Pleased to see you back and reporting Neil 
Good account of the trip. like the new format, easy reading and good photo’s.
More soon I hope, take care and good luck.
As allways brilliant posts
well guys and girls off on another mission to baghdad be back in 5 days
Take it easy then neil and hope your trip is event free,
just to say im back again report later
Neil I hope you weren’t caught up in this
insider.trucknetuk.com/viewtopic.php?p=874#874
it seems one of hart security’s Japanese staff was kidnapped as well
Very good diary and pic’s neil
Although i have a couple of reports to post along with some pics i have some breaking news which i heard today.
over the past month we have know that the contract was up for renewal with the army with various firms tendering for it.as the weeks went by we grew more and more confident that IAP had won it but alas the drivers that were in the apartments today were summoned to a meeting at 07.30 this morning and were told the sad news that although IAP had won part of the contract no western drivers were going to be involved in it and that officialy our last day would be JULY 15TH. 
having got back this afternoon i attended the meeting this evening and was told the same thing except that there maybe and i mean maybe a bit longer than that if the army decides that the new company will need help in the transition of the work however this is not guaranteed.
therefore it looks as if this adventure has come to an END.
Sorry to hear that neil and I wish you
all the best for the future.
Neil,
Were the TNC(?) driver cheaper to employ or did they get the same money?
Is that the likely reason??
that is correct marcus and the new firm only employs that type and are only paying them $1000 a mth.
Neil if during the transfer period the new firm does not come up to scatch
and they are haveing as well language problems,when a incident happens
then it is a known fact , that you under stress speak only your mother tounge,so this will bring even more problems .as americans are not so
well versed in speaking other languages, as you said wait and see how the transfer goes, take care mate and we await your next post with baited breath,
MAY 29TH–JUNE 2ND 2005
IRAQI EXPRESS TQ
TRUCK NO ST 648
START MILEAGE 9325
TEMP 40C
SUNDAY 29THMAY
Got up at 06.00 had a shower and shave and finished packing .internet still playing
up must be sorted properly.went down to foyer and craig was there plus some others
including an aussie who wanted to attack a security guard due to an incident
with his girlfriend last night.
caught the bus at 8am phil was already lurking on bus in his iap cap lol.
got to HL5 and got paperwork for truck then went and checked it over.all the 15
westerners were bobtailing to Camp Arifjan while the TCN,s took empty
trailers.there were 9americans 3british 2australians and 1 south african on this trip.
We left HL5 at 09.15 and arrived at Arifjan at 09.50 covering 18.4kms.the temp
when we left HL5 was 44c.
We all got under trailers containing 2x20ft containers except for some TCN,s
who had flat beds loaded with pallets.As one of them tried to get under one
loaded with timber he hit the front so hard it pushed the trailer back snapping
the legs and causing it to nosedive which was a sight.
We picked up our police ■■■■■■ at the exit about 11ish and proceeded to make
our way to the border. with no incidents on the way we arrived at approx 13.45
and fueled up before moving to lane 3 for checking before going into the chicken
coop to park up till tomorrow.
On the way here i spoke to Craig our driver manager as we had heard rumours
that he was resigning and he told me it was true so a few fun and games over
the next few weeks to see who applies and who gets it.
I would go for it but it is $2000 less a mth but then you dont go into iraq which
might tempt some people to take the pay cut.
MONDAY 30TH MAY
START MILEAGE 9524
Got up at 05.00 with temp at 30c had a ■■■ then got dressed.Phil knocked
at 05.15 and we went off for a shower.decided not to walk back to truck
to drop out bags off as you are not allowed to take them into the defac
so we decided to take it in turns for breakfast,but as we got there
patrick was sitting in the smoking area by the basketball court so he
said he would look after them for us.i had cereal a doughnut washed down
with a paper cup of liptons tea.went back to truck and just chilled out with the a/c on.
Phil came and sat in truck and we just listened to music while he scoffed my sweets.
At about 10.00 arthur came round doing his helicopter impersonation which
meant we were about to leave and sure enough about 5 minutes later off we went.
