Hurryup&wait:
[I imagine Carna Transport are amongst the good ones with no shortage of destinations but Beefy and other locals would be much more knowledgeable.
Carna are from the Republic and now owned by Dixon. Dixon now have U.K. registered trucks I believe in U.K. depots. But not sure how far they get
IN the 1994 i went to work for TRANSCON ,P and O based in ROSSLAIRE never met another ENGLISH MAN working there not even 1 of the better educated contributors on here? my English maybe poor, i followed the work not driving desks .
Back then the troubles had just finished i would imagine attitudes will not have changed [YOU WILL BE A OUTSIDER] old attitudes ,you will be a economic migrant LIKE I WAS ,if you go over to work but i doubt you will. STICK TO THE UK.
switchlogic:
Carryfast:
[
The idea that international work isn’t generally a closed shop, based on extreme luck and/or who you know to get a start, makes as much senseBut there’s quite literally dozens of us on this site alone and thousands in total that prove it’s not a closed shop, and well how many who claim it is, literally only you
If it’s not a closed shop then tell me why are so many new drivers advised to get their ‘experience’ on agencies doing crap local UK work and why is such work mainly all they have to offer v International ? for just one example.
As I said the winners have an interest in defending the status quo v the losers.
Bearing in mind a country which is generally ideologically opposed to long haul road transport and the resulting hostile trading environment to base here anyway.
peggydeckboy:
Back then the troubles had just finished i would imagine attitudes will not have changed [YOU WILL BE A OUTSIDER] old attitudes ,you will be a economic migrant LIKE I WAS ,if you go over to work but i doubt you will. STICK TO THE UK.
I spent nearly half my career working for Irish companies and none of that rings true for me. Best places I ever worked and if I wanted a driving job again it would be the first place I’d look.
In my early days I had a job as HGV 1 because the boss was friendly with my aunt who worked for ICI Wliton.This company was bought out by a dutch outfit so ended up driving UK truck around NL and back.No chance to learn Dutch language.UK boss fiddled Dutch out of loads of money so was sacked.Back to UK work with own O licence.Lot of middle east and european work for several years including 2 years in the port of Yanbu in Saudi, then settled into southern europe to UK.Marriage broke up and I moved to Belgium.I already spoke French and German to o level standard plus regular practice.Taught myself Spanish and a little Italian from “Teach Yourself” books rather than moochung around bars every night.Spent time at Dentressangle and Bertshi,both requiring a week in truck with an experienced driver.These improved my French and German and living in Belgium i picked up Flemish.Worked for a couple of Belgian companies but it is difficult to speak Flemish because they prefer to speak English to an English driver so we had 2 way conversations speaking each other’s opposite languages.Strange experience.Eventually remarried and returned to live in the UK to finish my days as an agency driver with a bad attitude from agency’s point of view.
The languages i spoke all had a strong Barnsley accent which used to confuse a crewman on the Breskens ferry who couldn’t figure out which side of the River Schelde I came from.West,as it happens.I used to give the lad used phone cards for his collection.
I’m lucky I was born at the right time(1947) and I’ve had a good working life on the road.I would not want to be a young man today.
Franglais:
Good post.
If the OP or anyone gets on with an Eire company, all legal agreed, how will they stand with a UK passport and the 90 days rule in the EU?
Thats a great question. Ireland is not in Schengen and days in Ireland do not count toward the 90 Days as indicated by Carryfast.
The UK drivers don’t seem to have any problems so far but I don’t have a definitive answer.
At worst I guess the 90 in 180 days allows you average 3.5 days a week in Euroland so thats easily managed. There are other non EU nationalities in Irish wagons on the boats and I have never heard of any problem.
peggydeckboy:
Back then the troubles had just finished i would imagine attitudes will not have changed [YOU WILL BE A OUTSIDER] old attitudes ,you will be a economic migrant LIKE I WAS
I can certainly see how that happened but fair dues to you for giving it a go.
