I recently changed jobs from UK general haulage to tour work and boy has it been an eye opener for me. Up until the end of May this year I had never turned a wheel in anger on the Continent, fast forward to now I’ve been to France, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands, all in a right ■■■■■■. I’ve mixed it up with Parisians on the Périphérique where I learnt the hard way that I’m supposed to give way to traffic joining. I’ve discovered just how tight the road works are in Germany. I’ve fought with Italians in Rome and Milan.
I’ve been to various capital cities, almost winging it to get there in one piece yet I’m having a whale of a time! I never thought I’d be able to do it but with help from the guys who’ve do it before I’m getting there!
I’m pleased you’re pleased, some of us have been doing it for 40 years in Europe and it’s refreshing to know there’s still some young ones that think it’s something to brag about.
If you’d done it years ago without a satnav and left home with a mountain of paperwork to clear at every border, without night heaters or air con, without air suspension and a mobile phone then perhaps you wouldn’t be so “look at me”!
I’ve never drove abroad , Lorry or car, to be honest
I have a heart attack at every r/o on the coach from the airport to the hotel , so we’ll done radar
Grumpy_old_trucker:
I’m pleased you’re pleased, some of us have been doing it for 40 years in Europe and it’s refreshing to know there’s still some young ones that think it’s something to brag about.
If you’d done it years ago without a satnav and left home with a mountain of paperwork to clear at every border, without night heaters or air con, without air suspension and a mobile phone then perhaps you wouldn’t be so “look at me”!
On the flipside maybe he won’t be a miserable sod after 40 years doing it either?
Grumpy_old_trucker:
I’m pleased you’re pleased, some of us have been doing it for 40 years in Europe and it’s refreshing to know there’s still some young ones that think it’s something to brag about.
If you’d done it years ago without a satnav and left home with a mountain of paperwork to clear at every border, without night heaters or air con, without air suspension and a mobile phone then perhaps you wouldn’t be so “look at me”!
You old schoolers are all My hero, perhaps he deserves even more credit though given how euro works scarce on the ground these days he’s obviously proved himself to be a class act to his boss to be given the gigg,
40yr ago isn’t that when every Dover crossing was full of British drivers in British trucks , bit easier to come by the work then wasn’t it.
Grumpy_old_trucker:
I’m pleased you’re pleased, some of us have been doing it for 40 years in Europe and it’s refreshing to know there’s still some young ones that think it’s something to brag about.
If you’d done it years ago without a satnav and left home with a mountain of paperwork to clear at every border, without night heaters or air con, without air suspension and a mobile phone then perhaps you wouldn’t be so “look at me”!
I bet when you started there were guys saying, easy these days, when we started doing this we had to drive up the beaches and those bloody foreigners kept shooting at us.
I should imagine after decades of being a grumpy bugger, you’ve forgotten the initial excitement of it all being new and different, of course what Radar19 has experienced won’t be like the old days you remember, but he wasn’t able to do the job then, so maybe let him enjoy sharing his new experience and perhaps let it remind you of a time you weren’t so miserable, if there ever was a time?
Radar19:
I recently changed jobs from UK general haulage to tour work and boy has it been an eye opener for me. Up until the end of May this year I had never turned a wheel in anger on the Continent, fast forward to now I’ve been to France, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands, all in a right ■■■■■■. I’ve mixed it up with Parisians on the Périphérique where I learnt the hard way that I’m supposed to give way to traffic joining. I’ve discovered just how tight the road works are in Germany. I’ve fought with Italians in Rome and Milan.
I’ve been to various capital cities, almost winging it to get there in one piece yet I’m having a whale of a time! I never thought I’d be able to do it but with help from the guys who’ve do it before I’m getting there!
.
Sounds like it’s going well and you took the advice on here and listened to the old hands.
I have been waiting for news radar since you posted the picture of your Stagetruck lorry.
I think I’m a similar age to you (30yrs) and it is rare seeing younger people in mainland Europe, I have only done 2 seasons of F1 and a music festival out there and the max time 3 week trips. You must be doing longer trips on that work, it’s definitely a bit nicer out there, sometimes the motorway can be just a dull as UK work but you get nice views more often.
mrginge:
I have been waiting for news radar since you posted the picture of your Stagetruck lorry.