At the border we encountered no kids so all windscreens intact as well as
tool boxes which makes a change.Just as we got onto Tampa one of the TCN,s
had a blow out so we had to stop while that was changed meanwhile traffic
was zooming down the LH lane which we were not happy about but things got
worse during the day.On this trip we had 4 bobtails inc the CS the othere 3 are
just lazy americans who fly about like headless chickens achieving nothing and
talking a load of rot on the radio but at least they did change the tyre in quick
which was something.
Skip one of the bobtails decided to tell all who had radios where we were stopping
for the night and that we would leave early in the morning to reach our destination
not only was this wrong he also gave info to the insurgents who do listen in to all
communications therefore he could have put us in danger the following day.
We stopped outside outside Camp Cedar for the humvees to fuel and were told we
were going on to Camp Duke which was still quite a few hours away and we knew
we would be going the old bumpy way and i mean bumpy way,not only that we would
be going through NEJEF which is where they had a huge anti american demo about
a week ago so it was flak jackets and helmets on for that part of the journey.the escorts
were basically useless as they did not block any roundabouts or crossroads except
one so the traffic was only feet away from us which is not the way it is supposed to be
done.
Having negotiated Nejef we got on to the road that is a nightmare during daylight but even
worse at night as the potholes just suddenly appear i keep thinking one day a miner
will appear from one of them.then we come to the hill which is as steep if not steeper
than telegraph hill and when you have trucks close together getting the right gear is
paramount.i plead guilty and admit this time i didnt and had to stop halfway up,but
at least i showed the army behind how to do a standing start without rolling back LOL
We finally got to Duke at about 21.00 but it took us at least another 45minutes to fuel
up before parking for the night tired and hungry as we had not eaten since breakfast.
although the dfac was open at 23.30 we could not be bothered instead watched the
antics of the 4 bobtails trying to get a truck and trailer out of the sand which was
nearly up to the axle they did finally manage to do it bless them lol.Anyway found out
we had a start time of 08.00 in the morning so just did this bit of report before hitting
the sack to be up at 05.30 for a shower and breakfast.temp when i went to bed was
34c it didnt really get up more than 45c as it was a bit cloudy with plenty of sand in
the air.Mileage from this morning was 521km
END MILEAGE 10045
START MILEAGE 9524
TOTAL 521
TUESDAY MAY 31ST
START MILEAGE 10045
Got up at 05.00 had ■■■ as usual then went off for shower with phil.got back to truck
and changed into jeans as we werent certain on wether they allowed shorts in this
DFAC so better err on the side of modesty as it was a long walk back to the truck if they
had refused us entry.while we were they found out it was the South African Patrick
that got stuck in the sand and was finally pulled out by an army humvee.
Skip had got some ice for everyone and after a final check on loads we left at 08.00
to CAMP TQ.
The road we took had not improved full of holes hell of a bumpy ride and slow but
the way this mission was going it was just about right.although our CS had an army
radio they did not reply to him or tell him what was going on basically this ■■■■■■
was the worst i have ever been with.finally stopped at 10.30 for a toilet break and
arrived at Camp TQ AT 11.30.
Total mileage from Duke 178km
Temp 35c
Now normally we unload/reload and stop the night here but oh no we are going straight
back to Duke as i said ■■■■■■ were useless and that is being kind as anything else would
be censored LOL.this meant we would miss lunch and dinner so Mario grabbed a cple
of cool boxes and went to the Dfac and got some carry outs which was appreciated by
all.
We got unloaded at 14.00 with temp at 40c and normally empty containers back but
should have known better.what was it but 2 humvees each trailer so lots of chaining
down and in this heat is a killer but we all helped each other so it wasnt too long although
some drivers did get containers or connex as the americans call them they did not
bother to help Grrrrrr.
We get told that we are leaving at 18.00 which gave us about 45mins to relax which
was nowhere near long enough to do anything not even get cleaned up properly.
GOD WE HATED THESE ARMY GUYS.
