Im going to poland & latvia for the first time any tips please,do i need to buy road tax/vignette for either country,wots it like to buy diesel i imagine poland is ok,do i need euros or the local money.And any idea on border crossing times i know in there there ar`nt any borders as such any more but that still never seems to be the case.Thanks
Brian ,you will need euro vingette for B, NL; ;and then the GERMAN MAUT
for POLAND you will need a vingette,also zyloties (?) ; for BRIBES you can use
EUROS OR DOLLARS; ONtheuseful points post are some tips and sites one about traverling in POLAND,MAKE sure you have a good mediacl insurance.a good one is TRANSMED ask those M/E drivers as the majority have taken out this insurance, WHERE ARE YOU HEADING FOR in POLAND as thisdictates which border-crossing you use,
POLAND has a driveing ban as follows Friday–1800–2200hr,Saturday0700–1400hr…Sunday0700–2200hrs in july there are no other bans ,
how are you paying for fuel if its a card check that your operator has cleared the card for WEST 6 EASTERN europe, ( PIN CODE); AT PRESENT POLAND is cheaper than Germany,Take a lok at the germantips post and the post about lights being usedin europe as THERE is a list of tips which will give you some infomation about POLAND & LATVIA , you will find that some more members will also put their tips forward when thay come here on lineas well,
try this link,
Funny the timing of this post.
My Brother and a few mates have just gone over to Latvia on the bikes.
He called me on Friday from Poland to see if I could give him any info about this. Ive not been since they joined the EU so couldnt really help him except for directions.
However on Sunday Morning he rang again. They were stuck in no mans land as one of the riders had forgotten his V5.
I suggested hanging about and trying a different customs man later in the day before resorting to bribery 
I havent heard anything since, so either my brother and his mates are in jail for corrupting officials or they have got through 
However this doesnt answer any of your questions.
They have still got the old currency, but I would imagine Euros are welcome almost everywhere as well.
A driving restriction has been introduced in Poland, due to high temperatures, as of 27 June from 11:00 to 22:00 and will be enforced until further notice.
The ban concerns all goods vehicles over 12 tonnes and covers the regions of: Dolnoslaskie, Opolskie, Lodzkie, Malopolskie, Mazowieckie, Podkarpackie, Lubelskie, Slaskie, Swietokrzyskie and Wielkopolskie.
THE ban because of the high temperatures in POLAND is for the following transported goods not applicable, ADR–HAZ goods, LIVESTOCK; FOOD PRODUCTS; check at the border if you are not sure,
also check the IRU site for the border crossing points from POLAND–LITHUNANIA–LATVIA; also look at the IRU safe parking this will show you reconised places to park safely, Be extra aware when driveing from say
the beinging of POLAND onwards, Lithuania & Latvia have a bad record for accidents,make sure that you carry theinternational accident forms from your
insurance firm,
Thanks for the info,i know about the benelux vingette,and have a maut box fitted,the fuel card will be DKV so should be no problems there and have medical insurance with Transmed through my company,I have a copy of the IRU parking quide in the truck.I`ve been to czech,hungry,slovenia,turkey & bulgaria,but not poland or latvia and was wondering if things had got easier since they joined the EU.The border crossing into poland is Frankfurt oder,the one into latvia not to sure yet.Is there a restriction on the amount of fuel you can bring from latvia to poland and the poland to germany as there is czech to germany(or was havent been through there lately).Thanks
When you see the NO-OVERTAKING for lorries signs in Brandenburg
take care as the police here are very strict and do fine all those they catch,
you may find if the driveing ban is in operation still a queue of traffic ,they may send you to a waiting area until the driveing ban is over,If you are carrying one of the loads which are allowed to move whilist the ban is in place then ,you should haave less problems ,have you looked at the site for poland inthe useful posts forum it is full of useful info, YOU ARE allowed to go through all the EU country,s with full tanks of fuel up to 1500LITERS ,is FREE;
Latvia is the cheapest FOR FUEL;but take spare diesil filters in case of
getting a blocked filter, any more questions put them here as some one will
give a answer,
try here for parking places as well when outside Germany,
I was in Poland last week with a trip from Hamburg to Balistok on the russian border, went over Frankfuhrt Oder, Poznan,Warsaw,balistock,you dont need a vingette but you do have to pay for the motoways in cash and in zlotys
The speed limit on Motorways is 80kmh ,and other roads just keep going with the crowd 
leave space between trucks because they will overtake with there cars in all conditions
in towns speed limit is 50kmh between 0500-2300 and 60kmh between 2300-0500
And dont forget it is law to carry a Fire ext in all types of vehs and the testing date is not allowed to be over 1year and they love checking forgien trucks for them and dishing out 200€ fines for not having them
gbtransp:
I was in Poland last week with a trip from Hamburg to Balistok on the russian border, went over Frankfuhrt Oder, Poznan,Warsaw,balistock,you dont need a vingette
brit pete:
for POLAND you will need a vingette,
I’m confused. 
So am I ? Do they mean vignette…?
NO I mean vingette;LOOK at this site-- http://www.krbrd.gov.pl
it will help explain you can buy a vingette and so not have to pay on the roads,take the option which is cheapest.
brit pete My apologies…its a word I have never come across before. I don`t think I have been to Poland either.
Its a VIGNETTE, just the same as everywhere else that uses them, vingette is a typo I presume. According to the info on the site Brit Pete put a link up for, you can either buy a vignette OR pay as you go.
There’s a lot of good info on that site. The English version in in pdf format, so you can download it onto a laptop and have it available to look at any time you might want or need it.
Its the official government site too, so I would expect it to be totally correct. Although the holiday info sites are almost certainly reliable, I personally wouldn’t be 100% comfortable relying on them for info about taking a truck through a country.
Good site Pete mate,
I,d love to know where that smooth bit of Tarmac is in the photo, i havnt found it in in Poland yet
12 months ago all the Poles used to pick up there new trailers in Germany, now they havent got the time and we Brit (German lorry) drivers have to deliver them to the Poles about 14 times this year already and i hate the place 
Geoff
gbtransp Whats the latest flavour…? Schmitt ,or something like that…?
Harry,
triaxle tautliners from “Krone” Werlte
Frigos from “Schmitz” Vreden
Bulk alu tippers from “Freuauf” Auxerre France
I have got a used twinaxle dry box behind the unit now which i picked up in Hamburg Friday thats going to a dealer in Rosenheim S. Germany then monday afternoon up to “Kögel” by Ulm to pick up a triaxle tautliner for a Hire firm in Prag then the 20 klicks over to Slany to “Meiller” and pick up a twin axle tipper for a firm in Poznan poland
I pass a big trailer manufacturer on the way to Bremen or Hamburg, somewhere near Meppen I think.
Dunno who it is
I think you mean KRONE trailers and farm machine factory.
All good kit then.
gbtransp:
Harry,triaxle tautliners from “Krone” Werlte
Frigos from “Schmitz” Vreden
Bulk alu tippers from “Freuauf” Auxerre France
I have got a used twinaxle dry box behind the unit now which i picked up in Hamburg Friday thats going to a dealer in Rosenheim S. Germany then monday afternoon up to “Kögel” by Ulm to pick up a triaxle tautliner for a Hire firm in Prag then the 20 klicks over to Slany to “Meiller” and pick up a twin axle tipper for a firm in Poznan poland
excuse me for asking what maybe a niave question but are all these trailers being run empty?