Esso Tankers

[Mike 84C]

A few questions!   in the 1950/60's were the local fuel distributors owned by the multi national companys or by by local companys running in the majors colours?. Would a tanker operating in County Cork say in Esso colours be registered in Cork or Dublin?  Are transfers available to do either option? And were S type Bedfords as popular in Ireland as in GB in that time frame? Over here everybody used them but  would they have been used for hauling oil products in Ireland? 

[DiveController]

Not sure how prevalent Bedford S types actually were (wasn't around) but this preserved one still bore Wexford plates in 2016

 

[Mike 84C]

Thanks for that DiveController , love the little video. Unfortunatelly I'm old enough to have driven one,  for profit.

[minister_for_hardship]

You may get answers here as some guys who were in the trade follow it and stick up photos. Worth a browse through the photos for inspiration.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/186452771925056/

[DiveController]

I know this doesn't exactly answer your questions but nice preserved Bedfor TK road tanker with Wicklow plates

 

Edited December 8, 2019 by DiveController

[DiveController]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/eamonnmcgee/3501531046/in/photolist-6kqgbW-VfvAN3-6knEhc

Esso Thames Trader, maybe DUX 227, if you can make out the rear plate, hopefully original, Rathmore Co. Kerry c.2009

Edited December 9, 2019 by DiveController

[Mayner]

 G.W. Biggs & Co Ltd  oil distributors in West Cork since 1904   http://www.biggsoil.ie/about-us they just may have information on the trucks used in the 1950s

Bedford trucks had a good reputation in Ireland (at least my father as a fitter and a one time haulier my father preferred Bedford to other makes!). The Bedford S and normal control Leyland Comet were fairly common at least in Dublin into the mid-60s.

Its possible Ford may have been preferred  in Cork to Bedford or other marques https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/memories-of-ford-check-out-some-historic-readers-pictures-and-the-stories-behind-them-447450.html. 

[Ironroad]

On 12/5/2019 at 6:27 PM, Mike 84C said:

A few questions!   in the 1950/60's were the local fuel distributors owned by the multi national companys or by by local companys running in the majors colours?. Would a tanker operating in County Cork say in Esso colours be registered in Cork or Dublin?  Are transfers available to do either option? And were S type Bedfords as popular in Ireland as in GB in that time frame? Over here everybody used them but  would they have been used for hauling oil products in Ireland? 

At least one local distributor McMullen Bros "Maxol was and is independent of the multinationals and I know they operated their own tanker trucks in the 1960's because I worked for a motor company in the late 60's that operated a filling station under the Maxol brand. However I cannot remember whether they used Bedfords but do recollect that Bedfords were very common in Dublin at that time. The following may be of interest;-

From Maxol Company History at www.maxol.ie:

The Maxol Group is entirely Irish-owned and controlled by the McMullan family. The original company – McMullan Bros. Ltd – was founded by William McMullan and registered in Dublin in 1920. The group has a network of 232 service stations and 22 Authorised Distributors, as well as Lubricants Distributors, and had a turnover €700m in 2011. The present Board of Directors comprises Max, Noel and Malcolm McMullan, all grandchildren of William. The Group Chief Executive is Tom Noonan.

Although originally operating only in Northern Ireland, the company rapidly expanded throughout the island to become one of the largest and most respected family-owned concerns in the country. It is estimated that, today, it is the third largest oil company on the island of Ireland and the Leading Independent Oil Company in Europe (ISSI Survey 1997). William McMullan (the "Boss") between two of his sons, D.G. McMullan & C.J. McMullan

Significant Landmarks:

·   28th August 1887 – The birth of William G. McMullan, a Chemist by profession, who, along with his brother James, founded, what has become the Maxol Group.

·   1914 – William became Manager of Wm. Preston & Co., a wholesale chemist, and persuaded his brother, James, to return to Belfast from London and join the firm as a commercial traveller for lamp oil (kerosene).

·   1916 – The McMullan brothers, William and James, started their own oil business in Middlepath St., Belfast, from where they delivered paraffin oil by horse and cart.

·   1918 – The brothers scored their first “coup” by bringing Benzol to Northern Ireland as a substitute for petrol, which was rationed as a consequence of The Great War.

·   1919 – William and James, having been rebuffed by Esso, Shell and BP, entered into a supply agreement for petrol for all of Ireland with the Anglo-Mexican Oil Company (AMOC). The early deliveries to their customers were made in 2 gallon cans and conveyed by horse and cart.

·   12th April 1920 – On the advice of their Solicitors and Accountants, who were concerned about the rapid expansion of the business, they registered a limited company, McMullan Bros. Ltd., in Dublin.

·   1921 – “Partition”, the establishment of the 26 County, independent “Free State”, with the other 6 Northern counties remaining within the United Kingdom, resulted in the establishment of an office in Dublin managed by James McMullan. Rapid expansion necessitated the opening of new depots in most towns throughout the island of Ireland including six depots in Northern Ireland and eleven depots in the Republic of Ireland.

·   1924 – The company’s main supplier AMOC, was taken over by Shell.

·   1937 – McMullans became the sole Irish agents for Calor Gas and transformed the lives of people in households throughout Ireland through the provision of bottled gas for cooking and heating. The empty gas bottles were shipped back to Wales for refilling.

·   1949 – The Northern Ireland Parliament (Stormont) passed an act to enable McMullans Ltd to introduce tankers with a 3,600 gallon capacity.

·   1952 – McMullans terminated its arrangement with Calor and entered into a joint venture with Kosangas, an LPG company owned by a Danish family. This led to the establishment of McMullans Kosangas and the development of the first LPG bottling plants in Ireland, located in Belfast and Dublin.

·   1965 – McMullans introduced blending pumps to Ireland. This enabled their filling stations to stock just two grades of petrol but combine them through the pump to produce seven different blend options.

 

[minister_for_hardship]

16 hours ago, DiveController said:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/eamonnmcgee/3501531046/in/photolist-6kqgbW-VfvAN3-6knEhc

Esso Thames Trader, maybe DUX 227, if you can make out the rear plate, hopefully original, Rathmore Co. Kerry c.2009

Owned by O'Keefe Oil, Rathmore.

Unsure if it's one they've had all along or something they've purchased lately as an advertising gimmick. I think it has an original Irish reg, not ZV or modern county reg.

[Broithe]

If this is it, it looks like ZR 2417.

[Noel]

Only ESSO's we have   Love the trucks above.

[Mike 84C]

Brilliant response, thanks very much. Any information helps.

[DiveController]

On 12/9/2019 at 12:17 PM, Broithe said:

If this is it, it looks like ZR 2417.

it looks to be the same truck but has a different reg to the one I posted earlier (seen on the reverse side of the rear plate as an imprint if that makes sense).

I don't remember all the various county and city registration plates of old and some of the old british plates were also similar)

 

Edited December 10, 2019 by DiveController

[minister_for_hardship]

ZR is Wexford according to the table here. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_the_Republic_of_Ireland