So thats the last week of working for my old English firm finished.
Starting a new job with French firm TSA (Transports Saint Arnould) on Monday morning. Should be a laugh, not had a left ■■■■■■ for many years now, the last one was an F10 with Europa back in the early 90’s!
Pay and conditions sounded ok in the interview but only time will tell!
If anyone’s interested I’ll update on here?
Where you going to be based?
Gonna be running out of Ashford Truckstop.
Its mainly channel hoping, tip/reload GB back to St Omer drop and swap and back again with the occasional bit of Belg and Paris.
Would be good to have a diary … with photos of course 
. Always nice to see what other folks do 
If you get fleet number 6004 it’s riddled with dangerous defects that they refuse to fix.Never plan anything for a Saturday.
If your planner is Seb watch out he’s an alcoholic and cannot plan for ■■■■.
Expect to run your hours to the limit every day including doing 6x15’s a week.
You won’t be tipping in France as you’re not allowed too.
All I can say is good luck you really are going to need it 
A mate of mine who i used to work with works there. He lives in France, so very rarely comes to UK. He lives in area 19, and has a plate in window saying DEL 19, hes a really nice bloke, so say hello if you meet him!
Booked in when??:
If you get fleet number 6004 it’s riddled with dangerous defects that they refuse to fix.Never plan anything for a Saturday.
If your planner is Seb watch out he’s an alcoholic and cannot plan for [zb].
Expect to run your hours to the limit every day including doing 6x15’s a week.
You won’t be tipping in France as you’re not allowed too.
All I can say is good luck you really are going to need it
I’ll keep that in mind mate cheers.
Early days yet (well not even started as such!) but you’ve got to give things ago.
My old mob said I’m welcome back any time so I have an escape if needed lol
kindle530:
A mate of mine who i used to work with works there. He lives in France, so very rarely comes to UK. He lives in area 19, and has a plate in window saying DEL 19, hes a really nice bloke, so say hello if you meet him!
I’ll keep an eye out for him Kindle and pass on your regards if I see him.
Yeh keep us all updated it will make interesting reading.
I’ll try and post every Saturday and with pics (keen amateur photographer) at least until I get bored or the jobs ■■■■ and I leave!!! lol
I’ll keep that in mind mate cheers.
Early days yet (well not even started as such!) but you’ve got to give things ago.
My old mob said I’m welcome back any time so I have an escape if needed lol
[/quote]
Who was you with before? Pm me if you like
TSA have DAF space cabs, it seems ok to me, the French invented road transport, just google the wording of CMR and ADR or TIR they are pioneers in getting it right, the UK is 10 to 20 years behind the times, over there they knew about tired drivers, and built Aire de Repos, or rest areas, free parking off the road in a quiet area near a wood or forest.
The Uk have shelved their plans for the same thing on the UK motorway network.
I can see why when they charge £1 for a small bar of chocalate.
A trip through Tobyland…
TSA <—> Dafs <—> French road transport <—> Google <—> Spelling of TIR, Cmr and ADR <—> U&K behind the times <—> Rest areas <—> UK motorway network <—> CHOCOLATE!!! 
(WTF!):lol:
Top man toby, keep posting mate, sometimes you crack me up!
You should see what i write to local papers and the response they get in the readers letters after makes me laugh. 
toby1234abc:
the French invented road transport,
I think the Romans might have something to say about that.
That is a cracker Harry, the old Fosse way Cirencester to the Midlands, how did they get it that straight.
THE STORY SO FAR…
So last Monday morning I rolled up at Ashford truckstop at the unearthly hour of 11am to meet another driver and hop over to TSA’s yard at St Omer.
The plan so I had been told was to spend the afternoon in the yard doing a bit of paperwork, having a look round and learning how their systems etc worked (you know where this is going already!!!) to then return with another driver that evening and spend a couple of days double manned with him to get used to a left ■■■■■■ again.
So off we went down to the tunnel. Speaking to the driver on the way (he was English) the job didn’t sound too bad, he certainly didn’t mind it.
Arriving at the office in France I met the main uk planner called Seb!! Minus any alcoholic haze I must add
Ah bonjour he said, your truck is over there here’s your trailer number you must tip Middlesbrough at 8am tomorrow morning!
This was met with copius amounts of laughter from me and a basic ■■ off. I explained I had no gear with me whatsoever as I was told I’d be home that night etc.
Long story short I was given a Dudley for 11am instead…
So there I was sitting in what was to be home with the steering wheel on the wrong side! (oh yeah and guess what fleet No it is? Yep 6004!!)
I did a few laps of the yard to get my eye in a bit then thought what the hell go for it. I took it easy back to the tunnel, boarded the train and breathed a big sigh of relief!
Back to Ashford, home, loaded the car and back to the truck. Night out in the truckstop and off at 5am Tuesday morning.
Since then I’ve done 3 return crossings been up and down the country and save for a small scratch on the right hand step from a glancing blow at the passport booth in Calais everything seems to be going well. I have no problem with road positioning now, took a couple of days but got that down ok. Still a little bit unsure of the width in tight places but thats just time and experience.
So enjoying the long weekend off and recharging the grey matter for the next onslaught (its quite draining getting used to a left ■■■■■■ as its full on concentration but should get easier every day hopefully)
Thats enough rambling from me for one day.
Have a good break Gents.
Ads
Sorry to sound like your Granny, but why did you not have any gear with you?I saw an advert in a truck magazine for an Austrian firm, a truck was dumped in Calais, the boss had never met me, and tells me where the keys are,but wait for another driver to bring the paper work for the truck, i had to get a 5 hour bus to Dover/Calais and hump all my kit in a big bag.
Toby. I was categorically told 3 times on the Friday before that I would be going back with another driver on the Monday afternoon, that I was just coming out for paperwork etc and they didn’t have a truck for me until the end of the week!
Hindsights a great thing but I wasn’t gonna haul a cab full of gear around all day on the off chance! But hey it all came out in the wash…
Ok mate, i was not having a go at you,like you have said if they did not inform you, i would have done the same, it is amazing how much cab kit we need and how heavy it is, when i had my own truck it was a few wheel barrows full of kit, if the truck was going for a service and they need the cab up or if there was a threat of the cab being broken in to.
Snow chains, extinguishers, bike, bar bells,food, water,jump up cables, tool box,washing up products,paper work, briefcases and on and on the list goes, maps, sat nav,clothing, duvets, bed sheets, pillows.