Am i alone never really wanted to do it ,dipped my toes in it years ago for Brit European but just dont fancy it in any way shape or form yet people seem to be gagging for it
bjd:
Am i alone never really wanted to do it ,dipped my toes in it years ago for Brit European but just dont fancy it in any way shape or form yet people seem to be gagging for it
I tried to do it 25 yrs ago but then ended up getting married, would still like to do it but have a good job and family now so don’t persue it any more, the annoying thing is our company have contracts sending goods all over Europe but it’s all subbied out, grrrrr.
bjd:
Am i alone never really wanted to do it ,dipped my toes in it years ago for Brit European but just dont fancy it in any way shape or form yet people seem to be gagging for it
Im sure toby will be along shortly to talk you thru it pal 
do notget it myself to be honest,
i would rather go home to the girlfriend at the end of a long day than do security for free for a truck that is not mine.
get up, go to work, do the job, keep the truck reasonably clean, fill with diesel and adblue and home!
Used to do it in my younger days and even tried unsuccessfully to get into middle-east work, but now I look back and think what was so special about it. Worst bit for me was missing out on kids growing up.
well im on 4 on 4 off and 4 days in the cab is plenty
pump:
do not get it myself to be honest,i would rather go home to the girlfriend at the end of a long day than do security for free for a truck that is not mine.
get up, go to work, do the job, keep the truck reasonably clean, fill with diesel and adblue and home!
Its something i figured i would try at some point. As im only 27yrs old and been driving lorries since 21 i have time on my side.
I would like to try it before kids/wife issues get in my way 
The novelty quickly goes, after chasing ferry bookings.
It is not the same anymore as the Eastern Europeans have dominated the market and do the job for tuppence.
A road is a road, whether in the UK or going abroad.
The only positives are free parking and better food for drivers.
Roadside traffic fines can make a grown man cry.
It went mammaries up when the borders shut, as before that, you had to clear Customs at each border crossing and get the permit stamped.
The camaraderie was great, meet up, weekend on the beach with a barbecue going a few Vino Tinto,s and Tinnies.
I met some decent hard working drivers and the British International mob were legends and real characters, Jonh Povey, Peter Stainbridge Aka Jelly Legs.
Stu Smith Aka the animal.
Some would do UK to Lisbon in a day and half, which should have taken four days on old cobbled roads.
toby1234abc:
Some would do UK to Lisbon in a day and half
Come on Tobes even by your standards that’s a little far fetched me thinks.
pump:
do notget it myself to be honest,i would rather go home to the girlfriend at the end of a long day than do security for free for a truck that is not mine.
get up, go to work, do the job, keep the truck reasonably clean, fill with diesel and adblue and home!
+1, the only ferry I intend to get on with a truck is the Isle of Wight one 
DAF95XF:
pump:
do notget it myself to be honest,i would rather go home to the girlfriend at the end of a long day than do security for free for a truck that is not mine.
get up, go to work, do the job, keep the truck reasonably clean, fill with diesel and adblue and home!
+1, the only ferry I intend to get on with a truck is the Isle of Wight one
Wollwich ferry for me that will do ta
Ok Baldbloke, Dieppe to Lisbon in a day and a half on the wire/fuse, only stops were for the loo and coffee.
European work is defo what I fancy, at 24 year old Im not sure any operators would touch me but would certainly be very keen to give it a go
I was lucky enough like most who did the job, to get into the middle east work, (For Brit European), by accident 40 years ago when I had a young wife and two ankle biters.
My old lady knew it was something I had to do, and we stuck it out for 12 years, wouldn’t have missed it for anything!
She stuck by me, which is more than a lot can say, but it was tough when my little girl would cry and say don’t go daddy just as I was shipping out.
But 40 years ago it was a different world then, it was a great craic, totally changed now and I wouldn’t like to be just starting out.
Middle east is all but dead and Euro work is not a patch on what it used to be, so I’m pleased I’m the age I am and did it when it was enjoyable.
If I had to be at home every night throughout the year either I would end up murdering the wife or her me, tomorrow or the next day I leave home to do a month away then come home for a month which is better than doing two months away and one off like in the job I had before, one consolation I have is that I don’t have to live in a 8 x 4 tin box. I have a lot bigger tin box. I can count on one hand the number of jobs I’ve had including driving where I was home every night, longest lasted about 6 months. Euro work for Richard Long suited me well but definitely not the fish wagons 
Raymundo
You work on a ship, I can’t remember? What kind of work does it do and what’s your position on board? Also do you prefer it over driving?
I’ve been interested in what the working pattern is on Euro work for comparison as I work away. Reading between the lines by viewing switch logics good vids it seems you can be away a couple of weeks/few weeks with a few days at home. Maybe I’ve got that wrong. Chatted to an ex muppets driver who said he did 3 weeks away with about 3/4 days at home. If i understand switchlogics and the ex muppet man right I can’t understand how lads do that for very long unless you really don’t want to have much outside of work 
Im used to 3 weeks away, but 10 days off and that always feels struggle for a life outside of work to enjoy relationships, hobbies and generally anything thats not work related. Many lads in my (non driving) job do 4 weeks away and 2 off which is not healthy IMO long term.
This is the one I am skipper of at present. She was a passenger ferry in Greece before she was extensively altered for the west coast of Scotland timber trade, by far not the ideal vessel for those waters but come the good weather we may get more cargo’s out of her. We go to places where there are no road access which the environmentalists say is a good thing keeping trucks off the roads. Problem is we can lay for days on end in port which I find extremely boring but still get full whack at the end of the month so … all the way to the bank. Lot better than chasing yer arse for £9 an hour. Used to be that when I was at sea I wanted to be out on the road and visa versa but now started slowing down a bit (age thing ) It’s not company sensitive info that 1.3 million £ was invested in getting her and the infrastructure ready for her to go to work.
That is very cool! You’re a skipper of that? I have a friend (engineer) in the MN and know from him how much is involved even as a 4th be it engineer or deck. Law, nav, loading etc etc. Ducking in and out of small ports picking up timber cargo sounds like a great little number. Must be nice scenery, no blue water sailings and lots of challenges.
I think it’s nigh on impossible to stereotype the sot of person who is suitable for working away from home for longer than a day or two or those who are quite happy to be away for weeks. I am of the later type but two previous dissolved marriages prior to the latest one (20 years now) had taken it’s toll, but the latest comes from a sea faring family so understands the costs of the job, the first two didn’t. I did a stint or two at Murffits where you could go away for as long as you chose and then I wished I was back at sea, same as all the other weird jobs I had running all over the water, one company from Great Blakenham I had was running to Russia in a beat up old Volvo with no speed limiter, they were also seriously thinking about doing overland to Pakistan !! How long ago was that! In them days you struggled to do the job what with things falling apart on you en-route but somehow you overcame those problems, mostly as it was the norm but now most drivers are just, drivers, but that’s progress they say