Ever fancied carrying an Aussie/Kiwi live cargo in Europe?

[citycat]

I guess this post is aimed at the younger blokes on here (not you old grumpy buggers). Maybe those that only have a rigid licence, still live at home perhaps, no big financial commitments, maybe do agency work, fed up doing those multi drops or pallet work to Rochdale or Burton on Trent, and fancy a bit of adventure.

My Dutch employers have kindly allowed me to take two months off during the summer. Some employers are quite big on that over here, taking sabbaticals to go do something else and recharge your batteries while keeping your job open, so I’m going back coaching for a couple of tours. Back to the company I was working with in summer 2016 while I was searching for truck work. I built up a fair bit of holiday in 2017 which carries over into 2018 (you build up hours over here, not days) and it should comfortably cover my time off so I’ll continue to be paid.

The coach job involves taking young, excitable Aussies, Kiwis, Americans, Canadians, and other nationalities from the far east on tours around mainland Europe. They’re all between the ages of 18 & 39.

Of course, it involves getting your ‘D’ licence but if you’re already driving a truck, it should only take a few hours training and a few hundred quid to get your licence. You’re not going to make a fortune doing this job though the pay is not bad, but what you do it for is the tons of euro experience you’ll get including Greece, some of the optionals which you do for free, like going up the highest mountain in Europe, or going up in the helicopter during the Swiss skydive, or the Gondola ride in Venice, plus all the memories you’ll have and the good friends you’ll make from crew and passengers. You’ll always have a roof over your head and somewhere to stay if you ever get down to Australia or New Zealand, judging from the invites you’ll get from passengers.

Of course, you have to be the right sort of person. You have to be a people person. It’s no good if you can’t talk or only like your own company in the cab. The seven week paid training trip around Europe normally sorts everyone out. Seven drivers were binned or left on my training trip because they couldn’t hack the pressure of learning the driving tours in several cities, or navigating their way across Europe. However, for those that do make it, you’ll be able to navigate the streets of Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Berlin and Amsterdam like a pro, be able to cross Europe without a sat nav, you’ll (hopefully) have a great time, will hardly spend any money because all accommodation and most of your food is provided, you’ll get commissions from various tour extras, and again you’ll have those memories. And totty on tap if you’ve got all your own teeth. Not me though, I’m happily married.

This probably sounds like a recruitment post, but it’s not. I just thought I’d put the idea out there for some members to think about.

I’ve enclosed a link to a video made by one of the drivers, showing his day in the office on the average 36 day tour. There are two main companies in this game so I’ll leave it to you to research them. The video is 14 minutes long so pick the right time to watch it, and watch to the end of the credits if you want to hear the driver singing.

youtu.be/b815Va0rI7A

[tiredandemotional]

Great post citycat! I’ll catch the film later!

[truckyboy]

a reat video citycat i remember Topdeck when they were running to istanbul and beyond in double deckers…met a few of en route…but as a grumpy ol git…ive been there, and done it..in trucks and for American Express..where we had guides laid on in every city..and we got time off too..but there were bonuses in OUR ` own tours…plus the commission at stops too…so i wish you all the best in your upcoming adventure.

[citycat]

truckyboy:
a reat video citycat i remember Topdeck when they were running to istanbul and beyond in double deckers…met a few of en route…but as a grumpy ol git…ive been there, and done it..in trucks and for American Express..where we had guides laid on in every city..and we got time off too..but there were bonuses in OUR ` own tours…plus the commission at stops too…so i wish you all the best in your upcoming adventure.

I’ve signed on for two tours so I’ll try and do a diary later in the year.

It’s a world away from those old Lodekka double deckers these days, though I passed my PSV on a similar double decker with a crash gearbox. It was bad enough driving it for my training and the test. God knows what it was like to drive those things all the way to Istanbul.

This was my steed for much of 2016

[citycat]

And this was some of the totty, (sorry, I mean passengers). Got to be politically correct these days.

