that’s the FTA’s latest percentage of international work carried out by UK registered trucks - down from over 50% in 1995, and don’t forget that the overall number of journeys has grown by 100% since 1998, so is it actually 10%?
of course the share of the polish and hungarian firms has increased by 400% in 5 years and czech and slovaks by 300% - so from their 3% in 2003 they’re now on 23% and rising
how long before we merge this forum with the Old Time Forum then? 
how long before we merge this forum with the Old Time Forum then?
i dont think it will be long mate.going across to europe is the one thing i miss about driving.are the rest of europe seeing a downturn in there international traffic it would be interesting to know if the former eastern euro firms are doing more over there aswell.
The number of what you might call agents that are running UK drivers for foreign companies appears to be increasing though. That don’t make up for the loss, but I wonder if this sort of thing will increase further 
Its been my belief for a while now that the tide is turning. The Poles, Czechs, etc are finding it increasingly more difficult to compete. You only have to look at fuel prices throughout Europe, which are now closer to UK prices. The exodus of drivers from the East to Western Europe has also created problems,for as to retain good drivers has resulted in increased wages, therefore reducing their competitiveness. Most of the truck dealerships in Eastern Europe have an abundance of new (unsold) vehicles on their forecourts, ordered from manufacturers in anticipation of expected increases in demand that does’nt appear to have materialised. Last week I saw a brand new, unregistered DAF XF105 510 SSC,with all the extras on, in a Lithuanian dealership, priced at 88,000euros.(Approx£73,000) By the amount of dust on it, it had been there some time.Agreed, we are still the most disadvantaged country in Europe as regards vehicle tax etc, but as The Eastern European employees get a taste of money, and what it can do, it will inevitably lead to higher wage demands, which in turn lead to increased manufacturing costs, thus further reducing their current advantages.OK, there’s still lots of non-UK trucks coming into the country, but how many are making a profit?
gb1:
Most of the truck dealerships in Eastern Europe have an abundance of new (unsold) vehicles on their forecourts,
really? it takes almost a year of waiting for a new scania around here, with other brands not far behind
milodon:
gb1:
Most of the truck dealerships in Eastern Europe have an abundance of new (unsold) vehicles on their forecourts,really? it takes almost a year of waiting for a new scania around here, with other brands not far behind
Exactly. I would imagine there are some very angry hauliers around if they found out the truck they have been waiting for is parked on a dealers forecourt.
Lead times are still over a year in the industry
A friend of mine in the industry tells me that individual countries place orders for which build space is alloted on the manufacturers assembly lines. The manufacturers thought they were on to a good thing when they started getting big orders from the Eastern Europeans, and basically neglected those countries requesting smaller volumes. I think we will start to see shorter lead times as those manufacturers now put their efforts into satisfying demand here, particularly as they have increased production capacity. Quite how this is going to affect prices I don’t know, as I’m sure the manufacturers will quickly want to recoup their recent outlay.
DAFMAD:
The number of what you might call agents that are running UK drivers for foreign companies appears to be increasing though. That don’t make up for the loss, but I wonder if this sort of thing will increase further
Plenty already on for HSF & Post Kogeko etc. One of our drivers starts with Van Bentum next week.
Last week I saw a brand new, unregistered DAF XF105 510 SSC,with all the extras on, in a Lithuanian dealership, priced at 88,000euros.(Approx£73,000)
would have been even cheaper had the Euro not fallen against the £!!!
Yep i think the figure at 19 % will shrink to almost nothing in the next few years and probably more and more drivers will work for European hauliers, its the way its goin.
well my boss/company i work for just had to increase his european fleet by 25% to cope with the work load 
(from 3 to 4 trucks)
I’ve been noticing more British trucks over the water lately.
me to actually started to notice a few uk registerd DSV trucks over the channel the last few weeks a couple of TNT ones aswell even seen a rh freight running back down the corridor to calais.
do ya think its got owt to do with the fuel price over here chaps.that theres more uk motors over there latley
i agree saw alot of uk trucks through the corridor last week, Mason Brothers busy with the tates, eddie stobarts, ralph davies and quite a few others come on boys fight the good fight!
i wish there were more brits coming out as well.
all the irish hauliers have poles and latvians driving for them.
they dont and wont spend money and dont understand our sense of humour.
there no one to go on the wine with anymore.
the continental job has gone downhill.
Carl:
do ya think its got owt to do with the fuel price over here chaps.that theres more uk motors over there latley
It’s because the £ has weakened against the euro.
It’s because the £ has weakened against the euro
i never thought of that harry 
It makes British things cheaper for mainland Europeans and imported things more expensive for us so there has been a shift in the import/export ratio.
Obviously much of this increased export work is covered by eastern Europeans but a few crumbs fall our way.
milodon:
gb1:
Most of the truck dealerships in Eastern Europe have an abundance of new (unsold) vehicles on their forecourts,really? it takes almost a year of waiting for a new scania around here, with other brands not far behind
That’s because Volvo and Scania etc can’t be bothered with the difficulties of altering the assembly line to build RHD vehicles when there has been over-demand from the rest of Europe for LHD trucks for several years.
I doubt this situation will change in the near future- we are on the edge of a recession in the UK and I don’t imagine that many people here are going to charge out to buy a new truck anytime soon.
You are all seeing the amazing speed that Europe is grinding to a halt! It was about a year’s waiting time for new trucks here in France about three months ago, now there are new trucks just waiting for someone willing to risk their home in buying one. We are being pestered by gargages in France & Belgium trying to dump the trucks that had been ordered a year ago by hauliers that are now out of business because of the fuel prices.
The good news is that the eastern block hauliers are sinking as well.