Tried to leave at 18.00 and there was an IED out on the road we were due to take so we
had to wait 45mins before we could get out and on to that hellhole of a road.after stopping
twice to redo chains we got back to Duke at about 22.30 and once again filled up which
took about another hour.We then get told that we are leaving at 07.30 and going all the way
back to Camp Arifjan god it was getting worse.went to bed as soon as we heard that tired
hungry and fed up with army.
END MILEAGE 10392
START MILEAGE 10054
TOTAL 338
WEDNESDAY 1ST JUNE
START MILEAGE 10392
START TEMP 29C
Got up at 05.00 went for shower to wash away yesterdays grime and got back to truck to
find a few people up rechaining down the humvees.went off fo breakfast and got back to finish
the job off goes we knew we would not be stopping for food later on.
Left finally at 08.00 stopped a cple of times for chains and for army to refuel then pushed on
towards kuwait.the TCN,s started to complain about not having any time to cook in their cab
so they had nothing really to eat for 17hrs and we sympathised with them and had a discussion
on our radios as to wether we forced the army to stop at the border for the night or at least an
hous so we all could eat but in the end that didnt happen.All was quiet at the border town no
kids throwing rocks and the first bit of luck all trip we didnt get pulled in by the customs hoorah.
stopped in southern staging area and saw the army trucks just go off on there own while we had
to wait nearly 2hours while tcn,s got passports stamped at immigration before we could go.even
in that time still not possible to relax cos we were redoing loads and nowhere near the Dfac and
tcn,s were in immigration.anyway we left at 17.00 to go to Camp Arifjan which is still 3 hours
away and just as we are going through the kuwait oil fields a humvee breaks loose and half
falls off the side of a trailer oh deep joy.we pulled further up the road and left the bobtails do it
as we had to keep the checkpoint clear.
It was finally pulled back on somehow with the army humvee that had to stay with us and we
started off again not for long as it bounced off again hoho.
After all that we arrived at Camp Arifjan and one of our drivers saw the Major who was in
charge of our ■■■■■■ group and she yes she went mad at this sargeant for putting us through
a trip that they have 4days to do it in and we had to do it in 3 days.He was not happy about
being told off in front of civilians but we did laugh when we heard.after getting unloaded we
headed back to the truck yard and got back to the apartments at 12.30 in the morning glad
to be away from that trip.
The mileage from Duke to Arifjan was 710kms.
P.S Phil would like me to point out that neither of us are gay as he says i keep writing that
we go to the showers together but it is just we get along being british so we go around
together. LOL
and now some pics from the trip.
LATEST TOURIST ATTRACTION
PHEWWWWWWW 
MILITARY MONUMENT
ALL LINED UP
KUWAITI CHECKPOINT IN OILFIELDS
STAGECOACH IT AINT
A BULLNOSED VOLVO FOR THE HARD TO READ
SOME OF OUR TCN,S
THE CREEPING SANDS
SUCH A SMOOTH ROAD
Neil yet again another brillant readand also the pictures that you posted ta mate, as said before inregards to the change over wait and see ,take care of yourself and we are awaiting the next chapter in NEILS trip in to the sun and sand,
Great report neil and pic’s
have been keeping an eye on the counter and 10000 hits i am feeling very humble that so many have been keeping an eye on my posts which are nowhere near as interesting to read as some of the other contributions on this site.
firstly ricki many thanks for deeming me worthy of a spot on the insider magazine and also for allowing me to get my own logo embroidered out here hope it does the site proud.
secondly thank you for all the nice comments and questions you have written i hope i have answered them the best i could.
thirdly wellthere isnt one except to say a BIG THANK YOU TO YOU ALL
NEIL46
Good report Neil, as usual, thanks.
Good read neil as allways
neil46:
my posts which are nowhere near as interesting to read as some of the other contributions on this site.
Rubbish! It’s brilliant! My eyes have been agog the whole time! It’s really nice to see photo of yourself even. I tried to post some time ago. But it kept chucking me off! 
Dunno what that was all about. But anyway, finally i can say …LOVING IT! And wishing it wasn’t going to be coming to an end. .