I think I’m a similar age to you (30yrs) and it is rare seeing younger people in mainland Europe, I have only done 2 seasons of F1 and a music festival out there and the max time 3 week trips. You must be doing longer trips on that work, it’s definitely a bit nicer out there, sometimes the motorway can be just a dull as UK work but you get nice views more often.
I’ve not long got back. I was out for 3 months on 2 tours. I was doing a lot of the leading and navigating since we always try to run in pairs or more. If I was running with experienced drivers they put me out in front and if I was traveling with fellow inexperienced drivers I’d volunteered myself. Once I got over the nerves I really got into it. Driving over there even in a right ■■■■■■ wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. I was thoroughly disappointed when i returned back the UK with the state of things. I guess I was spoilt by those Autohofs
Fair play to you mate, glad it’s going well. If I hadn’t spent the last 20 years being a dad I’d have been off doing this sort of thing.
At 47 years of age and with kids more or less grown up I’m wondering if I’ve missed the boat (metaphorically speaking [emoji1])
Fair play and the very best of luck to you Radar. You had an itch and you’re scratching it. Personally I couldn’t think of anything worse than having a regret over something I wanted to do and never did it because I didn’t have the balls/luck/opportunity to do it.
Well done to the OP for landing the job. I did continental work for 20+ years and it just can’t be compared with UK work, which I do now in the Winter, and hate. I loved tour work too, it all changed when my children were born but before that I had been away for months at a time in one go.
Nice one Radar, ignore the miserable gits who have the t shirt and been every where when it was more difficult, make me sick! Yes it’s no doubt refreshing compared to Immingham work, still plenty to see and nice surprises in store no doubt, truck on!
Nice to read about a happy bunny rather than the usual moans . (Yeah. I’m guilty too).
If I hadn’t found a job that fits me quite well, I might be tempted by Tour work.
But there’s not much chance of me choosing any form of UK driving.
Nomi: you certainly aren’t too old at 47 to scratch that itch!
We had a similarly aged driver start with us, and he’s doing ok. And that’s not unique.
similar to the others ive got the been there,done that,still doing it t shirt, but thank christ theres still some newbies that just dont end up straight into the brain dead zombie plobber on agency or stobart work and think thats the be all and end all of lorry driving.
now you are back from jumping in at the deep end and have handled it,then i would imagine theres no allure in doing agency work,or returning to uk rdc motorway gridlock,no facilities and treated like a rottweiler with aids from anyone you come into contact with in the uk.
the only uk driving you should wish to do now will be on the road home,or the road out.
european work is a doddle with night and day conditions and benefits compared to the uk,
40 case of wine on each bunk and £1 a bottle markup is an extra £500 cash every trip not forgetting your 8 sleeves,all you need is a pal to offload it when your away again if your not on talking terms with mr patel in the local offy. get stuck in and enjoy.
I went over the water for the first time in a truck at 60+ , but I had worked and driven over there many times before .
Apart from a few of the big cities it’s far better driving than most of the UK .
Mine has always been interesting destinations and mostly special urgent loads .
Certainly far more interesting than RDC waiting rooms .
I have met up with various tours over the years as we ran merchandise out to many of the venues and also ran lots of motorsport especially F1 spares when they are testing or at the European circuits .
Europe certainly spoils you for UK work , I found after the initial trepidation that it was much more laid back , especially about finding overnight parking or decent food , with the exception of the Calais area or the channel ports .
I started with my current job three months ago, never have driven a commercial vehicle in Europe. I go over the water fairly regularly now, and I’m loving it. I’m glad they took the chance on me S I gettk experience a much better driving life a way from the mundane UK box work I was doing
I’ve driven a lot in Europe over the years but nothing bigger than a 7.5 tonner. My mother lived in Spain for 30 odd years. The actual driving part isn’t a problem but it’s all the admin side such as the various road taxes that have to be sorted on entry etc. I know with guidance and a few trips I’d have it sussed so given a chance in the next couple of years I may give it a go.
