We have all had regular runs that we do, so what is your favorite run?
Mine was a run from Reading to Plymouth for that well known red parcel carrier. Used to start at 13.00 leave the yard at 13.30 and get to Plymouth about 17.30, would very rarely go the M4/M5, much preferred to go A303, was an excellent run in the summer. Then Leave Plymouth at 6pm and get back to Reading for 10, then straight in the pub for a couple before closing, we got paid 12 hours for that shift so all the time i was in the pub I was being paid. An excellent run, used to do it 2 weeks out of four.
And before anyone asks about the 45 min break, We used to run on British Domestic hours so I did not legally have to take a break.
North wales multidrop last summer
I used to take the wife with me, i used to phone the gaffer up and tell him i wont be able to finish all my drops due to being stuck on the A55 with all the traffic then i’d fire off down to caernarvon for the afternoon with the wife and have a nice dinner then walk round the shops for a few hours
Currently…empty reefer to Peterborough, loaded inside 45 minutes, straight back up to Tees (finishing my break along the way if needed. At 26p a mile with that quick turnaround, the hourly rate works out to be very nice indeed!
In the past? When I was self-employed, it had to be fridges to Westbury in a Hyundai box. It was a short enough run that it qualified as a £200 “local” trip…and you could do 5 in a day from Southampton if they were in a quick-tipping mood and the docks were runing smoothly. Considering the truck was on a £1500 guarentee for the week…and Heathrow (to give an example) only paid £125 at the time - or £165 for the other side of London - it was a truly heaven-sent day’s work. You didn’t half have to be nice to the planners to get given it, mind…used to makeeven myself feel slightly nauseous sometimes…
French runs on New Look were always good, too. We only brought back empty “blues” (plastic stock boxes), so plenty of room for the contents of the nearest hypermarket and half a DIY store in the back…made a fortune the weekend after down the pub…
Hengelo Holland to Severn Reach power station with 80 foot boiler tube racks, 2 days to unload at Severn Reach then empty back to Hengelo… non stop for 3 month
Load Telford on a Thursday , 2 dropper, Wackersdorf (on the German Czech border) then Dingolfing, Weekend at a small very friendly Autohof just past Heilbron, or if cant make that at Sinsheim, reload from Ingostadt,Munchen or Heilbron for Telford … .
Load Nissan at Schipol Airport for Rome… lovely run and scenery on route, and was easily done within the 4 days given plenty of time to stop and explore, then empty to our milan warehouse for empty beer barrels, run back via Swiss and miss all the customs queues as empty barrels dont count as a load apperently tip the Barrels in Birminghaam then load empty GKN pallets from Avonmouth for somewhere in Italy… go Swiss again and again jump the queues as empty pallets are also not a load !!!
In UK- I have always liked the A9 run to Inverness Night out at Dalwhinnie…
We only brought back empty “blues” (plastic stock boxes), so plenty of room for the contents of the nearest hypermarket and half a DIY store in the back…made a fortune the weekend after down the pub…
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Trainee Customs Officer
My favourite was a run from Stroudsburg, Virginia to Oakville, Ontario, Canada. I did 75% of the driving on 2 lane roads, climbed a lot of mountains, but never had more than 8 tons freight on board. Crossed the border at Buffalo/Ft Erie with a pre-pass (since this was time-sensative automotive production components), finishing up with a full-throttle run down the QEW/403 straight to the Ford Plant at Winston Churcill Blvd exit south of Toronto.
Did a couple of runs one that were very good,
Bracknell - Totness - Bracknell
Bracknell - Ashby - Trafford Park - Bracknell
both a full day 9 10 hrs depending on traffic.
Mike Bartlett:
Did a couple of runs one that were very good,
Bracknell - Totness - Bracknell
Bracknell - Ashby - Trafford Park - Bracknell
both a full day 9 10 hrs depending on traffic.
And let me guess those Bracknell runs were “very light” in weight. And you had to have “a lot of bottle” to do them didn’t you
The Totnes was a great run, But it wasnt so good if you got the wagon and drag.
Did enjoy a previous job, until it got boring, AND it was regular, all i ever did for 13 months… empty to Hemel Hemstead, load, then down to Elefsina,Greece , approx 15km from Athens, tip, back empty to Italy to load at Prato, then up to tip at Blyth, the one near Newcastle, not the one near the bottom of A1(M),below Doncaster. The fact that my wages were irregular helped me decide it was time for a change
From kleve. by the dutch border arnheim to a factory in the city of budapest
in hungary, this was one of the good trips with a stop in wien austria
to get new custom papers and seal before the border crossing at nicklesdorf, this was before the EU took on new partner countrys.
catapillar parts from widdowsons leicester to lokeren in belgium tip dinner at truckstop down the road or as we called it stobarts canteen.reload then back
In UK- I have always liked the A9 run to Inverness Night out at Dalwhinnie…
I had a regular run to Dingwell, which is about 30 or so miles past Inverness, used to get back loads all the way along the east coast, but the regular trip to Ireland was my fav, the worst bit of course was the drive to hollyhead
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