Riho, it would be interesting to hear of your experiences on the borders and further into Russia. If you ask your schoolteacher she may let you do it as a school project!
LMFAO I was just thinking is this Toby with an assumed eastern block accent 
I got reading a thread about sending loads to Dubai and it seems no-one really does that sort of work except Astran and some other company. Just curiousā¦in todays world, how do they recruit drivers for such trips to the middle east, what sort of drivers do they look for with regard to experience and what sort of money do they pay?
Now before anyone says itā¦I live in Basingstoke and I know Astran have a place in Maidstone so I think Iād be a bit too far to get a job with themā¦but Iām just curious as to how a driver gets into that sort of work and how much money theyāre paid for it. I would like to do long distance workā¦but living in Basingstoke, thereās not much around, and certainly no euro companies willing to match the pay Iām on now of minimum Ā£10ph!
as far as i know, itās all done by subbies nowadays.
First of all, if you live in Basingstoke and want to go Doha, Dubai or Delhi, it doesnāt matter where the yard is, you are not going to be back for the weekend.
Secondly Astrans do not run any trucks
Wheel Nut:
First of all, if you live in Basingstoke and want to go Doha, Dubai or Delhi, it doesnāt matter where the yard is, you are not going to be back for the weekend.Secondly Astrans do not run any trucks
I know i wouldnāt be back for the weekendā¦but Iām sure theyāre going to have a limit as to where their drivers are from in case they broke down on the way to work. And fair enoughā¦I didnāt realise they didnāt have any of their own trucksā¦so how do they conduct their work? Do they get given a load and then have to contact a haulage company willing to take charge of the load? What companies do go to these sorts of places still?..or is it all just owner drivers?
Adam_Mc:
Wheel Nut:
First of all, if you live in Basingstoke and want to go Doha, Dubai or Delhi, it doesnāt matter where the yard is, you are not going to be back for the weekend.Secondly Astrans do not run any trucks
I know i wouldnāt be back for the weekendā¦but Iām sure theyāre going to have a limit as to where their drivers are from in case they broke down on the way to work. And fair enoughā¦I didnāt realise they didnāt have any of their own trucksā¦so how do they conduct their work? Do they get given a load and then have to contact a haulage company willing to take charge of the load? What companies do go to these sorts of places still?..or is it all just owner drivers?
Itās mostly owner drivers and small hauliers, Astran get the work, do ALL the papaerwork right through to the delivery and the haulier pays the ferries & transit taxās out of the Ā£ās Astran pay as a haulage rate. As I said on another thread, Astran can sort all a drivers Visaās & transit permits that are extremely hard for an inexperienced company to organise.
They are the only British company currently undertaking overland roadfreight from Europe to Saudi & beyond.
Ross.
Wheel Nut:
First of all, if you live in Basingstoke and want to go Doha, Dubai or Delhi, it doesnāt matter where the yard is, you are not going to be back for the weekend.
This is true, when I worked for Kepstowe Freight, who were based in Wandsworth, I lived in Ramsgate but drivers were from all over the UK, one lived on the Isle of Skye. I also had a spell working for a company at Winchester when I lived in Ramsgate.
I imagine most of the drivers who go to the middle-east do āsellersā, where they tip the load, sell the truck and trailer then fly home.
Specifically to Adam, if you ever go for an interview for a job like this, enthusiasm counts for at least as much as experience, and probably far more so.
Adam_Mc:
I would like to do long distance workā¦but living in Basingstoke, thereās not much around, and certainly no euro companies willing to match the pay Iām on now of minimum Ā£10ph!
Probably not. I could earn Ā£100 a week more driving a shopping trolley, working hours when sane people are asleep, never having a weekend off to socialise, considering a round trip of 80 miles to be notable, I know all of that but I would sooner drive down the linkspan at Dover onto a ferry knowing I am going somewhere new.
Harry Monk:
Adam_Mc:
I would like to do long distance workā¦but living in Basingstoke, thereās not much around, and certainly no euro companies willing to match the pay Iām on now of minimum Ā£10ph!Probably not. I could earn Ā£100 a week more driving a shopping trolley, working hours when sane people are asleep, never having a weekend off to socialise, considering a round trip of 80 miles to be notable, I know all of that but I would sooner drive down the linkspan at Dover onto a ferry knowing I am going somewhere new.
Trueā¦but if like me, youāre on the expensive path to becoming an airline pilot, hopping on a boat just to go somewhere new for less money isnāt worth it 
Adam_Mc:
Harry Monk:
Adam_Mc:
I would like to do long distance workā¦but living in Basingstoke, thereās not much around, and certainly no euro companies willing to match the pay Iām on now of minimum Ā£10ph!Probably not. I could earn Ā£100 a week more driving a shopping trolley, working hours when sane people are asleep, never having a weekend off to socialise, considering a round trip of 80 miles to be notable, I know all of that but I would sooner drive down the linkspan at Dover onto a ferry knowing I am going somewhere new.
Trueā¦but if like me, youāre on the expensive path to becoming an airline pilot, hopping on a boat just to go somewhere new for less money isnāt worth it
Well that may be true, if you use a bank balance as a barometer to happiness, personally Iād rather be happy and skint, than miserable and rich
Harry Monk:
This is true, when I worked for Kepstowe Freight, who were based in Wandsworth, I lived in Ramsgate but drivers were from all over the UK, one lived on the Isle of Skye. I also had a spell working for a company at Winchester when I lived in Ramsgate.
