It’s a little after 9’o’clock in the morning and I have just started work and I am taking the unit out to the car park to load in my bedding and various bags. I then return to the yard to find the trailer I have to take to Walsall. Normally I just find an empty trailer but today I am looking for trailer ECO 3 which Carl, one of the other drivers, brought back from Germany yesterday. A slow drive round the yard and I finally locate it and it isn’t even blocked in which is good news. The other good news is that I don’t have to play hunt the load bar this morning as this trailer will have bars on it and they are somewhat scarce in our yard at the moment as we are so busy with this particular work. I would like to be playing the game the Line Haul Boys, such as Jimboy124, play each morning in whoever gets the highest trailer number pays for the refreshments on the train. ECO 3 can only be beaten by one trailer as ECO 1 is 4.2 metres high and doesn’t go over the water so I would pretty much be a shoe in to have the lowest trailer number and not have to buy my own coffee.
Should be easy to find the trailer, it’s a yellow one!
Turns out is the one you can just see a bit of the headboard of this side of the double decker
Easy run up the M1 and M6 with very little traffic about, and just one stop at Watford Gap for a coffee, and I pull up to the security gate bang on time at exactly midday. They are already loading my trailer so they ask me to drop ECO3 on bay 17 and mine, ECO 117 on bay 27, won’t be long. I take the partially completed CMR’s into the transport office and then go back to the truck and put the tacho on break.
I have taken 19 minutes break when Steve the shunter pulls up alongside me and tells me my trailer is on a green light so I can couple up. I do so and give it a quick check over before collecting the paperwork from the office. Less than an hour after arriving I am back on the road heading for the M6.
All is going well until I am between junction 3 and 2 when up ahead I see a car on the hard shoulder. I always like to move over when anything is on the hard shoulder, both my sons now work in the recovery game so spend time working at the side of busy roads, and glancing in the mirror I see one car in lane 2 about 30 metres or so behind me and lane 3 is empty as far as the eye can see. I indicate and the car in lane 2 speeds up to get quickly alongside me and when he gets level with the cab he just stays there. I think uncomplimentary things about the driver and just edge as close to the right of my lane as I can. But then things take a turn for the worse.
Up ahead a recovery truck I had been following puts on his beacons and suddenly pulls onto the hard shoulder in front of the stranded car, at which point the driver’s door of the car opens, a bloke gets out and starts walking toward the recovery truck… in lane 1! I cannot move into lane two because I still have the genius driver down beside my cab so all I can do is sound the horn to warn the bloke walking up lane 1 of my prescience, I do stick the right indicator on but Genius Driver ignores it despite lane 3 being empty. It all gets a bit surreal from this point. The woman passenger in the car down by my door mistakenly thinks I am sounding my horn at them and out of the corner of my eye I can see her gesticulating at me in a manner that suggest she either wants to perform a sex act on me or has some coffee beans in her hand to share, I know not which.
The bloke walking along lane 1 looks over his shoulder at me then turns back and just carries on walking! So I hit the horn again and all I can think is that I am not going to catch the train today and this is bound to mean a lot of forms to fill in; squashing someone like a bug under your wheels must surely mean lots and lots of forms. I am braking hard but Genius Driver, whose wife is going bat-crap crazy by this time, also slows to match my decreasing speed so I am left waiting for the impact and wondering what it will sound like, crunch, squelch, combination of both or something different, when the bloke thankfully leaps onto the shoulder and I skim past him. I think if he had been a little taller I would have taken his head off with the wide-angle mirror. I check in the mirror to make sure I didn’t catch him and drag him under the wheels and see him standing on the shoulder shaking his fist at me so it appears it was my fault he decided to go for a walk up lane 1.
It doesn’t end there. Oh no, Genius Driver now decides to get in front of me and brake test me by leaping on his brakes. He does it a couple of times but I don’t bite and just back off so he gets bored and with both him and his wife waving arms out the windows at me they speed off. It will have taken you far longer to read this, and for me to write it, than the time the whole thing, from the first use of the indicator to narrowly missing the bloke, actually took. It certainly was an... err... interesting few seconds.
