Started working for a firm on nights delivering to wholesale fruit n veg markets 6 weeks ago and am really enjoying it, the way the drivers help each other out with the work is how it should be , it seems a close knit comunity on the job , has any members had experience of this kind of work and what did you think of it 
do you have to pay the forkies… is that opening a can of worms.
Did it for years on & off since I was 12 . Covent Garden x 2 & all of em… Spits x2 Boro Stratford Western Brighton Sotton Bham Hull Sheffield Bristol Cardiff Swansea Bradford LiverpoolDerby Nottingham etc. Then all the German ones Frankfurt Berlin Munich & many I cant remember running from Spain.Used to love it but jumping on & off the back & multi-multi drop got tiresome…
yeh alex got to pay forklifts but can claim that back bit of a cheek i know but its easyier 2 do that rather than wait for each store holder 2 come and unload you. done most of the markets mentoined but not the london markets yet same lads do them each night they know them like the back of there hands .Differrent firms help each other for example if i had 3 palletts to go to say notts and i was at leicester and another firm had room for them they would take them and i would then take his to say sheffield on my way to leeds makes sense and saves time
When I was in Bristol market I would pay a tenner to anyone doing the Welsh markets…& got home early. Same as Brighton ,I gave the Sotton away if I was lucky. But that don`t work in Germany or Austria…
"done most of the markets mentoined. " You have been very busy in six weeks 
harry:
. Covent Garden x 2 & all of em… Spits x2 Boro Stratford Western Brighton Sotton Bham Hull Sheffield Bristol Cardiff Swansea Bradford LiverpoolDerby Nottingham etc. Then all the German ones Frankfurt Berlin Munich & many I cant remember…
“And after dinner can you” said the Transport Manager
Know its a bit of subject but couldnt resist Harry 
eddie snax You would need all day to get round that lot…
But with markets,you either love em or hate em…
My favourite was Berlin. Because there was a good canteen & good parking for a sleep. My next favourite was Derby market because you were in & out fast!
I loathed the New covent Garden & Spits…The Welsh markets were pretty good.
After early introductions to Covent Garden and Spits I generally managed to avoid them 'till I came here and started doing frigo work. Rungis, Nantes, Bordeaux etc. Not as bad as the old Garden in terms of room to manoeuvre (though Bordeaux can be a bit tight) but still the old hanging around and silly hours. At Nantes we had to reverse down a slope in the dark to the docks which were so close together that it was difficult to open the cab door to get out… No forkies to pay, but a toll to get in (Rungis, Bordeaux) or out (Nantes).
As regards eating, the favourite has to be Nantes, with at least 2 workers restos just outside the gates with food and prices on a par with routiers. Rungis too pricey and Bordeaux…can’t remember. Can’t have been good .
Used to do the Markets for Paris Direct out of Keswick. Used to do Rungis twice a week every week, then all the Uk ones. A doddle of a job and thoroughly enjoyable. Yeah you had to pay the forklift drivers, first time was at Leicester Market at Freemans Common and i thought he was taking the ■■■■. Soon learnt though it was the way of the world and after that it was a good job. New Covent garden was a nightmare at times, had to pay to get in there, and New Spitalfields was a pain at time, used to do Nelson’s in there, and you might have to wait as there were trucks everywhere. Soon got into the knack of blocking every ■■■■■■ in and getting the forkie to come out and tip me. Bristol was not too bad either.
But Rungis was the challenge. EVeryone hated doing it so i got put on it and the first 3 weeks we struggled, then i got used to it and it was blinding. Used to load a lot out of Rungimex and Swithenbanks. It could get a bit expensive in the evening though, depending on who you were with and how much you drank! We used to tip Garanor at 3am Monday, run into the Market and park up until 4am Tuesday. Loads of time to kill.
Leicester was OK because if you paid the big guy on the forks he would unload all your drops for you in the market wether they were there or not…
Boro was a pig on a Sunday night. The traders wouldnt pay the porters overtime so they didnt start til about four in the morning. So you went to the beagles hut ,got an solid wheel electric fork truck & unloaded yourself. The surface was all humps & bumps. And delivering with a 40` fridge you had to roll the pallets to the back one by one…Lovely…& no extra dosh. 
harry:
Leicester was OK because if you paid the big guy on the forks he would unload all your drops for you in the market wether they were there or not…
Boro was a pig on a Sunday night. The traders wouldnt pay the porters overtime so they didnt start til about four in the morning. So you went to the beagles hut ,got an solid wheel electric fork truck & unloaded yourself. The surface was all humps & bumps. And delivering with a 40` fridge you had to roll the pallets to the back one by one…Lovely…& no extra dosh.
Harry, did you know the Krays?
Sorry Mike, I didn`t. Who were they on for…?
harry:
Sorry Mike, I didn`t. Who were they on for…?
They had they’re own company.
Nah! Never eard of em mate! I dont think theyre from arahnd `ere ,guv
BuzzardBoy:
New Covent garden was a nightmare at times, had to pay to get in there,
Only done that once, and that was since I came to live here. I rolled up mid afternoon and parked just outside the toll booths. Walked across to the only one manned and asked the bloke ‘how much’, and then ‘do you take euros’? He answered yes to the second question and then said the price after conversion. Went back to the cab, working out the right amount from my change and screwed it right across the road to line up perfectly for his booth. Stopping and setting the brake I walked across the cab to the right hand window and offered him the handfull.
‘Oh no mate, you don’t have to pay in the afternoon’ 
Pillock
went into weston internatoial and new covent garden last night got spits tonight along with bourgh bit different to the rest of the uk markets the union have a lot of say aparentley
Harry, Were you ever on for O’BRIENS transport, as i was on the fruit delivery with them for years and you sound familiar. I used to deliver to all the markets, THE GARDENS, as we called Covent garden, THE FIELDS, as we called Spitalfields, the BOROUGH market, Brentford market and every other market in the country. Lenny Hayes was the owner of H O’BRIENS at the time, the best guv’nor you could wish for.
A few drivers you may remember :- Charlie Sifford, Georgie Caddock, Johnny Edwards,Micky Norfolk ,Johnny Holland, Dennis llewellyn. Bill Popely was the transport manager, Lance used to be in the yard to give you your notes and filling up with diesel.
Had some really good times on there, but got to much in the end, had a job to stay awake.
O.k. people looks like the competition is hot hot hotting up 
For the winner of the "who can resurrect the oldest topic on TNUK 2009”
Can anyone beat 2006 with a legitimate post…
The prize is erm……erm….a free ride in bertha in the year 2265 (it’b ready by then wont it rikki 
)
Done all the markets myself in the UK, A Wood and Sons as it was then from Detling, legal went out of the window…
Liked Glasgow fruit market, only place I knew where you could tip, come out at breakfast time and have a fry up and a pint of ale at 7am
When I first started first load was to Soton, spent ages looking at my map trying to find the place, til another driver told me it was short for Southampton, didnt live that down for ages…
The jobs shagged…being polite…doing it at the moment…If your bosses aint complaining about how long ur taking…the stands are ignoring you…vosa is chasing u, u cant get round for all the dutch wagons parking here there and everywhere and blocking the whole market up…forklift drivers…dont even get me started on them…never had such a pooh job ever and to top it off…paid per market not per hour…being shagged always…oh…hello welcome to the Samaritans how can I help…