The World. As seen by Ceri.

[Minimad5]

Having used you to shift a rather dead 850, all I can do is say - Absolute gent who does a spot on service !!

Not only did the piece of shit drop oil all over your lovely trailer, but you loaded and unloaded it without a grump.... Do hope the wee extra funds covered the clean up.

10/10 .100% .Will use again.

Also keep the updates coming 

[worldofceri]

I don't recall your 850 depositing a lot of oil @Minimad5, so it won't have been the worst I've had by a long way!

Usually the next trip out in the rain takes care of it!

[xtriple]

Massively impressed by your 'get up and go' and when (if) I buy a car you will be the first and probably, only port of call.

Good luck for your continued siccess  

[worldofceri]

Well, I've edited out all the many, many hours of procrastination and general fanninying about, so my 'get up and go' levels may appear greater than they are!  But I appreciate you kind words, @xtriple!

[Liggle]

Great thread. You gave me a quote recently for moving a car from Scotland to Leicester and were by far the most prompt and friendly! Sale fell through unfortunately. 

Best of luck! Will be my first port of call for future shite shifting

[N Dentressangle]

and thanks for delivering my first rwd, air-cooled, German built 911 too ?

[St.Jude]

Don't forget, when you get to it, how you got my Lada off the steering lock with my dodgy key!

[worldofceri]

June 2018

I commented somewhere on this very forum that I didn’t have many decent pictures to put up on my website or social meeja.

@Inspector Morose asked if a Rover P4 in a rural setting would be photogenic enough.  Well, yes it would be,

As it was a Saturday, I took my apprentice along for the ride and we soon had the car relocated from one Midlands farmyard to another.

I don’t think I’m typing out of turn by mentioning that Andy still has the Rover and is open to offers from anyone who can offer it a good home.  Can assist with delivery...

This was the first time I'd used the winch in anger, and the trip also taught me a couple of lessons about how to strap older cars to the trailer.  It's a bit more difficult to position the straps securely without them fouling the bodywork due to the fact that the wheels sit well inside the arches.  It also led to me finding a more secure location to store the trailer than at the home on the drive.  I owe Andy/FPB7/InspMorose a drink really.

[Arthur Foxhake]

This man delivered a car to me on Tuesday, I'd highly recommend his services.

 

That is all.

[Six-cylinder]

I have never forgiven him for what he delivered to me!

[Eyersey1234]

23 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

I have never forgiven him for what he delivered to me!

Phooar an Allegro 

[somewhatfoolish]

@Inspector MoroseWhat flavour of P4 is it? Duo-tone is for winners.

[paulplom]

There was also this one. Delivered from Leicester to North Shields.


Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

[SiC]

July last year this was picked up and delivered straight to the garage I use


Then this sent on its way to its new owner


Last month this delivered here


Then late last month a quick movement when Ceri happened to be passing. (Unfortunately forgot to take a picture with it on the trailer)


A++++++++ Would Recommend Walsgrave Transport Again.

[Rocket88]

Just a tip from an old recovery bloke....[probably teaching you how to suck eggs]........if you can't get straps over the wheels for any reason, loop them over the back axle, stick both hooks in the same loop, on the trailer and ratchet them like buggery...just be a bit careful about brake pipes..........

[Tadhg Tiogar]

On 6/12/2020 at 6:10 PM, worldofceri said:

.....What are expensive though, are tachographs.  And not at all diyable.  It cost me over £1500 to have installed, but Carwood made a reasonably neat job of cramming it into the space where once lived a little slide-out drawer....

Are those units easily transferable between vehicles? I'm thinking of when your Kia eventually has to be replaced....

[worldofceri]

7 hours ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Are those units easily transferable between vehicles? I'm thinking of when your Kia eventually has to be replaced....

Funnily enough, I’m just in the process of doing this. There is no simple answer as there are rules concerning which type of tacho can be fitted depending on the age of the vehicle (and I have no clue about said rules). If it can be done it saves about £900 compared with a brand new unit but you still have to shell out for the fitting and calibration.

[worldofceri]

June 2018.

A couple more Shiply jobs came through.  Both big vehicles, meaning the price didn’t get bid down so far by the guys running 3.5t trucks.

The first was a Discovery, to be collected from a village way up in the Derbyshire Peak District.

All the roads into the village are single track, which is no drama, but trust my luck to meet a flippin’ artic lorry coming the other way, just as I set off with the Disco on board!  Fortunately, my reversing skillz once again passed scrutiny.

Destination was just outside Norwich and the customer had rung to say he wasn’t going to be home and could I leave the car on the drive and post the keys through the door?.  Of course, no problem Sir.  So, with the weather glorious and no deadline to meet, there was plenty of time to stop for a cheeky Capri Sun.

Land Rover successfully delivered, I headed straight for the next job.  This was an Isuzu pickup to be collected from Nottinghamshire and destined for deepest Wales.  My plan was to collect it late afternoon and find a quiet spot to kip in the car for a few hours before heading over to Wales early the following day.

I arrived at the collection address near Colsterworth just before they closed – a massive auction site specialising in ex-mod sales.  The Isuzu had seen service with the army in Cyprus.

Once loaded up, I headed a couple of miles down to Colsterworth services.  I nabbed one of the last parking spaces between a couple of artics and switched the tacho to ‘rest’.  There was no charge for overnight parking so this would be ideal.  Hemmed in by other vehicles, I wasn’t worried for the security of the trailer or the load.  Dinner was sourced from the Easy Diner – the estwhile Little Chef a shadow of it’s former self – then I made myself comfortable on the rear seat.