[truckyboy]

Much better vehicles than the doubles… and no night heaters in those days…and i suspect the cab heaters wasnt all that either…and a single cab as i remember…true pioneers of the bus world…as we were in the trucks, i got my PSV through London Transport…skid pan as well, for what use it was going to be on small London streets…ha ha lost it after the licencing office in Penton Street islington was taken under the control of DVLA, but never notified anyone, and i lost it…funny old system, you take a test, but cant maintain your licence…but to old now for the tours anyway…ill stay with the trucks.. :smiley: As for the totty ` we met up with them in the Londra Mocamp where the tour buses would stay for a bit…and we got a bit as well…ha ha

[citycat]

truckyboy:
Much better vehicles than the doubles… and no night heaters in those days…and i suspect the cab heaters wasnt all that either…and a single cab as i remember…true pioneers of the bus world…as we were in the trucks, i got my PSV through London Transport…skid pan as well, for what use it was going to be on small London streets…ha ha lost it after the licencing office in Penton Street islington was taken under the control of DVLA, but never notified anyone, and i lost it…funny old system, you take a test, but cant maintain your licence…but to old now for the tours anyway…ill stay with the trucks.. :smiley: As for the totty ` we met up with them in the Londra Mocamp where the tour buses would stay for a bit…and we got a bit as well…ha ha

A good book on Amazon is ‘Rule No. 5, No ■■■ on the bus’. Written by one of the tour guides from those double decker days.

[tiredandemotional]

citycat:
And this was some of the totty, (sorry, I mean passengers). Got to be politically correct these days.

As our dear departed friend would have said " Bags of spanners the lot of them!"

[peirre]

Years ago having been a passenger on one of these tours, I found that there’s more to the job than driving. You have to have the personality and leadership skills to keep a few dozen kids in check, while they are hell bent on on drinking the town dry, shagging anything that moves, and each other. You’ll need to be able to dish out the tissues as well as fix minor breakdowns (passengers and bus).
I looked into the idea several years ago of doing a 6 month+ stint with a tour company based in east anglia, and similarly to motor racing, the driving played only a minor part in the job description, the lifestyle was similar to that of an 18-30’s rep in Ibiza.

[citycat]

peirre:
Years ago having been a passenger on one of these tours, I found that there’s more to the job than driving. You have to have the personality and leadership skills to keep a few dozen kids in check, while they are hell bent on on drinking the town dry, shagging anything that moves, and each other. You’ll need to be able to dish out the tissues as well as fix minor breakdowns (passengers and bus).
I looked into the idea several years ago of doing a 6 month+ stint with a tour company based in east anglia, and similarly to motor racing, the driving played only a minor part in the job description, the lifestyle was similar to that of an 18-30’s rep in Ibiza.

Spot on there Pierre. Driving is only a small part of it. Together with the Trip Leader, you have to be a sheep dog to stop them getting lost, a waiter helping the staff to serve the food at the Topdeck sites in Lautebrunnen, Swiss Alps, and in Venice, a life guard to stop the little tykes from drowning themselves at the pool party in Venice, organising them when they lose their passport, be an agony uncle when their onboard romance goes wrong and the bloke goes off with another girl, a good negotiator when passing through the more dubious border posts in Eastern Europe, a good navigator because sat navs are discouraged because it doesn’t look professional, good at diagnosing problems with the coach and managing to describe those faults, when you’re in a remote place in Croatia and the mechanic is on the other end of the phone at the coach base in Holland.

Yep, there’s definitely a lot more too it than just driving. And it’s a world away from taking OAP’s on a day trip to Skegness.

[peirre]

I actually fancied the idea, but when the cost of the licence vs the financial rewards for the commitment was looked into, reality kicked in and I kicked the idea into touch.

