Well i left the uk with 2 dump trucks and some groupage. I had 1 drop in Irun the town that borders france and spain and the next one was in bilbao…then down to madrid with the dump trucks. I shipped out on Tuesday last week and caught the ferry from portsmouth to Caen and took the national roads down through Le-mans…Tours…Bordeaux…and through Irun to reach my first drop on Thursday. 1x pallet of groupage. I stopped on the border to set the Sat/nav and was amazed when 10 minutes later i was on the doorstep. A very helpful guy who spoke perfect english directed me to the un-loading bay and duly lifted the goods off…i was there all of 5 minutes before i was heading towards Bilbao.
I decided to pull into a service area for something to eat and ordered a coffee and a cold drink. The t.v was on and i started to take notice when tony blair came on…and although i dont speak much spanish i could make out the conversation beneath the spanish translation…i was shocked to find that this program was about the attacks on our country by the terrorists scum who committed these atrocities…i was shocked as i watched the program…even commenting to other diners…and many of them said their apologies…for they too were affected when the same thing happened in their own back yard.
The temperature was 40 degrees and the air/con was working overtime as i saw the signs welcoming me to the town. As before i stopped to set the sat/nav and this took me through some narrow country lanes, but very scenic and directed me to the town i wanted. A stop at the local petrol station and i was told where the factory was. As i arrived i noticed quite a few trucks scattered around waiting or were in the process of loading. I thought i was in for a long wait…thinking the english way that everyone has to wait his turn. I was wrong…for once i reported to the goods in office…the forklift driver followed me over to my truck…for 1 x pallet…which i had placed on the rear doors for ease of unloading…10 minutes later i was on my way to madrid. I was running short of hours as i pulled into AREA 103. A very busy truckstop where i duly filled up with 600 litres of 59p a litre fuel. I was 30 kilometers from madrid and decided to stay the night. As i walked into the restaurant there was a fellow brit on the telephone…so a visit to the loo to freshen up…saw us meeting again and we decided to have a beer or two. well i was on the beer.he was on the brandy/whiskey…the measures are unreal though…ijn all honesty…there are no measures…just pour from the bottle till they think its a good measure…in both instances it looked like half a pint of brandy then topped up with coke…my god…i dont know how he managed to stand up…let alone walk back to his cab…but he did.
His name was alan and he worked for G.G…he was telling me about how he was fed up with his company…had been there a few years…and now that they were employing.poles…czechs…hungarians…he was being put upon by the management because when the foreign drivers were asked do do something…they said they didnt understand…so in effect were given all the cushy numbers. But all is not so well with these foreigners because they were on less money…had to spend 12 weeks in the cab…before being given a week off. The british drivers only had to spend 6 weeks in the cab before their week off.
We said our good night and each went our separate ways for a well earned good nights sleep. He was still parked with curtains drawn when i pulled out in the morning and headed for madrid. This drop i had been to before so knew where i was going…but on arrival saw the un-loading bay was being used by a spanish driver…so i decided to un lace the trailer cord…take off the straps that were holding the machines down and get ready for when i could get on the bay. I was very hot working in the hot sun and went to my fridge to get a cold drink…was very tempted looking at the cold beers in there…but decided on a lemonade instead. I eventually backed on the ramp and walked up to the office to book in. at reception was a very young girl who spoke perfect english…about 19/20 years old…low cut blouse…short skirt up to her armpits…and i wished i was 40 years younger…as i returned to my trailer i was approached by several spanish people who worked in the depot…all of them wanted to offer their condolences about what had happened in london…i was touched…and joined with them in wishing the terrorists eternal hell and damnation…as we drew a finger across our throats…at the same time. I received a phone call of my first pick up for the back load…this was a groupage warehouse i had also been to before…and duly turned up 30 minutes later only to find a spanish trailer also waiting to load. I was