yes if the money was right i would like a one off…but who knows…i`m getting too old for all the cracks we used to get up to…i suppose in reality you gotta be looking around the £8000 mark…what with all the restrictions in place now…its all gotta be done legal…no more belly tanks…but i would need a good wage cos no doubt the price of slappers have gone up too…what with inflation in the former eastern bloc…and the beers…and how would i get a crate of beer to stay on top of a super space cab daf. 
…i did ask my boss to try greece…but i dont know what the rate is now…anyway…a pipes in the post…and a tin of st Julien…or bruno…but dont try rolling it…
why would anyone went to send freight overland when sea freight is so much cheaper…i cant believe any job would justify an express service to the middle east
felixstowe to jeddah 9 days
hitch:
felixstowe to jeddah 9 days
yeah but even if it’d fit in a container you’re llooking at 3 days sat on quay in uk and many more in saudi, some jobs do still justify it - had somebody the other day with electrical control cabinets for dammam which had to be there quickly to avoid a factory shutdown at $$$$$$$$ per day blah blah blah - only problem was then he didn’t like the rate, and it was WAY more than 8k folks i can assure you - clue: put a 1 in front of it and you’d be nearer!
i cant see anyone charging £18 grand for a load to mid east…i do believe that the going rate last time i heard was around the 7/8 grand mark…and as for double manning…i just about stood fot it when my boss double manned to spain with me…he`s into all that pan pipe music…couldnt stand it…but on another thread …would be nice to do a trip for nostalgias sake…and to say hello to all my kids in the eastern bloc, and introduce them to daddy
Duno what the rate is since Jan of this year but upto xmas 04 was around £7K
sellers less, tho i doubt there has been any change in the rate, prob gone down if anything
sdj
truckyboy:
i cant see anyone charging £18 grand for a load to mid east.
you mean you can’t see anyone paying it, i can assure you we charge it - alright we haven’t been for about 3 years but have the blokes, tackle and experience to do so if anyone wants to pay what we see as proper money
Maybe thats why you havnt been out there for 3 years…i`m not saying your wrong to charge high rates…cos thats what business is all about…
i was saddened to read about Astran …as i too am an ex employee…and i have e. mailed seymour transport to ask why a two bob company such as theirs would want to buy such a famous named company such as Astran…i did point out that no doubt they will lose the name and theirs will go on forever…they have no interest …or experience of middle east work…and i await their reply with anticipation…
i`m not saying your wrong to charge high rates
Having worked with JJ on a number of jobs I can tell you they are not cheap 
However they do tend to take the jobs no one else wants or can do, and use the proper equipment to do it with.
and JJ has even been known to buy the beers 
If the opportunity ever came up again I would jump at the chance to work with them again
Have seymour got a depot in Barnsley, Is it the same company?
A friend of mine has spoke to Astran as he wants to have a go at it, just for the experience, he realises he isnt going to get rich but the crack may be still there 
His initiation to that kind of work was being treated to 2 slappers for his 16 th birthday in Romania 
A gang of drivers paid for his birthday pressie 