The Long Haul Pioneers by Ashley Coghill. Large-format jacketed hardback book, 320 pages 280 x 220 mm including 345 photographs. ISBN 978-1-906853-33-4. Available now from Old Pond Publishing at £29.95.
In 1964 Asian Transport, later to become Astran, pioneered overland transport from the UK to the Middle East, the 10,000 mile round trip that was to become a phenomenon in the haulage industry.
In the early days truckers had to cope with unfamiliar documentation, unmade roads, snowdrifts, dangerous mountains, desert sands and bandits. Some of these difficulties eased over the next twenty years, to be supplanted by problems of congested border posts and wars in the Balkans and Iran-Iraq.
The truckers who persevered were exceptional, needing high driving skills, stamina and diplomacy. Similarly, it was only the best companies – such as Astran – which ran the course.
Ashley Coghill’s celebration of Astran and its drivers covers all these points. He interviewed many of the people involved, not least Bob Paul, one of the company’s founder members. There are mini-biogs of Astran’s drivers and sub-contractors accompanied by a wealth of photographs. Even more detail is given to Gordon Pearce and Dick Snow.
The abundance of fine photographs continues through Ashley’s descriptions of the early, middle and later years of Astran. This provides a comprehensive history of the company.
Chapters are also devoted to other areas of special interest: Astran’s Doha depot; the delights of driving in Turkey; accidents and incidents; and the making of the television documentary Destination Doha.