Excitement over I carry on down the motorway and at Newport Pagnell Services I pull in to take the remaining 30 minutes of my break after which it is thankfully an uneventful run down to the train.
I change some money and buy the road tax I will need for Belgium and Holland, I get four days from today until Wednesday, and change some money into Euro’s. I pull through the first security barrier which is usually unmanned but today has a Kent police presence and they wave me through. Through the barrier and VOSA are present and doing vehicle checks but they also wave me through and then I get the hat-trick when I am also waved past the scanner and on toward the queuing lanes. I wait for just three minutes then the waiting trucks move down to board the train; it doesn’t take long as there are only eight vehicles on this particular train. Fifty-two minutes later I am driving off the train in France and turning toward the Belgian border.
At the first junction in Belgium I leave the motorway and go into Adinkerke as I haven’t eaten since breakfast before I left home this morning and I have no idea where I will end up stopping tonight. I park in the main street and go to the chip shop. When I arrive at the shop there is no one inside serving, there are just three customers sitting at a couple of the tables, but I spot the owner crossing the road from the canal where he had been tending to a fishing rod. I decided against ordering the fish at this point. I consider carefully what to order as Wheel Nut may read this diary and as a fellow connoisseur of Belgian food I want him to enjoy tonight’s Frietkot experience. I settle on Stoofvlees met frieten – Flemish meat stew with chips – which I think will meet with his approval.
One of the three customers leaves his seat and starts talking to me. I can’t understand a word he is saying and I apologise, saying that unfortunately I don’t speak more than a few words of Flemish. He looks at me in a bewildered manner and has another go. At this point I realise he is actually English but is as drunk as a Lord. I manage to understand enough to work out he is a driver, he is on his way to Holland but is stopping in the parking area at the Stop & Shop tobacco shop tonight. He seems to want to be my new best friend but he stinks to high heaven, mainly of alcohol but I do detect a hint of urine mixed with a none to sparing dash of armpit, or possibly crotch, but I don’t dwell too much on the likely source of the pong. This delightful aroma, coupled with the fact he has a face which looks like a Photoshop accident, convinces me I don’t want to eat my meal in his company so I ask if I can have it to go, and return to the truck.
Wheel Nut if you are reading this, the Stoofvlees was excellent, and it goes without saying, the chips also. I hit the road and as I am leaving Adinkerke I see Pongo cuddling a lamp-post, I drive past with the windows firmly shut.
I am not sure how far I will get tonight as being Sunday most of Belgium will have driven to the edge of the country to see what happens when the land runs out, I am fully convinced that Belgium tilts slightly to the west on a summer weekend, and will now be heading back home. Also, at the roundabout at the end of Adinkerke there is a steady stream of traffic coming from the direction of De Panne and the Plopsaland amusement park, I sit there for a good five minutes unable to enter the roundabout until a woman driving a Dutch registered car takes pity on me and flashes me out. A third thing to consider is the Gentse Feesten which is a music, theatre and street performer’s festival, held unsurprisingly in Gent, and runs for ten days from the Saturday before the Belgian national holiday on the 21st of July. The last day will be tomorrow which is known as The Day of the Empty Wallets as everybody has spent all their money by then. That could mean more traffic to contend with and with just over 2 hours driving time left for a ten hour driving day when I left Adinkerke I will just have to stop wherever I am close to running out of time.
As it turn out the traffic, although heavy, was running well and after a quick stop at Kruibeke for fuel I made it round Antwerp and into the services at Ranst with four minutes driving time left and call it a day booking off 23:00 local time.
Totals for the day.
