as been said before alot of companys do start you on as DD but if your in the right place right time with the phone call you can go out on your own. I started last year and have since been out on a few tours which go on for months on ends. The job is about common sense and no point in bsing ur way through it as you will soon get found out. Its a great job if you dont mind been away for a long time and then sitting around enjoying your time off. If you get in listen and learn. good luck
Cheers for explaining things chaps, seems like a good job but definatly more for the (young!!) single person!! 
Just one more quick question, do those flight cases have retractable castors so as to make them easier and more solid to stack onto or do you spin them over??..could be a bit dodgy to up end them or similar with some of the gear that you haul around still inside!!
Have followed the various diaries and picture postings with great interest and look forward to reading and seeing some more!! 
bullitt:
Cheers for explaining things chaps, seems like a good job but definatly more for the (young!!) single person!!Just one more quick question, do those flight cases have retractable castors so as to make them easier and more solid to stack onto or do you spin them over??..could be a bit dodgy to up end them or similar with some of the gear that you haul around still inside!!
Have followed the various diaries and picture postings with great interest and look forward to reading and seeing some more!!
Don’t think age or marital status is too much of a problem. I’m 49, and know of quite a lot of drivers who are older. I’m also married with a family, like many others I know, and again its never been a concern. You just have to make the most of your time off.
The flight cases are designed to be tipped onto their sides or even upside-down - or Belgian as we call it. They have padding inside, which is shaped to hold the contents in position. Some cases however, cannot be tipped - eg. delicate video equipment, but these usually have brakes fitted to the castors. Again, the art is to pack the cases tightly so they can’t move. Most trucks/trailers are equipped with an abudance of straps and bars to hold everything in place.
gotta admit though gb1 in this job its more a single mans game unless you have a very very understanding partner/wife.
[bits like anything gogz, a gud mix, I’ve been with my mrs 7 years and have allways been working away, the only thing she asks is that I take her out when I’m home, just as gb1 says, u make the most of your time at home, and she understands, I have to be away to earn the money[/b]
i wouldnt say its a single mans game. Out of the 26 trucks im on tour with at the moment there is around 6 of us who are single and the rest all have partners or are married as been said you just have to have a very understanding gf/wife who knows what the score is with the job.
personally i think its a very inaccurate portrayal…
not 1 shot of the drivers where they really spend their time, in catering 
euromat:
personally i think its a very inaccurate portrayal…not 1 shot of the drivers where they really spend their time, in catering
this is wher eyou normally find mat, in catering or in his bed. if hes in neither hes dissappeared.
Interesting reading this thread - Last week I started with Fly By Night - went to Portugal and Spain for a couple of festivals.
Basically I think you need to know someone in this type of employment to get your foot in the door.
Either that or phone them at exactly the right time.
Leonard Hatred:
Interesting reading this thread - Last week I started with Fly By Night - went to Portugal and Spain for a couple of festivals.Basically I think you need to know someone in this type of employment to get your foot in the door.
Either that or phone them at exactly the right time.
was that you in vivonne on saturday with snow patrol?
I was listening to highway to hell AC/DC on XFM today, and when the song finished, the DJ said that AC/DC were on tour in europe and they (the vehicles) had been fined 2500 euros in Romania for not paying the tolls?? it was 50 euros per vehicle so they must have 50 vehicles!!
chris:
I was listening to highway to hell AC/DC on XFM today, and when the song finished, the DJ said that AC/DC were on tour in europe and they (the vehicles) had been fined 2500 euros in Romania for not paying the tolls?? it was 50 euros per vehicle so they must have 50 vehicles!!
Can’t believe that 50 drivers did’nt know the rules. Probably a case of the promoter taking responsibility for the costs, with subsequent confusion by the authorities. Sure one of the regular rock n’ roll drivers on the tour will enlighten us.
No
chris:
I was listening to highway to hell AC/DC on XFM today, and when the song finished, the DJ said that AC/DC were on tour in europe and they (the vehicles) had been fined 2500 euros in Romania for not paying the tolls?? it was 50 euros per vehicle so they must have 50 vehicles!!
nah the romanians are a bit funny with foreign motors when it comes to paying their tax,
i think they do it to get more money.
i got “fined” 800 euros in romania because we didnt have the tax because they didnt want to sell us it when we entered from bulgaria.
managed to get that “fine” down to 400 euros
bunch of robbing {zb}s
think the romanian attitude is, if you have an accident in their country, you must pay, as if you wasn’t their in the first place, the accident wouldn’t have happened 
as for the ac/dc thing, i’d find it hard to believe. i’m sure there are alot of seasoned pro’s on that tour, and pretty certain the lead driver would have made a point on the tax thing, before they entered.
50 trucks sounds way to many as well, the stones last tour was approx 42 ish, and u2, 55.
when i did AC/DC last year on the arena leg, there were, if i remember, 32 of us. And like you say chillistrucker, there may be the odd person here and there who didnt know about tax in Romania, but a large percentage would.
yeh the romanians are a bunch of arses. yet bruno at the boarder was a total legend when i came through a few weeks ago… had a great laugh with him
gb1:
chris:
I was listening to highway to hell AC/DC on XFM today, and when the song finished, the DJ said that AC/DC were on tour in europe and they (the vehicles) had been fined 2500 euros in Romania for not paying the tolls?? it was 50 euros per vehicle so they must have 50 vehicles!!Can’t believe that 50 drivers did’nt know the rules. Probably a case of the promoter taking responsibility for the costs, with subsequent confusion by the authorities. Sure one of the regular rock n’ roll drivers on the tour will enlighten us.
im out on acdc, although i didnt do the romanian bit, basically its all down to corruption, the drivers didnt break the law, the police were trying it on making up the law, i heard it made the news as there is a big anti corruption thing going on there at the moment