Ireland has also changed massively since those times but superior, arrogant or difficult people still wont make it 
SWITCHLOGIC well yes we seem to be able to ■■■■ heads and disagree with each other, nothing wrong in that please expand what work you did and what companies [maybe you are IRISH
I am saying if you ever went TO RUNGIS [PARIS] or even HAMBURG with meat and you were" ENGLISH" YOU WERE ,ARE ,COMPLETLY IGNORED ,even to the point of some drivers from STEPHENSONS,EAST WEST,were parading around in sunglasses,black beret, brown gloves in front of me [just for the crack ][NOT] .
Also on the LIVERPOOL ferry, ROSSLAIRE- CHERBOURG even me driving in a SOUTHEREN Irish truck. IGNORED by the drivers why because i am a ENGLISH .unless you are from Fishguard because the blokes there used to adopt a IRISH accent because they tipped dropped trailers and pretended to be Irish ,can you believe that so where were you ,not on for Dukes were you.
Hurryup&wait:
Franglais:
Good post.
If the OP or anyone gets on with an Eire company, all legal agreed, how will they stand with a UK passport and the 90 days rule in the EU?Thats a great question. Ireland is not in Schengen and days in Ireland do not count toward the 90 Days as indicated by Carryfast.
The UK drivers don’t seem to have any problems so far but I don’t have a definitive answer.
At worst I guess the 90 in 180 days allows you average 3.5 days a week in Euroland so thats easily managed. There are other non EU nationalities in Irish wagons on the boats and I have never heard of any problem.
I dont know that 3.5 days a week is that easy get under if youre tramping Europe. And might mean your fortnight with the Missus will need to be on Brighton Beach instead of Barcelona Ramblas!
Carryfast:
If it’s not a closed shop then tell me why are so many new drivers advised to get their ‘experience’ on agencies doing crap local UK work and why is such work mainly all they have to offer v International ?
Because that’s how it works and is exactly how the vast majority of us got onto international work. How can you not see that?
peggydeckboy:
SWITCHLOGIC well yes we seem to be able to ■■■■ heads and disagree with each other, nothing wrong in that please expand what work you did and what companies [maybe you are IRISHI am saying if you ever went TO RUNGIS [PARIS] or even HAMBURG with meat and you were" ENGLISH" YOU WERE ,ARE ,COMPLETLY IGNORED ,even to the point of some drivers from STEPHENSONS,EAST WEST,were parading around in sunglasses,black beret, brown gloves in front of me [just for the crack ][NOT] .
Also on the LIVERPOOL ferry, ROSSLAIRE- CHERBOURG even me driving in a SOUTHEREN Irish truck. IGNORED by the drivers why because i am a ENGLISH .unless you are from Fishguard because the blokes there used to adopt a IRISH accent because they tipped dropped trailers and pretended to be Irish ,can you believe that so where were you ,not on for Dukes were you.
I worked for Nolan’s and Virginia doing every kind of work pulling trailers of all sorts. Much of my time at Virginia was pulling fridges round Europe, mainly with Irish beef, including Rungis a great many times, as well as 22 other countries and I’ve never experienced what you have. I’m not Irish I’m from West Wales. My Dad also worked for Nolan’s and with my brother all 3 of us worked for Virginia at one point and none of us experienced what you say you have. Between the 3 of us we have over 25 years experience working for Irish companies. Virginia was far and away the best job I have and probably ever will have
OK SWITCHLOGIC, i thought you would be waiting.it sounds like a family affair ,your time must have been after mine ,if. your from west wales could mean CARDIFF or PEMBROKE NEAR FISHGAURD maybe with your accent it would blend into Irish however i never seen ViRGINIA in my it was more MURPHYS .early1980s so il call it a draw tks for the banter.it was all true.
i knew when i got the job at transcon i would not be popular but the boss wanted me for my experience so i accepted it .ps i left my car at fishgaurd by the rail tracks for 8 weeks never got touched before i could get my gear because you only take 1 plastic bag as foot passenger,when i went for the job and i stayed and took the blanking…end of our misunderstanding.
