rgt1973:
When I was younger and running in Europe I did all sorts, including leaving Seville on Monday morning and arriving in Munich on Wednesday afternoon! If I had been caught I would probably still be locked up now.
that’s only 822km per day, not impossible with a light load, generous limiter and no traffic.
Hi, when doing continental in 1970 a driver pulled up at Calais ferry bragging that he had just driven for 17 hours from Split Yugoslavia to the ferry. These are the people who must be thanked for killing the driving industry. I also recall a driver calling into our depot at Brentwood to take a trailer to Felixstowe then pick up another at the port and deliver to Limburg Meats in Colchester. When I was asked by my steward to phone and check his movements, Limburgs stated that he arrived at 1600 hrs and was tipped starting at 2300hrs with him assisting and he was back in our depot applying for another load at 0800. I said to another of their drivers that their firm were bent runners, four of their stewards tried to have me disciplined at our union branch, which failed because they didn’t have the bottle to turn up. The Vestey family shut UCC down a few months later but their firm didn’t last too long asfter that. Now drivers of today wonder why the industry and wages are naff. Bill S.
I’m not going to label all foreign divers for running bent but a fair few do! They do 20 hour days on two cards, they get pulled over by vosa and they just simply say ‘me no speak english’ and vosa lets them drive on…
SCANIA730:
I’m not going to label all foreign divers for running bent but a fair few do! They do 20 hour days on two cards, they get pulled over by vosa and they just simply say ‘me no speak english’ and vosa lets them drive on…
Vosa when confronted with a 20 hour day and somebody who simply says “me no speak english” actually just wave them out and back on the motorway and let them carry on? I know they don’t face the same punishment in reality that a UK truck would but I find it a bit hard to believe they’re just waved off without being parked up for a stretch of time.
I think they put the bike lock on the front wheel and let the driver have 45 hrs rest and a big fine .
Still not prison tho…
SCANIA730:
I’m not going to label all foreign divers for running bent but a fair few do! They do 20 hour days on two cards, they get pulled over by vosa and they just simply say ‘me no speak english’ and vosa lets them drive on…
From the amount of foreign trucks I see “weekended” on the A299 with the big green VOSA “bicycle lock” threaded through their drive axle wheels, I’d say that’s unlikely.
Gents, The Commercial Vehicle Unit of Cheshire Police don’t tolerate the excessive hours / waving a foreign back onto the motorway just because they don’t speak English, that’s where Google Translate and a telephone translation service come into play. Magnet use get a minimum 24 hour cable up. Double crewed usually works out at £1,880 for magnet use.
Common sense is also used for things like running over 4 1/2 hrs slightly, pinching a few mins from your 9 hours. Photo taken just over a month ago, 45hr park up.
limeyphil:
You assume i was in prison for driving offences, Tachograph related you assume.
Not at all. That was based on your comment about asking a new employer whether you should run bent or straight.
You are right in one thing you say. I probably will be back inside one day. Arrest is an occupational hazard, As long as the reward exceeds the risk.
It isn’t though is it? Any advantage you got doing whatever is wiped out by the time you spend inside earning nothing. And thats assuming they don’t go for a proceeds of crime award in which case you’re well buggered especially if they decide you paid for your house with the money you got. And now you’re working 7 days away a week for £500. Yeah thats really working out well for you.
Every time I’ve been in sandbach checkpoint they were very nice ,the nice man said one of my cards which I had added up to 9 hrs 59 mins was actually only 9hrs 56 mins ,he did how ever point out where I’d 2 cards with the same date on ,oops .
If the laws were enforced properly, there would be no shifts of daft length at all - you’d just get in a second driver, not to double-man, but merely to do the same run at the same time.
Eg. You’ve got 3 seperate runs to do involving a 7 hour round trip somewhere…
Do you get 3 drivers on a flat 8 shift each, and let them make an hour on it, or do you get 2 drivers in, do one each single-manned, then the last one together… Will take them more than the 14 hours apiece that way, so you end up paying more than 28 hours… It might be a break when the other is driving, but you are not going to really get a slap-up meal in unless you both stop at once… Which prolongs the run towards that critical 15 hour level…
It should be a no-brainer, but like a lot of other things in this industry - getting extra bods in is not apparently the obvious thing to do it seems… 
Winseer:
If the laws were enforced properly, there would be no shifts of daft length at all - you’d just get in a second driver, not to double-man, but merely to do the same run at the same time.Eg. You’ve got 3 seperate runs to do involving a 7 hour round trip somewhere…
Do you get 3 drivers on a flat 8 shift each, and let them make an hour on it, or do you get 2 drivers in, do one each single-manned, then the last one together… Will take them more than the 14 hours apiece that way, so you end up paying more than 28 hours… It might be a break when the other is driving, but you are not going to really get a slap-up meal in unless you both stop at once… Which prolongs the run towards that critical 15 hour level…
It should be a no-brainer, but like a lot of other things in this industry - getting extra bods in is not apparently the obvious thing to do it seems…
how often does that happen? would you say it was the norm? i wouldn’t
Silver_Surfer:
Robinhood_1984 as always is bang on the money & as sharp as a Stanley knife. I salute you Sir.
I agree with you, although that has not always been the case, the lad done good and has learned a lot in the past 7 or 8 years. 
