to the Minion.
“Ahh, excellent, you’re already familiar with the wash. Can you wash this cab down and take extra care to get the bugs off the windscreen” and the order was returned with a sullen nod
“Have you had lunch?” a shake of the head
“That’s OK, we’ll get something on the road” that perked him up
“Yeah, we’re off out for a drive, and you’re coming. I’m off to find some bits so give it a good clean. If you’ve time you can work all the way around. But if you see a black greasy bit don’t wash that. Got it?” A happy nod, so I went off to find the light bar.
The dark of the workshop I found the other two mechanics. Grease-stained dark overalls, black encrusted hands clutching mugs of what looked like tea as they chatted. A packet of digestive biscuits was open on a plate and they looked up guiltily when they saw me
“Don’t worry, I’m the one that’s got it. Robbie’s broken down at the gateway, and muggins here is off out. I guess to tow him back. I’m after the light bar and electrics leads?
“We heard. News travels fast. Are you taking the kid?”
“Yeah, get him out of your hair. Washing trucks?”
“We were gonna get him to start sweeping the workshop next”
“Can’t you show him interesting stuff. He’s left college. He’s the end of his teenage years and likes trucks, c’mon guys!”
“Hmm” one said. “Let’s get these kit bags” and with a groan rose to his feet. At least he knew where they were stored.
By the time I got outside the cab was gleaming in the sun, already drying quickly. A ladder was dragged out and rested on the cab and the 6ft wide LED chapter 8 light bar was clanged in place with its magnetic studs and the cable run in. A metal wire was run through it as a backup. Health & Safety reckoned it may fly off if we reached a fast speed but the manufacturers said that was 70mph. I reckoned we’d do well to reach 60mph, as it was limited to 56mph!
I stuck the extra bag of long extension cables onto one of the cargo slots on the deck and strapped it down and looking around found the minion swigging from a bottle of coke, I’d seen it earlier on the table near the biscuits. I beckoned him over, he drained it out and hurried over.
Mandy came over with some new fresh hivis tops, and even the medium sized one dwarfed him. Mine was in the truck.
“Take care out there, the boss wants it dragged back here if you can”
I unlocked the passenger door from inside and pushed the door a little, and he opened it and climbed up. I don’t think he was expecting the 3 steps to get in but was soon sitting in the passenger seat, grinning. I tested the LED light bar as the upper part of the workshop was reflective and saw all the amber and white strobes reflected back, so powered it off and fired up the beast.
It had just under half a tank of diesel. It should be OK. But I had the fuel card.
“Seatbelt. What’s your name”
“Everyone calls me kid or minion here”
“Yeah, I know, but its nice to be polite sometimes”
“Rob” he replied
“I’m Ty. I’ll be your driver today” he just seemed happy to be in the passenger seat.
I pulled away in 2nd gear and drove out of the yard carefully. The satnav was already pointing me towards London Gateway, a motorway services complex that was nearly 2 hours away off the M1 near the M25. I disliked visiting the M25.
“Well I…” a glance back and the boss was just standing at the end of the corridor. He had his mobile in hand and was glaring. So I decided against retreating to the back yard to the deckchair in the shade to have my lunch. Of course, I didn’t have any food either, but a sit down in this heat was worth it.
“Do you know where that eight legger is?”
“Um, yes, and it’s running OK now. We’ve got that concrete block on the back still after its load test”
“Even better. Robbie’s broken down at the gateway. Fully loaded, and you’ve got a ticket for that…” I groaned; I knew it was a mistake to mention another task for it when they considered getting rid of it.
“In this heat… That truck hasn’t even got Air Con!”
“You’ve got windows. Now, grab the fuel card and the paperwork for a recovery, and make sure you’ve got the extra lights from stores, oh and the powerpack. We don’t want to set the electrics on fire again plugging in your phone to charge”
“ONE TIME!!!! One time that happened!” the boss retreated to his office, grinning. I didn’t even have Robbie’s number. But there wasn’t many places he’d be around there. I just hoped I’d have room to turn the beast around. I was familiar with 35 point turns in something as wide as 3 motorway lanes where the police had closed the road for you to turn around….
I know why they kept that truck. It was paid for. It was cheap on tax and did the same fuel consumption as most of the fleet – 8mpg. Maybe 9 if you’re careful. We wouldn’t be careful today. Pulling another LGV, Large Goods Vehicle, probably weighing 26 to 44 tons from another truck would drop the MPG to half or quarter that. Bugger.
The walk to the office went via the canteen to return the hidden drinks can I had and grab a bottle of water. From the office I got the paperwork needed for taking a vehicle out of the yard on an irregular run. A regular run has something generate by the computer and stuff. For everything else we have the other bits. I asked for the fuel card and the keys for the brute, and also grabbed the new lithium Bluetti power pack one of the sales droids had picked up. It was for the sales staff to power their laptops on the road. Today I’d be using it to power my satnav, my phone and the LED hazard light bar I’d be running.
The old Volvo FH16 750 8x4 was a 4 axled (2 driven) ‘8 wheeler’ 520kw 16 litre engined tractor unit with a 10-ton concrete and steel block braced on the back of the truck and locked into the fifth wheel. The ungainly block was used when we needed weight on the truck for things like the MOT test or garage work. It was best suited for working in quarries or forestry and pulling very heavy loads. Along with the concrete block there were side lockers sitting on top of the mud guards with bars and recovery parts to go out and rescue the fleet. We could swap out the concrete block for a large winch that ran off the hydraulic system on the truck. So far they’d not let me play with that…
It was quite a beast, but it was now quite old and didn’t have working air con, stereo and was a manual gearbox. At least it wasn’t a Scania I mused.
So I decided I needed a minion. I wasn’t going to be carting this around in this heat
“Mandy, got anyone available to help me load up the old 8 legger? Robbie’s broken something” she smiled
“Yeah, he has hasn’t he. But you’re not dragging me out there. It took me ages to get the grease out of my fingernails”
“But you had fun didn’t you” she grinned at me
“So. Anyone else?”
“What about that new kid”
“I thought he went out on a run?”
“Nah, it was going to an RDC and you know how they hate passengers, even staff members”
“So he’s here is he?”
