16: The Unofficial Truck Show Summit

11:06Squeaky:but like I say I really enjoyed it yeah a lot of it is with who you go with as well isn't it because you were absolutely you didn't actually enter your truck as such in any of the competitions, did you?

11:15Jim:No, I didn't, mate, no. No. No, no. No, but I was with people that did. And, you know, there's a guy that drives for WH Bets up in March, a guy called Nismo. He spent the whole time polishing it. He won an airbrush on the back of his cab to have the Elvis done on it. At night, it lit up. It just looks fabulous. I mean, the truck looks fabulous as well. Yeah. I think they may have got highly commended or something like that. but I didn't realise when they all queue up to get where you come in or how you've done they just give you a bit of paper they don't even write the registration number in it that's it yeah highly commend it it's just like a piece of card isn't it that's all it is yeah thanks for coming yeah that's it yeah

11:57Squeaky:Troy Arda next year yeah you spend all weekend polishing costing a fortune on polishing stuff to get a piece of card I mean some of these guys

12:05Mat Ireland:spend hours and hours like weeks before the shows that they're spending a long time. You know, even undoing the tank straps and stuff like that out there and polishing behind them. Yeah, yeah. And underneath, a lot of people... Yeah, yeah, underneath. They go to some major, major detail to make it... And do you imagine just walking away with nothing? You'd be heartbroken, wouldn't you? I've had that. I've had it. You know, when I used to do shock shows and one of those people I'd spend all weekend, I'd be up at four or five in the morning polishing all the way through to six, seven at night. I'd have a few beers during the day.

12:40I don't know how to chat to people, but polishing. And I did Thirsk Truck Show. And I came away empty-handed. I'd done two truck shows the previous weekends and one Ily Commended. And I was raging. I had the right arm. I came away from Thirsk empty-handed. And that truck was gleaming.

13:01Squeaky:You might not believe it, but I did actually want to win a third prize at a truck show.

13:07Jim:How many vehicles in it?

13:10Squeaky:you didn't let me finish it jim i had i hadn't even i i hadn't even washed it it was covered in flies and dirt but the main reason was i i'd shipped out to go and do a quick job to belgium as you do got out there and the gear was all wrong so they said oh we're going to keep you here for the weekend reload you on mondays oh that's it you know i can't make it's a local truck show that does doesn't it's morphed into something else now down ipswich way so anyway So then they changed their mind on the Saturday and said, actually, we're going to reload you this afternoon and send you back. So there was four of us, I think it was.

13:45Squeaky:And so the other guys obviously knew I was going to the structure. I was like, well, you load first, Matt, get going and just get yourself back. So, all right, brilliant. Cheers, guys. So got loaded, left Verkter, straight on the motorway, straight in a massive traffic jam because some big football game had just finished and it was kicking out. And I got back to Calais and the last boat on the Saturday night was Sea France. and I never used to use Sea France because the food was rubbish and the ferries were horrible. I was like, well, I've got to get this one, otherwise I'm going to miss everything.

14:12Squeaky:So on the Sea France, and I got back in the UK about half past midnight, I think it was, and just as we were coming in, I texted my mate who runs the show, said, right, I've just got off the boat. I'll be there, be there overnight, and I'll see you in the morning. Anyway, I got to Ipswich about half past three, dropped the trailer, and I was just shattered, and I just thought, I'm not even going to bother. I can't even bother to clean the window. So parked up. This is a clean window. Yeah, parked up. drew the curtains and i woke up in the morning just like how on earth are you going to bother cleaning it it's just like but i'm genuinely not there to win anything because i know that even if i had cleaned it it wouldn't have won because it's just a plain black daff but as jim pre-empted this was 2000 this is 2009 so i was in automatically in best best 09 category of free trucks so i didn't know that yeah i didn't know that sorry I won by default and genuinely when it got read out there's a few people booing it's just like I'm not just like they're booing they're booing

15:11Mat Ireland:they're booing they're booing

15:13Squeaky:and my mate who runs the show and he did say on the microphone he said look if there's a competition for the most roadkill on the truck he'll win by a country mile but you know he didn't get off the ferry till half past midnight last night and get up here so it's just all about the attendance and I've never won anything since I can't imagine I ever will but

15:32Jim:I'd like to know when you actually won the trophy you give it the Bobby Moore style holding the World Cup of course I do

15:39Squeaky:I've still got the trophy talk about yourselves for a minute I'm going to get the trophy

15:45Jim:that's so funny

15:46Squeaky:when they read it

15:48Mat Ireland:when they read it out that his truck was was getting third and they were all booing Matt didn't realise he was booing as well

15:54Squeaky:he was booing yeah he realised it

15:56Mat Ireland:yeah he thought it was exactly the truck

15:59Jim:who are they doing at me go on do the bobby moore thing for me

16:10Jim:that's fabulous

16:11Squeaky:don't know if you can read that or not

16:13Jim:well done for coming please try harder well done

16:16Squeaky:wash your sodding truck

16:19Mat Ireland:for the audio listeners we better explain what just happened that matt matt left the room and went to go get his trophy is come back and is holding it up against the camera where we can all see each other. And it reads, just hold it up again, Matt, so we can read it out, so we can see what it says. So it says, Class B, 09 Reg, 3rd, sponsored by... Goatee Trucking. Goatee. Goatee Trucking.

