Lottery win. To be fair i have worked with a few decent easteen euros.
newmercman:
Carryfast:
newmercman:
As one who travelled extensively throughout the continent when the British International Haulier was cheaper than the rest and now as an immigrant worker it would be hypocrisy for me (and many others) to condone the drivers/operators who are now “nicking” work off the British Hauliers.Firstly I’d doubt wether we’re talking about the same level of undercutting,cabotage and other country traffic operations,in the case of British international operations then,as opposed to East European ones of today.While it’s also not a like with like comparison in the case of North American operations at least until Mexican operators and labour are given the same freedom to work throughout North America as East European ones have here.
Geoffrey you have no idea 
Firstly the reason we were doing the job was because we were cheaper and that’s a fact.
Secondly, how about trip money wages, belly tanks full of red diesel, dodgy credit cards, phoenix companies, running day and night, doing cabotage on groupage collections/deliveries for a drink etc etc etc.
These Eastern Europeans are angels compared to most of the British International Hauliers 
[/quote
The brits and paddys were without doubt the worst for pulling strokes pre wall cmmie block invasion.
What’s the story with HSF, anybody know…?
Inselaffe:
The scumbags at the top of the food chain are interested in just one thing: their bottom line.Thanks to the European Union, they now have an almost inexhaustible supply of cheap labour with which to replace their indigenous workforce.
It matters to them not one iota if their (or another) country goes down the toilet due to rapidly rising unemployment and social unrest. Profits are up, the shareholders are happy and that’s all that matters.
The EU is rapidly becoming responsible for a growing polarization of society. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
It’s only a matter of time before it all kicks off big style.Way to go, Europe
+1
Kevwall:
I was parked up in rugby truck stop last night and there was about 10 Lithuanian wagons parked up I think the company was transvista or something like that. Anyway all the wagons where empty then a mini bus pulls up with all the drivers and all there tramping gear, will some of these just be based over here and maybe just came back to work from having the festive time off■■? Found it odd them having the wagons parked up empty then all the drivers turning up in a mini bus to start work !
Transtira, I can see their trucks more and more often…
That will be these guys then.
Inselaffe:
Mike-C:
robinhood_1984:
newmercman:
They ARE doing internal work in the UK,I know that and you know that.
I’m not seeing it. Obviously that doesn’t mean it doesn’t go on. But for the most part they are hauling stuff legally on internation journeys as has been said.
I’ve got to agree with our Canadian exiles here, Mike.
At Killingholme, double manned BG units are pulling Ewals trailers out of the port on a daily basis.
At The Hoek the parking area near the booking office is full of RO and BG tractor units waiting for trailers.
Of course, on the mainland cabotage regulations can be easily circumvented. A quick trip across the border to reset the clock and everybody’s “legal”.
However, in the UK the geographical constraints of being on an island do not lend themselves to such cabotage avoidance tactics.
But the big players will not let cabotage laws get in the way of their lucrative UK business. Cabotage is rife in the UK and the chances of being busted are slight. The rewards are great and the odd confiscated tractor unit will be a minor blip in the accounts.
I think everyone is getting confused here, trailers coming out of ports are not “internal UK” work.
robinhood_1984:
That will be these guys then.
With British drivers?
Good payers too.
Have a gander through this: DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF EU ROAD CABOTAGE
Makes interesting reading.
In the section relating to the UK:
"Cabotage operations in the UK have developed substantially in recent years and, apart from
Irish hauliers, there has been a shift in the origin of the operators that are carrying out the
cabotage operations with more cabotage being undertaken by Eastern European hauliers.
Monitoring of cabotage in United Kingdom is carried out by VOSA which also monitors
compliance with other HGV, road related requirements (such as road worthiness). Its
roadside checks are carried out both on foreign operators and on domestic operators; the
share of foreign operators that are checked is about 47%. VOSA has also developed a
system to monitor compliance with all road related laws, the OCRS. This system is a risk
based tool that provides VOSA with an assessment of the probability that an operator will
infringe one of the laws. This system was recently updated to improve its functionality.
The main concern in the United Kingdom is not related to wage levels of foreign hauliers as
competition is seen as a good thing for the sector, the greater concern relates to ensuring
that the vehicles that are entering United Kingdom are adhering to the appropriate safety
standards".
There you have it lads, from the horse’s mouth.
Draw your own conclusions
Mike-C:
I think everyone is getting confused here, trailers coming out of ports are not “internal UK” work.
Then please enlighten us…
the BAG sure thinks it is, a friend of mine got a fine for pulling a finnish trailer out of rostock with a scania registered in estonia. it was only a hundred euros though - guess they couldn’t find anything else wrong with him…
Mike-C:
I think everyone is getting confused here, trailers coming out of ports are not “internal UK” work.