I have worked for Irish companies in the past & have always got on with the majority of my work colleagues, mind you its never hard to find a wrong one.
Carryfast:
The idea that international work isn’t generally a closed shop, based on extreme luck and/or who you know to get a start
This forum is filled with drivers who never experienced any of the drama’s or difficulties you seemed to in getting a job driving abroad. I have worked with many people in previous jobs and currently work with drivers who have done Euro work in a past life. They all seemed to manage to find it no problem. I think it’s safe to say that the issue’s you seemed to come across in your quest and subsequent failure were down to you. I would hazard a guess that the employers that you approached and contacted had sussed you out pretty quick as a crap employee with a bad attitude and therefore decided to run a mile before offering you a job.
Carryfast:
Unless your face fits of course.
So my advice is ask what is the first run you’ll be doing and exactly where and when before even thinking about handing in your notice from a regular job.
Still deluding yourself with the whole “face fits” routine! 
Plus, why would a potential employer tell you exactly what your first run will be before you’ve actually started the job and x amount of time in advance. I know it’s been 20 odd years since any employer would employ you in this industry but are you not aware of how employment in driving a lorry usually works?
Maybe it’s point 4 and expecting to be told this info days/weeks in advance is where you have been going wrong all this time and would feed in to the narrative that potential employers instantly dismiss employing you.
switchlogic:
Carryfast:
If it’s not a closed shop then tell me why are so many new drivers advised to get their ‘experience’ on agencies doing crap local UK work and why is such work mainly all they have to offer v International ?Because that’s how it works and is exactly how the vast majority of us got onto international work. How can you not see that?
Not according to Harry.Although his story seems to change with the weather.
What suddenly happened to pass the test in the morning off to Italy in the afternoon.
The truth is swallow the crap work you’ll stay on it.Resulting in the reality of the greedy chosen few whingeing about the home time they lost with continuous turn arounds, while others were lumbered with being bored out of their skulls on local UK work or at best trunking.
Which is why you’ll rarely if ever find any agency offering even holiday cover international work.
It’s a closed shop which both employers and drivers think is too good for agency drivers or anyone who’s face doesn’t fit.
switchlogic:
My Dad also worked for Nolan’s and with my brother all 3 of us worked for Virginia at one point and none of us experienced what you say you have. Between the 3 of us we have over 25 years experience working for Irish companies. Virginia was far and away the best job I have and probably ever will have
So the definition of face fits internal recruitment.
As opposed to unknown UK drivers getting a break through the use of UK agencies and those ‘international’ drivers getting a break from all that time away by doing local UK work on a let’s say 2 monthly rota.
Your narrative’ like Harry’s, is unravelling laughably so.
peggydeckboy:
OK SWITCHLOGIC, i thought you would be waiting.it sounds like a family affair ,your time must have been after mine ,if. your from west wales could mean CARDIFF or PEMBROKE NEAR FISHGAURD maybe with your accent it would blend into Irish however i never seen ViRGINIA in my it was more MURPHYS .early1980s so il call it a draw tks for the banter.it was all true.
i knew when i got the job at transcon i would not be popular but the boss wanted me for my experience so i accepted it .ps i left my car at fishgaurd by the rail tracks for 8 weeks never got touched before i could get my gear because you only take 1 plastic bag as foot passenger,when i went for the job and i stayed and took the blanking…end of our misunderstanding.
Not doubting what you say, I simply think our personalities might quite possibly be radically different. I fear you may be more at the Carryfast end of the personality spectrum. As for accent, thanks to being born there to English parents I have a faintly posh sounding English accent, and I got on just fine. Different personality you see. As for Cardiff being West Wales? Pembroke being near Fishguard? Do you get lost often?
Franglais:
Hurryup&wait:
Franglais:
Good post.
