Container work, yay or nay

If they haven’t already I’d imagine FBN will go down the route of setting up a base in mainland Europe to circumvent the need for permits etc

peirre:
If they haven’t already I’d imagine FBN will go down the route of setting up a base in mainland Europe to circumvent the need for permits etc

There going Irish

Redstar46:
Yeah it sounds for me, I’m lazy I guess I don’t want to load/unload or do any strapping/chaining, fly by night are advertising for container drivers still but yea it maybe a prelude to doing the touring, there’s maritime local/ish to me but I don’t like working for big company’s, fussy and lazy.

if you don’t want to work I suggest you give FBN a miss

Definitely get a bike , remove the front wheel so it can be stowed away in the passenger seat footwell or put an old blanket on the bunk and put the bike on that but strap it down or lob it inside an empty container or secure under the trailer/skeletal side runner bars .

Or buy some bar bell weights from Argos and exercise daily, ignore the funny looks from the Neanderthal knuckle dragging hi viz wearing drivers.
Some container unloading or reloading can take a day or sometimes two days depending if it’s handball , if that’s the case , give goods in your mobile phone number and tell them to ring you when an hour away from being tipped.

I once cycled 12 miles in to the centre of London using the canal and river tow paths, so it is what you make it .
If you do the China clay in Cornwall or Devon , these places are hard to find and dam heavy loads too to drag back to Felixstowe, Thamesport , or Southampton, watch the fuel gauge go down very quickly.
You will soon be familiar with the empty container yards behind housing estates and everyday is a different place from a house furniture removal to the USA or a remote farm where you can park in and walk to a pub for a pint and a meal .

Tarmaceater:
Definitely get a bike , remove the front wheel so it can be stowed away in the passenger seat footwell or put an old blanket on the bunk and put the bike on that but strap it down or lob it inside an empty container or secure under the trailer/skeletal side runner bars .

That I would like to see with a slider !!

I meant to say under the chassis, it can be stowed there, or if running with a 20 footer box, there is loads of room to fix a bike too including the rear of the cab using bungee cords fixed from the air deflector or inside it .

robthedog:

Redstar46:
Yeah it sounds for me, I’m lazy I guess I don’t want to load/unload or do any strapping/chaining, fly by night are advertising for container drivers still but yea it maybe a prelude to doing the touring, there’s maritime local/ish to me but I don’t like working for big company’s, fussy and lazy.

if you don’t want to work I suggest you give FBN a miss

Could you elaborate please, you’ve worked for them or ?
They are one of my nearest transport company’s, last week I saw many of them parked up on the way to Southampton docks, trucks look smart and tidy, trust me I’m not afraid of hard work/ long hours but I feel at this time it’s a drivers market, there are loads of “trainee”HGV driving jobs popping up on indeed and wages seem to be on the up, AIM advertising £45k - £55k today, so yeah I’d rather not be backing 44 tonne up to a farm foods or trying to strap down 2000 empty pallets, if that’s what people do and they like it good luck to them but for me no tar

Redstar46:

robthedog:

Redstar46:
Yeah it sounds for me, I’m lazy I guess I don’t want to load/unload or do any strapping/chaining, fly by night are advertising for container drivers still but yea it maybe a prelude to doing the touring, there’s maritime local/ish to me but I don’t like working for big company’s, fussy and lazy.

if you don’t want to work I suggest you give FBN a miss

Could you elaborate please, you’ve worked for them or ?
They are one of my nearest transport company’s, last week I saw many of them parked up on the way to Southampton docks, trucks look smart and tidy, trust me I’m not afraid of hard work/ long hours but I feel at this time it’s a drivers market, there are loads of “trainee”HGV driving jobs popping up on indeed and wages seem to be on the up, AIM advertising £45k - £55k today, so yeah I’d rather not be backing 44 tonne up to a farm foods or trying to strap down 2000 empty pallets, if that’s what people do and they like it good luck to them but for me no tar

I’ll elaborate tomorrow

Redstar46:

robthedog:

Redstar46:
Yeah it sounds for me, I’m lazy I guess I don’t want to load/unload or do any strapping/chaining, fly by night are advertising for container drivers still but yea it maybe a prelude to doing the touring, there’s maritime local/ish to me but I don’t like working for big company’s, fussy and lazy.

if you don’t want to work I suggest you give FBN a miss

Could you elaborate please, you’ve worked for them or ?
They are one of my nearest transport company’s, last week I saw many of them parked up on the way to Southampton docks, trucks look smart and tidy, trust me I’m not afraid of hard work/ long hours but I feel at this time it’s a drivers market, there are loads of “trainee”HGV driving jobs popping up on indeed and wages seem to be on the up, AIM advertising £45k - £55k today, so yeah I’d rather not be backing 44 tonne up to a farm foods or trying to strap down 2000 empty pallets, if that’s what people do and they like it good luck to them but for me no tar

Fly By Night are (were) specialist Tour transport operators for bands, shows, etc. Lots of euro work and time away, lots if night work and unusual hours.
They are currently doing containers as COVID has killed their work currently, and Brexit may well affect their future work.
With COVID restrictions to come off later they may drop back from contracting to container companies.

robthedog:

peirre:
If they haven’t already I’d imagine FBN will go down the route of setting up a base in mainland Europe to circumvent the need for permits etc

There going Irish

Any more detail on that, please?