The novelty of kipping in a backpacking youth hostel with 12+ bodies to a room soon makes you reassess your priorities

[gidders]

As with Peirre above.When I lived in Belgium in the 80s the Topdeck double deckers were a regular sight in Zeebrugge.Later,I applied for a job but became less than impressed because being a driver was nowhere close to being good enough.Mechanic,nursemaid,sheepdog and the rest.My people skills are not that good.
In the 2000s I had a job double manning a coach and trailer full of bicycles from Woodall Services to Chiasso with several passenger offloads and pick ups en route.The other drivers used to like that otherwise I worked permanent nights so coped well with the dark when they used to struggle.Quite enjoyed the job.Good pay for 2 days work.

[citycat]

peirre:
I actually fancied the idea, but when the cost of the licence vs the financial rewards for the commitment was looked into, reality kicked in and I kicked the idea into touch.

The novelty of kipping in a backpacking youth hostel with 12+ bodies to a room soon makes you reassess your priorities

It’s all changed now Peirre. Most of the hostels are top notch these days and very comfortable. Crew always get a room to themselves. And if you’re on a hotel tour, then you stay in hotels. As I said earlier, it’s not a job for the financial rewards. It’s a job for doing for a couple of seasons and getting all the euro experience out of it, and for the laughs and memories you’ll take home with you. If you do the Summer Fun and Sailing tour for instance, it’s 36 days driving round Europe, plus three of those days are spent on a flotilla of yachts sailing around the Greek coastline, being paid to swim and top up your tan. And if you’re single on that boat, well… It’s motion on the ocean time. Make sure you liaise with the Trip Leader first before she does the allocations as to who goes on which boat. That’s why this would suit the younger blokes on here without commitments.

I’m in a good position now that having done a full season already, I have put my time in and the company got their return in the cost of training me for seven weeks, so I can just come back and do one or two tours to suit me and I don’t have to do a full season with them. So it’s a working holiday for me. They have a nickname for it. ‘Celebrity driver’ in that you come back to make one or two celebrity appearances during the season and then bugger off again.

[nightline]

citycat:
I guess this post is aimed at the younger blokes on here (not you old grumpy buggers). Maybe those that only have a rigid licence, still live at home perhaps, no big financial commitments, maybe do agency work, fed up doing those multi drops or pallet work to Rochdale or Burton on Trent, and fancy a bit of adventure.

My Dutch employers have kindly allowed me to take two months off during the summer. Some employers are quite big on that over here, taking sabbaticals to go do something else and recharge your batteries while keeping your job open, so I’m going back coaching for a couple of tours. Back to the company I was working with in summer 2016 while I was searching for truck work. I built up a fair bit of holiday in 2017 which carries over into 2018 (you build up hours over here, not days) and it should comfortably cover my time off so I’ll continue to be paid.

The coach job involves taking young, excitable Aussies, Kiwis, Americans, Canadians, and other nationalities from the far east on tours around mainland Europe. They’re all between the ages of 18 & 39.

Of course, it involves getting your ‘D’ licence but if you’re already driving a truck, it should only take a few hours training and a few hundred quid to get your licence. You’re not going to make a fortune doing this job though the pay is not bad, but what you do it for is the tons of euro experience you’ll get including Greece, some of the optionals which you do for free, like going up the highest mountain in Europe, or going up in the helicopter during the Swiss skydive, or the Gondola ride in Venice, plus all the memories you’ll have and the good friends you’ll make from crew and passengers. You’ll always have a roof over your head and somewhere to stay if you ever get down to Australia or New Zealand, judging from the invites you’ll get from passengers.

Of course, you have to be the right sort of person. You have to be a people person. It’s no good if you can’t talk or only like your own company in the cab. The seven week paid training trip around Europe normally sorts everyone out. Seven drivers were binned or left on my training trip because they couldn’t hack the pressure of learning the driving tours in several cities, or navigating their way across Europe. However, for those that do make it, you’ll be able to navigate the streets of Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Berlin and Amsterdam like a pro, be able to cross Europe without a sat nav, you’ll (hopefully) have a great time, will hardly spend any money because all accommodation and most of your food is provided, you’ll get commissions from various tour extras, and again you’ll have those memories. And totty on tap if you’ve got all your own teeth. Not me though, I’m happily married.