“Somewhere. He might be over near the wash”
And so, with the paperwork, keys and powerpack I left the office.
The sun was hot, the sky was clear, and I was already working up a sweat by the time I’d walked down the yard to the corner where the dark blue Volvo sat quietly in the corner. Dusty. Splattered windscreen. A real bug fest. It was a flat front, raking lines down the side to give it a ‘streamlined’ look and the new ones had nice snazzy LED side lights. This one didn’t.
Putting the powerpack on the mudguard for the 2nd axle I unlocked the cab and then hoisted it up into the footwell. Then climbed up the 3 steps into the cab, lifting the power pack up into the middle of the cab.
It was a two-seater, with a mostly flat floor. Behind the driver and passenger seats where normally there was a bunk, was a window to look out over the back of the truck. Lower there were some tool rolls and tool boxes. Normally the bunk would be down but because we mostly used this for recovery and heavy-duty work, the engineers in the workshop had rigged this up. The bunk was locked in place in the roof and when descended would be in good condition to sleep on rather than be messy from having kit dumped on it. It worked out well for us.
I stuck the power pack back there and plugged in some of the external power lines into it. We had connections into the cab roof for the light bar. Assuming it was still in the stores.
I slid out of the cab again and checked the fluids; oil and water levels and stuff like that. A bit messy but has to be done, then popped the ignition on. Nothing untoward and shortly later the 16-litre diesel engine was happy burbling away building up air and happily using 2 gallons an hour…
After building the pressure up I slowly drove it forwards out of the weeds, the popped out for a light check, and then back in the cab over to the wash. Leaving it idling I made sure the windows were closed and went out to the Minion.
“Ahh, excellent, you’re already familiar with the wash. Can you wash this cab down and take extra care to get the bugs off the windscreen” and the order was returned with a sullen nod
“Have you had lunch?” a shake of the head
“That’s OK, we’ll get something on the road” that perked him up
“Yeah, we’re off out for a drive, and you’re coming. I’m off to find some bits so give it a good clean. If you’ve time you can work all the way around. But if you see a black greasy bit don’t wash that. Got it?” A happy nod, so I went off to find the light bar.
The dark of the workshop I found the other two mechanics. Grease-stained dark overalls, black encrusted hands clutching mugs of what looked like tea as they chatted. A packet of digestive biscuits was open on a plate and they looked up guiltily when they saw me
“Don’t worry, I’m the one that’s got it. Robbie’s broken down at the gateway, and muggins here is off out. I guess to tow him back. I’m after the light bar and electrics leads?
“We heard. News travels fast. Are you taking the kid?”
“Yeah, get him out of your hair. Washing trucks?”
“We were gonna get him to start sweeping the workshop next”
“Can’t you show him interesting stuff. He’s left college. He’s the end of his teenage years and likes trucks, c’mon guys!”
“Hmm” one said. “Let’s get these kit bags” and with a groan rose to his feet. At least he knew where they were stored.
By the time I got outside the cab was gleaming in the sun, already drying quickly. A ladder was dragged out and rested on the cab and the 6ft wide LED chapter 8 light bar was clanged in place with its magnetic studs and the cable run in. A metal wire was run through it as a backup. Health & Safety reckoned it may fly off if we reached a fast speed but the manufacturers said that was 70mph. I reckoned we’d do well to reach 60mph, as it was limited to 56mph!
I stuck the extra bag of long extension cables onto one of the cargo slots on the deck and strapped it down and looking around found the minion swigging from a bottle of coke, I’d seen it earlier on the table near the biscuits. I beckoned him over, he drained it out and hurried over.
Mandy came over with some new fresh hivis tops, and even the medium sized one dwarfed him. Mine was in the truck.
“Take care out there, the boss wants it dragged back here if you can”
I unlocked the passenger door from inside and pushed the door a little, and he opened it and climbed up. I don’t think he was expecting the 3 steps to get in but was soon sitting in the passenger seat, grinning. I tested the LED light bar as the upper part of the workshop was reflective and saw all the amber and white strobes reflected back, so powered it off and fired up the beast.
It had just under half a tank of diesel. It should be OK. But I had the fuel card.
“Seatbelt. What’s your name”
“Everyone calls me kid or minion here”
“Yeah, I know, but its nice to be polite sometimes”
“Rob” he replied
“I’m Ty. I’ll be your driver today” he just seemed happy to be in the passenger seat.
I pulled away in 2nd gear and drove out of the yard carefully. The satnav was already pointing me towards London Gateway, a motorway services complex that was nearly 2 hours away off the M1 near the M25. I disliked visiting the M25.
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Fred
- Site Staff
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- Joined: 20 Sep 2016, 12:37
Re: Recovery
Rob finished his Coke, and I expect you'll be generous with the drinks on this run. 
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Tytn
- Site Staff
- Posts: 1060
- Joined: 31 Aug 2016, 23:29
- Location: UK
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Re: Recovery
It is hot weather after all. Perhaps he will understand the benefit of drinking water in this heat wave over fizzy drinks…
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Tytn
- Site Staff
- Posts: 1060
- Joined: 31 Aug 2016, 23:29
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Re: Recovery
The turning circle was pretty bad, the front two axles steered but it was still a wide turning circle, so I had to take things slow to get going. Thankfully it did have power steering! The awesome power meant that I could block change up to 7th gear quite quickly, even though I was only doing 30mph. Leaving the industrial estate the depot was on was easy enough and soon we were pulling onto the dual carriageway. The M6 had roadworks so turned away from the normal route and opted to join the M42. It also took me past a small Snax24, a small garage before the motorway. It didn’t have a canopy over the HGV high speed fuel pumps, and I pulled in there.
“If you want any food or drink, this is the place to get it. We’ll be on the motorway soon” and he took the hint. He swung the door open and doing it properly, facing into the cab, he used both hands on the hand bars and climbed down one step at a time. I suspect another driver had already explained it didn’t work out if you ‘jumped’ out of the cab.
In the past I had taken the express route down when I was so tired I ‘forgot’ there were many steps the ground. Dropping the two meters down onto the grass verge had certainly woken me up quickly.
I handed in the fuel card and got some supplies.
