That was a good week

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
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Last week was one of the most enjoyable I’ve had for a long time,maybe because I didn’t set foot in the UK :wink:

It all started off at a very reasonable 7am Monday morning.I went over to Battice,near Verviers to unload some steel I’d brought up from France the previous Friday.
After taking less than an hour to unload it was over to the Betz depot in Eupen to fill up with diesel and wash the truck (twice :open_mouth: ) and then through the bright sunshine to load cut timber at Bullingen in the Ardennes.
Was away from there by 1pm and made my way across country to join the B51 and the A1 up to Koln.
A stop for a bit of lunch,and then on up past Dortmund onto the A2 and finally called it a day at Marienborn,the old DDR border crossing.
It was really quite strange being there on the old Iron Curtain border,although I’ve been past there many times since the wall came down in 1989 this was the first time I’d actually stopped there since around 1982-3.
All the old buildings and canopies are still there as a stark reminder of how things have changed.

Next morning I took a few pics of the buildings whilst the coffee was brewing…

So after setting off,I arrived in the small village of Redekin,between Magdeburg and Brandenburg to unload the timber where another truck from Genk was also unloading.
When we were both empty we had instructions from the office for reloading,the other driver was to load near Hannover for Milan and I was to load Gottingen for Lyon and Champ sur Drac,near Grenoble.
Joining the A7 at Salzgitter everthing came to a halt,so I switched on the radio and heard that there had been an accident near Bockenem almost 12km down the road.
So,as Bockenem was the next exit all I could do was sit and wait,and 2hrs later we were once again on the move.
I arrived in Gottingen at 4pm and was put straight on the ramp to load groupage.At 8pm I was loaded.At 9pm I had the paperwork and finally left.
I ran my hours out and parked at a new Autohof just before Frankfurt on the A5.

All I was going to do today was drive my 9hrs and do the rest in the morning,so after a leisurely shower in the immaculate facilities and a coffee I was off.
I stopped for an hour or so in an Autohof at Ecclesheim for some lunch,then on the road again leaving the A5 and joining the A36 where I entered France and on past Mulhouse,Besancon and turning off at Dole to join the A39 down to Lyon.
I pulled in for the night in the last services before Lyon,only managing to find a parking place in the car park as the small truck park was already full.However,work is in progress to expand the truck parking area to almost four times it’s present size.
So,it was a nice quiet evening with the stars shining brightly…

The next morning,Thursday,saw me unloading most of the groupage in St Priest…

Then it was over to Champ sur Drac just south of Grenoble to unload 4 pallets of paper.I arrived at 11.35 and the office was empty.
The clerk walked in at 11.50,checked the paperwork and told me the goods weren’t due until Monday the 2nd May!
So after sweet talking him,they unloaded the pallets before they went off for their hour and a half lunch.
So,I pulled outside the gate and waited for loading instructions from Belgium…

I was told to load in Brignoud,just north east of Grenoble for Oldbury.
I arrived there and was put straight on the ramp to load 20 pallets of shot blast granules,weighing 24.5tons.
Within 30 minutes I was loaded,but it took another two and a half hours to sort the paperwork!!!
So,I pulled across the yard and sat in the sun enjoying the view and watching the hang gliders on the mountain opposite…

Whilst sitting there,this very clean and tidy looking MAN pulled in to load two 20’ boxes.It looked very smart with it’s dark tinted side windows,and very illegal too.

I eventually left Brignoud at around 16.30 and made my way homewards,stopping for the night at Langres.

Friday morning I nipped in for a shower and coffee and started the last stretch.
The viaduct between Metz and Thionville is closed northbound now for several months,so it was via Longwy to rejoin the E411 at Arlon.
My 4.5 hrs was almost up when I pulled in to Habay for a spot of lunch.
Stomach replenished,and I was off again,slipping off the E411 onto the E25 and up to Liege.
Drove into our depot in Genk to hand in some paperwork and find out when the delivery is for.
The papers said delivery on Monday 2nd May,but as it’s a Bank Holiday on the 2nd I am told to leave on Monday for Tuesday delivery.Result! Long weekend.