16:44Squeaky:Yeah.

16:44Mat Ireland:Paul Godby, isn't it? Paul Godby.

16:46Squeaky:Yep, yep, good friend of mine, Paul. So we'll perhaps try and do a screen grab somehow or a photo of me holding that for the... Yeah, if you could get a picture of you all this, Just embarrass me a bit more.

16:59Mat Ireland:Boo! Yeah, get everybody to boo on the comments.

17:10Squeaky:But again, that show was for charity. It was Crowfield Truck Rally, as it's called, at what used to be the Orwell Crossing, which doesn't exist. Crowfield doesn't exist anymore. there's now two shows kind of instead without going into it all but there's Fox Fest which is in July which I'm hoping to go to this year because I'm back from my Greek run it's the weekend after Brad's show Jim and there's also Ston and Barnes Truck Show which is the end of May back holiday which I'm also hoping to go to cool

17:42Jim:we'll know some people are going to that as well yeah so

17:46Squeaky:all in all because I'll just finish up I thought Truck Fest

17:48Jim:was brilliant this year it was really well organised I thought the pricing was standard, I think, you know, for a beer and food. I think the beer was seven quid a pint or something. It was good, yeah. I didn't see any trouble, really. I did – well, we had our UK 30 truck on the DAF stand, and some little Herberts let down the DAF inflatable – the tent thing that they did. I just wished that somebody had videoed it with the – da-da-ding, da-da-ding, or whatever, as it was going down. Da-da-ding. They did that. But, yeah, I mean, the trucks were just super. The people were there. It was a really, really good stuff.

18:23Jim:Really. I love going. I love going. Anyway, that's about me wrapped up, I think, with that.

18:27Squeaky:Fair enough. How many truck fests are there? Because there's Lincoln. There's Newark, I think. Yeah, Newark. Newark. It used to be northwest, didn't they? Yeah, that's right.

18:40Jim:There's one up in Newcastle at the end of the month, isn't it? What's it called? Walsingham, was it? Walsingham, I don't know. Scotland yeah like promotions in it yeah

18:53Squeaky:South Truckfest Southwest yeah and Southeast

18:56Jim:and Southeast as well

18:58Squeaky:was that

18:59Jim:showground yeah I think I moved it further down somewhere else but there's one at Newbury this year isn't it

19:06Squeaky:I don't know move one

19:07Jim:move one to Newbury yeah on the race course there

19:09Squeaky:right okay yeah fair enough so it's obviously still going pretty well then the whole truck is brand isn't it yeah yeah

19:15Jim:I mean I listened to Mikey Faulkner on the HGV1 podcast, which is really good. I met him at the weekend as well. What a fabulous character he is with Taylor. And I might do a little thing with him when I get round to it. And yeah, he actually interviews the guy, the managing director, I suppose, of it. Right. And he talks about the story of it from the 80s about him and his mate started it at Newark. And the first day of the show, they'd done it at Easter, and it started to snow, but the truck still came.

19:44Squeaky:Bloody hell.

19:45Jim:Yeah, the truck still came, yeah.

19:46Squeaky:And they used to be Truckfest Norwich as well for a while. A fine city. A fine city, Norwiches, absolutely.

19:53Mat Ireland:Truckfest is a brand. They've done really well, haven't they, in respect of all four corners of the country that they cover, you know. But I've got to admit, Truckfest isn't for me. It's not my cup of tea. It's only based on the fact that it is... Truckfest, for me, I remember going as a kid with my dad my dad's a lorry driver and i remember going as a kid with him and it being like this real family orientated feel about being there yeah and i remember then progressing and going through life and becoming a lorry driver and going to a truck show in my first ever truck that was mine as i passed my test i'm now a you know a fully fledged trucker and off i go and working for a big company we had a big stand there with maybe 30 40 and i was in my element you know and it was fabulous and my wife although she was just my girlfriend at the time she she came with me

20:49Squeaky:spent the weekend there in the truck yeah i guess maybe it's just down to the size of it because it is obviously a lot bigger than pretty much any other show in the uk whereas like the retro show for argument's sake it's very limited on numbers as to how many they can have there and i think it's i think they it's 300 tops i think it is yeah so you are really restricted and the big difference with the retro as I've said before I believe is that there's no judging there's no competition and so if I turn up with a dirty truck again then it's really not a problem

