For any of you ex-pats living here in France or Germany there looks like an interesting documentary on Arte on Tuesday evening at 2040: ‘L’invasion des semi-remorques’, all about European trucking and how traffic is getting worse over here. Should be worth watching? Be interesting to see if trucks are portrayed any better in the European media than they are back in UK?
I as well noticed this program announcement. Should be interesting, esp. as it is on Arte, because they are well known for the quality of their programs.
Be interesting to see if trucks are portrayed any better in the European media than they are back in UK?
Well, I saw the documentary and I have to say that it was more or less fair to all parties involved.
The german company “Ricoe” was featured, they have about 400 trucks, mainly operating to and from eastern Europe. The run of a guy from Riga in Latvija to Verona/Italy was portrayed (nice wagon btw, Actros 1846, chrome, bullbar, lights and stuff 
). He picked a load of peat (hope that’s the right word, that’s what my web translator came up with). Aside from the driver, the traffic manager of “Ricoe”, the (german) owner of the factory, where the load was picked up, an owner of a huge truck rest area with pumps near Munich, inhabitans of Altenberge, a town between Dresden and Prague, which is heavily crowded by trucks, since the EU grew bigger and others made their statements in their interviews. As I said, all things considered, it was a fair view of the problems of the business especially in terms of traffic congestions, pollution and the pressure of lowering the prices to stand the eastern trucks.
The load paid around 1.500 EUR, as the speaker said, which I think is surprising, considering a german truck (and what a truck 
) and a german driver were used for this run of more than 2.000 kms.
Our trucks have to earn that money in two and a half days (nationally), go figure… 
Yes it was a good story but the transport managerof the transport co. was a bit put out that the driver took a detour onthe journey ( HE visited his relatives) also the wages of the drivers in the old D.D.R new Germany are not that good.They earn about 1200 € for a month after TAX .with another €500-700 for expenses. Here in Germany there is for every county a different wages contract … This system only works for the person who is in the union. and so the most of the drivers must handle with the employer them selves on how much the will earn.