NewLad:
however if I had got my licence by towing a caravan behind a horse in Bulgeria, I would drive to the limit and park it anywhere, because “me no’a speak’a Englishhhh” and [zb] the consequences.
Seeing as by your own admission you are a “NewLad”, here’s a bit of advice from somebody who isn’t … Don’t listen to ■■■■■■■■ and bullcrap spouted by knobheads in RDCs, cafes or ferries, but instead make your own mind up about aspects of the job yourself as you gain experience… take it or ignore it.
mickyblue:
my opinions are nothing to do with the fact there not British, just got to love the fact that people use that line.
Let me chuck this point in,
As you all know I have started to driving all over the UK. I am going to places I never been before and I do nights out when needed. Now I have to find a place to park up in a area I never been to, or know what it offers. So what is the difference between me not knowing the area and a non English motor not knowing the area?
Now imagine that your boss sent you to Turkey and you were driving through Istanbul (insert other European capital cities here) when your driving hours warning flashed up. How confident would you be of leaving at the next random junction and finding a nice big truck parking area within the next 15 minutes?
NewLad:
IMO there is a massive difference between breaking the law by being stuck in traffic on the M25 and going over your time to find a safe and legal place to park, than WILLINGLY parking illegally on a motorway to prevent an infringement on your card that would have been no fault of your own.
I parked up at 1645 on Friday night, I was legal to drive until 1800 and was asked to get as far back as possible, I knew the M25 at Dartford was ZBed, so I told my planners that I wasn’t going any further. That is what IMO a professional does to ensure they don’t get an infringement, however if I had got my licence by towing a caravan behind a horse in Bulgeria, I would drive to the limit and park it anywhere, because “me no’a speak’a Englishhhh” and [zb] the consequences. If there no capable of driving legally in a forigne country then don’t do it.
I know I’m not good enough nor confident enough to do Euro work (I would love to do it) but having only been driving HGV’s for just over a year I know I would come unstuck.
You may think there is a big difference between your two scenario’s, I may know it, Vosa may know it, but many EU countries dont give a ■■■■ and these drivers are not merely fearing Vosa like you are, they’re fearing every single equivillent authority of every country they drive through.
What if where you parked at 1645 was already full? what if you didn’t start until later in the day and still had 5 hours left? what if your company didn’t pay for parking and you didn’t know which exits had nearby layby’s or industrial estates? the list could go on. Britain is a disgrance for parking. You fear becoming unstuck because you’re not ready for European work. All these “Johnny Foreigners” are guilty of here is coming unstuck because they’re not prepared for our countries disgraceful approach to HGV parking and subsequent road safety and they’re not familar with the area so they dont know where the little hidden out of the way parking places are.
As for not being good enough to do Euro work, that’s not necessarily true. I passed my test at 21 and was doing weekly trips to Swiss and Germany by 22 and in Canada by 25. Your as good or as bad as you want to be. Its all about mentality and motiviation to do what you want to do. Many a driver in the 80s and 90s passed their tests and the next week went straight on European work as thats all that was available to them. If and when you do decide to try and get in to that line of work, you will understand where I’m coming from with this.
I understand what you are saying and I’m aware of how drivers are treated in other EU countries, but many, many other British and Irish lads who are running Europe manage to stay legal and get parked up somewhere legal.
I do get parking paid, if I didn’t I wouldn’t night out for this firm, you get a different motor every day and my transport to work is a motorbike, so I can’t physically carry everything I need for potentially 2-3 days on the road. I carry clothes, hgv atlas, fluids, food for 1 day, shower equipment and cash/credit cards.
If I had a regular motor or even a decent sized locker to store things it would be different, I have no issues with sleeping in a lay by/industrial estate (I’ve had to do it once).
It’s all about driving down wages across Europe, whilst keeping the Euro currency sky-high so no one can afford to live, and debt peddlers get their pound of flesh every month.