Driving - 9 hours 56 minutes
Other Work – 59 minutes
Break – 2 hour 05 minutes
Kilometres – 744
Day 2, Monday 26th July
If you read my last diary you will know we have a little problem sometimes with the bloke who books these jobs, not our boss. I have this problem this week. I do not have details of my reload yet, it is to be advised and will be Frechen, Unna or Hamburg and I have deliveries on for Unna and Hamburg. The Unna is scheduled for 15:00 this afternoon with the Hamburg for 03:00 tomorrow morning. However I parked last night at least 3 hours from Unna so allowing time for checks and buying my German tax that would mean starting about 11:30 today, which means I couldn’t work past 02:30 tomorrow and unable to deliver the Hamburg job at 03:00. The added factor of being unsure of the reload makes deciding what to do a bit difficult but I settle on delivering Unna early, getting to Hamburg, taking a nine hour daily rest and delivering the Hamburg a little late and leaving me time to head toward the reload if it turns out to be Unna or Frechen.
With that decision reached I book back on at 08:30 and a few minutes’ later head toward Holland and on to Germany. I make a stop in Holland to get my German road tax. I buy it from the border at Straelen to Hamburg-Moorfleet exit via the Kamen Zentrum junction, a distance of 442 kilometres costing €68.54 and 18 hours to complete the journey by 04:20 tomorrow.
Stopping for German road tax in Holland, it’s raining and I get wet.
I reach the delivery in Unna at five past eleven and after booking in go round to the office at ramp 101. The same guy I met in my last diary is working today and he remembers me. He points out that I am early. I agree but in turn point out that I am not as early as last time so I am getting better. He grins and tells me to go on ramp 102, which I duly do. Regular readers of my diaries may be shocked at what happens next so I suggest you brace yourselves.
I go back inside the warehouse and assist in the unloading.
I can only apologise for the gratuitous use of work in one of my diaries and I promise to endeavour never to repeat this in any future accounts of my life, unless it is strictly necessary for the plot.
By work, I don’t just mean standing there shouting out the destinations from the labels on the pallets. Oh no, I also moved pallets about and wheeled cages off the trailer like a proper truck driver does. Sixteen pallets and nine cages come off the trailer and with it resealed and the paperwork signed I am ready to leave. I thank the warehouse guy and say I will try not to be early next time, he laughs and says he will believe it when he sees it.
I text the boss with my arrival and departure times and enquire if there is any news of my reload. Five minutes later he replies with the news I am reloading at the Hamburg delivery at 06:00 and supplies me with the necessary reference number and tells me this load is for Wakefield.
It’s looks like rain again, on route to Hamburg.
I then get back on the A1, which will take me all the way to my destination and start eating up the kilometres. I stop for a break then push on but just past the Sittensen exit I spot a traffic jam a little way ahead and just make it into the Ostetals service area before the traffic starts queuing beyond the exit. I’m not going to sit in traffic wasting time so decide that’s enough for today and book off at 17:30.
A shower, a meal and use of their WiFi hotspot pass the evening and I hit the bunk for a couple of hours sleep before my planned very early start.
Totals for the day.
Driving - 6 hours 47 minutes
Other Work – 1 hour 24 minutes
Break – 49 minutes
Kilometres – 532
Day 3, Tuesday 27th July
I book back on at 02:30 and make tracks for the delivery where I arrive at 03:35 and wait for a few minutes while they finish loading a German truck then back onto the ramp. They unload 12 cages and 18 pallets but tell me they cannot reload me as the people who deal with that won’t be in until 7 o’clock, which is a little odd as I was given a 06:00 loading time. I pull out and drive a few kilometres to a truck stop I know where I have coffee and ham with scrambled eggs and read for a while before heading back for 7 o’clock.
I go into the office, where they have indeed just started work and they know nothing about my reload. The reference number I have doesn’t match anything they have. The guy who seems to be in charge apologises and says they will try to sort it out as soon as possible but they will have to possibly wait to speak to someone in England so that may take a while. He asks where I am parked and I tell him I am in the yard, parked by the fence opposite bay 26 and he says he will come and get me when they know something.
I go back to the truck and text the boss about the problem. He replies saying he is at the hospital where his wife is in labour with their fifth child but he has forwarded my text to Andy in the office who will be covering his work.
