the world is in a recession i know but why are rates so {ZB}?
last week was offered reload from manchester to malaga for 1500euros 
it costs us that
we eventually found a job manchester to madrid for more money then another from madrid to malaga
then on tue to top it all off one of our drivers was tipping portugal with uk owner driver who had loaded carling in burton on trent for the algarve then reloading valdepenas for north england 3200pounds round trip having to pay all his own expenses i don’t know how he’s in business
Was on round trips from French ports.Cherbourg/Caen/St.Malo,Euro PSL or Bob Garnett would send us loaded trailers to France.Lisbon/Porto was about £2200 in 1991.Gibraltar was £2450,bonus for ADR loads.Did a Freight Transfer load from Lisbon to Germany for nearly £3000.Our ferries were paid and trailer hire and tyre breakdown was in the rate.Even did the accounting for us,for a small fee.Those days never saw asylum seekers at the ports.Would book off,and do the laundry in Ouistreham,and even had time to have a rouitier meal.All went wrong when they ask me to do UK collection/delivery,later they got cheaper Portuguese owner drivers,and they still on it today with Magnums.Hanging garments for Garland Laidley lda,in Maia,Porto and Aboboda in Lisbon.
This is the 1st post i have made on here but my thoughts on the industry for what they are worth are as follows.
In this climate there are too few loads for too many trucks and things won’t improve until that situation is reversed. Either a load more of us go bust or people get a shed-load of easy credit again to go on another endless spending spree. Or something in between, a few more haulage casualties and a bit more credit for the majority of worthy borrowers. But don’t imagine things will ever be good while we have to compete with east european hauliers with cheaper wages/diesel. If there was a glut of solicitors they wouldn’t get away with £200 per hour would they?
A free market economy means rate cutting and the cheapest man gets the work for a price less than what it costs most of the rest of us to do it for…
We are our own worst enemy, doing the job for peanuts in the first place, but the industry will never be regulated or rates set to a minimum and while Johnny Foreigner has an unfair advantage keep on dreaming that one day things will be good again in haulage.
I had a truck working for Fans Maas in 1987 doing France and Germany, They offered me round trips to Madrid for £2000.00 boat paid for I turned them down I said it wasn’t enough. In 1995 I was admiring this real fancy Scania brand new, I got talking to the owner driver telling me how he could afford because he was on such a good paying job, it was the one I had turned down 8 years before. He was doing it for £2200.00. Enough said there is always somebody somewhere that will do it for less.
British International drivers on euro work were earning £800 per week in the 1980`s.
toby1234abc:
British International drivers on euro work were earning £800 per week in the 1980`s.
This one wasn’t!
Most trucks in Portugal were painted in dull coloured and cheap paint,looked like paint from shipping companies,and old trucks,then all of a sudden,all new trucks appeared.Money borrowed fom the EEC grants,and pay it all back in a few years.
toby1234abc:
Most trucks in Portugal were painted in dull coloured and cheap paint,looked like paint from shipping companies,and old trucks,then all of a sudden,all new trucks appeared.Money borrowed fom the EEC grants,and pay it all back in a few years.
The same as Spain ,they were mostly clapped out Pegassos Then the EEC gave anybody & everybody a new truck on deferred repayments to get 'em on their feet .Meaning that repayments wouldn’t kick in for three years .The first thing they did was ■■■■■the rates just basing costs on fuel ect; After three years the EEC wanted them to start repaying per month for the trucks so the poor camionarros would be running at a loss. Solution: Have a lovely strike & the boys had fleets of new trucks for free! Why can’t we do that ?
Downside ,of course ,rates were cut to pieces & never recovered .
toby1234abc:
British International drivers on euro work were earning £800 per week in the 1980`s.
Dream on, I was doing Spain for a good company in the mid 80’s and I wasn’t getting half that, unless of course they were running bent, and I mean really bent!!!
toby1234abc:
British International drivers on euro work were earning £800 per week in the 1980`s.
and another here , i was doing spain for a variety of brit firms and one german firm , nowhere near 800 , more like half , why do you think most of us did tobacco â– â– ?
i think too many people are living some one elses dreams and rose tinted specs
I used to earn £1000 per week, and then I woke up 
toby1234abc:
British International drivers on euro work were earning £800 per week in the 1980`s.
dunno who told you that but no way were they getting that, if we had got that there is no way that I would have gone to Holland when I did
harry:
toby1234abc:
Most trucks in Portugal were painted in dull coloured and cheap paint,looked like paint from shipping companies,and old trucks,then all of a sudden,all new trucks appeared.Money borrowed fom the EEC grants,and pay it all back in a few years.The same as Spain ,they were mostly clapped out Pegassos Then the EEC gave anybody & everybody a new truck on deferred repayments to get 'em on their feet .Meaning that repayments wouldn’t kick in for three years .The first thing they did was ■■■■■the rates just basing costs on fuel ect; After three years the EEC wanted them to start repaying per month for the trucks so the poor camionarros would be running at a loss. Solution: Have a lovely strike & the boys had fleets of new trucks for free! Why can’t we do that ?
Downside ,of course ,rates were cut to pieces & never recovered .
The Berlin wall opening and the market being flooded with East Germans (usually financed by West Germans) did not do very much to help the situation either
@Vas; Yes it did upset the apple cart , however Vas even in DDR there were
some private transport companies, these did not run outside in western Europe and had a hard time getting Lorry’s, and spare parts and some are still going even now ,
brit pete:
@Vas; Yes it did upset the apple cart , however Vas even in DDR there were
some private transport companies, these did not run outside in western Europe and had a hard time getting Lorry’s, and spare parts and some are still going even now ,
Very few and many of them were soon bought up by West German companies looking to make a fast buck by using cheap labour while others just imported the cheap labour 
, many is the West German company that enjoyed government assistance for helping develop the East and then closed the operation down again as soon as legally possible.
Sorry Vas have to disagree, with you lots of firms are still
running although they were bought out, plus many firms
left the western part of Germany and opened up in the
Eastern part, Yes they were black sheep but these have
closed down or been caught,and Yes YOU ARE RIGHT
the costs are lower, in the eastern part of Germany, but
thats life in the EU as we know it, just like paying for
farm animals to cross borders live , or the milk from Germany to
Grecce or Cream from UK to Belgium, etc etc
Profit all ways counts no matter what it costs,
brit pete:
Sorry Vas have to disagree, with you lots of firms are still
running although they were bought out,
I never said there weren’t any still running
brit pete:
plus many firms left the western part of Germany and opened up in the
Eastern part, Yes they were black sheep but these have closed down or been caught,
Or have moved to Poland, Czech Republic etc, etc
We had to pay his fax/phone/tolls/parking,i sent the bill,never got paid for that.A lot of his drivers were skimming the fuel cards,think the tax authorities caught up with the boss.We had to fill up in Luxembourg,a deviation from the route to Spain,they would not plan the lost time,and book reloads/un loading times,without taking in to the equation the time to fill at Lux.Parked the wagon with austrian plates by the village hall in my small village,a retired milatary gent,said he was calling the police,as the truck would attract burglars to his big house,and kids came to see the truck,and pull the ivy of his wall,by his house,blaming me for that,i was told to park 7 miles away at HGV parking area at Granada services,and walk 7 miles home,and pay for parking at weekends.