Home indoors by 4pm.Now why can’t every week be as enjoyable and stress free?

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KW: Nice post about your trip with some great pictures, one point if you have time on your hands the next time you are in MAREIEBORN there is a type of museum with intresting artifactes from the alte DDR years well worth the visit. mate. anotherpoint a little bit further down the road is the ““AUTOHOF URSLEBEN”” AT EXIT 66 TOWARDS BERLIN, this is a good place to stop, or if you wish to go shopping as well the next exit no67 is a LOMO autohof with swimming pool.and just across the road is a lidl and aldi for shopping,if required

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Cheers for that pete.I would have gone to Ursleben but I’d run out of time.

I will make a mental note about the museum tho’.

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Nice Pictures ur truck Volvo with Lovely scenery too and diary too

Good to see lots - Coffeholic, Rob K and you start with diary, we will very enjoyable reading and see pictures too

Good Mate
Ben :wink:

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Great read mate, your efforts in writing it is well worth it.

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Yip good tale Keith, those border crossings still look intimidating, maybe more so when they are empty. I bet they are haunted by the ghosts of Stazi guards.

Great photos, especially the mountain growing out of your roof

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Good read and pic’s KW :smiley: .

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KW:
Whilst sitting there,this very clean and tidy looking MAN pulled in to load two 20’ boxes.It looked very smart with it’s dark tinted side windows,and very illegal too.

I’ve corrected the link so people can see the truck in question :smiley:

Probably an obviously daft question, but why is it “very illegal” ? Are the windows not allowed to be dark tinted on trucks or is it just that they were a bit too darkly tinted :confused: :question:

Paul.

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Thanks again Keith for a good read and some great pictures,thanks for your time and efforts.
regards derek

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At first I though it was a 5-axle Nooteboom skelly being re-assembled.

I’m almost convinced it isn’t because all the axles appear to be twin-wheeled.

Is that why it’s not legal, or is it the tints?

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The trailers are legal and used quite regularly in france.

You cannot have tinted glass that dark in any vehicle.

The law says that there is a limit on the degree of tint, its the same as dark visors on motorcycles.

On a car, anything forward of the B pillar has to conform to EU regs, trucks dont have B pillars

Drug dealers are exempt :stuck_out_tongue:

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excellent read kieth great pics as well.

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Nice one Keith, I enjoyed reading that. Pete is right about the museum, well worth a look. Those roadworks on the viaduct near Metz means the transit traffic through Luxembourg has dropped right of and the queues for fuel at both the Shell and Capellen are non exsistent, well they were last week I’ll see later today if it the same this.

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marky:
At first I though it was a 5-axle Nooteboom skelly being re-assembled.

I’m almost convinced it isn’t because all the axles appear to be twin-wheeled.

Is that why it’s not legal, or is it the tints?

It was two 20’ skelly’s,the back one on a dolly.But I’m not sure what weight they can go to in France with that set-up.He was loading the same stuff as me,but his was in 210l drums,so it had to be 18-20tons in each container :open_mouth: :open_mouth: :open_mouth: :open_mouth: :open_mouth: :open_mouth:

But it was the tinted side window’s that made it illegal,they were as black as black can be!
God knows how he see’s out of the mirror’s at night :open_mouth:

But it’s not the first truck I’ve seen with glass that dark,it seem’s to be the ‘In’ thing at the moment.

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It seems a very odd combination to me - how often do you see these outfits Keith?

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marky:
It seems a very odd combination to me - how often do you see these outfits Keith?

They are quite a common sight on French roads.

I’ve also been noticing some of the ‘Trial’ 25m combo’s on the road’s of Holland.

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I see those skellies regulally around Le Havre / Rouen, they look a good idea. Drop rearmost trl at 1st drop then go to 2nd drop and drop frontmost trl and dolly then go back for 1st trl dropped without having to wait for front trl to be tipped (you follow that?).
Looks like a bit of an art to reverse with the double bendy bit.
Are they legal over here?