I’ve just driven down through France. It struck me that french international hauliers seem to be standing up to the east european competition a lot better than there UK counterparts. You still see big private companies that would appear to be doing OK. Not just Dentressangle, but Transalliance, Olano, Laurent Pelliet, Laccasange, i could go on. How are they doing it then ?.
I would guess that in France, the haulage industry and the government are on the same side.
Regards,
Nick
Ex Haulier:
I’ve just driven down through France. It struck me that french international hauliers seem to be standing up to the east european competition a lot better than there UK counterparts. You still see big private companies that would appear to be doing OK. Not just Dentressangle, but Transalliance, Olano, Laurent Pelliet, Laccasange, i could go on. How are they doing it then ?.
By employing less expensive foreign drivers in the big fleets like Dentressangle, Transalliance, Olano, Laurent Pelliet, Laccasange.
What’s to say that thier International work is no more than hoping across the Border?
And if you drive round the UK you’ll see trucks from large UK fleets many might even say UK and European haulage, even if the European Haulage is the odd trip to Northern France or Belguim.
I think there were far fewer East European drivers in French fleets than in the UK, firstly unlike Britain and Ireland. but like most of the rest of Europe the French signed up to restrict mass migration of labour for the first few year of the new Eastern European Countires joining the EU.
However what I notice about French haulage fleets is the amount of French trailers pulled by Eastern European Tractor registered units owned by a Freanch Company, which ws obviously thier way of getting round the problem by flaging out thier fleets.
The other thing I’ve noticed on my trips abroad in the last couple of years is there seem to be more UK registered trucks over there than was the case a few years back. Maybe helped by the Euro exchange rate being far lower than it was.
I would say the French have possibly come off worse than us in some ways. Much of our international work had already gone by the time eastern European drivers made their wholesale appearence on our shores looking for driving jobs. The British companies simple packed up and that was the end of it, the French for example with the likes of Dentressangle and Transalliance etc already had a massive pan-European network in place so in order to survive or for greed purposes (I dont know which?) they simply imported X amount of Poles or Lithuanians at the expense of local French drivers. Even before I came to Canada in 2009 it was very common to see a French registered truck and trailer driven by an eastern European.
I can remember as a kid back in the late 90s seeing dozens of Willi Betz car transporters all parked in the total garage in Zeebrugge, all on French plates but driven by Bulgarians. Cheap rate foreign drivers on French trucks are nothing new. Although it seems to be at an alarming all time high at the moment.
I got slated on here several years ago about the way the Dutch and French were coping with the new member states. They went out and bought into their economy so by the time the enlarged EU came about, they already had infrastructure in place.
Harry Vos, H&S Transport.VD Vlist Maliepaard, Den Hartogh, Transalliance and Dentressangle had all taken over Hungarian, Czech, Polish and Romanian companies with their staff, order books and local knowledge. Unfortunately we moaned loudly about getting sand in our eyes and ears.
In my own case, we were let go because of the downturn in work in the UK and the Euro exchange rate. Citroen / Peugeot PSA moved a large part of their operation to Hungary, and closed Ryton Plant
2006 = 1.465
2007 = 1.494
2008 = 1.324
2009 = 1.132
2010 = 1.151
2011 = 1.186
HMRC € Rates in March
Ex Haulier:
I’ve just driven down through France. It struck me that french international hauliers seem to be standing up to the east european competition a lot better than there UK counterparts. You still see big private companies that would appear to be doing OK. Not just Dentressangle, but Transalliance, Olano, Laurent Pelliet, Laccasange, i could go on. How are they doing it then ?.
If I understand correctly you’ve mentioned French international hauliers that you’ve seen running in France, not outside of their own country? As Wheel Nut already said above the French firms didn’t hang about when looking to expand, big names like ND went east (and as a result the locals here have much less respect for them - according to drivers I meet here ND was a good firm a few years back, but less would agree now, having seen their jobs/tractor units going to the boys from the cheaper states). Olano thought big and went for it, its network is pretty strong across southern Europe, and he also bravely tried a new venture into South America but that hasn’t gone so well. Likewise firms from outside France haven’t hesitated to buy into the local fleets - K+N took over Alloin, Schenker has Joyau, etc. and many of these companies rely on large “tractionnaires” like Jimenez and Sarrazain to move their trailers rather than get involved with operating trucks and dealing with driving staff/legislation.
I was sitting in our Brive depot this evening chatting to a colleague from Langres who told me that the number of LT, SK and PL trucks loading out from there has shot up, while at the same time our firm is cutting cross border runs by our own trucks and handing it over to subbies. This is a common theme across the country, but at the end of the day you can’t really compare how French haulage works against the UK’s system. The country is still a hive of production, it’s a European crossroads, and the drivers still have a bit of say via their unions. French international firms aren’t as active as they may may appear (at least as far as using their own trucks is concerned) but voila, it’s still ticking over here quietly 
~ Craig
Craig.