21:23Mat Ireland:you'd get first yeah

21:27Jim:and I think the way that Lee and the Herbert family run it as well it's just you know you put your foot out of place there and you know Lee's on you or one of the you know Josh is on you or whatever and it just so accommodating and you know it'd work hard to purchase a great that is my maybe I'm a bit older now but I love the retro truck show I've never really I prefer the older trucks and the newer stuff yeah me too I prefer the older stuff even I've got a truck fest I like looking around the old 111 scanniers and the old daffs and stuff like that rather than the new ones yeah

22:01Mat Ireland:but I appreciate the hard work that particularly not with sort of like big outfits but what I mean is where I like to look at a truck and think that driver, he's not an owner, he doesn't own it, but that driver has put some dedication into that truck. And I like to appreciate that. I like to think that, because we all know that that guy's not being paid for polishing that tank till nine o 'clock on a night. He's not being paid to look after and maintain them wheels and buy all the lotions and potions that he's using. He's doing that for his own passion for the industry, for the truck, for his own face value and all the rest of it.

22:42Well, I like polishing my truck's weight. I like doing my tanks and polishing and cleaning wheels and all that. But I find it very therapeutic. Yeah, I do. And I really enjoy it. People look at me and they sneer and, oh, I could do my own nicks and all that rubbish. But do you know what? I find it therapeutic. I also like to get out of the truck. But I don't want to just sit in there all night eating a pizza, watching telly like some people do do you know what i mean they'll take a photo of you while they're sat there eating their takeaway laughing at you put it on face but look at this idiot like

23:14Mat Ireland:you know i mean and then they don't get their talk or not i'll just get out a bit you know

23:17Squeaky:yeah yeah and i've never understood why people feel they need to bash people who take pride in their truck which essentially like for well for all of you guys not so much me at the moment it's your home isn't it you you spend more time in that truck than in your own house so why not enjoy it. I don't understand people fishing. I don't understand people fishing. People like fishing, right? They like it. They'll sit on the riverbank. They don't catch anything. They're not bothered. Yeah, don't start barking off. But, you know, I don't understand fishing, but people like fishing. That's their thing.

23:54Jim:If I can't do it. That's it, yeah. Exactly, mate.

23:58Mat Ireland:You've led me on nicely there to I've got a couple of questions wrote out here about truck shows. this was going to be the last question there but with what you've just said Alex about how you've got people that will snub you a little bit for taking pride in your truck and stuff like that there was a comment that came across our desk talking about truck shows, keeping it in respect with truck shows and he said if I wanted to go and see trucks I would go and stand at Cambridge Services I'm not going to call him out because that's not fair. But in my mind, I think if you are not into going to truck shows and you are not into that, that is absolutely fine.

24:44Mat Ireland:Nobody is asking you to go and take money to go and look at trucks. Nobody is asking you to do that, right? But don't snub the people that do find that interesting. Just because that's not your cup of tea, that's not your thing, why would you then attack the people that do find that interesting and do want to take...

25:03Squeaky:Do you know what I'm trying to say?

25:04Mat Ireland:I don't know. You just said they're about fishing. I do, but if you look at what Jim was saying about Truck Fest, that they're expecting 60 ,000 people through the gates, right? That's a lot of people. That's 60 ,000 people that are interested in seeing polished trucks. And that's one show. And we know that Truck Fest has several shows. There are 2 ,000 trucks that are there as well. Absolutely. Yeah, I just... I don't really... Yeah, I don't know. I just don't get the negativity.

25:35Jim:Some people comment like that because they probably want someone else to breathe a bit of negativity to sort of back their own feelings up on it, you know. You know, I'm privy to that, you know, some of my friends, or, you know, even who I work with and that. Well, what are you doing that? But like Alex said, I've only just really got into maybe the bit of the tank polishing stuff since I worked at JMS and I took the truck there. And, you know, just getting out of the cab for 10 minutes, you know exactly a stretch and a scratch you know what i mean like tonight you know nicky from eldis's park right next to me you know what i mean yeah just you know it's just okay chat but people people just want to be on their mobile phones don't they play tick you'll watch tiktok

26:17Mat Ireland:and envy to be tiktok tiktokers themselves i think you had my personal experience as well is that the hard work pays off so for for every truck that i've ever had has always just been a fleet a fleet spec truck the company that i work for now um you know i've i'd only been here maybe four years something like that and there's other guys that are much more longer serving than i am that have been here for sort of maybe 10 15 years you know they've been here a long time with this company um it's a small it is a although it's expanding but it's a a reasonably modest size company family run you know still and i every truck that i had was fleet spec and but i always polished the tanks i had tire shine on the the the wingtops were all always blacked up and made

27:05Jim:made look nice you know it was always gleaming and that that hard work paid off because when my

27:11Mat Ireland:boss decided that he was going to get an anniversary truck and he was going to have all the bells and whistles and you know all the lights and vows and i got it yet there was these other guys that have been here a lot longer than me that didn't get it and there's a surely and this is just me surmising but surely that is because he's sort of going i'll give it to squeaky because i know he's going to look after it yeah i would say if you're paying like your chock squeak right probably about 140 grand right yeah about that roughly 140 grand he's paid for that he wants to give it to somebody, right, who's going to look after it, right, and we've all worked at places, right, where you've got in somebody else's truck, you've had to wipe your feet on the way up, right Don't bring me into this Yeah, here again We work with people that are dirty, they're filthy, and it must be heartbreaking you give somebody a truck and they just don't look after it, do you know what I mean?

