Why do they have white Norberts?
Why do they have white Norberts?
Author
Discussion

Kermit power

Original Poster:

29,622 posts

243 months

Thursday 13th November 2014
quotequote all
Anyone who has ever driven young kids on a long journey will know the value of finding games to keep them entertained.

One that works brilliantly for our kids is the Norbert game. Every time we see a Norbert Dentressangle truck, the first one to shout out "Norbert" scores points, depending on the rarity of said truck. One point for any single trailer red truck, two for a double trailer and five for any white truck with a red logo.

Now, being a bit of a sad git, I've actually started playing this on my own on longer journeys, as I find it helps me keep my concentration in sluggish traffic in the same way that watching for speed cameras does when pressing on! paperbag

In today's 220 mile round trip to Huntingdon round the M25 & M11, I saw 27 one pointers, 5 two pointers and a single white tanker! This sort of distribution is pretty standard in my experience across certainly the UK and French motorways, which is what makes it such a good game for the kids, but it did get me wondering why they have just a small handful of white trucks...

They've got something like 16,000 trucks on their fleet, and whilst all the tankers seem to be white, they also seem to have a tiny percentage of white trucks which aren't. Does anyone on here know anything about the company who might be able to enlighten me?

Steve vRS

5,402 posts

271 months

Thursday 13th November 2014
quotequote all
I used to work in chemical works and we sent out a powdered product via Norbert.

We had one foreign driver who used to polish his chrome wheels whilst the wagon was being loaded. The rest of the cab always shone too.

Steve

XFDreamer

439 posts

238 months

Thursday 13th November 2014
quotequote all
It's possible they're rental trucks.

Even the biggest operators with the biggest fleets spot hire tractor units during busy times.

feef

5,209 posts

213 months

Thursday 13th November 2014
quotequote all
Try this for a theory:

Tankers and refrigerated vehicles are white

The rest are red.

Something to add to your game next time wink

imagineifyeswill

1,250 posts

196 months

Thursday 13th November 2014
quotequote all
I may be completely wrong but my guess would be that the white trucks are working a contract which stipulates the coour of the trucks.

Charlie Foxtrot

3,286 posts

245 months

Thursday 13th November 2014
quotequote all
I can't answer your question. But I play the same game with Asda trucks. An over eager player may shout "Asda!" prematurely for a green truck that is actually Waitrose or Co-op.

Rincewind209

288 posts

147 months

Thursday 13th November 2014
quotequote all
I can't answer either but COOP lorries out of their Avonmouth and Andover depots are Norberts.