At six foot, I have no chance of stretching out across the back seats, but I was in a quiet spot and had a reasonably restful sleep.  Tacho rules allow for a minimum of nine hours between shifts, and my plan was to set off as early as possible.  Hence it was 4am and still dark when I slipped out of the services and took a B-road across country to join up with the A46 and later the M1 and M69.

One of my favourite things about driving is setting off when it’s still dark and most are still in bed.  Especially away from main routes where the roads truly are empty at that time of the morning.  I’ve been driving for a living for a good number of years now and the novelty still hasn’t worn off.

It was a good long run down to the Welsh coast, south of Aberystwyth.  Another thing that never gets old for me – having always lived in the midlands – is coming over a crest and seeing that first glimpse of the sea.  Even with the early start, by the time I reached the coast, the sun was high in the sky.

The buyer of the Isuzu was a cattle farmer.  He was disappointed in it’s condition, and not confident of turning much profit by the time he had it registered and mot’d etc.  It did look like it’d need a fair bit of fettling to get ready for the road to be fair, but I’d imagine that type of truck would be in high demand in his part of the world.

[Vantman]

Good enjoyable write ups Ceri,reminiscent for me of my years in car transport--self employed of course,i started with a Citroen CX and trailer and worked my way through various vehicles up to a 7 car. Keep up the good work please.

[worldofceri]

July 2018.

The next Shiply job came up very last minute:  Can you do it today?  Sure, why not?

So, I headed down to ‘white room’ classic dealer 4 Star Classics in Hampshire, and brought back this minty E39 BMW 525i Sport, for a customer in Birmingham.

Despite not setting off until late morning I made good time on the way down.  Not so much on the way back; Trying to find my way to the M40, I was turned back by the police due to field fires and had to take a long detour.  We were certainly having a very warm, dry period.  But whilst not so good for the farmers, they were ideal conditions in which to learn how to be a car transporterist.

***

Raz the Firefighter became my first returning customer, when he asked if I would take a VW camper down to Devon.  His colleague (also a London firefighter but, rather than a garage in Brum for a second occupation, he runs a surf school in Devon) had abandoned his broken air-cooled classic in Birmingham and been lent a small Fiat to take down to the West Country.

I would deliver the camper to a VW specialist in a small village right on the north Devon coast and take the borrowed Punto back to Birmingham.  Couldn’t resist stopping again for the sea-view photo opportunity.

The last couple of miles to my destination were single track and I was surprised to meet a double decker bus coming the other way at just about the worst point – as the road took two sharp turns to cross a narrow bridge.  Even worse luck was meeting another double decker at exactly the same place coming back!

By the time I’d got back I’d been on the road for at least thirteen hours, and in retrospect charged far too little for the job.  All part of the learning curve in the end, I’d charged what I’d thought was reasonable but, whilst my costs were more than covered, I hadn’t enough in my pocket for a long day’s work.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

1 hour ago, worldofceri said:

.... plenty of time to stop for a cheeky Capri Sun.

.....

Is this what Michael Gove will look like when he gets older?

[worldofceri]

How ruuude.   Gove's old enough to be my grandad.  Probably.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

1 minute ago, worldofceri said:

How ruuude.   Gove's old enough to be my grandad.  Probably.

The resemblance is amusing.

[philibusmo]

I can attest that there is much less of a Gove resemblance in the flesh.

[busmansholiday]

On 6/20/2020 at 7:06 PM, worldofceri said:

Funnily enough, I’m just in the process of doing this. There is no simple answer as there are rules concerning which type of tacho can be fitted depending on the age of the vehicle (and I have no clue about said rules). If it can be done it saves about £900 compared with a brand new unit but you still have to shell out for the fitting and calibration.

You've a modern digital tacho, so you should* be able to transfer it to another vehicle. 

[worldofceri]

July 2018.

An eclectic few jobs over the next few days:

Lovely Mercedes SL collected in Derbyshire and delivered to Stratford on Avon.

***

Reliant based trike picked up in Leicestershire and taken to Stourbridge.  The DVLA database suggests the guy is yet to get it back on the road.

***

The Mini was collected in East Yorkshire and transported to South Wales.  Took a bit of faffing around to get off the seller’s drive, which was gravel and sloped away from the road.  With flat tyres pushing wouldn’t budge it and the access was too awkward to get the trailer in.  I had to unhitch the Kia and drag it out onto the road.

Stopped to get a pretty picture outside this nearby church, but this photo annoys me.  I’d winched the Mini too far forwards and the trailer is excessively front-heavy.  Didn’t really matter with such a smol car, but I’ve tried to get my weight distribution better from here on.

Edited June 23, 2020 by worldofceri
typo

[Sir Snipes]

I really like that glimpse of the coast too. I get it quite often living in Kent but growing up in Manchester I almost never got to see the coast. 

[Pieman]

I'm loving your little diaries, keep them coming!

[phil_lihp]

Loving this, there's nothing quite like running your own business so great to see you making a good go of it.  Had I known you operated in this area I'd have given you a bell as my last transport request was fulfilled on Shiply.  

And yes, that road into Croyde is stunning but why they chose to operate double deckers on some of the roads around here I will never know. 

[N Dentressangle]

18 hours ago, philibusmo said:

I can attest that there is much less of a Gove resemblance in the flesh.

He's definitely better looking than Michael Gove. Probably a better driver too