It was just seeing on there home turf, firms that’s trucks i see in the UK and down in Spain all the time. There seems to be no end of others compared to the very few UK trucks that you see. No doubt that some will be driven by our east european friends but you can also tell that a good number are driven by typical frenchmen. It just struck me that the french industry would appear to be a good bit more healthy than the U.K.'s.
Wheel Nut:
Citroen / Peugeot PSA moved a large part of their operation to Hungary, and closed Ryton Plant2006 = 1.465
2007 = 1.494
2008 = 1.324
2009 = 1.132
2010 = 1.151
2011 = 1.186
HMRC € Rates in March
Trnava in Slovakia I presume you meant Malc? Those exchange rates bring a tear… 
jj72:
Wheel Nut:
Citroen / Peugeot PSA moved a large part of their operation to Hungary, and closed Ryton Plant2006 = 1.465
2007 = 1.494
2008 = 1.324
2009 = 1.132
2010 = 1.151
2011 = 1.186
HMRC € Rates in MarchTrnava in Slovakia I presume you meant Malc? Those exchange rates bring a tear…
It was the Peugeot PSA Suppliers I was thinking of Andy. Gefco have moved a lot of stuff down there too. Although Tremery is still booming with a new engine plant
Not one of the giants already mentioned but my old firm S.A Gauthier has expanded his fleet from around 50 or 60 when I retired 9 years ago to about 90 or 100 now. He bought a big extension of land to the large parking area and built a large trans docking warehouse on it. None of his wagons seem to be more than a couple of years old and all now have aircons on the roof as standard instead of the engine run climas we had (could have done with that sleeping through the day in ‘the quarry’ at Besancon 
on an up one night back the next trunk).
Having a meal with the old boss a while ago I asked how many foreign drivers he now had, as the number who recognise and wave at me on the road is steadily decreasing, and he replied ‘one, a Dutchman’.
Asked how many he had ever had he said ‘two, you and the Dutchman’. 
Technically ,only one foreigner then?
harry:
Technically ,only one foreigner then?
Tu veut à dire, moi? Ou l’Hollandais?
Pour moi, français? Presque, mais pas encore. 
Spardo:
Not one of the giants already mentioned but my old firm S.A Gauthier has expanded his fleet from around 50 or 60 when I retired 9 years ago to about 90 or 100 now. He bought a big extension of land to the large parking area and built a large trans docking warehouse on it. None of his wagons seem to be more than a couple of years old and all now have aircons on the roof as standard
You’re right David, Gauthier’s trucks look very tidy, nice spec and well presented. I was at STEF Niort last night and saw a couple of his trucks, see them every time I’m there, sometimes double-manned. Looks like the kind of firm that has invested wisely to keep up with the times; the drivers speak well of the boss too 
~ Craig
You want to tell me? Or Dutch? For me, French? Almost, but not yet.
There’s nothing foreign about you ,Davey-Boy!
harry:
You want to tell me? Or Dutch? For me, French? Almost, but not yet.There’s nothing foreign about you ,Davey-Boy!
They know I’m foreign in France, just not sure from which parts I come though. Especially far from home when I speak my strangled French with a local accent.
Craig 111:
You’re right David, Gauthier’s trucks look very tidy, nice spec and well presented. I was at STEF Niort last night and saw a couple of his trucks, see them every time I’m there, sometimes double-manned. Looks like the kind of firm that has invested wisely to keep up with the times; the drivers speak well of the boss too
He has done, and is a good bloke, Craig. Double manned though? Not like that when I worked there, thank goodness, must have the work for it then.
Let me know who you work for, PM if you prefer, I’ll keep an eye out for you on the road.
I’ll be going round Niort on Monday, late morning, on my way to deliver a dog to Bretagne. I’m picking him up from Limoges tomorrow and bringing him back here for the night. After delivering him near Carhaix I’ll get down the road a bit before parking up, probably Quimperlé, as I have to be in Perigueux at 6 Tuesday evening to collect another. Wednesday, with 2 more to pick up locally, I’m delivering all three at Blincourt, that routier north of Senlis, where I’ll stop Thursday night.
Wish me luck, my first time round the Periph for many, many, years.
Spardo:
Wish me luck, my first time round the Periph for many, many, years.
Best of luck on the Periph mate.
Watch out for those none Parisienne truckers too, the drivers are probably lost, in a bit of a flap and quite possibly not paying quite as much attention to their mirrors as you’d like 
Simon:
Spardo:
Wish me luck, my first time round the Periph for many, many, years.Best of luck on the Periph mate.
Watch out for those none Parisienne truckers too, the drivers are probably lost, in a bit of a flap and quite possibly not paying quite as much attention to their mirrors as you’d like
Thanks Simon, I have viewed my ons and offs with Google maps and have precise directions along with distances printed off in big bold attached to my sun visor, the only way I travel these days. Who needs satnav? Preparation is everything.
If I get super confident I might even have a day in Paris on Thursday instead of coming home and park up at Artenay or La Loge for the night. 
However, I work for a Dobermann Association sometimes and they have quite a lot of movements in the north so may get diverted.