I don’t care if Farage turns out to be Hitler Mk II, - He’s getting my vote, as nothing can be as bad as the numbnuts situation we have been in for over a decade already. Law enforcement today is all about "how to extract the most in fees/commissions/fines from those that can afford to pay it, syphoned off towards those who want to be paid for sitting on their arses wearing suits all day long.
If we carry on like this, it will be OK for people from the Balkans to go around murdering us (on top of the rag heads) because “That’s what they do” and “they can’t afford any fines” and “it’s not worth enforcing the law upon that sort” evident in the lack of balls shown towards clearing illegal camp sites, immigrants from the backs of trucks, and illegal sweatshop workers, once it’s realised they’ve lost all their “fine-pay money” just getting here!
I’d love to be chief traffic cop, and use my zeal to turn policing into an outfit that benefits the wider public, rather than just a few pen pushers in the legal system.
Watched both days of the UKIP conference, hell I actually understood what they were saying and their policies,seemed to be all the wisdom you hear from the working man,US.
I think UKIP will be having my support because I understand what they’re saying.Might have a word with Nige to try and improve our lot.
Zanfta:
Hi guys!
I am Johny Foreigner.
Done my PCV licence in GB.
This is a reason why I know what the Hard Shoulder is used for!
99% of foreigners simply have no idea when you ask them!
This is not excuse anyway, just an answer on your question!
.
Mario
That is no excuse or an answer,before you enter a country you should know the rules of the land…When in Rome etc
And yet just a few posts up you were getting fined because you didn’t know that you can’t park in an sos bay in France.
The UK is pretty woeful when it comes to truck parking.
I’ve just done 10 weeks in various european countries, on the whole most places were free to park, and those that you did park in always gave you money back in way of a food voucher, shower etc.
1 place in serbia was 3 euros to park, and you had a choice of 5 different proper restaraunts to eat in, all good cooked on site food aswell, and a decent enough shower.
As opposed to upto £27.50 you have to pay at Ashford, I know where I’d rather be.
Just a simple question.
Why is it ok for the police to stop you on the hard shoulder and is it not ok to park on that same hard shoulder ?
I got told to just shut my mouth by the police a while back when I asked why they were stopping me on the hard shoulder, when there was a slip road with a hard shoulder about 500 yards away.
When I asked them to park up behind me with their lights flashing, so they could take the impact and not me, it got rather unfriendly.
roadrunner:
I would imagine East European drivers carry very little cash if any at all, they all seem to self cater, they all have huge endurance fuel tanks so don’t buy fuel. So its down to red tape and bureaucracy to extract any fines if the driver speaks poor english, so i guess its not financially viable for VOSA in terms of time vs money extraction , when there are many more financially viable UK drivers to fine. Or “Line of least resistance” . you might say
That doesn’t make what their being allowed to do right though does it. No wonder the British hauliers can’t compete in the “free market” that is Europe. They should be forced (towed if they have to be) to a legal place to park, then they should be immobilised until the firm pays up the fine and towing fee.
A couple of days with his wagon earning jack would soon see them paying up.
It really does [zb] me off that it isn’t a level playing field.
mickyblue:
my opinions are nothing to do with the fact there not British, just got to love the fact that people use that line.
Let me chuck this point in,
As you all know I have started to driving all over the UK. I am going to places I never been before and I do nights out when needed. Now I have to find a place to park up in a area I never been to, or know what it offers. So what is the difference between me not knowing the area and a non English motor not knowing the area?
Now imagine that your boss sent you to Turkey and you were driving through Istanbul (insert other European capital cities here) when your driving hours warning flashed up. How confident would you be of leaving at the next random junction and finding a nice big truck parking area within the next 15 minutes?
Harry, your point = ■■■■ poor planning
Why leave it 15 minutes to look for somewhere to park?
Yes truck parking in the uk is inadequate and too dear but I sill don’t see why they get away parking on the hard shoulder.