28:10It's just basic, it's housekeeping in it you know why would you want to live like that jim was gonna say jim was gonna say something

28:18Jim:go on jim i was i was gonna say particularly with our our companies they sort of work together through the pallet track network and also um you know we're both keen on trucks and me especially photography and we just sort of put the trucks together one day and i do do think that uh both our our bosses have seen hello there's there's a bit of traction here in social media and getting our trucks out there looking smart looking nice and maybe getting more business applied this is where you know the soul gate team you know obviously for harrison so we're in pw gates and it's got it did get a lot of traction but we do need to step that up a bit i think going forward but i think they did they see that in us as well but they might not tell us but they can see it and that's gonna be why we are allowed to go to these truck shows and maybe

29:00Mat Ireland:extra bits of kit for your trucks and stuff yeah yeah i think i think so i think my i think my boss has seen the what's the word i'm looking for the benefits to go into a truck show and i think he's maybe caught that bug a little bit sort of gone actually this is you know i want my the fleet to look cool and smart you know he's pumping some serious money into his fleet right now all of the trucks he's he's really turning all trucks they're all brand new motors they've all got this brand new logo design on them they've all got top bars on them you know the spotlights laser lights you know he's he's you know they're all kitted out with everything for the driver microwave captain's chair electric beds you know well the thing the thing is the thing is if you do that you you keep

29:47Squeaky:the driver happy by giving him a truck that he really enjoys and if he wants to keep it clean so much the better when when you turn up at your customers and potential customers on the road see a clean shiny truck yeah that draws draws far more attention what a filthy dirty one does because if you're if you're a potential customer and you see that thing oh that they look like they look after their kit they're going to look after my goods that's the way i would certainly think so yeah the benefit the benefits far far outweigh you know not bothering and like i say just a filthy dirty truck also will then attract uh your ministries and people like that because he's not looking after.

30:25I think nowadays it attracts a better... I think people are trying to hold on to their drivers now as well, aren't they? The way the drivers are nowadays, they're trying to attract a better calibre of driver and the ones they've got they want to hold on to.

30:41Mat Ireland:I think you're probably right there. You've got different mindsets of drivers, haven't you? You've got the driver that really cares about the job, how he's showing himself with his truck you know he wants it to be clean tidy and he cares about the job and he wants to be a profession he wants to be a professional then you've got the other side of the you know the coin where you've got these drivers that don't see it as a profession they don't see it as a lifestyle and it's just a case of well it's not my problem i clock in and i clock off and that's that and you know yeah you know stupid things like a light bulb's gone right i've never found my office to change a bulb i'll do it myself i've had airline you know i've snapped airlines i've phoned the local dealership around the corner or a local atc you know whatever you know can you can you bring me no problem over there in 10 minutes i paid for it myself i've put my receipt in at the end of the week i've changed the line on myself on the side of the road off i go you're away again you know and that's the difference i think between a driver and a steering wheel attendant

31:39Jim:yeah i carry little spare airline and little couplings yeah i asked for headlight bulbs they probably would prefer us not to do it because of the new electrical systems in the trucks yeah we carry spare airlines and just you know just use your brain you know sometimes you you're closer to the problem than what the workshop is and you could probably sort it out yourself just to get

31:58Mat Ireland:back to the workshop yeah yeah do you think when you look at like the the wages of a driver for a particular company no i don't want to i'm not talking about you know some drivers claim that they're on two thousand pound a week so you know whatever i don't care about that what i'm saying is within your company, I am paid the exact same as the guy who's only been driving six months. Do you think that should be... Should I be paid for my experience and my knowledge and the things that I've done? Or should I just be paid the same as the guy that's been driving six months? I think you should be paid the same.

32:38Because you're both doing exactly the same job. If you have Tesco's at two o 'clock and he's got Tesco at 2 o 'clock. He's side by side on the bay. He should be paid both the same. It's not his fault that he's starting out, you know, with only six months' experience. As long as he does the job, doesn't cause any damage, he earns his place at the company. I think he should be paid the same. That's my opinion.

32:58Jim:Fair enough. Jim? Yeah, I'm the same really, mate. I mean, there is a small difference between the class, I suppose, C plus C or C drivers and band drivers. But yeah, I mean, to attract drivers, I think they've got to pay the same wages as what we own, really, to be fair. Yeah, I really do.