I put the tacho back on break and I do what every experienced international driver does in this situation. I go to sleep.
I wake to the sound of the alarm, which is strange because I didn’t actually set the alarm, and have no idea where I am or what I am supposed to be doing. I look out the window and work out that I am in Hamburg at which point it all becomes clear. I also realise the alarm is actually the cab phone and on answering it I find myself speaking to Andy. He tells me it should be sorted shortly and if nothing has happened in an hour to let him know, I check the time and see it is 09:30 so tell him I will call him at half past ten if nothing happens. I put the kettle on and at ten past ten I get a shout from the warehouse and am asked to back onto the ramp for loading. I do so then I am back on break while they load it.
The worst thing about sitting here is the building next door where they produce coffee and the whole area smells of my favourite brew. It’s akin to torture being made to sit here for so long.
Mhhhhhhhhh, smell that!
Just before 11 o’clock they shout to say they are finished so I go in to get the paperwork and see the trailer is 75% full and they have loaded 26 pallets. They have secured the load so I close the shutter, they seal it and I am ready to go. So far my shift has been just over eight and a half hours and in that time I have done just 1 hour and 11 minutes driving and had a minute or two less than seven hours break.
I need to get some road tax so drive round to a Shell filling station and buy it from Hamburg-Moorfleet to the Cloppenburg junction where I will leave the motorway behind and head for the border between the German town of Nordhorn and Denekamp in Holland. It is a nicer drive than the motorway and saves about €20 on the road tax. This one costs €25.45 for 164.3 kilometres and they allow seven hours to complete the trip.
On the Autobahn and I call Andy to say there is no way I will make the booking time at 14:00 tomorrow afternoon now and can he get it rebooked please. He says he will take care of it. All goes well for an hour then all of a sudden, in a road work section, the traffic just comes to a sudden halt. After a few minutes it is clear we are not going to be moving any time soon so engine off, everyone turns there engines off in jams in Germany, and I stick the tacho on break. Drivers and passengers are out of their cars and wandering about, pouring coffee from flasks, making new friends and generally having a good time. The Germans do love a Stau Party.
The beginnings of the Stau Party
It is just over one hour and forty-five minutes before the traffic moves again and within seconds we are back up to full speed and I never did find out what the hold-up was for.
At the Cloppenburg exit I leave the Autobahn and follow the national roads to Nordhorn then cross into Holland. I am heading for the Frans op den Bult truck stop and it is turning into a bit of a race against the clock as my 15 hour limit is fast approaching. I make it with 4 minutes to spare and book off at 17:30 for the full 15 hour day.
There are only three other trucks here so I get my stuff together and head over the road to the restaurant building for a shower then enjoy a meal of fish, boiled potatoes and vegetables. When I pay I also spend €5 on an access pass for their WiFi point which gives me 3 hours online.
I am sitting in the truck when I see a Belkins driver approaching, we start to chat and I work out that he is the TruckNet member known as The Tourist I introduce myself and we chat for a while, for about an hour in fact.
I use up my internet time then turn in. I had just laid my head on the pillow when I hear the unmistakable whine of a mosquito coming in over my head and heading for the bits they seem to find so tasty on my legs. I get up and slip a new tablet into my mozzie burner and plug it in, but not before the bugger gets a strike in by my left knee. I always have a bad reaction to mozzie bites so slap on some insect bite cream and try for a second time to get some sleep.
Totals for the day.
Driving - 5 hours 37 minutes
Other Work – 49 minutes
Break – 8 hours 34 minutes
Kilometres – 364
Day 4, Wednesday 28th July
I book back on at 03:00 and when I open the curtains I spot something on the inside of the windscreen, the mosquito that bit me last night. I have no idea what it was doing there as the burner should have chased it off but there it was. I will gloss over what happened next but after clearing what looked like a miniature crime scene off the windscreen I was good to go.
