CHAPTER 1
Introduction
In recent years there has been much interest in the long-distance road haulage routes that became collectively known as the Middle East runs. The objective of this enterprise, which really got into its stride during the mid-seventies, involved using trucks and trailers to deliver goods and materials all the way from Europe to the countries of the Middle East; notably Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States of the Arabian Peninsula, with some deliveries going as far as Afghanistan, and Pakistan being the most distant country of all!
As suggested by the title of this book, travelling across the waters of the Bosphorus straits in Old Istanbul was a defining feature of travelling any of the different Middle East routes. This was achieved by boarding one of the drive-on/drive-off ferryboats that transported trucks and also any other vehicles together with passengers across the busy sea lane of the Bosphorus.
The Bosphorus could be crossed at a considerable height above the waters by driving across the suspension bridge built in 1973 which linked Europe and Asia. But this wasn’t the preferred option: the approach roads to the bridge had not been properly developed, so the ferry service remained the route of choice for drivers long after the construction of the bridge was completed. Using the ferry came with the advantage of this form of transport being an enjoyable experience in itself, as the views to be seen when crossing the Bosphorus offered an unsurpassed panorama of Istanbul together with all of its splendid Islamic architecture, with many towering mosques, minarets and Ottoman palaces to be seen along the shoreline and the far horizon!
It could be said that crossing the Bosphorus became a rite of passage for any new driver passing this way. And whether they were outward-bound to the Middle East or inbound back to Britain, taking a stopover in Istanbul was an ideal opportunity to indulge in a well-deserved rest and some eastern-style recreation.
There were times when crossing the Bosphorus and also passing through Turkey altogether were bypassed by choice owing to political and internal issues, so travelling by roll-on/roll-off ferries from Greece to Syria became an attractive option, providing shorter overall journey times and far less time spent behind a steering wheel, while enjoying the comforts of shipboard life.
The boom years of transporting goods out to the Middle East lasted from 1975 until 1982, and it is from this era that most of the drivers who have contributed to this publication have provided their reminiscences of what soon became the greatest adventure of their lives. The stories they have recounted include the good times and the bad times; moments of elation as well as those of despair; and in particular, the high value placed on the comradeship or ‘camaraderie’ that existed between drivers, which could make light of even the most tricky situations or difficult working conditions which could always be anticipated somewhere along the way!
It was decided to limit the time-span covered by this book to the Middle East run’s glory years between 1975 and 1982 when the business was in its prime, with a seemingly unending convoy of trucks passing from East to West and then back again, with new internal transport systems developed to serve throughout the Arabian Peninsula.
The approach to the vehicle ferry on the Bosphorus. BR
Many of those who were interviewed expressed the view that any stories they provided should not be exaggerated in any way, which may have something to do with a certain television series that concerns the work activities of North American truckers. In this television series there has always been a tendency for commonplace events to be blown out of all proportion by the commentator suggesting these are chillingly life-threatening when this is patently untrue! A tank of diesel fuel requires an awful amount of encouragement before it will explode in an engulfing fireball destroying everything in its path!
On the other side of the same coin, the bravery of those drivers who were prepared to drive thousands of miles to those far distant destinations should not be in any way understated. They endured hours and hours of solitude that often lasted from dawn until dusk each day, with the possibility of s