33:17Squeaky:Yeah, I tend to agree because you'd also put people off from either changing jobs or even coming into the industry if they know that they're going to be earning less than somebody else for doing exactly the same sort of job. If it's really specialised stuff, then perhaps there's a, you know, if you've got an ultra-heavy haulage, it's probably a different kettle of fish. Which it is, yeah. But I don't really know how those guys would be paid, because you can't, especially if you pay an hourly, you certainly can't pay a mile per kilometre, can you? No, no. I think they're on a day rate, aren't they?

33:50I would have thought. What do you think, Squeak? What's your opinion?

33:54Mat Ireland:I don't really know, because I look at it from my previous days of moving abnormal loads and things like that, and I think now I'm not, and I'm just doing normal curtain cider work, I think in my mind I've got this world of knowledge And experience behind me And things like changing an airline At the side of the road Or you know I don't know Changing a headlight or

34:19Squeaky:You know silly little things that I am not a headache for the office And

34:26Mat Ireland:Many of other drivers are exactly the same as me Some drivers like the Lithuanian Polish drive they'll change a tyre at the side Of the road themselves you know they are not a hindrance to the office they're saving the company money that the highly experienced drivers of a world of knowledge and and wealth within this this uh industry that money just can't buy you know they really know the stuff and they can get the job done and they can rely on them and it's done you know and i think i'm not saying i'm not saying that there should be a massive pay gap between somebody who's just starting out and somebody who's got a world of knowledge i i suppose what i'm saying is there should be uh there should be some sort of i don't know maybe a retention scheme or a bonus scheme or or something like when i was at longs and age years ago i mean this is going back 20 years ago they brought in a retention type of thing where if you did if you were there five years you've got an extra day holiday that that's what they you're wanting to bring in and stuff like that.

35:29If you've been here 10 years, you've got an extra two days or the things like that. But I think generally, hourly to hourly, you should all be the same. But the thing is, think about what I've got to say here. The thing is, that knowledge, right, isn't really fitting 2026. Because a lot of firms now won't let you change bulbs. They don't want you. If you'd get told off, you'd get a written warning or something like that for touching an airline. you know it's a part of the braking system right if you mess it up and then you have an accident down the road and they find your airlines for because they've let some numbnut have a go at changing it do you know it's they don't like it that's that that is very true that is very true

36:13Mat Ireland:but i mean the way i look at that is is it is society on a whole you know and and a friend of a friend of ours that uh called daryl he always points this out really well he always says that a car used to come with a manual on how to change the plugs or how to change the oil or how to change the battery. Now, the manual will say do not lick the battery.

36:37Squeaky:You know, like,

36:39Mat Ireland:this is the world that we're living in. This product may contain nuts.

36:44Jim:You're licking the battery. Is that three or four spanners? Sorry, Squish.

36:49Mat Ireland:We are creating this. We're creating these people that do not have these skills to be able to do the yeah we're creating this not my problem not my problem i'll phone the office and let somebody else deal with it and we're creating this by saying yeah you know if you're at the side of the road and you've snapped your airline if you've got a spare one in your locker get it changed get it changed and it and it's up to us it's up to us that along in the tooth uh being in a job a long time to pass that on to the new younger drivers we're not we're not doing that that doesn't happen does it no i don't think they want to know though to be honest i don't think they want to know.

37:23Squeaky:Some will. Some will. Definitely don't tie them all the same brush. No, no, don't tie them all the same brush.

37:31Jim:On this sort of subject as well, how do you feel about when you've got to take another driver out and show them the ropes?

37:39Mat Ireland:As long as he takes his shoes off when he gets in my cab, I don't mind.

37:42Jim:I mean, I get that, but I mean then they do something wrong or you're driving when you go, hang on a minute, what are you doing like? you know it's surely it's up to the the company i'm not talking about my company in particular it's always up to the company to make sure they have proper training from people that are paid to train whether it be for the pda or to change gear in the truck or use use all the all the you know the vehicle familiarization and stuff because you could be one vehicle what's all these buttons

38:11Squeaky:do you know no but would that mean that a company would have to employ someone specifically to train which is all well and good for your culinas and people like that but for like solways or or gates or gates yeah that's another yearly wage that for for to be used how often you know so

38:31Jim:and that would be like and then you're not going to get somebody every week either are you as well

38:35Mat Ireland:so that driver would be you know yeah and again is that not just creating this this generation of people that where we're sort of going oh you can't do that until you've been trained on it i mean we never had that

38:48Jim:how many trucks have you been

38:49Mat Ireland:showing somebody how to drive

38:51Jim:yeah the thing is I missed the podcast with you guys when you was on about the mirror cams right and I I got chucked the keys to a brand new desk with the mirror cams nobody showed me how to use it whatsoever and I couldn't I couldn't handle it I couldn't get my head around it I wear glasses for reading I couldn't see one side to the other and I didn't stick I give it a week and I left the job after a week I said but I didn't have any training on that whatsoever. I just got chucked the keys for it completely. But you have other firms that you should have training for stuff like that. You know, you should have driving assessors.