Yes they are, their journey with the trailer begins and ends in the UK, so its an internal movement and a violation of cabotage if more than 3 such movements are carried out within a 7 day period and the truck/driver in question has not exited the country to reset the counter.
There is absolutely no difference between a Lithuanian truck being in the UK bobtail, collecting a Dutch owned trailer from Immingham docks with a load of machinery from Germany going to Manchester than a British truck collecting a load of food products from a warehouse in Ipswich and delivering them to Manchester, they’re both internal domestic movements and subject to exactly the same laws. The Lithuanian truck doesn’t have some special right to this work as the trailer has originated from outside the country, if he did not bring it himself then its no different to a British truck collecting a Chinese container from Felixstowe.
Perhaps you think it should be a free for all and British trucks/drivers should be in direct competition with trucks from any country in the EU who import their cheaper wage drivers to under cut ours, but I certainly do not and this is one of the reasons we have cabotage. The examples of ferry freight trailers are a violation of cabotage and vosa have indeed impounded violating vehicles. I’m not making anything up as I go along, I’ve witnessed this whole thing with my own eyes in the UK and if you think its a thing of the past that’s been stamped out since my departure, I think you are living in cloud cuckoo land.
milodon:
the BAG sure thinks it is, a friend of mine got a fine for pulling a finnish trailer out of rostock with a scania registered in estonia. it was only a hundred euros though - guess they couldn’t find anything else wrong with him…
Had he done more than 3 trips within Germany in 7 days? I think a trip would be considered one way too, so Rostock to Berlin would be one trip, I don’t think an empty movement counts (could be wrong?) then reload in Magdeburg for Rostock, thats two, and then another Rostock to Berlin would be 3. Going back to Rostock again and dropping the trailer would then be in violation of cabotage rules as far as I know.
Its usually the ones doing it from Dutch and Belgian ports who can continue doing it quite legally for an endless period because most of their trailers go to and from Germany from Belgium and Holland, so its always an international journey. Working from UK ports, or a port like Rostock where everything would be too and from a German destination are more problematic but these days there are an ever increasing amount of Eastern European trucks totally ignoring it and just chancing their arm.
Inselaffe:
The scumbags at the top of the food chain are interested in just one thing: their bottom line.Thanks to the European Union, they now have an almost inexhaustible supply of cheap labour with which to replace their indigenous workforce.
It matters to them not one iota if their (or another) country goes down the toilet due to rapidly rising unemployment and social unrest. Profits are up, the shareholders are happy and that’s all that matters.
The EU is rapidly becoming responsible for a growing polarization of society. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
It’s only a matter of time before it all kicks off big style.Way to go, Europe
I can’t disagree with this.
limeyphil:
With British drivers?
Good payers too.
No idea what the nationality the drivers are if not Lithuanian.
There was one thread on here a while back where an eastern euro firm wanted to employ estonian drivers as they would work even cheaper than there own drivers but couldnt get work permits as estonia wasnt in the eu.
Funny how the polish and lituanian drivers where i work are moaning about the freedom of romanian and bulgarians to come here and how there no good.
robinhood_1984:
Had he done more than 3 trips within Germany in 7 days?
ah yes, he might have, airfreight to frankfurt and back is what the truck is doing
kr79:
There was one thread on here a while back where an eastern euro firm wanted to employ estonian drivers as they would work even cheaper than there own drivers but couldnt get work permits as estonia wasnt in the eu…
Must have been another country? Estonia has been in the EU since 2004, the same length of time as the other eastern European countries apart from Romania and Bulgaria. Plus Estonians are on higher wages (I think?) than most of the other 2004 entrants and its not uncommon for Estonian firms to be using non-Estonians because they’re a cheaper option. Estonians certainly work in western Europe and Scandinavia but I’d be very surprised if any were to be found driving Lithuanian, Polish, Slovak or whatever else trucks due to cost reasons.
Fergie47:
Do these trucks staying over here months at a time, get regular (4 weekly ?) checks and maintainance…?
And that is exactly the question I was going to ask - who looks after these vehicles - surely they must be subjected to six weekly inspections and if not - well, it’s a little unsettling…
Socketset:
Fergie47:
Do these trucks staying over here months at a time, get regular (4 weekly ?) checks and maintainance…?And that is exactly the question I was going to ask - who looks after these vehicles - surely they must be subjected to six weekly inspections and if not - well, it’s a little unsettling…
Many will be on full repair and maintenace contracts. They wouldn’t be in business for very long if they run the lorries into the ground.