I opted for two 1 litre bottles of water and some chocolate. That would go soon enough. It wouldn’t have time to melt. He went for a bottle of coke and also some chocolate. I wasn’t going to say anything but he was nearly my height anyway at nearly 6ft, reasonably thin, flat chested but already building up muscles where needed. Wearing scruffy light blue jeans that were still damp from using the pressure washer, and a light blue tshirt. At least he had safety boots on.
“Are you sure you want coke?” I asked “There aren’t many options to stop on the road, and we’re on a deadline”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine” he replied as he settled back into the passenger seat. I stowed my extra water bottle behind the seats, with one in the spacious cup holder and then slid back down and setup the diesel pump. They had removed the lock from the handle so I had to hold the trigger for the next few minutes as I put 300 litres into the tank. At the price of diesel now, I’m sure the boss wouldn’t mind me putting £600 in. I went in and signed for the fuel, and then returned to the now dry truck. He had cleaned the windscreen off, and it looked quite clean. It needed a decent polish but there was no way I was going to polish the metal work in this heat.
Back in the cab he’d already finished his chocolate and started on his coke. I fired up the beast and headed out into traffic.
Away from roundabouts I quickly got up to speed and despite mostly being used to automatic gearboxes, as the fleet was that now, the 16 speed ‘stick shift’ was nice to drive. Starting in 2nd gear I block changed quickly into ‘high box’ which was triggered via a switch on the gearstick, and the revs barely passed 1200 rpm before I was in the next gear. The power on this was awesome. I could even block change 3 gears at a time than 2, but I’d need to get the revs much higher for that and it would jolt the truck more. Best to stay on 2 in the block.
The M42 gave way to the M6 on the slip, and then onto the M1. The windows open, and no stereo, it was nice and peaceful. Before we’d even reached Milton Keynes I noticed most of his coke was gone. Personally I stayed away from fizzy drinks now. But he was young and innocent.
We passed over the M25 M1 junction and pressed on, and it wasn’t long before I saw the exit for the London Gateway services
“Heads up, we’re coming off to the services” I called as we slowed down, he nodded and seemed eager for a change. He had stayed quiet and just seemed on edge. The retarder brake worked well with the manual gearbox and I barely used the foot brake at all, and was much slower onto the slip road than I usually would have been. And, spotted our wayward driver almost immediately. A police car behind with the light bar going as he’d failed to make it to the barest refuge shoulder available, and was taking up part of lane one. Already a queue was forming to squeeze past, so I pulled in front and backed up to his artic. I fired up all of the lights as well as the rear work lights. These were awesome LED lights that shone down onto the catwalk of my truck but also backwards for manoeuvring in the dark. It was great here too as it was a hot sunny day and the bright sunlight was going to put everyone in sunglasses.
I backed up quite close and then checking my mirrors called over
“Right. Heads up. Put your hivis on and stay on the inside edge of the road. Don’t wander away, and stay near the truck. Don’t stand in the traffic, as they are unforgiving, and stay away from the cops or the safety guys. Everything is being watched here. We have overwatch by the motorway cctv lot too. They record these for safety. I’ll hand you some tools now and you can relay them down to the ground, and then you can help me with the tow bars, ok?” he nodded and stood uncertainly by the passenger door, then stepped close to it
“Any chance of going to the services after this?” he asked, almost too quietly
“Probably not, we’ll be routed back onto the motorway as soon as possible. The other driver’s been here some time and he might be running out of hours. He’ll need to be driving whilst being towed back, so we can’t wait” and with that I handed out one of my toolboxes.
I had in the past sorted through things and made up a box I’d need of the relevant bits. I also had some gloves but it might be too hot for them. I handed him the box and he pulled it down to the footwell and then climbing down he pulled it out from the footwell to the ground. Someone had taught him some sense then. I pulled off my t-shirt and pulled on a hivis thin tshirt for motorway use, and also double checked the lightbar was switched on. Engine off, and I left the cab too. Down on the ground the heat was stifling and the rank smell from all those exhaust pipes of passing vehicle was vile, but I had a job to do.
In the UK, working on roads you needed a particular type of HiVis. Usually orange but often yellow. 2 bands of reflective was class 2, 3 bands was class 3. I had a short sleeved shirt so that was only class 2. Good enough for this but if I was on a fast flowing motorway hard shoulder I would have to have class 3 long sleeved tshirt and the class 3 trousers. Despite that, drivers still fail to spot us and frequently drive into things they should be paying attention on
Robbie met me at the back of my truck
“Hiya mate, sorry you didn’t get a real wrecker” he grinned
“Anything to drag me out. I’ve lost drive, but the engine still works ok. I’m running light so the mid lift is up but the gearbox won’t select anything and on manual mode it tries but doesn’t engage.”
“OK, we’ll hook up the bar and I’ll drag you back. You can idle your engine for steering and brakes”
“And aircon” he grinned
“Do you want me to leave you here? I only have 240 aircon in that”
“240…”
“Both windows open at 40mph” we both grinned. The old aircon version.
We carried the heavy thick tow bar out of the side lockers and Robbie and I lined it up to the rear of my truck and the front of his. Discovering his tow point took a bit but we got it slotted in. Robbie and I holding up the 70kg bar and the kid lining up for the hole, then dropping the slot pin in place. Once that end was in, we let it dangle. I returned to the cab and following Robbie’s calls eased it back until the bar slotted into the drawbar slot on the back of my rig. That was a lock pin, so all I had to do was push against it and it would lock itself.
“Clear! Tugging” I called out of the window and watched as Robbie carefully stepped back into the flow of traffic looking towards the oncoming cars, and the others moved to the verge. Selecting second gear I eased up the slack and then piled the power on. I did that twice, then moved it back once and tried again. It was a method to make sure whatever I was towing was locked in on the pin. The norm was two forward tugs but I had found that in the past going back once took the strain off the link so when pulled forwards again, if it was going to fail it would. Now I knew it was locked in I shut it all down and slipped out. I put the safety clips in, then grabbed my tools and walked down to the passenger side of the broke 44t artic. It was the newer version of mine, a Volvo FH16 550 coupled up to the curtainsider trailer. A lovely truck to drive, with full leather and setup for that driver to be on the road all week. Except the new dual clutch systems on the automatic gearbox had their moments. Like today.