This probably sounds like a recruitment post, but it’s not. I just thought I’d put the idea out there for some members to think about.

I’ve enclosed a link to a video made by one of the drivers, showing his day in the office on the average 36 day tour. There are two main companies in this game so I’ll leave it to you to research them. The video is 14 minutes long so pick the right time to watch it, and watch to the end of the credits if you want to hear the driver singing.

youtu.be/b815Va0rI7A

With a man with so much experience good luck with that working for buttons because that’s all them companies pay

[citycat]

nightline:

citycat:
I guess this post is aimed at the younger blokes on here (not you old grumpy buggers). Maybe those that only have a rigid licence, still live at home perhaps, no big financial commitments, maybe do agency work, fed up doing those multi drops or pallet work to Rochdale or Burton on Trent, and fancy a bit of adventure.

My Dutch employers have kindly allowed me to take two months off during the summer. Some employers are quite big on that over here, taking sabbaticals to go do something else and recharge your batteries while keeping your job open, so I’m going back coaching for a couple of tours. Back to the company I was working with in summer 2016 while I was searching for truck work. I built up a fair bit of holiday in 2017 which carries over into 2018 (you build up hours over here, not days) and it should comfortably cover my time off so I’ll continue to be paid.

The coach job involves taking young, excitable Aussies, Kiwis, Americans, Canadians, and other nationalities from the far east on tours around mainland Europe. They’re all between the ages of 18 & 39.

Of course, it involves getting your ‘D’ licence but if you’re already driving a truck, it should only take a few hours training and a few hundred quid to get your licence. You’re not going to make a fortune doing this job though the pay is not bad, but what you do it for is the tons of euro experience you’ll get including Greece, some of the optionals which you do for free, like going up the highest mountain in Europe, or going up in the helicopter during the Swiss skydive, or the Gondola ride in Venice, plus all the memories you’ll have and the good friends you’ll make from crew and passengers. You’ll always have a roof over your head and somewhere to stay if you ever get down to Australia or New Zealand, judging from the invites you’ll get from passengers.

Of course, you have to be the right sort of person. You have to be a people person. It’s no good if you can’t talk or only like your own company in the cab. The seven week paid training trip around Europe normally sorts everyone out. Seven drivers were binned or left on my training trip because they couldn’t hack the pressure of learning the driving tours in several cities, or navigating their way across Europe. However, for those that do make it, you’ll be able to navigate the streets of Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Berlin and Amsterdam like a pro, be able to cross Europe without a sat nav, you’ll (hopefully) have a great time, will hardly spend any money because all accommodation and most of your food is provided, you’ll get commissions from various tour extras, and again you’ll have those memories. And totty on tap if you’ve got all your own teeth. Not me though, I’m happily married.

This probably sounds like a recruitment post, but it’s not. I just thought I’d put the idea out there for some members to think about.

I’ve enclosed a link to a video made by one of the drivers, showing his day in the office on the average 36 day tour. There are two main companies in this game so I’ll leave it to you to research them. The video is 14 minutes long so pick the right time to watch it, and watch to the end of the credits if you want to hear the driver singing.

youtu.be/b815Va0rI7A

With a man with so much experience good luck with that working for buttons because that’s all them companies pay

It’s about 90 quid per day, paid every day of the tour. You invoice the company at the end of the tour and get the full amount in your bank about three days later. As you are classed as a contractor, it’s up to you if you let the tax man know everything you earned. You also don’t drive every day. As I said, sometimes you’ll be on a boat for three days following the Greek coastline, being paid to swim and drink beer. You don’t even touch your wages during the tour. You use your commissions for any day to day spending or beer money. I also said it’s more about the experiences and what you get out of it than about the money. It would most suit the blokes who are on agency, who can come and go as they please, and who would prefer to see the Swiss Alps instead of another industrial estate off the M6.

For me personally, it’s two months away from the truck, getting some sun, and driving around the more scenic parts of Europe instead of the normal day to day humdrum run. Anyway, I’ve said enough on it. Just wanted to put the idea out there for some of you.