Having not been on for a while I’ve logged on a few times recently and have to say the negative vibes from this forum are incredible.
Am I the only driver on euro work that rarely gets hassle and just swans back and forth to euroland having good days & bad like anyone else ■■
Or am i damned lucky ■■
Pay could be a bit better but apart from that it’s not so bad.
I don’t go to the mainland anymore but for the time I did go over it was pretty much as you describe it. Some drivers have more incidents in a couple of months than I did in 20 odd years.
Coffeeholic:
I don’t go to the mainland anymore
How many more times is RobK going to have to explain this to you? 
I frequently go to the ‘mainland’ and my life is pretty much problem free too. Lots of people like to make out doing Europe is like the wild west to make themselves feel brave.
Harry Monk:
Coffeeholic:
I don’t go to the mainland anymoreHow many more times is RobK going to have to explain this to you?
Until he realises the error of his ways
Perhaps it depends on where you go and what you drive.
My recent trips have all been to Spain or Holland.
I never had so much as a glance from the police in Holland but the Spanish trips were all down the main route for everyone, ie via Bordeaux, Irun, Pamplona, Valencia to El Ejido or Irun, Madrid to El Ejido.
Although I was only stopped and everything checked three times in twenty nine trips , they were all in Spain, where you couldn’t drive for 30 minutes anywhere without seeing the Guardia.
Also, I was never stopped and checked in France by the gendarmes, only by the Customs, numerous times but never a problem, on the move again inside five minutes.
I was never searched on the way in or out of the UK but the truck was standard and lettered with the company name.
A friend of mine in a fancy Renault Magnum with more lights than the M1 virtually never got back into the UK without being pulled, even though his truck and load were always in order.
Our other truck was stopped on the way back in until it was lettered, then the checks stopped.
On the other hand, I have not been stopped and checked in the UK for the last eight years.
Regards,
Nick.
Spanish do seem to be on a mission of late. Glad I’m on the real mainland this week!
I have been pulled many times by the motorbike units of the Douanes,they are ok lads and lasses,and you can have a laugh with them,you get escorted off the toll road or national with the blue lights going and sirens on,the worried look of passing French car drivers is quite amusing to me.
You will find lady officers of the Doaunes,a few were ten ton Tina`s,some were fit,in their uniform.
In europe,there are plain clothes officers,at night in unmarked cars,or sat next to you at the Rouitiers.
bigvern1:
Spanish do seem to be on a mission of late. Glad I’m on the real mainland this week!
Ah, you are staying in the more central area of the mainland rather than going to the Iberian Peninsula then?
turnip:
Having not been on for a while I’ve logged on a few times recently and have to say the negative vibes from this forum are incredible.
Am I the only driver on euro work that rarely gets hassle and just swans back and forth to euroland having good days & bad like anyone else ■■
Or am i damned lucky ■■
Pay could be a bit better but apart from that it’s not so bad.
Nope, it’s the same for me. I’m starting to wonder what I’m doing wrong.
(I hope we haven’t jinxed ourselves now )
Coffeeholic:
I don’t go to the mainland anymore but for the time I did go over it was pretty much as you describe it. Some drivers have more incidents in a couple of months than I did in 20 odd years.
I’m the same. I’ve had the occasional tug, no more than I had when working in the UK.
All the trucks I’ve driven have been logoed but no bling. I behave in much the same manner as everyone else does.
My tacho records have the occasional “error”, but I’ve never had an “invented” fine. On the rare occasion I have been fined, I’ve been caught bang to rights guv. Overtaking where there’s a sign saying don’t, speeding, overheight once, that sort of thing. Exactly what I’d expect a fine for in the UK.
I’ve also had the occasional telling off, from the Police in all the Western European countries. Again, for minor (and sometimes not so minor) errors on my part.
I have also made the effort to learn the basic greetings and manners of each country I visit regularly. Good morning/afternoon, please and thankyou etc. I’m frequently asked if I’m English, apparently with some surprise that I’ve made this minor effort. I of course reply with the negative, being a Scot 
I used to work with a bloke double manning a motorsport truck, everytime we got back to the workshop he’d have tales of how he avoided this drama and that drama. His description of the trip home seemed to bear no relationship to what I had seen sitting in the truck with him. 
Got to say they were some dammed good stories though, 
I can just imagine the je m’appelle Ceeeemon in a soft Scottish accent
I was on the same run from Leuven (Belgium) to Munich for 3 years did not get stopped once. Then was doing Mannheim to Clermont st Ferrand was stopped and checked every week lol. Often 2 weeks in a row by the same Gendarmes. I was stopped 3 times in a week round Grenoble and it was the same Gendarme. No messing I was in a wee shop just outside Grenoble and in he walked to buy cigarettes and he came up to me and said is that your truck outside and started laughing. Never got stopped again. he used to pass me sometimes in the police car and hit the claxon. I never got stopped there again.
I packed in Euro work a few years ago but it was the easiest work going with virtually no hassle from officials. Most of the stories are just drivers talking ■■■■■■■■ on the boats which is the second favourite hobby for a driver, the first one obviously being moaning.
Nowadays I get far more hassle on the ‘mainland’ in 1 month than I ever did in Europe in 5 years. 
My penny just dropped what the " mainland "is
I must be doing something wrong at our place. I only get the odd pull from customs in germany, france or italy nothing else even though I do set off the odd speed camera especially in France, But I’ve never had the experiences of my mate.
He’s been robbed, run off the road, fined a massive amount, had a hot shot job to San Marino and got pit passes for a whole weekend. he must just be unlucky/lucky.
bigvern1:
Spanish do seem to be on a mission of late. Glad I’m on the real mainland this week!
they have been told to crack down over the last couple of years
Its is law to have a 3 hour lunch break in France. When arriving back in the uk,it was funny to see the uk drivers in a lay by with a soggy white sandwhich,and a flask of tea,when in europe,you get the five or six course drivers meal,waited on by staff in uniform,white linen table cloths,with a coffee cognac or a Calvados after the meal.Staff with no attitude problems,and a decent price.
Have you noticed the price for a breakfast at any uk MSA,is more than a lunch or evening meal at a posh pub or restaurant.And they are rude to you too.
switchlogic:
Lots of people like to make out doing Europe is like the wild west to make themselves feel brave.
Ha - Ice Road Truckers syndrome, if there is no drama just concoct some Don’t even get them started on being gassed bi-weekly 