39:27I'm a firm, Maritime. I know Maritime have driving assessors, don't they?

39:30Squeaky:Yeah. Or even get someone out from DAF who knows exactly how it all works. They pay someone from there to come out and see him. Because there's a lot of technology nowadays.

39:43Mat Ireland:That is offered by these manufacturers. they will come out when it's a brand new truck. But sometimes for free. Yeah, for free. But the likes of Maritime and stuff, they haven't got the, let's say Mercedes, they haven't got the time to send someone out to train every Maritime driver who's going to be in a different truck every day and all that.

40:04Squeaky:It'd be a challenge, wouldn't it? Oh, yeah. Yeah. This episode of Matt's Trucking Great Podcast is proudly sponsored by Drifter Style Limited. Based in Northern Ireland, Drifterstyle is a premium truck styling and detailing brand. Specialised in high-end truck detailing, ceramic coatings and show preparation, Drifterstyle has become one of the most recognisable names in modern European truck culture. Official agents for Solar Guard exclusive truck parts on the island of Ireland, they also sell for Trelerc Lighting from Holland, supplying premium styling parts and lighting solutions for some of the finest trucks on the road today.

40:39Squeaky:Drifter Style is also the company behind Drifter Style Truck Show, the largest indoor truck show in the UK and Ireland, bringing together elite show trucks, major brands, and trucking enthusiasts from all across Europe. Built from the road up, driven by passion, detail, and presence, Drifter Style. Stance is everything. So, anyway, we've gone off track a little bit.

41:02Mat Ireland:We've sort of drifted.

41:03Squeaky:We have a touch. We've drifted back off a little bit.

41:05Mat Ireland:So I've got some questions to ask you about truck shows. Jim, first of all, I'll come to you. We'll talk about Truck Fest, because obviously that's where you've just been over the weekend. You did briefly touch on this earlier on, but I want to talk about the entry and exits of getting in and out of truck shows, getting out of the grounds. Which one is your best truck show that you've been in and out of? The organisation of getting trucks in and out?

41:30Jim:Truck in and out? Well, I mean, Gaden is a... Obviously, the retro is easy to get in and out of. That's fine. Obviously, that's restricted on time limits as well. You can't leave at a certain time, only vehicle movements. But I must say, Truckfest this year, from my own personal experience, as I said earlier on in the podcast, it was an absolute breeze. It was so well signed off the A46, A15. They had also other traffic management in places where the roads got too busy. big clear you remember the old aa signs a big clear signs turn left here you know uh and to get in it was okay it was dusty and a lot of drivers complained about dusty because the weather was so great but yeah it to get in and out and to get out even on sunday uh yeah sunday was when i left the show day was great because you could obviously you were driving with people about you'd be very mindful everybody about everyone moves for you you got your hazard lights on and kids are still doing the arm pump and all that and just just drive out slowly it's really honestly really i don't know but after the first one i thought i'd never go again but they're they're really really up to it it was it was really really to get in and to get out and also they had a truck wash there if you wanted to use that the thing is if they were using the truck wash before you went in you went through another gate and then you was in another like a gravel gravel track and everyone was on the grass and people are coming this way this way get off so then you had to drive on the gravel through and everyone was going oh no but yeah to get in and out to get in and out easy just it's fresh in my memory was truck fest this year but but but the best exit of any truck show i've ever been to is obviously the retro when when joe when joe erbert says you can go leaving the retro truck show seeing all them old wagons coming up that little eel blowing their air on because there was no air on it just makes the smell makes the hairs on your hands stick up everyone's smiling on a great weekend and loads of photographers and stuff like that it's just, I love the buzz I love the buzz Brilliant, brilliant

43:37Mat Ireland:My next question then is to Matt and that is, out of all the truck shows what is your favourite truck show, Matt?

43:44Squeaky:That is really difficult because it's probably it's going to be one of two I would say because it's either going to be the retro just because I have such a brilliant time every single time without fail. I've never been to a bad one yet. I go with a great bunch of chaps, see lots of friends, talk lots of nonsense. And like I say, because there's no judging, there's no pressure on anybody to clean and polish, although obviously a lot of people do. But if you've got a work in progress that you can bring along, you know, it's not sneered upon. and the variety and the distance that people come for it is just mind-boggling.