As I head for Arnheim the rain is lashing down but the roads are quiet and I just have the hiss of the wheels over the wet tarmac and the swish of the wipers to keep me company. It is an incident free run and I get round Antwerp easily. Belgian schools are on holiday and it really makes a difference to the morning traffic on the ring road I get a text from the boss saying his wife gave birth to their fifth son at 04:45, 9lbs 4 oz. and both mother and baby are fine. I send back a congratulations text and ask now the 5 a-side team is complete are they going to try for the cheer leader? He says yes.
I top up the tanks at Kruibeke and then take a break. I stop for a while in Adinkerke to drop some shopping off for Jessica in the Texaco garage. She is English and I bring over some bits and pieces for her that she misses and can’t get in Belgium.
Next stop the train and after booking on I get straight down and board without having to queue, although we do sit for a while before the train departs. Back in England I give Andy a call to see what the story is with the booking for the delivery. He tells me he has had an email from the guy who does the bookings saying they will take it tomorrow morning. No booking time but they will take it he says. I have my doubts but say nothing. As I have used all my reduced rest periods I can only do a 13 hour day today so I decide to take it back to the yard, go home and come back in after my rest to take it to Wakefield.
I arrive back in the yard at 14:10, UK time, and book off at 14:30 before taking my stuff to the car and heading home.
Totals for the day.
Driving - 8 hours 19 minutes
Other Work – 44 minutes
Break – 49 minutes
Kilometres – 532
Day 5, Thursday 29th July
Back in work after 11 hours rest and book on at 01:30 and collect the truck, it is still coupled to the trailer so wasn’t used last night, and make my way to the M1. I stop at Watford Gap to grab a coffee and arrive at the delivery just off junction 31 of the M62 at 05:15.
They do not have a booking for me today, and I am not surprised. The security guard calls the office and a very nice girl called Gemma comes out to see me. She is most apologetic but says it has not been rebooked. She checks the booking sheet for today and says they are just too busy to squeeze me in. She says she will make some calls later when other people roll into work and I tell her I will do the same. I ask where I can park, I am currently in their entrance and parked just before the barrier into the yard. You can stop there they tell me, others can still get round you.
I put the tacho back on break and I do what every experienced international driver does in this situation. I go to sleep.
About 9 o’clock I hear from the office and they are having trouble getting hold of the guy who does the bookings but they will get back to me as soon as they hear from him. I point out there is one of our depots across the road and if worst comes to the worst I could leave the trailer there and see if they can give me an empty to bring back down. Andy says he doesn’t know the depot but will see what he can do. I let Sean the security guard, we are on first name terms by now as he gave me a pass so I could use the toilets and get breakfast and coffee in the canteen, know what is happening and ask if he wants me to move. No stay where you are he says, it’s no problem.
A little while later Gemma comes outside and when she sees me still sitting there comes over and asks if I am okay, apologises again for not being able to squeeze me in and checks that I have had breakfast. I tell her I have and she says if there is anything I need just to ask Sean.
Half past eleven and the phone goes. Drop the trailer in the yard across the road and collect an empty then come home is the instruction. They are expecting me across the road. I tell Sean the outcome and thank him for his help and he lets me in the yard to spin round. They are indeed expecting me across the road and they show me were to leave the trailer and give me the number of the trailer I can take. I started this trip with ECO 3 and will end it with ECO 503.
Goodbye old friend, it’s been a blast
A straight forward run back to Hatfield, I go A1 all the way just for a change, and I am back in the yard by quarter past three and booked off by 15:45. I will be working Sunday so they have said I can have tomorrow off so I can fit in my full weekly rest period before I start again on Sunday morning. Don’t know where I am going yet, they will text me tomorrow.
Totals for the day.
Driving - 7 hours 08 minutes
Other Work – 1 hour 16 minutes
Break – 6 hours and 1 minute
Kilometres – 557
I hadn't intended to write a diary this week but after the incident on the M6 on Sunday morning I kept replaying it in my head and from then on the diary for Sunday just sort of wrote itself and I thought I might as well continue for the week.
