Hiya,
Most interesting thread!
I’ve been going back and forth to Poland for some time, mostly towards the north west region (shipyards in Gdynia and Gdansk) haven’t been there though for the past two odd years… One thing that really surprised me in a positive manner was the “new” build E40 that runs down south via Wroclaw towards Katowice and further towards the Ukrainian border, it’s even better then the M1… 
And the services are just spot on! Clean and tidy and the food wasn’t that bad either… and with the prices they charge you, one might call that a bargain…
Another good thing is that you don’t have to queue up at the borders any more, never was my favourite thing, queueing for 20+ odd hours with no facilities…
Apart from the few motorways they’ve got nowadays, most of the traffic has to drive on the old national roads, with some sort of half lane on the right side to give faster traffic a chance to overtake, there are a lot of “routiers” where you can park for the night under surveillance.
Haven’t got a clue about wages and stuff, but I don’t reckon it’s what you’re used to now. On the other hand, life is on the cheap side, you don’t have to be a millionar to lead a comfortable excistence…
I must admit though that I wasn’t keen on Poland either, they always seem to be a bit grumpy at first (not the ladies though 
), but every time I went up there was a positive surprise in the way I was treated and they always helped with loading or unloading. Communication was a bit difficult though, they don’t speak English or german and I wasn’t too brilliant in speaking polish apart from some words…
Cheers, Patrick