Yes it’s not fair there isn’t parking that’s free but at the same time life’s not fair any other European nation wouldn’t care about giving forigen hauliers a hard time.
Why leave it 15 minutes to look for somewhere to park?
One day when you work in the real world instead of the wrapped up in cotton wool “blue chip” bubble you seem to currently exist in where everything is “planned” you’ll realise that you cannot and your office cannot plan for potential delays on a trans European trip. The only way people like you are ever going to not get caught out doing the sort of work that these Eastern Europeans do would be to park up after 6 or 7 hours drive every day, but that’d only last until you got back from your first trip and got the sack for being a useless unproductive jobsworth.
Neither Harry nor myself are suggesting that anyone leaves it until 15 minutes before their time is up, but when one day you can sail around the M25 at 55mph, or the for that matter Brussels, Antwerpen, Strasbourg etc and the next day you can be moving forward 10ft at a time for 3 hours or more, there is no planning that will prevent you from coming a cropper.
I dont know what work you do, but when you’re heading from lets say Munchen in Germany to Manchester in the UK you’ve simply got to get to a certain point each day in order to meet the delivery deadline, you can’t just pull off the boat in Dover with 4 and a half hours to spare and park in the non-existant parking “just in case” there may be a delay on the M25, its not practical, its not economical and its in no way realistic and its purely and utterly because the UK government ignores road safety and its responsibilities to provide truck parking when they jointly with the EU mandate that the truck must park in the first place that these issues arise.
NewLad:
however if I had got my licence by towing a caravan behind a horse in Bulgeria, I would drive to the limit and park it anywhere, because “me no’a speak’a Englishhhh” and [zb] the consequences.
Seeing as by your own admission you are a “NewLad”, here’s a bit of advice from somebody who isn’t … Don’t listen to ■■■■■■■■ and bullcrap spouted by knobheads in RDCs, cafes or ferries, but instead make your own mind up about aspects of the job yourself as you gain experience… take it or ignore it.
Same advice given to me from a driver face to face
kr79:
Yes truck parking in the uk is inadequate and too dear but I sill don’t see why they get away parking on the hard shoulder.
Yes it’s not fair there isn’t parking that’s free but at the same time life’s not fair any other European nation wouldn’t care about giving forigen hauliers a hard time.
So because you’re British and simply roll over and accept your crap lot in the job we do you think everybody else should be lowered to the same level? Would it not be better to actually have the issue with those who treat us ALL like crap, rather than direct your issues at those who like us all are doing a very difficult job, under difficult circumstances. This is exactly why the UK is so crap, everybody is an individual looking to grass the next man up because they can’t stand to think that someone else might be getting away with something they can’t or wouldn’t. Very petty and sums the UK up perfectly.
For the record, I have parked on many a slip road hard shoulder leading in to or out of a services, especially in Lux and Belgium and I’ve never had a problem from the police or local Belgians who feel jealous about me getting away with something that they feel is wrong as they drive past on their way home to their own bed.
Give “Johnny Foreigner” and Johnny Englishman somewhere to actually park in the SE that isn’t 60 miles apart or costs £25-30 per night and they wouldn’t be doing this.
kr79:
Yes truck parking in the uk is inadequate and too dear but I sill don’t see why they get away parking on the hard shoulder.
Yes it’s not fair there isn’t parking that’s free but at the same time life’s not fair any other European nation wouldn’t care about giving forigen hauliers a hard time.
They get away with it because there is nobody out there actually patrolling the motorways to any great extent. To save money patrol vehicles are parked up and only respond to callouts.
NewLad:
I understand what you are saying and I’m aware of how drivers are treated in other EU countries, but many, many other British and Irish lads who are running Europe manage to stay legal and get parked up somewhere legal.
I do get parking paid, if I didn’t I wouldn’t night out for this firm, you get a different motor every day and my transport to work is a motorbike, so I can’t physically carry everything I need for potentially 2-3 days on the road. I carry clothes, hgv atlas, fluids, food for 1 day, shower equipment and cash/credit cards.
