well yes to that! i would still go back to murfitts tho,
I also worked for Kelloggs (BRS) out of Trafford Park. I think Murffets did the non EU (at that time) such as CH and BG as they went to most eastern bloc, not on the pan euro waggon n drags tho, they had swap bodies, same spec we were on, (but in there own colours ), and Thompsons did the rest of mainland Europe.
I never worked for them but I had a good few weekends with some of the drivers at the le Pub in bourg and Carisio etc,wish those days would come back 
Where was the pancake bar,on the cherbourg road,Nantes area.Mother and daughter,went in once when the daughter was wearing a neck brace,her cat distracted her while driving and she rolled it down a ditch.Lot of brits stopped for a 45 there,crepes was the speciality,think they called the Creperie.More than likely to be a weight limit now,as the roads we used to use are now changed to “D” status to get us on the toll road.Is Colin still living in St Genis de Saintonage,coppers allways there for the ban time to start,some would risk running through the village.Claudes old rouitier with the englishman that fiddled the pumps,got jail time,big guy with a beard and attitude.Tours to Rouen dont feel like the same as it was in the 90`s.No time for a chat and open a crate of beer or two,then a wine or three with the meal.
toby1234abc:
Where was the pancake bar,on the cherbourg road,Nantes area.
The place that springs to mind is at St. Jean de Beugné on the D137, just off the toll road.
I’d go back.
When I was there, we did Kelloggs from Wrexham and Manchester, to Bremen, Valls, Liscate and various other places in between.
I’d go back leave Dover on monday for italy to deliver thursday easy I was on the mega’s for 3 years does anyone remember innes or tracey■■?
yes i remember tracey swapped trailors at mulhouse with her once so she could go sunbathing in italy for the weekend, i went to back to w,sey to trailer change for spain because i were’nt keen on italy, as long as loads got there murfitts were pretty good at letting drivers pick loads
Passed an ex-Murfitt’s tilt on the way back from Newport today…still just about make out the name on the back!
Who was the English Murfitt driver that lived around Bourg en Bresse area, he was shacked up with some French woman, was always at Macon at week-ends ?
might be macon pat not sure if he was shacked up with a french woman tho, i think there was another driver called pete wilson lived at bourg but i dont know what happened to him.
£40 a day, idiots for traffic op’s, Ivecos. why not.
Lot of guys settled down with the waitresses from the BP at St Andre de Cubzac,Bordeaux.Used to get my wagon serviced at the garage opposite the BP,the one with the truck wash in it.Mongrel dog that would bark and chase you up the road,was a friendly dog.Owner had a beard,spoke good english.Cheap prices on breakdowns,and maintenance,even though i carried my own filters and a grease gun.
enit?:
£40 a day, idiots for traffic op’s, Ivecos. why not.
considering they finished nearly 10 years ago, wage info a bit out of date - anyway they were more than that when I left over 12 years ago? sounds like somebody ‘wronged’ by the firm 
jj72:
enit?:
£40 a day, idiots for traffic op’s, Ivecos. why not.considering they finished nearly 10 years ago, wage info a bit out of date - anyway they were more than that when I left over 12 years ago? sounds like somebody ‘wronged’ by the firm
Sheeeeeeeeeeeet, was that 10yrs ago?
I only did a few weeks via the agency, when they were advertising in Truckstop news. The drivers were telling me they were on £40 a day when I was on £7.50 an hour 
. The traffic ops were useless 
. I’d tipped around Hockenheim somewhere and he had me down for a reload up near Hamburg. He cancelled that and sent me to Italy 
. He told me to catch a train from someplace around the Munich/Ulm area, (can’t remember) going to just this side of the Austria/Italy border. He couldn’t be assed to find out times ect, said just get down there. I got down there and waited 8hrs for the train.
Another time I pulled into the services on the M20. One of the newbie full time drivers came over to me asking about how should he get to Belgium. I tried to help but he was useless. In the end I told him to buy a map and had to go into the shop and find one for him. He was panicking. Another time I’m in Italy and I end up loading the same time as another full time newbie. He’s gobbing off about how good he is and can’t see the difference between himself and experienced drivers, then wants to borrow my greater Milan street map. I got on with him and his attitude so well I told him to get ■■■■, buy your own. I saw him later on the motorway heading in the wrong direction for home. I thought ■■ im, if he’s such the big I am, let him find out for himself.
Being agency I got messed around something rotten but they wouldn’t take me on full time because it would have meant they had to pay the agency a finders fee, shame really, that job would have been right up my street.
enit?:
jj72:
enit?:
£40 a day, idiots for traffic op’s, Ivecos. why not.considering they finished nearly 10 years ago, wage info a bit out of date - anyway they were more than that when I left over 12 years ago? sounds like somebody ‘wronged’ by the firm
Sheeeeeeeeeeeet, was that 10yrs ago?
I only did a few weeks via the agency, when they were advertising in Truckstop news. The drivers were telling me they were on £40 a day when I was on £7.50 an hour
Another time I pulled into the services on the M20. One of the newbie full time drivers came over to me asking about how should he get to Belgium. I tried to help but he was useless. In the end I told him to buy a map and had to go into the shop and find one for him. He was panicking. Another time I’m in Italy and I end up loading the same time as another full time newbie. He’s gobbing off about how good he is and can’t see the difference between himself and experienced drivers, then wants to borrow my greater Milan street map. I got on with him and his attitude so well I told him to get [zb], buy your own. I saw him later on the motorway heading in the wrong direction for home. I thought [zb] im, if he’s such the big I am, let him find out for himself.
Being agency I got messed around something rotten but they wouldn’t take me on full time because it would have meant they had to pay the agency a finders fee, shame really, that job would have been right up my street.
Nice to see you inside the tent peeing out, would hate to have you outside.
I worked for them for several years all over east and western europe it was an excellent company to work for you had the best of everything and total backup should you have needed it, but they were victims of their own success with the amount of trucks they had going over the channel they were forced to take on lots of drivers that perhaps you wouldn’t normally employ, they were the ones used for the Italien work which was regular and routine,it must be 15 years ago now but I remember Mark Murfitt had all the trucks fitted out with satellite communication he was well ahead of his time.
well said biffo, 100% backup, reloads, cards, maintenance, like you said well ahead of there time
zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Murfitts was one of the few who would give you your first chance on European work.
They gave you a days classroom instruction (paying for the 2 nights digs), showing you things like how to complete a CMR properly. How to get through the customs formalities for transiting Switzerland, at both ends. How to operate the satellite communication system etc etc.
Then they gave you a set of keys and off you went.
Granted, when you arrived at the Swiss border, it never went the way you expected, but how many other companies took the time to help you by giving you any training in the first place?
That’s if you could find a company willing to take you on for your ever first European trip !!
Because they would give almost anyone a start, they got a lot of numpties and dreamers.
These rarely stayed long, one trip was usually enough. Murfitts wanted you to do three weeks away and then have three days at home, which was pointed out to me and the group who started at the same time as me several times, a few jacked there and then. Several more gave up when they got back to the UK after their first round trip. By the end of two months, from 10 who did the days training with me, 2 were left. That was good, it was more often only 1.
The money they paid wasn’t spectacular, but it was respectable. You were also paid bonuses on results. The better you worked, the more you got paid.
I had a DAF 95 SpaceCab Wagon and Drag. Most of the fleet was Iveco Eurostars and some Eurotechs, all at about 360bhp. Not the most prestigious fleet, but there’s nothing wrong with them.