Willi betz was formed by the old boss of Hungarocamion, who controlled most of the traffic from the eastern bloc to western europe.
the roads now across romania and bulgaria have or are in the process of being re-laid…i was there last year (august) and there was a lot of activity to bring the countries up to western standards. i am back out there this year, my wife is bulgarian so we understand the old transport companies…somat was sold to a private buyer some years ago but they couldnt make any money, so somat trailers were bought by willi betz and are still running in the old paintwork…there are many new companies in B.G. and the newest one is Biomet…which is a very large company…i used to run the eastern bloc…Turkey…and middle east for a number of years…for
Asian transport (astran)…Simon International…Lawrabian Freight (roy bradford) Owner driver with (fred topham) who took over Lawrabian when roy sold out to the Bulgarians only to be bankrupted when roy pulled the plug…i make an overland trip every year in my motorhome to B.G and have noticed many changes out there for the better…although austria- hungary is the favoured route now as opposed to czech- slovakia
and we are migrating out there to open a hotel in 3 years time…WHERE HAVE THE GOOD OLD DAYS GONE ■■.i am bob White from charlton (london) wishing all you boys a very happy new year and safe driving…
i am bob White from charlton (london) wishing all you boys a very happy new year and safe driving…
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Is that the same Bob White as mentioned in the “Cola Cowboys” book?
If so it seems you and your mates from that era are fast becoming abit of a legend!!!
Bullitt.
And maybe Bob White from Oakwoods/GDR? 
Union Jack, I know your posting was over a year ago but I’ve just read it and thought you might still like to know a bit about John Jenkinson. He’s an old mate of mine and he’s still around, he had a heart transplant about 14 years ago so he can’t drive trucks anymore. He’s put on a lot of weight too, due to the medication, but he’s still a rascal just like he always was. I’ll tell him Union Jack from Thatcham was asking about him.
Peterborough Truckfest 2003. John is 2nd in from left.
yeah …sorry guys i havnt been on here for a while…same old bob white…oakwoods…g.d.r…and a legend in his own time…talk about midnite cowboy…ha ha …had two heart attacks last june…and have been off sick ever since…the wife has to go to work now so we dont lose the the luxury we had got used to when i was working…ha ha …its nice when i hear her creeping about at 0600…trying not to wake me…at least she now knows what its like …bless her…but hopefully i want to go back to work in a couple of months…but the doctors said…no big truckin jobs…i dont have a lot of choice though, when you have over 40 years under ya belt…what else can ya do…just keep your eyes peeled lads …and drive safely…
regards bob…
Vince ? is that Vince ex Ralph Davies, & truckyboy do you remember couple guys …one called John Jenkinson ex P.I.E. Essex Intl & Alan “POP” Warner
Nice to hear from you again Bob,last time I bumped into you we had a cuppa at the tankwash in Purfleet.Sorry to hear about your ticker trouble,what you doing to keep your self busy?Back to Oakwoods for some easy paper work maybe?Don’t think it would be a problem for Damian if you fancied it,best wishes mate,
Kenny Ross
UnionJack:
Vince ? is that Vince ex Ralph Davies,
No, but I know him, we were weekended together in Belarus and had a good time. Hes a decent bloke. I havent seen him since then though.
Vince
UnionJack wrote:
Vince ? is that Vince ex Ralph Davies,
Yeh hes ok last I heard he went to US or Canada, same as Mark…I am pooh at 2nd names…wait
Vince Staunton
Hi all 
,
I am interesting about eastern european but maybe you know me i like it.
I know some here, who had been driving to East European but I want to know what like, there had good factilies servic like food,shower, good parking ■■? like in western european service station.■■?
There is plenty Service Station or Rest area like laybout in motorway like as france,Beligum,etc. ■■?
The motorway or road are good like without man hole or safety or poor or bad ?
Which is your best or favourite driving in the east european but can be include west- central Asia like as Gerogia,Armenia,Azabahajin ?
Do you had see plentys Willi Betz in eastern european ■■ or most Betz driving in Western European or East bloc ?
I hope you able to reply my question and i will be grateful
Cheers
Betz
Roads and facilities are fairly good nowadays in central Europe, but deteriorate the further eastwards you go.
In Russia, the main Warsaw-Moscow highway is a fairly good dual carriageway nowadays, having been rebuilt over the last ten years, and as a result, you pay a huge transit tax to cross Belarus.
Fuel is readily available throughout Russia and eastern Europe, as is truck parking, which has to be paid for at very steep prices. It isn`t safe to park outside of these guarded areas.
There are a lot of Betz trucks in eastern Europe- Betz was essentially SoMat (Sofia International Motor Transport, the Bulgarian State Carrier) and so the fleet is pretty large.
If you haven`t seen it before, you might be interested in my own site, url below.
Vince
sorry guys got too much time on my hands to sit on this computer all day…what with the wife keeping me and all that…have to do the hoovering sometimes…ha ha
P.I.E…now that was a good firm in its day …sadly fell by the roadside…tomlinson rings a bell…was he a bus conductor ha ha …i jest…kenny ross you old rascal nice to see your name mentioned…didnt think you could write…coming from north of the border…ha ha …
i cant understand willy betz asking about the eastern bloc though…but generally the conditions are quite good …roads are sometimes better than ours…services are ok through czech…hungary…romania has uprated their stops.but no motorways,bulgaria has improved somewhat for the better…new roads and services are all brand new…austrian built…and once again better than ours…and a lot cheaper…turkey has lots of motorways now…and no more running through pot holed roads…not until you are close to iran…well thats all for now guys…got to have an F.S. and get the ironing done…joking…the wife has gone home to b.g. for the week…so i`m having a good time…
drive safely
have a nice day
Romania,s pretty much a doddle these days.There are loads of Shell,OMV and more recently Petrom garages in their newer restaurante guise. Still the trusty Turk Parkings(cant beat a good Adana Kebab as most of the lads postin on here will testify) . The roads are fairly good now and facilities are not bad but not quite Central European spec. Even Nickelsdorf is just a passport controlle since last month 
Just have to use common sense when parkin ,there are plenty of TIR parks.