If I had a regular motor or even a decent sized locker to store things it would be different, I have no issues with sleeping in a lay by/industrial estate (I’ve had to do it once).
Given what I’ve just highlighted, its no wonder you really can’t grasp the realities of what those guys have to do and why they do it. Having your parking paid and having ONCE had to park in an industrial estate or layby really doesn’t mean you’ve walked in the shoes of the men you’re judging here.
Why leave it 15 minutes to look for somewhere to park?
One day when you work in the real world instead of the wrapped up in cotton wool “blue chip” bubble you seem to currently exist in where everything is “planned” you’ll realise that you cannot and your office cannot plan for potential delays on a trans European trip. The only way people like you are ever going to not get caught out doing the sort of work that these Eastern Europeans do would be to park up after 6 or 7 hours drive every day, but that’d only last until you got back from your first trip and got the sack for being a useless unproductive jobsworth.
Neither Harry nor myself are suggesting that anyone leaves it until 15 minutes before their time is up, but when one day you can sail around the M25 at 55mph, or the for that matter Brussels, Antwerpen, Strasbourg etc and the next day you can be moving forward 10ft at a time for 3 hours or more, there is no planning that will prevent you from coming a cropper.
I dont know what work you do, but when you’re heading from lets say Munchen in Germany to Manchester in the UK you’ve simply got to get to a certain point each day in order to meet the delivery deadline, you can’t just pull off the boat in Dover with 4 and a half hours to spare and park in the non-existant parking “just in case” there may be a delay on the M25, its not practical, its not economical and its in no way realistic and its purely and utterly because the UK government ignores road safety and its responsibilities to provide truck parking when they jointly with the EU mandate that the truck must park in the first place that these issues arise.
Two things my little hero,
I am not a jobsworth, don’t know where you got that from but I prefer to plan ahead and have a plan a and b sorted, but in your little world your telling me that you drive along knowing your time is nearly up and you don’t start to think about where to park? that’s what I am getting at. I am not on about hold ups etc because that’s part of the job but I fail to see hero’s like yourself not thinking, say 2 to 1 hour before time is up start thinking about parking.
I dont know what work you do, but when you’re heading from lets say Munchen in Germany to Manchester in the UK you’ve simply got to get to a certain point each day in order to meet the delivery deadline, you can’t just pull off the boat in Dover with 4 and a half hours to spare and park in the non-existant parking “just in case” there may be a delay on the M25, its not practical, its not economical and its in no way realistic and its purely and utterly because the UK government ignores road safety and its responsibilities to provide truck parking when they jointly with the EU mandate that the truck must park in the first place that these issues arise
I think we are going around in circles and I think this will lead to personal insults as all topics do end up.
I fail to see “Being non English” gives it a OK to park up on a hard shoulder of a busy motorway but hey lets end it here.
Its not ok to park on the hard shoulder, but rather than blame the symptom I blame the cause. Its an absolute disgrace that they feel the need to do it in the first place and in the same shoes we’d all be faced with the same problem. A UK only driver who has never had to actually find free parking after exiting Dover and does not live in the constant fear of our continental bretheren’s equivalent to Vosa cannot possibly understand why they do it. I’m not a hero by any means, I’m somebody who’s seen things from both sides because I’ve been on both sides and often faced the very same problems they do when coming in to the UK. The only reason I’ve never had an infringement is because I do know a few places to park but if I were in several other European countries where I’d be “Johnny Foreigner” myself then I’d be well and truely stuck and my local knowledge of parking around Brussels, another traffic hotspot is non-existant, its somewhere I’ve driven past 100 times but never come off the ring road to know whats there. Those Eastern Europeans will probably be in the very same situation with London and the SE.
… Don’t listen to ■■■■■■■■ and bullcrap spouted by knobheads in RDCs, cafes or ferries, but instead make your own mind up about aspects of the job yourself as you gain experience… take it or ignore it.