The kid was standing near some Highways Officers, and I noticed they had rocked up in their 4x4 and parked blocking lane one and pushing everyone to the outside. The kid wasn’t talking but didn’t seem to like all those people around. He looked too hot and furtive glanced around kept his eyes darting around. I wasn’t going to put him in a dangerous position so cracked on with the job. Because it was being ‘flat towed’ I was going to disconnect the drive, so got the driver to run the air up on the unit and raise the back up. As expected, the midlift dropped but it was an unpowered axle and as long as everything was up I’d have more room. I slid underneath and undid the bolts holding the rear prop shaft into the axle, then leaving it held in by two finger tight bolts slid up to the next link and undid the section bolted to the chassis, there was a UJ there and another prop to the gearbox. Being new it came off reasonably quickly. I put the bolts back in place and then slid out with the dusty dirty rear prop shaft. My hands already black and grubby. I would have preferred gloves but no matter.
The rear hubs were a bit better and Robbie handed me an airgun
“And you have this for”
“Winding the legs up” he grinned.
“I’m sure it’s faster than the handle, but that’s how we keep fit”
“I polish my truck, that’s enough exercise. Plus I have a girlfriend”
“There are many things I could say, but I’d only get in trouble” and grinned at him. It was not long ago we found a ‘special’ keyring in the keys locker in the drivers canteen that turned out to be a vibrator. It was carefully disposed of but drivers were reminded not to leave their ‘toys’ around. The boss was old enough he didn’t even know what it was and was going to use it on his key chain dongle. He was not amused when the office manager asked him about it. He spent a while washing his hands apparently.
I removed the legs adapter from the airgun and popped on a 15mm socket. With his unit running, the airgun had plenty of air to whip off the nuts holding the hub plate in, then I slid the long oily shaft out. I wrapped it in spill kit wrap and carried it around to the other side, and did the same with that one. Now there was no drive at all to his ‘driven’ axle he could operate the truck without the gearbox getting issues or locking the wheels. The hub shafts were fixed to the outside hub plate, and with the shafts out there was no plate to cover the axle oil leaking out, so I’d need to fix that. The shafts were now in his external ‘dirty’ locker, a tray resting on his catwalk behind his cab. I put the propshaft there too. The garage could reattach those.
I had a set of hub covers in the truck, and they were stamped with our company details, and were in the toolbox. I popped them into place and whizzed up the nuts then I was done. It hadn’t taken long and everyone was happy things had progressed. Except the kid. He didn’t look happy at all. Perhaps it was too noisy for him. He stood back from the road, legs clamped closed and looked flushed and too hot.
I grabbed all my stuff and returned it to the truck. I slid it into the passenger footwell just behind the I pulled a 10 litre water drum from its hole and tipped it over, opening the valve and warm water started to trickle out. I used some Swarfega and covered my hands in the gritty soap and then opening the valve a bit more washed my hands off of the grime from down there. It was mostly sorted and the kid came over, and spotted me. He seemed to not see the water jug but when he did, it seemed to make him more distracted. I already could see the signs of him regretting that bottle of coke so had no problem in washing my hands again.
The water splattering onto the ground was not something he wanted to hear so quickly hurried back to the passenger door. I finished and wiped my hands on my trousers fronts. They were mostly clean, or cleaner. As I watched the kid lifted the toolbox from the footwell and back where I got it from, and so I returned to the driver
“We’ll circle the services, take it wide if you can, and we’ll head back up”
“I think the new kid needs a slash” he grinned at me
“That obvious is it?” he nodded “He had a large coke on the way down, he’ll learn. Ok, we’ll stop in the services and go and grab an ice cream, ok?” the driver nodded
The kid got in, and strapped himself in place, and I fired up the beast. Robbie updated the Police the plan and they’d escort us to the services garage, as they’d close the slip for us.
Returning to the cab I fired up the beast and left the roof lights on and turned off the work lights, then eased it into 1st gear. A slight jolt as we took the strain and I stuck my thumb out of the window, and I felt the load give as Robbie took the handbrake off and we moved off.
I kept it slow but even then I was soon in 3rd gear as we approached the roundabout, and I took it wide. He followed keeping it wide and his trailer axles 90ft back, only just cleared the roundabout, and we drove into the services. The flashing lights group stayed behind us keeping the traffic back. I followed the access road along towards the fuel pumps and then selected the side lane next to them and pulled the combination through before stopping.
I turned the engine off, and slid from the cab, and Rob followed suit. I went around to the bar and checked it over. All was good. I grabbed some signs from the cab and clipped on some 6ft long metal signs on the back of his trailer for ‘on tow’ and returned to the front. Rob and Robbie were gone and the Police were there, doing their reports. I helped them with some of our company details as he filled his forms out, and then Robbie returned with a carrier bag and a grin. He handed out chocolate ice creams to the two police officers, two highways guys, me and him. One was left for Rob
“He ran ahead you know” he said, grinning
“Coke does that to you. He’ll learn”
“It was like Niagara in the disabled loo. Next time he’ll shut the door properly”
“I’m sure he had other pressing needs” and we wandered over to the crash barrier to await Rob and enjoy our ice creams.
He returned, looking like the weight of Zeus was lifted from his shoulders and was given the bag with the last ice cream in it. He settled gingerly onto the crash barrier and we enjoyed our cold goodness for the few minutes we were there. I doubted Rob knew that his stretched bladder would soon shrink and he another half a litre to leave him yet.
“If you want any food or drink, this is the place to get it. We’ll be on the motorway soon” and he took the hint. He swung the door open and doing it properly, facing into the cab, he used both hands on the hand bars and climbed down one step at a time. I suspect another driver had already explained it didn’t work out if you ‘jumped’ out of the cab.
In the past I had taken the express route down when I was so tired I ‘forgot’ there were many steps the ground. Dropping the two meters down onto the grass verge had certainly woken me up quickly.
I handed in the fuel card and got some supplies.
