As the title suggests i want to know why you choose / prefer to drive abroad opposed to the uk . I only drive in the uk but would really like to challenge myself and try european work . Do you go because the roads are less congested , better climate , less hassle , more money etc etc .
I ould just like to get a few peoples opinions . Do you get more money for driving in europe ■■? thanks rich
I do it because I prefer being treated with a little respect, being able to park at some nice places with decent facilities and food. most of the companies and staff are better geared up than us unfortunately.
If you ask a Dutch driver or a Belgian, they will tell you that they prefer coming to the UK for the pubs and the standard of driving 
It is certainly not all about money, as in general a UK driver will earn more money. At the moment I have the best of both worlds as I get home every weekend and still do Europe.
s2rich:
. Do you get more money for driving in europe ■■?
Personally, I get the same- £90 a day and £27 night-out money, whatever I do.
But in mainland Europe I also get traffic-free roads, the chance to have a shower at virtually every single petrol station in the land, beautiful scenery, fantastic and inexpensive restaurants, better weather, the respect and admiration of of the general public etc…
But other than that, it’s exactly the same as here! 
I dont think money is neccesarily the whole point. I have been driving on and off for the best part of 30 years, I loathed it in the UK for all the obvious reasons. Driving in Europe though is a pleasure for dozens of reasons, food, being treated as a human, good roads, the list goes on.
As for the money, well I would quite happily earn less to work over here than have to put up with working in the UK. The last firm I worked for here had to have a rota for the UK work as nobody wanted to go there!! God help you if you upset the boss you would get 3 or 4 UKs on the trot!!!
what the other chaps have said. i only come back at weekends cuz thats when i have my kids.i love coming home to have my kids but i hate coming back to england
A couple of years back we were on a different pay rate for continental work, we used to earn £5 a day less, but we drivers still fought like cat and dog over every single trip that came up.
I started doing it because after 12 1/2 years in the Army I found life in the UK petty and boring so I started doing continental and then moved out to Germany them Holland and now Spain.
I enjoyed tramoing around Europe for several companies until the fall of the borders after which it became much like doing UK work, the final crunch was a DAF 105 with digital tacho 
and now I run a new depot for a Dutch company near San Sebastian, we shall see whether I go back to driving or not but to tell the truth I don´t really miss it that much.
I don’t.
I generally stick to France. 
The only reason i dont do Europe now is because i have a wife and kids.
i dont think its fair on them for me to be away more than a couple of nights a week.
When I was single i enjoyed every minute of driving abroad.
toowise:
The only reason i dont do Europe now is because i have a wife and kids.
Hey, that’s why I do it!
so on the whole then the money is the same as driving in the uk . The advantages being stated in above posts appeals to me like treated better , better facilities , better roads etc etc . As i have no experience in euro work what happens when you get weekended do you get paid for that ■■?//
s2rich:
As i have no experience in euro work what happens when you get weekended do you get paid for that ■■?//
Generally speaking I think most driver’s get paid at least something for being weekended,you are there after all for the boss’s benefit.
However,there is a high profile company from the Reading area that doesn’t pay their driver’s at all for sitting still on a Sunday when they are abroad,I wouldn’t put up with that!
As most of the above have said,and which I agree with,better roads,more respect,easier parking,better food etc.
Harry Monk:
s2rich:
. Do you get more money for driving in europe ■■?I,ll go along with that all the way harry.Before i ret.driving in the eu were the happiest days of my life.
Personally, I get the same- £90 a day and £27 night-out money, whatever I do.
But in mainland Europe I also get traffic-free roads, the chance to have a shower at virtually every single petrol station in the land, beautiful scenery, fantastic and inexpensive restaurants, better weather, the respect and admiration of of the general public etc…
But other than that, it’s exactly the same as here!
s2rich:
. As i have no experience in euro work what happens when you get weekended do you get paid for that ■■?//
I get paid the same day rate regardless of what I do. Last month I got paid a full day’s money for spending all day laying by this…
That was taken from a Long Distance Diary I did of a trip to Spain which you might or might not be interested in, here
trucknetuk.com/phpBB2/viewtopic. … 57&start=0
EDIT to correct URL
Harry Monk:
Hey, that’s why I do it!
Some days I know exactly what you mean Harry
p.s. Sorry about the impromptu Frank Bruno impression , I didnt realise til i reread it 
I do it so i can hear the pearls of wisdom on the train. Did you know willi betz are now using 4 drivers to 1 cab? 1 driving, 1 in the passenger seat and 1 on each bunk?
And its illegal to swap from a big cabbed motor to a smaller one?
And its illegal to have a 9hr break in france?
And the french/belgian/german police will fine you if your hair isnt cut to a certain length?
(i quite like being able to eat a 4 course meal with wine for €12 too, and not have to pay for parking)…
like most of the others say, i dont get paid any extra for going abroad, i personally do it as i want to see the wrold through my windscreen, to see the real deal of the country your in, not being just a tourist. im lucky that my job goes where hardly any if no british comapnies go to, this year i have been to most of western europe, all of scandinavia, russia, turkey, greece and a lot of eastern europe. again, personally i love going where its rubbish, bad roads, bad driving, general hassle, its a challenge and gives me a sense of achieving something, dont get me wrong, its great breezing down a germany motorway and stopping at an autohof for a great meal and shower, but i would rather be tracking across russia dodging the nutters!!
euromat:
like most of the others say, i dont get paid any extra for going abroad, i personally do it as i want to see the wrold through my windscreen, to see the real deal of the country your in, not being just a tourist.
Completely agree. I was drawn to the job when I lived in Ramsgate in my early twenties, and used to see the trucks from faraway exotic places pouring off of the evening Sally Line ferry. I was captivated.
I’d always loved driving and foreign travel and this seemed to be a fantastic way of getting paid to do something I loved.
I’m not willy-waving because plenty have done far more than I have, but in my time in the truck I have been to Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine.
To watch the news on telly from Tbilisi unfolding on TV at the moment and thinking “Oh yeah, I remember that bit, I turned left at that junction there by that burned out tank” is spooky but thrilling.
If you want to do it then I personally would say to go for it, and if you earn thirty quid a week less then so what?
Compare that with the M6 on a wet Monday and that’s one of the many reasons why I prefer driving abroad to UK .
Other reasons have been already covered in previous posts.
squarepeg:
Compare that with the M6 on a wet Monday and that’s one of the many reasons why I prefer driving abroad to UK ..
True, but those silly Teletubby windmills let the view down a bit!