44:21Squeaky:So it would either be that or it would be Swedefest, which, again, Swedefest has an absolutely fantastic atmosphere. It's so nice. It's so well thought out, the way that Rob and Michelle have Volvo face-off with Scania, and it works in a chronological order. So you can't just turn up with your mate who's in a truck that's three years older than yours and park next to each other because you're put in year by year and that's how it works and if you don't like it you don't come in it's just that's that's the rules and if you don't like well yeah but it really really works so you've got you you've got like your version one fh is faced off like the three series scanner and as it gets newer then the four series comes in and the fh too and it's just it looks fantastic and everything is spaced out like inch perfect you're not allowed any you know uh chairs or gazebos none of that in front of the trucks so for photographers you can get around and photograph everything really well and it's and again the atmosphere is absolutely fantastic i mean sort of say the only downside such is it's only volvo and scania but it's swede fest so you've got to expect that however that doesn't detract from the fact that the amount of stuff that goes there is phenomenal and for a small show in rural suffolk people really do travel the distance to get there it's i recommend if you can get an entry in this year gents then then get an entry and head down and see what literally see what the fuss is about because you will not be disappointed brilliant

45:49Mat Ireland:so i've just got i'm just going to get back to jim i haven't forgot about you alex i am coming back to you in a second but jim for now when you was at um truck fest what were the prices like at the food stalls and the beer stalls and stuff because I always think that they're massively overpriced.

46:07Squeaky:But can I just say, the problem is they've got to pay for their pitch, which would be quite expensive to start with, so they've got to take the risk and recoup.

46:16Mat Ireland:That's on my list. Where are I coming to that? I promise. Sorry, Tweaky. I think they're told what's the price as well sometimes to keep everybody the same.

46:27Jim:A lot of prices were the same, Alex, to be fair. yeah i think i think i think a portion of tips was nine quid yeah the beer was definitely the same with around and maybe the coffee and the bacon rolls and stuff we're going to look at

46:39Mat Ireland:moving on looking at costings there that that matt just alluded to but we know i would like i'd be interested to know how much these people are charged for these stores to be on there because when you look at my argument to this is these truck shows they charge the trucks to come and show their trucks and i don't know they vary don't they but anywhere between 30 pound and say 80 pound for to come and show your truck

47:08Squeaky:and in my mind i think why are you doing that because not only are you making money on the

47:15Mat Ireland:vendors that you're charging to be there you're charging the public to come in and view these trucks as well but then you're challenging the trucks and in my mind i think if we don't bring our trucks you do not have a product you don't have a show they do have to hire the show ground

47:31Squeaky:which will not be cheap as well so they've got to recoup that cost initially haven't they i wonder if they have to pay for damage to the grass and stuff like that probably you know like so when it rains and then it all gets churned up they might have to pay for that putting right again yeah which surely they've got insurance for that sort of thing i guess but that might be a clause in the contract in the contract that they might have to put damage right yeah but they will have to do that so and you you do have the risk as well i mean it's again with say the truck fest brand for argument's sake because it's so well established now it's it's kind of risk-free isn't it because you know that a lot of people are going to turn up uh that's just the way it's but if you're first starting out like uh like jim's mate brad who's i think this is his first show it's it's a very it's a very risky thing because are people going to turn up or not so yeah it's very weather dependent on weather weather dependent yes exactly and you know nobody's gonna come yeah exactly so they do have a big outlay uh to begin with because i do remember chatting to a guy at santa pod years ago uh a volkswagen show just about the food prices and um i can't remember how much he said his pitch was for the weekend obviously not only you've got to pay your pitch you've got to pay your staff you've got to have enough staff that have got to work all weekend you've also got to buy all of your food in advance and hope that it's going to all sell because otherwise you've got a whole lot of food that's going to go off so yeah there's a but it does seem it still does seem quite expensive to me like like jim just said a Porsche chip's nine quid.

49:09Squeaky:No, I mean, that's kind of double. That's ridiculous. Isn't it really? That is ridiculous. Yeah. That is absolutely ridiculous.

49:16Mat Ireland:I understand you're trying to break it down there and say, well, you know, they've got this overheads and them overheads and all the rest of it, right? But I break it down in a different way. I sort of go, well, first of all, let's say the land's owned by the council. The council are already charging Truckfest far too much through greed. So Truckfest have to up their price. have to up their prices because Truck Fest want to make profit as well. So they have to up their prices. So they charge the drivers to bring the trucks in, they charge the vendors, they charge the public, and then that's all filtered down.

49:52Mat Ireland:And so the vendors then have to charge the public more money to buy chips because they're being charged so much by Truck Fest, who are being charged so much from the council. And essentially, it's the drivers, their families, and the public that are paying more through greed from these big corporations that are just out to make profit from our trucks. Oh, yeah. In my mind, it could be really stripped back and whittled down. It doesn't need to be that much, in my mind.

50:24Squeaky:But ultimately, they are a business, and they're in there to make money, aren't they? Of course they are.