I opted for two 1 litre bottles of water and some chocolate. That would go soon enough. It wouldn’t have time to melt. He went for a bottle of coke and also some chocolate. I wasn’t going to say anything but he was nearly my height anyway at nearly 6ft, reasonably thin, flat chested but already building up muscles where needed. Wearing scruffy light blue jeans that were still damp from using the pressure washer, and a light blue tshirt. At least he had safety boots on.
“Are you sure you want coke?” I asked “There aren’t many options to stop on the road, and we’re on a deadline”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine” he replied as he settled back into the passenger seat. I stowed my extra water bottle behind the seats, with one in the spacious cup holder and then slid back down and setup the diesel pump. They had removed the lock from the handle so I had to hold the trigger for the next few minutes as I put 300 litres into the tank. At the price of diesel now, I’m sure the boss wouldn’t mind me putting £600 in. I went in and signed for the fuel, and then returned to the now dry truck. He had cleaned the windscreen off, and it looked quite clean. It needed a decent polish but there was no way I was going to polish the metal work in this heat.
Back in the cab he’d already finished his chocolate and started on his coke. I fired up the beast and headed out into traffic.
Away from roundabouts I quickly got up to speed and despite mostly being used to automatic gearboxes, as the fleet was that now, the 16 speed ‘stick shift’ was nice to drive. Starting in 2nd gear I block changed quickly into ‘high box’ which was triggered via a switch on the gearstick, and the revs barely passed 1200 rpm before I was in the next gear. The power on this was awesome. I could even block change 3 gears at a time than 2, but I’d need to get the revs much higher for that and it would jolt the truck more. Best to stay on 2 in the block.
The M42 gave way to the M6 on the slip, and then onto the M1. The windows open, and no stereo, it was nice and peaceful. Before we’d even reached Milton Keynes I noticed most of his coke was gone. Personally I stayed away from fizzy drinks now. But he was young and innocent.
We passed over the M25 M1 junction and pressed on, and it wasn’t long before I saw the exit for the London Gateway services
“Heads up, we’re coming off to the services” I called as we slowed down, he nodded and seemed eager for a change. He had stayed quiet and just seemed on edge. The retarder brake worked well with the manual gearbox and I barely used the foot brake at all, and was much slower onto the slip road than I usually would have been. And, spotted our wayward driver almost immediately. A police car behind with the light bar going as he’d failed to make it to the barest refuge shoulder available, and was taking up part of lane one. Already a queue was forming to squeeze past, so I pulled in front and backed up to his artic. I fired up all of the lights as well as the rear work lights. These were awesome LED lights that shone down onto the catwalk of my truck but also backwards for manoeuvring in the dark. It was great here too as it was a hot sunny day and the bright sunlight was going to put everyone in sunglasses.
I backed up quite close and then checking my mirrors called over
“Right. Heads up. Put your hivis on and stay on the inside edge of the road. Don’t wander away, and stay near the truck. Don’t stand in the traffic, as they are unforgiving, and stay away from the cops or the safety guys. Everything is being watched here. We have overwatch by the motorway cctv lot too. They record these for safety. I’ll hand you some tools now and you can relay them down to the ground, and then you can help me with the tow bars, ok?” he nodded and stood uncertainly by the passenger door, then stepped close to it
“Any chance of going to the services after this?” he asked, almost too quietly
“Probably not, we’ll be routed back onto the motorway as soon as possible. The other driver’s been here some time and he might be running out of hours. He’ll need to be driving whilst being towed back, so we can’t wait” and with that I handed out one of my toolboxes.
I had in the past sorted through things and made up a box I’d need of the relevant bits. I also had some gloves but it might be too hot for them. I handed him the box and he pulled it down to the footwell and then climbing down he pulled it out from the footwell to the ground. Someone had taught him some sense then. I pulled off my t-shirt and pulled on a hivis thin tshirt for motorway use, and also double checked the lightbar was switched on. Engine off, and I left the cab too. Down on the ground the heat was stifling and the rank smell from all those exhaust pipes of passing vehicle was vile, but I had a job to do.
In the UK, working on roads you needed a particular type of HiVis. Usually orange but often yellow. 2 bands of reflective was class 2, 3 bands was class 3. I had a short sleeved shirt so that was only class 2. Good enough for this but if I was on a fast flowing motorway hard shoulder I would have to have class 3 long sleeved tshirt and the class 3 trousers. Despite that, drivers still fail to spot us and frequently drive into things they should be paying attention on
Robbie met me at the back of my truck
“Hiya mate, sorry you didn’t get a real wrecker” he grinned
“Anything to drag me out. I’ve lost drive, but the engine still works ok. I’m running light so the mid lift is up but the gearbox won’t select anything and on manual mode it tries but doesn’t engage.”
“OK, we’ll hook up the bar and I’ll drag you back. You can idle your engine for steering and brakes”
“And aircon” he grinned
“Do you want me to leave you here? I only have 240 aircon in that”
“240…”
“Both windows open at 40mph” we both grinned. The old aircon version.
We carried the heavy thick tow bar out of the side lockers and Robbie and I lined it up to the rear of my truck and the front of his. Discovering his tow point took a bit but we got it slotted in. Robbie and I holding up the 70kg bar and the kid lining up for the hole, then dropping the slot pin in place. Once that end was in, we let it dangle. I returned to the cab and following Robbie’s calls eased it back until the bar slotted into the drawbar slot on the back of my rig. That was a lock pin, so all I had to do was push against it and it would lock itself.
“Clear! Tugging” I called out of the window and watched as Robbie carefully stepped back into the flow of traffic looking towards the oncoming cars, and the others moved to the verge. Selecting second gear I eased up the slack and then piled the power on. I did that twice, then moved it back once and tried again. It was a method to make sure whatever I was towing was locked in on the pin. The norm was two forward tugs but I had found that in the past going back once took the strain off the link so when pulled forwards again, if it was going to fail it would. Now I knew it was locked in I shut it all down and slipped out. I put the safety clips in, then grabbed my tools and walked down to the passenger side of the broke 44t artic. It was the newer version of mine, a Volvo FH16 550 coupled up to the curtainsider trailer. A lovely truck to drive, with full leather and setup for that driver to be on the road all week. Except the new dual clutch systems on the automatic gearbox had their moments. Like today.