Thatās a good one Harry, cos I live in Ellesmere Port, but I worked for Chiaramello in Ramsgate, then after they closed the Ramsgate yard, I transferred to their Turin depot.
Now that was some commute!! 
Adam_Mc:
Trueā¦but if like me, youāre on the expensive path to becoming an airline pilot, hopping on a boat just to go somewhere new for less money isnāt worth it
Thatās fair enough. In any event, I wouldnāt really have you marked down as somebody who would be capable of doing a Middle East run anyway.
newmercman:
Adam_Mc:
Harry Monk:
Adam_Mc:
I would like to do long distance workā¦but living in Basingstoke, thereās not much around, and certainly no euro companies willing to match the pay Iām on now of minimum Ā£10ph!Probably not. I could earn Ā£100 a week more driving a shopping trolley, working hours when sane people are asleep, never having a weekend off to socialise, considering a round trip of 80 miles to be notable, I know all of that but I would sooner drive down the linkspan at Dover onto a ferry knowing I am going somewhere new.
Trueā¦but if like me, youāre on the expensive path to becoming an airline pilot, hopping on a boat just to go somewhere new for less money isnāt worth it
Well that may be true, if you use a bank balance as a barometer to happiness, personally Iād rather be happy and skint, than miserable and rich
Yeah but money does buy a better quality of misery
Harry Monk:
Adam_Mc:
Trueā¦but if like me, youāre on the expensive path to becoming an airline pilot, hopping on a boat just to go somewhere new for less money isnāt worth itThatās fair enough. In any event, I wouldnāt really have you marked down as somebody who would be capable of doing a Middle East run anyway.
It was my original thought Harry, but after my first post I couldnāt be arsed with any more silly comments 
Yes, I reckon if Adam waved his willy any harder, it would fall off.
Newmercerman wrote
Well that may be true, if you use a bank balance as a barometer to happiness, personally Iād rather be happy and skint, than miserable and rich
That sums me up to ,i will do what i am doing now as with nearly 40 years of Euro and further behind me ,its all i know and want to know.
And as Harry says
Thatās fair enough. In any event, I wouldnāt really have you marked down as somebody who would be capable of doing a Middle East run anyway.
We have seen hard men crack up under the pressure, getting suicidel or doing a disapearing act,losing a day or to sorting it out as we stuck together ,it has been mentioned on here many times the type of men that could do ME,and of the drivers of today it will be a small percentage that are capable of it.
Look up the old Astrans advert as i sums it up.
Klunk
Newmercerman wrote
Well that may be true, if you use a bank balance as a barometer to happiness, personally Iād rather be happy and skint, than miserable and rich
That sums me up to ,i will do what i am doing now as with nearly 40 years of Euro and further behind me ,its all i know and want to know.
And as Harry says
Thatās fair enough. In any event, I wouldnāt really have you marked down as somebody who would be capable of doing a Middle East run anyway.
We have seen hard men crack up under the pressure, getting suicidel or doing a disapearing act,losing a day or to sorting it out as we stuck together ,it has been mentioned on here many times the type of men that could do ME,and of the drivers of today it will be a small percentage that are capable of it.
Look up the old Astrans advert as it sums it up.
Klunk
It makes grown men senile and repeat themselves
There are dozens of pages about the desert and the drivers on here, it was a job you could only do if you were self sufficient, a little bit mad and able to communicate with corrupt border guards and policemen, it might be wrong but at the time you have to make a joke and let them think they are winning the game.
My experience took me no further than Turkey in Asia but my later trips to Africa were similar.
One thing that you must realise is that Astran specialise in the Middle East, but not just from the UK, they loaded from all points east of London which included Italy, the Balkans, France, Holland and Germany.
When they were building Tehran Airport after the revolution. I loaded 7 trailers of Scaffolding, Five loads of ironwork from Invergordon and two trailer loads of boards from Howdendyke, less than one mile from my home at the time.
Deborah Scaffolding had got the contract in Iran. My job finished at Hull docks as I dropped the trailers, it was only the 2 trailers of boards I took onto the continent, and met 6 lorries form Hungarocamion who were taking the rest of the equipment to Iran. This was transhipped & consolidated in Rotterdam. It could easily have been an Astran load, but I got paid to Rotterdam from my customer.
I was just a little bit jealous of the Hungarocamion drivers
Wheel Nut:
There are dozens of pages about the desert and the drivers on here, it was a job you could only do if you were self sufficient, a little bit mad and able to communicate with corrupt border guards and policemen, it might be wrong but at the time you have to make a joke and let them think they are winning the game.My experience took me no further than Turkey in Asia but my later trips to Africa were similar.
One thing that you must realise is that Astran specialise in the Middle East, but not just from the UK, they loaded from all points east of London which included Italy, the Balkans, France, Holland and Germany.
When they were building Tehran Airport after the revolution. I loaded 7 trailers of Scaffolding, Five loads of ironwork from Invergordon and two trailer loads of boards from Howdendyke, less than one mile from my home at the time.
Deborah Scaffolding had got the contract in Iran. My job finished at Hull docks as I dropped the trailers, it was only the 2 trailers of boards I took onto the continent, and met 6 lorries form Hungarocamion who were taking the rest of the equipment to Iran. This was transhipped & consolidated in Rotterdam. It could easily have been an Astran load, but I got paid to Rotterdam from my customer.
I was just a little bit jealous of the Hungarocamion drivers
Tell you what wheelnut i never did m/e but admired the men that did.I had enough trouble getting thro the austrian borders sometimes without venturing to the m/e
regards dave.