50:28Mat Ireland:Yeah, but so is that one-man band, you know, that one guy with his little trailer who's just there just to try and earn some money over the weekend. All he wants to do is fry burgers and chips and sell them to people. He doesn't want to be greedy. He just wants to earn a few quid. But he's got no option but to charge£25 for a burger and chips.

50:47Squeaky:Yeah, 100%. And I do genuinely think if the prices were a lot cheaper, you'd attract far more people.

50:53Mat Ireland:I do.

50:54Squeaky:And you'd have even more people through your gates spending even more money.

50:57Mat Ireland:Absolutely.

50:58Squeaky:i totally agree so um i've got a question for alex here just based on um on the truck show so

51:04Mat Ireland:obviously when you go to a truck show alex and you walk around and that sort of thing what what is your go-to truck that you want to find and look for um what is your what is your favorite whether it be retro whether it be new whether it be i like the retro stuff me i like the old scanniers the old mercedes there's a guy isn't it what's his name is a dominic newbie or something

51:27Squeaky:from down shore one way yeah he's got a 1626 good friend of the podcast dominic yeah 1626 mercedes old from memories go to my dad in his 1626 mercedes i love them old old trucks you know new ones you know i drive a new truck i don't mean nothing to me do you know show me the old ones and stuff that's that's what i like to like jim says the smell of them the engines and that old cummings and the gardeners and listening to the tick over the old mercedes that's what i love

51:54Mat Ireland:I totally agree with you For me personally I prefer retro truck show At Gaden for me It's a bit far from me It's so relaxing It's so nice And I do like the older trucks However I must admit The interior Of the newer trucks Is far superior Isn't it Can you imagine trying to live in some of those Older trucks and these boys that used to put a board down between the two seats and you know yeah yeah

52:31Squeaky:absolutely well as you say with interiors i'm very lucky that i've got a good friend who's got a fleet of classic trucks that i can take to shows last year i took his scania 143 to the retro show and i forgot just how damn small a free series scanner is for living in and getting getting in and out of that damn bunk. So when I went to Swedefest, I was like, I'm taking this F-16 Globetrotter because I've got more, I can stand up and get dressed and I haven't got to fall into this damn bunk. So the choice of weapon this year will be the F-16 over the 143 for living in.

53:08Jim:What are you doing? You're taking an F-16? Yes, an F-16. Well, thank you very much, Matthew. We are no longer friends.

53:19Squeaky:I didn't say an F10 with round headlights did I Jim?

53:22Jim:No mate but you talked about the go to that's what I go to and I was lucky enough this year is it Dan Mack? Dan McNaughty Dan threw me the keys I opened it up, I sat in the seat I started it up, the buzzer went off, the hairs went on my hand the drift of the old exhaust and I don't mind admitting I had a wee tear in my eye and my mate Darryl sat and I got round to the passenger seat where I spent most of my life in the passenger seat. That was more emotional.

53:53Squeaky:Yeah.

53:53Jim:Yeah. I've got a 6 % battery guy. And yeah. I might have to dib out this one.

54:01Squeaky:Well, we are pretty much going to have to wrap up now because we've been talking for nearer an hour now, if not more. So that is pretty much the episode done. And we're going to have to revisit, I think, because there's so many shows we haven't even touched on, things like drifter style um you know and and all the european ones so we've got a lot more to chat about so ass and sinny uh all then interlaken is what i'd like to go to you know i've done i've done interlaken once it was uh it was amazing i was only there for the day because i happened to be in switzerland but yeah that was that was really good so we should we should have to reconvene gents and um have a have another chat um just before we go i would just like to give a quick shout out to a chap called james parry who is a friend of a friend who absolutely loves the podcast apparently so hello to you james so hi james give him a little shout hi james

54:56Mat Ireland:come on squeak come on sorry i was too busy reading my outro notes

55:06Squeaky:would you would you would you like to do an outro then squeaky should we do one he's so

55:14Jim:Bradley Walsh go on

55:15Squeaky:try out love

55:19Squeaky:did you have to write that down

55:25Squeaky:I couldn't spell he's like

55:28Jim:he's like tickled with that I'll do one little shout out as well I'll do it I'll do it I'll do one little shout out if I can if anybody's listening and they want to speak to any of us on the on the podcast right now download the CB Talk app my Midlands and find us and search for GBR truck and you'll find us on there every day.

55:47Squeaky:And also we are on all the socials as we've mentioned before, haven't we? Yeah.

55:52Mat Ireland:So this has been Matt's trucking great podcast where you can find all episodes on all platforms, including Spotify. Please remember to head over to buy me a coffee forward slash my Island or patron to help the, to help donate towards the podcast to keep it running tonight. with Alex, Jim and Matt and Squeaky and it's been an absolute pleasure and I look forward to speaking to you all next week. Cheers boys. Fantastic. Cheers Squeaky. Thank you. Bye bye.

56:23Squeaky:Bye bye.

56:41Thank you.