If the OP or anyone gets on with an Eire company, all legal agreed, how will they stand with a UK passport and the 90 days rule in the EU?Thats a great question. Ireland is not in Schengen and days in Ireland do not count toward the 90 Days as indicated by Carryfast.
The UK drivers don’t seem to have any problems so far but I don’t have a definitive answer.
At worst I guess the 90 in 180 days allows you average 3.5 days a week in Euroland so thats easily managed. There are other non EU nationalities in Irish wagons on the boats and I have never heard of any problem.
I don
t know that 3.5 days a week is that easy get under if youre tramping Europe. And might mean your fortnight with the Missus will need to be on Brighton Beach instead of Barcelona Ramblas!
Brighton instead of Barca……but you are correct and I’d be forced to join Tesco I reckon.
Mazzer2 was well up to speed on this topic if he was around to chip in.
He was working for an Irish company on UK passport. His experience AFAIR was that the day count was based on passport entry and exit stamps and the border authorities were very lax about doing this so there was no problem at all.
I had forgotten that EES is coming in this year and ETIAS next year so I am not sure if that will make a difference.
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/th … on-system/
If this comes in U.K. hauliers will find it even more difficult to go abroad regularly and I’m surprised we haven’t heard anyone jumping up and down just yet.
Perhaps it is time to find the adults in the government if there are any left and tell them to do some simple negotiation with the EU exempting U.K. lorry drivers from the 90/180 rule. It cannot be that difficult.
Meanwhile a trip from Ireland to Europe takes a day longer in each direction than a UK-Europe trip and those additional days transiting UK or on a direct ferry do not count towards the 90.
Thus a UK driver can do a lot more trips for an Irish outfit (Northern or Southern) than a UK outfit in a year if the days are accurately enforced.
Hurryup&wait:
Brighton instead of Barca……but you are correct and I’d be forced to join Tesco I reckon.Mazzer2 was well up to speed on this topic if he was around to chip in.
He was working for an Irish company on UK passport. His experience AFAIR was that the day count was based on passport entry and exit stamps and the border authorities were very lax about doing this so there was no problem at all.
I had forgotten that EES is coming in this year and ETIAS next year so I am not sure if that will make a difference.
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/th … on-system/If this comes in U.K. hauliers will find it even more difficult to go abroad regularly and I’m surprised we haven’t heard anyone jumping up and down just yet.
Perhaps it is time to find the adults in the government if there are any left and tell them to do some simple negotiation with the EU exempting U.K. lorry drivers from the 90/180 rule. It cannot be that difficult.
Meanwhile a trip from Ireland to Europe takes a day longer in each direction than a UK-Europe trip and those additional days transiting UK or on a direct ferry do not count towards the 90.
Thus a UK driver can do a lot more trips for an Irish outfit (Northern or Southern) than a UK outfit in a year if the days are accurately enforced.
I haven`t noticed Mazzer lately, but agree this was his own home-turf.
Not sure you`re correct in saying a UK driver could do more trips for a Eire company than a UK based one? Same number of days allowed in Schengen zone surely? And if using land-bridge each trip would take longer.
Passport controls have been over the past couple of years for freight. It was very slack before in some ports, but from my own experience is now much tighter. All passports are now (in my experience) scanned, so times can be stored on central systems.
And I think you`re making a few assumptions that may not be valid.
Some hauliers are using the “land-bridge” less now. More sailings direct to France and Spain now than before.
With longer crossing times it is better to keep the units and drivers off the boats and do a quick turnaround.
Day 1, leave Rosslare D2 Cherbourg, South Spain, return Cherbourg D6. 24 or 36 off. Trl swap, for N Spain back to C`bourg and ferry back to Rosslare and full weekend off.
Lot of time in Schengen zone on that.
Not sure how many grown-ups are “in the loop” at the moment.
Free movement of people is one of the central pillars of the EU, and it is one that the UK has rejected.
I dont think that will be easy at all negotiate any UK exemption to a rule we say we wont budge on. Why would the EU concede on what we won`t?
PS I`ll send a wee PM to you.