there in all about 4 hours…including their lunch break…i had something to eat from the box…and also a couple of cold beers…i was talking to the spanish driver in french…spanish and english…anyways really…and i find it amazing that we can always communicate without knowing a language…my life was saved when another spanish truck turned up…with a romanien driver…who spoke perfect english…he became our translator…and we had some laughs…he told me he left romania for a better life…and lived in pamplona…alone…his wife and children had just had a visit…but had to go back.because they never had residence visas. I eventually loaded the bulk of my return load…but i had to top up on saturday morning at Irun…another company i visit frequently…so that was not a problem…but i had to make the loading in time or face being weekended…i stopped for the night on the outskirts of irun…in a lay-by…the traffic from madrid to pamplona was very heavy and i guessed because it was the weekend everyone was going away…unless there was a bullfight on…i wont talk about that…cos it gets my goat when they torture young bulls in the name of sport…anyway…i had had a long day…16 hours…but within my driving hours…i did however bend the rules…with regard to my nightly rest…i only had an 8 hour rest instead of 9…naughty boy…but set the sat/nav to make sure i arrived without a hitch to finish loading. The yard was deserted apart from all of their own trucks parked for the weekend…however i did locate the warehouse manager…who had come in especially to load me…and after looking at the space available…said i had to leave some goods behind…not my problem i thought…but he had to make a phone call to ask what goods were to be left behind…and after loading…i was free to go…to make the journey back to the uk.
Of course i couldnt leave spain without stopping at Irun town centre for the duty frees…a carton of ciggies is…28 euros…a packet of old holborn 2.65 euros…a litre bottle of scotch £5.50…no wonder many people were buying boxes of the stuff…and carrying out carrier bags full of the stuff…Me i cant be bothered smuggling just to make a small profit…and risk losing the goods and paying a fine…so i only buy for my family…but there are oportunities if one wanted.
I came through the border without even stopping and decided that a weekend at clauds was out of the question…i was too early and had a few hours of driving left…i drove instead to another truckstop at castets where i paid 2.25 euros for a well earned shower and tucked into a routiers menu. Its strange how they operate different practises…i helped myself to the au derv and was quite enjoying it when the waitress approached me to take the order for the main course…she was looking on the table for the ticket…which had to be paid for in advance at the bar…well sometimes you do…and sometimes you dont…this time i didnt…and duly went to the bar to purchase my ticket…12 euros for a very large menu…4 courses with coffee…just over 7 quid…a few other brits pulled in and we said our hellos and then i wanted to get further up the road. I pulled into a service area and lo and behold who should be there but alan again…glass of wine in hand…half pint glass…mind you…and we had a chat for a while and i decided to pull out…he was staying till the morning…i only had until midnight because of the sunday driving in france…whereas he had a fridge…and could drive…ive never understood that rule..how can it be perishable in a fridge..there are many of course who flout the rules though..running the fridges when theyve got dry goods on.or groupage..but ive got a euro-liner…and you cant take a chance with that.
I wanted to make a little truck stop the other side of Tours…but before i got there i heard a very loud bang from the rear end.and saw clouds of dust as i looked in the mirror…i had a blow out…so pulled into the next lay-by…good job i bought a bottle of coke…to go with the bottle of scotch…so it was time to relax…a cd and a scotch and coke at 10.30 pm seemed a good idea…of course i sent a text to the boss…who arranged a tyre fitter to come out on sunday morning…he was also very apologetic for the atrocities in london…and asked why we give them money and housing…he too wanted to come to england for an easy life…till i told him he would get nothing…its only asylum seekers who get handouts…they get more than our own citizens…then they blow us up…he left after fitting my new tyre…and i put the old tyre on the spare wheel carrier…and made a move…but only 30 kms up the road till i chickened out…and stopped in a different lay-by.
Sunday night at 11pm i ran as far as le-mans to a service area…where i parked again for the night…at least i could shower in the morning.