The kid was standing near some Highways Officers, and I noticed they had rocked up in their 4x4 and parked blocking lane one and pushing everyone to the outside. The kid wasn’t talking but didn’t seem to like all those people around. He looked too hot and furtive glanced around kept his eyes darting around. I wasn’t going to put him in a dangerous position so cracked on with the job. Because it was being ‘flat towed’ I was going to disconnect the drive, so got the driver to run the air up on the unit and raise the back up. As expected, the midlift dropped but it was an unpowered axle and as long as everything was up I’d have more room. I slid underneath and undid the bolts holding the rear prop shaft into the axle, then leaving it held in by two finger tight bolts slid up to the next link and undid the section bolted to the chassis, there was a UJ there and another prop to the gearbox. Being new it came off reasonably quickly. I put the bolts back in place and then slid out with the dusty dirty rear prop shaft. My hands already black and grubby. I would have preferred gloves but no matter.
The rear hubs were a bit better and Robbie handed me an airgun
“And you have this for”
“Winding the legs up” he grinned.
“I’m sure it’s faster than the handle, but that’s how we keep fit”
“I polish my truck, that’s enough exercise. Plus I have a girlfriend”
“There are many things I could say, but I’d only get in trouble” and grinned at him. It was not long ago we found a ‘special’ keyring in the keys locker in the drivers canteen that turned out to be a vibrator. It was carefully disposed of but drivers were reminded not to leave their ‘toys’ around. The boss was old enough he didn’t even know what it was and was going to use it on his key chain dongle. He was not amused when the office manager asked him about it. He spent a while washing his hands apparently.
I removed the legs adapter from the airgun and popped on a 15mm socket. With his unit running, the airgun had plenty of air to whip off the nuts holding the hub plate in, then I slid the long oily shaft out. I wrapped it in spill kit wrap and carried it around to the other side, and did the same with that one. Now there was no drive at all to his ‘driven’ axle he could operate the truck without the gearbox getting issues or locking the wheels. The hub shafts were fixed to the outside hub plate, and with the shafts out there was no plate to cover the axle oil leaking out, so I’d need to fix that. The shafts were now in his external ‘dirty’ locker, a tray resting on his catwalk behind his cab. I put the propshaft there too. The garage could reattach those.
I had a set of hub covers in the truck, and they were stamped with our company details, and were in the toolbox. I popped them into place and whizzed up the nuts then I was done. It hadn’t taken long and everyone was happy things had progressed. Except the kid. He didn’t look happy at all. Perhaps it was too noisy for him. He stood back from the road, legs clamped closed and looked flushed and too hot.
I grabbed all my stuff and returned it to the truck. I slid it into the passenger footwell just behind the I pulled a 10 litre water drum from its hole and tipped it over, opening the valve and warm water started to trickle out. I used some Swarfega and covered my hands in the gritty soap and then opening the valve a bit more washed my hands off of the grime from down there. It was mostly sorted and the kid came over, and spotted me. He seemed to not see the water jug but when he did, it seemed to make him more distracted. I already could see the signs of him regretting that bottle of coke so had no problem in washing my hands again.
The water splattering onto the ground was not something he wanted to hear so quickly hurried back to the passenger door. I finished and wiped my hands on my trousers fronts. They were mostly clean, or cleaner. As I watched the kid lifted the toolbox from the footwell and back where I got it from, and so I returned to the driver
“We’ll circle the services, take it wide if you can, and we’ll head back up”
“I think the new kid needs a slash” he grinned at me
“That obvious is it?” he nodded “He had a large coke on the way down, he’ll learn. Ok, we’ll stop in the services and go and grab an ice cream, ok?” the driver nodded
The kid got in, and strapped himself in place, and I fired up the beast. Robbie updated the Police the plan and they’d escort us to the services garage, as they’d close the slip for us.
Returning to the cab I fired up the beast and left the roof lights on and turned off the work lights, then eased it into 1st gear. A slight jolt as we took the strain and I stuck my thumb out of the window, and I felt the load give as Robbie took the handbrake off and we moved off.
I kept it slow but even then I was soon in 3rd gear as we approached the roundabout, and I took it wide. He followed keeping it wide and his trailer axles 90ft back, only just cleared the roundabout, and we drove into the services. The flashing lights group stayed behind us keeping the traffic back. I followed the access road along towards the fuel pumps and then selected the side lane next to them and pulled the combination through before stopping.
I turned the engine off, and slid from the cab, and Rob followed suit. I went around to the bar and checked it over. All was good. I grabbed some signs from the cab and clipped on some 6ft long metal signs on the back of his trailer for ‘on tow’ and returned to the front. Rob and Robbie were gone and the Police were there, doing their reports. I helped them with some of our company details as he filled his forms out, and then Robbie returned with a carrier bag and a grin. He handed out chocolate ice creams to the two police officers, two highways guys, me and him. One was left for Rob
“He ran ahead you know” he said, grinning
“Coke does that to you. He’ll learn”
“It was like Niagara in the disabled loo. Next time he’ll shut the door properly”
“I’m sure he had other pressing needs” and we wandered over to the crash barrier to await Rob and enjoy our ice creams.
He returned, looking like the weight of Zeus was lifted from his shoulders and was given the bag with the last ice cream in it. He settled gingerly onto the crash barrier and we enjoyed our cold goodness for the few minutes we were there. I doubted Rob knew that his stretched bladder would soon shrink and he another half a litre to leave him yet.
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Tytn
- Site Staff
- Posts: 1060
- Joined: 31 Aug 2016, 23:29
- Location: UK
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Re: Recovery
I've gone through and changed a few details to make it flow better
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Tytn
- Site Staff
- Posts: 1060
- Joined: 31 Aug 2016, 23:29
- Location: UK
- Gender:
Re: Recovery
I checked with Robbie on what he thought it was, and how much time he had left. Enough, I figured, so after another walk around check of the combination I returned to mine and fired it up. It idled as a purr as the awesome 750hp engine would love this. I’d hate to do this in a 340 FM12, which I had before.