Harry Monk:

Franglais:
So, the OP asked about two things: containers and Fly by Night.
He received answers firstly about containers in general, and then Harry commented about FBN in particular.
I disagree with Harry’s imaging that FBN will revert to EU touring work after COVID, because of the visa issues.

As I pointed out, Fly by Nite already tour in countries where visas are required. There are a lop of hoops to jump through to obtain a Russian visa for example and these cost in the region of £300, but that never stopped them doing tours in Russia. The other issue is that unless they replace virtually their entire fleet of 4x2 vehicles, then they are seriously restricted as to the containers they can carry and so their container work is obviously just a stop-gap measure to them.

Likewise the band members, managers, roadies and Gervaise will need the same permissions, they will get them easily.

Wheel Nut:

Harry Monk:

Franglais:
So, the OP asked about two things: containers and Fly by Night.
He received answers firstly about containers in general, and then Harry commented about FBN in particular.
I disagree with Harry’s imaging that FBN will revert to EU touring work after COVID, because of the visa issues.

As I pointed out, Fly by Nite already tour in countries where visas are required. There are a lop of hoops to jump through to obtain a Russian visa for example and these cost in the region of £300, but that never stopped them doing tours in Russia. The other issue is that unless they replace virtually their entire fleet of 4x2 vehicles, then they are seriously restricted as to the containers they can carry and so their container work is obviously just a stop-gap measure to them.

Likewise the band members, managers, roadies and Gervaise will need the same permissions, they will get them easily.

Your crystal ball all fired up is it?
Replacing a guitar star might be difficult, replacing a UK roadie or driver with an EU isn’t.
And a tourist visa for a few quid won’t cover workers.
We chose not to have free movement of workers. It goes both ways.
Why are there question a being asked in Parliament about this subject if all it takes is a visa fur a few quid to get a permit? Why is the Gov saying nowt?
Go look.
.
Edit to add. What about cabotage rules for 3rd country trucks?
Ed 2.
nme.com/news/music/house-of … eu-2906885
A month ago. Any news?

My personal opinion on container work is that it’s rubbish. Or at least work for lazy gits.

You get to go to all sorts of places, some quite interesting and not all days will be bad. But on the whole, I have suffered the most soul destroying days of my years driving on boxes and hated it. When on local work i’ve done 12hr shifts where I have driven the grand total of 20 miles, rest of the time either in a queue or vegetating on a loading bay. Not my scene, after 90mins on a bay anywhere I am up for going… you can do 3-5hrs with a box easily.

Just a question ive seen a lot of container trailers with extra axles in middle, what are they for

atlas man:
Just a question ive seen a lot of container trailers with extra axles in middle, what are they for

The trailer splits in half.

You carry 2x20ft containers, can drop the back one on a loading bay and then lower that middle axle and go off somewhere else with the front one.

Thanks for that, seen them about just got me wondering

What’s the ££ like for containers? Nights out - optional or…?

rob22888:
My personal opinion on container work is that it’s rubbish. Or at least work for lazy gits.

You get to go to all sorts of places, some quite interesting and not all days will be bad. But on the whole, I have suffered the most soul destroying days of my years driving on boxes and hated it. When on local work i’ve done 12hr shifts where I have driven the grand total of 20 miles, rest of the time either in a queue or vegetating on a loading bay. Not my scene, after 90mins on a bay anywhere I am up for going… you can do 3-5hrs with a box easily.

Its definitely a job for lazy gits.
I used to hate getting to Felixstowe to find the port police at the gate directing you to the holding area as the port was shut due to wind. Then sit for 5/6/7 hours in the holding area untill released.

msgyorkie:
Its definitely a job for lazy gits.
I used to hate getting to Felixstowe to find the port police at the gate directing you to the holding area as the port was shut due to wind. Then sit for 5/6/7 hours in the holding area untill released.

Wait so I can get to my destination, go to sleep, wake up, drive home and go about with my day until it’s time to go to work where I can finally get some sleep again etc. etc. Sounds alright to me?

ETS:

msgyorkie:
Its definitely a job for lazy gits.
I used to hate getting to Felixstowe to find the port police at the gate directing you to the holding area as the port was shut due to wind. Then sit for 5/6/7 hours in the holding area untill released.

Wait so I can get to my destination, go to sleep, wake up, drive home and go about with my day until it’s time to go to work where I can finally get some sleep again etc. etc. Sounds alright to me?

Sounds good dont it. Then asfter a few days the novilty of sleeping/waiting around soon wears thin.
Oh and when you hit the docks on around 7 hour duty to be told to go back to the end of the que, resulting in a 15hr shift and unable to get home.
\crack on drive its all yours!