I set off for the port of caen at 0800, my ferry was the 1700 to portsmouth…a passenger ferry…it wasnt worth booking a cabin as the crossing was only just over 5 hours…so after having a meal in the drivers restaurant…i drank orange juice.and saved the free bottle of wine for the bar area. It was quite interesting because there was a party of young kids on board and a kareoke had been arranged…a lot of the kids took part…and some of them had put their teachers names forward as well…it was a great laugh…and the kids were well looked after by the ferry staff. I parked just outside portsmouth for the night and set off for belvedere near dartford. This was a freight forwarders who had to sort out their own goods and re-arrange the trailer for my onward deliveries. The first being in crayford the same day…the next was eurohub corby…and the 99p stores warehouse in daventry.
Crayford was a nightmare…the places people want you to put a 40ft trailer…alleyways just big enough for a car let alone a truck…why do authorities build these industrial sites in inaccessible places…of course i ended up riping the curtain on the rear end…trying to reverse around a blind right hand bend…with a left hand drive truck…and no one wanting to help see you out…at least the other 2 drops were easy access.
Why do i always encounter problems in the uk. For example…i was told not to hand over the aad documents, as they had been given to me in error. These documents are for the importation of wines and spirits for which the duty has not been paid. So i booked into sainsburys at corby not knowing it was a customs bonded warehouse. So the customs guy looked at my C.M.R. and said this shows me nothing…only the address and the goods (6 pallets of wine) so i said well thats called a delivery note…and the address is so a driver like me…knows where to go…so he asked me if i have any other documents…yes…but i was told not to hand them over…so he gets out of his chair…throws back the c.m.r. and says fair enough…no documents…no tip…and your not leaving this depot…so i thought…2 can play at that game…look mister…you might be able to hold the trailer…or the goods …but its against the law to hold the driver…so you got your facts wrong…i felt that i should stop short of insulting him by stating that it wasnt my fault his parents were not married…so i merely said…wait a while so i can make a phone call…if the freight forwarders say leave te documents…i will…so i made the call only to be told that Anglo overseas had instructed me not to hand over the paperwork because they were supposed to be paying the import duties…and the spanish had messed up the paperwork…anyway i was told to get tipped at whatever cost…so now when i go back to mr misery guts…he says ive missed my booking..so another argument nearly hapens..but as he leaves the office..one of his colleagues tells me to back on bay 23.....but why so much fuss over nothing..only problem is theyve got you by the short and curlys..especially when youve got other deliveries on..which i could have held against him..had he wanted to cause a legal point.... I arrived at my final delivery..the 99p stores..as i went to hand in my paperwork..i remarked to a fellow driver..anyone here speak english..as 2 polish were speaking to each other..who worked there..what is this country coming too..the place is being run by foreigners..and with no regard for other people..for the drivers were just putting up with the slow way of working as the foreigners are used to...but not me...excuse me mate..what bay do you want me on..ke !!..i want to get unloaded i said..he then told me....so do these other drivers...so i said ...then stop chatting..and get on with your work.. and get them booked in...all the bays are empty....we are restricted for time..even though you have all the time in the world..just tell me you dont want the stuff...and ill take it to the nearest dump…roll on sunday night…thats when i ship out again…to the real world…
Top read Bob, keep up the fight 
Excellent Read!!! Cheers Ben 
Excellent Read Bob
Great read, keeep them coming. 
Out of interest what company is G.G, i can only think of one which runs a smart fleet of Scanias and pulls fridges, am i right?? 
Geoff Gilbert…but this firm was a different GG…ill get the real details this next trip..but they run a mostly volvo fleet..and have their own web site bu i left the details in the truck...i will have a go at posting some pictures soon..i have tried but failed miserably..i think i have the hang of it now though..but not enough time....im off to madrid on sunday…portsmouth to caen ferry…then i`m on my holidays for 2 weeks…well the job itself is a holiday …buy my wife disagrees…so got to keep her happy…
see ya all soon
Thanks for another good read Bob.
regards derek
Enjoyed that Truckboy, can we have some more of your M/E tales when you have the time please??
‘au derv’
Excellent stuff, Bob.
Thanks for sharing it with us. 
Good read Bob.