My minion climbed up into his perch in the passenger seat; relatively dwarfing up as it was built for larger truck drivers (like myself) and he had the last ¼ of his bottle of coke. He took a swig, no doubt to wash the sweet taste of the ice cream out. He slid his seatbelt in, and glanced over at me,
“What?” he asked
“I was just making sure you were ready” he grinned back
“Next time, get a truck with aircon”
“This is a unique older truck you know”
“Yeah… unique….” As he ran a finger through the dust on the dashboard and held it up to me. As it didn’t get used often it built up a layer of dust
I took up the pressure in 1st gear and I felt the weight as Robbie released his handbrake. He’d be running up with the engine on for steering and brake control. The steering was heavy enough as it was in a vehicle that size so the power steering was a needed, and the brakes needed the engine control to pressurise it.
By the time we reached the slip road I was up to 4th gear. I was only taking it up 1200 rpm before I changed gear so I wouldn’t run out of speed in the gear changes. I could have taken it up to 1500 but I wanted it smooth and easy for the guy tailgating me. I even used the indicators as much as I could because the towed vehicle needed to duplicate my signals.
Getting out onto the motorway was easier than I thought and I was soon up to 10th at 45mph, it felt the same as when fully loading towing frozen chips. Or frozen pinapples, if you happened to have a trailer someone had set the temperature wrong on.
I was now in lane 1 (left most lane) doing about 52mph in top gear (16) and the wind through the window gave no option for talking but it was a good flow of air. In my mirrors the tailgater was still there and his windows were up. Another thing for him running the engine. He had aircon. Hmm
Frequent mirror checks are an important thing in driving and we’d not long crossed the M25 when I noticed the movement. My passenger couldn’t sit still and moved his legs around. Probably too hot for the little tyke. Maybe.
Toddington services were approaching. We’d had the marker about 3 miles before and he pipped up, as I knew he would
“Hey, can we pull into those services for a mo? I need a leak”
“Afraid not, you’ll have to wait”
“But…”
“We’re towing an 80ft long truck behind our truck. There isn’t anywhere for me to safely stop in there and I wouldn’t get past the fuel island on the exit. I’ve been there before and it’s not something I want to do again whilst on a recovery. It won’t be long to base anyway”
“I need….” He gasped, squirming again
“Plus also, the other driver is on limited time. You know we use these cards, right? I pointed to the tachograph card machine. He nodded
“We are limited on time of what we can drive for, and our total working week. He’s coming up on his limit. He is technically still driving and without him doing that we’d need another driver. So we have to get back to the depot soonest. Besides, you just went at the last services” he glared at me but said nothing.
The cruise control helped here a lot. I was set at 52mph and I knew my tailgater would cope with that. We were being overtaken a lot and a few of the company trucks passed us too, air horns blaring and the drivers waving at us.
We ate up the miles at the steady plod up. The truck was giving me a nice 10mpg which was quite spectacular for what it was towing. The lower powered trucks used more diesel and were slower. This truck had amazing levels of power and I could probably tow him back on the limiter but the driver would have been stressed even more on that trip.
At least this way he was a bit more relaxed. He rarely touched the brakes and his steering was rock steady behind me.
The legs waved in and out on my passenger. Occasionally a hand would slip down for a squeeze, he readjusted his position on the chair trying to find somewhere comfortable
“You could lean the seat back a bit, it might help” he didn’t reply but did so, and the more relaxed pose indicated he felt that was better. Although I’m sure by now his kidneys were doing as they should do and push all the sugary liquid down and out.
He squirmed more as we passed signs for services, no doubt his bladder strongly reminding him that it needed emptying and that was the place to do it. His face was flushed and he was sweating, his arm frequently moving up to wipe the sweat from his brow.
Northampton services were approaching and he asked again, he looked quite unwell and his fist was spending more time clamped over his bulge and then wiping the sweat on his trousers. We dropped into the ‘tram lines’ with a jolt and he moaned loud enough for me to hear and after another long squeeze reached his fist up to his face, probably to check if he’d actually leaked. I wondered how long he could last.
The ’tram lines’ were an old section of motorway where the millions of trucks using that section of lane had made two wheel tracks that were the right track for trucks. Not for cars, and they just avoided the inside lane.
Ahead I could see a sea of brake lights stretching off and I started to slow down. Off with the power, on with the retarder and I popped my hand out of the window circling down, I felt his foot brake working pulling me back with more of a jolt.
Rob looked up
“Wh… what we slowing down for”
“The office haven’t given me blue lights this time…” and pointed ahead to standing traffic
“This time?” he gave me the look. I smiled
“Oh, was that why you were nice to the cops with the ice cream?” I nodded
I chose this moment to open a bottle of water and drank the top 1/3, the look from him was a mix of worry and malevolence, and a spasm of pain.
We were down to about 20mph now and keeping a good separation to the van in front. Rob was not happy. I was sure his large bottle of coke had left its mark on him and wondered when he’d reach the next stage. Surely he’d go for that then actually springing a leak
“You ok over there?” I asked
“No. I really really really have to take a leak! I don’t think I can wait back to the yard”
“It’s gonna be another hour with this traffic at least, maybe more”
“More” he gasped, moaning, his fist again squeezing his bulge and his legs wagging in and out. A glance down revealed his tshirt loose around his waist but that could also be to shed heat than anything.
“Can you…” he indicated the hard shoulder
“We’re being followed on the CCTV after our recovery from the services. At every tower they’ll have us tagged until we leave the network. Just in case” he muttered something quietly
“It’ll be over in 2 hours, you’ll be fine, you’re a growing lad, I’m sure you can wait” I offered
“We can’t stop, so do you have any other better ideas?” I asked. He glared at me and I could tell he was reaching his limit.
My minion climbed up into his perch in the passenger seat; relatively dwarfing up as it was built for larger truck drivers (like myself) and he had the last ¼ of his bottle of coke. He took a swig, no doubt to wash the sweet taste of the ice cream out. He slid his seatbelt in, and glanced over at me,
“What?” he asked
“I was just making sure you were ready” he grinned back
“Next time, get a truck with aircon”
“This is a unique older truck you know”
“Yeah… unique….” As he ran a finger through the dust on the dashboard and held it up to me. As it didn’t get used often it built up a layer of dust
I took up the pressure in 1st gear and I felt the weight as Robbie released his handbrake. He’d be running up with the engine on for steering and brake control. The steering was heavy enough as it was in a vehicle that size so the power steering was a needed, and the brakes needed the engine control to pressurise it.
By the time we reached the slip road I was up to 4th gear. I was only taking it up 1200 rpm before I changed gear so I wouldn’t run out of speed in the gear changes. I could have taken it up to 1500 but I wanted it smooth and easy for the guy tailgating me. I even used the indicators as much as I could because the towed vehicle needed to duplicate my signals.
Getting out onto the motorway was easier than I thought and I was soon up to 10th at 45mph, it felt the same as when fully loading towing frozen chips. Or frozen pinapples, if you happened to have a trailer someone had set the temperature wrong on.
I was now in lane 1 (left most lane) doing about 52mph in top gear (16) and the wind through the window gave no option for talking but it was a good flow of air. In my mirrors the tailgater was still there and his windows were up. Another thing for him running the engine. He had aircon. Hmm
Frequent mirror checks are an important thing in driving and we’d not long crossed the M25 when I noticed the movement. My passenger couldn’t sit still and moved his legs around. Probably too hot for the little tyke. Maybe.
Toddington services were approaching. We’d had the marker about 3 miles before and he pipped up, as I knew he would
“Hey, can we pull into those services for a mo? I need a leak”
“Afraid not, you’ll have to wait”
“But…”
“We’re towing an 80ft long truck behind our truck. There isn’t anywhere for me to safely stop in there and I wouldn’t get past the fuel island on the exit. I’ve been there before and it’s not something I want to do again whilst on a recovery. It won’t be long to base anyway”
“I need….” He gasped, squirming again
“Plus also, the other driver is on limited time. You know we use these cards, right? I pointed to the tachograph card machine. He nodded
“We are limited on time of what we can drive for, and our total working week. He’s coming up on his limit. He is technically still driving and without him doing that we’d need another driver. So we have to get back to the depot soonest. Besides, you just went at the last services” he glared at me but said nothing.
The cruise control helped here a lot. I was set at 52mph and I knew my tailgater would cope with that. We were being overtaken a lot and a few of the company trucks passed us too, air horns blaring and the drivers waving at us.
We ate up the miles at the steady plod up. The truck was giving me a nice 10mpg which was quite spectacular for what it was towing. The lower powered trucks used more diesel and were slower. This truck had amazing levels of power and I could probably tow him back on the limiter but the driver would have been stressed even more on that trip.
At least this way he was a bit more relaxed. He rarely touched the brakes and his steering was rock steady behind me.
The legs waved in and out on my passenger. Occasionally a hand would slip down for a squeeze, he readjusted his position on the chair trying to find somewhere comfortable
“You could lean the seat back a bit, it might help” he didn’t reply but did so, and the more relaxed pose indicated he felt that was better. Although I’m sure by now his kidneys were doing as they should do and push all the sugary liquid down and out.
He squirmed more as we passed signs for services, no doubt his bladder strongly reminding him that it needed emptying and that was the place to do it. His face was flushed and he was sweating, his arm frequently moving up to wipe the sweat from his brow.
Northampton services were approaching and he asked again, he looked quite unwell and his fist was spending more time clamped over his bulge and then wiping the sweat on his trousers. We dropped into the ‘tram lines’ with a jolt and he moaned loud enough for me to hear and after another long squeeze reached his fist up to his face, probably to check if he’d actually leaked. I wondered how long he could last.
The ’tram lines’ were an old section of motorway where the millions of trucks using that section of lane had made two wheel tracks that were the right track for trucks. Not for cars, and they just avoided the inside lane.
Ahead I could see a sea of brake lights stretching off and I started to slow down. Off with the power, on with the retarder and I popped my hand out of the window circling down, I felt his foot brake working pulling me back with more of a jolt.
Rob looked up
“Wh… what we slowing down for”
“The office haven’t given me blue lights this time…” and pointed ahead to standing traffic
“This time?” he gave me the look. I smiled
“Oh, was that why you were nice to the cops with the ice cream?” I nodded
I chose this moment to open a bottle of water and drank the top 1/3, the look from him was a mix of worry and malevolence, and a spasm of pain.
We were down to about 20mph now and keeping a good separation to the van in front. Rob was not happy. I was sure his large bottle of coke had left its mark on him and wondered when he’d reach the next stage. Surely he’d go for that then actually springing a leak
“You ok over there?” I asked
“No. I really really really have to take a leak! I don’t think I can wait back to the yard”
“It’s gonna be another hour with this traffic at least, maybe more”
“More” he gasped, moaning, his fist again squeezing his bulge and his legs wagging in and out. A glance down revealed his tshirt loose around his waist but that could also be to shed heat than anything.
“Can you…” he indicated the hard shoulder
“We’re being followed on the CCTV after our recovery from the services. At every tower they’ll have us tagged until we leave the network. Just in case” he muttered something quietly
“It’ll be over in 2 hours, you’ll be fine, you’re a growing lad, I’m sure you can wait” I offered
“We can’t stop, so do you have any other better ideas?” I asked. He glared at me and I could tell he was reaching his limit.
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bodgyuk
- Site Staff
- Posts: 547
- Joined: 17 Sep 2016, 20:50
Re: Recovery
Hmm, I wonder if he is wearing tight boxers or briefs? I wonder because with all his 'manipulations', there is always the possibility his tip is now rubbing against his underwear giving him a cross between ecstasy and an increased urge.
He is going to have to decide, does he wear it up, down or to the left or right, this could be important on whether he amplifies his looming problem or damps it down a little (I'm all for the damping or is that dampening part
)
He is going to have to decide, does he wear it up, down or to the left or right, this could be important on whether he amplifies his looming problem or damps it down a little (I'm all for the damping or is that dampening part
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Fred
- Site Staff
- Posts: 2394
- Joined: 20 Sep 2016, 12:37
Re: Recovery
The lad may have to try the pee-in-the-bottle trick, though the driver will not be pleased if he doesn't have a steady hand. Coke bottles have such a small mouth so the aim has to be perfect.