So come on then, NAME the firms that have HUNDREDS of brit reg trucks in Spain and France.
SWEDISH BLUE:
So come on then, NAME the firms that have HUNDREDS of brit reg trucks in Spain and France.
Perhaps he could send us some of the drugs he’s taking because that sounds like seriously good gear, I haven’t had a hallucination like that since the 1970s 
SWEDISH BLUE:
So come on then, NAME the firms that have HUNDREDS of brit reg trucks in Spain and France.
There arent FIRMS with HUNDREDS of trucks here but i do see a lot on my travels through France and Spain and theyre not just in the dozens. If you dont know or are unsure who does Euro work just google ‘UK Eurpoean haulage companies’ and you;ll see for yourself who does over the water without having to take my word for it… 
Harry Monk:
SWEDISH BLUE:
So come on then, NAME the firms that have HUNDREDS of brit reg trucks in Spain and France.Perhaps he could send us some of the drugs he’s taking because that sounds like seriously good gear, I haven’t had a hallucination like that since the 1970s
Whatever you say, youre entitled to your opinion…
AndrewG:
TiredAndEmotional:
AndrewG:
What conclusions would that be? HU/BG/PL/RO ect are only trying to make a living and none will be on the pay youre on. When i see UK reg trucks over here i certainly dont have issue with itBeing a Brit you can’t really, can you? Because you’re doing your thing in Spain I’m to be happy about the vast numbers of EUs’ over here? I don’t think so!
Theyre doing a job, a legal one just like any British haulier is when they come over to mainland Europe. When i see a brit reg truck in our yard loading i dont see it as a problem and see hundreds on my travels through Spain and France. 90% of these guys are on a pittance, spend weeks away from home where they have little anyway and have a lifestyle vastly different from the UK and you dont like them
Stated above… see hundreds on my travels through Spain and France…
So it has gone from hundreds■■? to dozens.
If you parked in a service area in France or Spain, and, as I did, just made a mental note, would you see 9 Brit reg trucks and 1 Fr or S in your view?
Andrew, I don’t see the figures that you seem to. I’m close to Ouistreham (Caen) and use the A84 regularly and no way are there the amount of UK hauliers coming through that port now as was 5,10,15 years ago. The Spanish trailers that pass through aren’t being hauled by Spaniards, the amount of CZ PL RO that now use this port has greatly increased. And that includes Cherbourg and le Havre. Go sit in the lounge on BF going to or from Portsmouth, hardly any English drivers there, but lots and lots of EE drivers and the odd group of Spaniards
Harry Monk:
AndrewG:
Theyre doing a job, a legal one just like any British haulier is when they come over to mainland Europe. When i see a brit reg truck in our yard loading i dont see it as a problem and see hundreds on my travels through Spain and France. 90% of these guys are on a pittance, spend weeks away from home where they have little anyway and have a lifestyle vastly different from the UK and you dont like themThe essential difference is that when you see a British truck loading in Spain, it will almost certainly be taking that load to the UK. A Lithuanian haulier loading in Manchester won’t be taking that load to Lithuania, they constantly travel around western Europe, exploiting the arbitrage difference between western and eastern European economies. Not only does this mean that there is not a level playing field for British hauliers, it also requires eastern European drivers to stay away from home for several months at a time and this is not a reasonable way to treat them.
And this aspect is so often overlooked by others!
Harry Monk:
AndrewG:
Theyre doing a job, a legal one just like any British haulier is when they come over to mainland Europe. When i see a brit reg truck in our yard loading i dont see it as a problem and see hundreds on my travels through Spain and France. 90% of these guys are on a pittance, spend weeks away from home where they have little anyway and have a lifestyle vastly different from the UK and you dont like themThe essential difference is that when you see a British truck loading in Spain, it will almost certainly be taking that load to the UK. A Lithuanian haulier loading in Manchester won’t be taking that load to Lithuania, they constantly travel around western Europe, exploiting the arbitrage difference between western and eastern European economies. Not only does this mean that there is not a level playing field for British hauliers, it also requires eastern European drivers to stay away from home for several months at a time and this is not a reasonable way to treat them.
And back in the days when international transport was regulated, the thing at the top of everyone’s wish list was a blue book.
I’ve used one properly many times, a company I worked for had a major contract with a blue chip company in France where we would deliver then load for England, Germany, Greece, Italy or Spain.
We were tramping away in Europe for a minimum of four weeks, but that’s where the similarities with our EE colleagues ended as we were possibly the highest paid international drivers in Britain at the time. Although we earned every penny of it.
Now I’m sure there was a good reason for a French based multi national conglomerate to use a British based company to haul their products and the reason would’ve been economic, as no matter what a business does as its main role, it’s sole purpose is to make money.
This is why any intervention to protect the interests of British hauliers will never happen. There’s nothing you can do about it either, a strike wouldn’t achieve anything even if every British lorry took part, they’d just ship more immigrants in and if they run out of Europeans, they’ll get Asians or Africans in to fill the gap.
newmercman:
And back in the days when international transport was regulated, the thing at the top of everyone’s wish list was a blue book.I’ve used one properly many times, a company I worked for had a major contract with a blue chip company in France where we would deliver then load for England, Germany, Greece, Italy or Spain.
We were tramping away in Europe for a minimum of four weeks, but that’s where the similarities with our EE colleagues ended as we were possibly the highest paid international drivers in Britain at the time. Although we earned every penny of it.
Now I’m sure there was a good reason for a French based multi national conglomerate to use a British based company to haul their products and the reason would’ve been economic, as no matter what a business does as its main role, it’s sole purpose is to make money.
This is why any intervention to protect the interests of British hauliers will never happen. There’s nothing you can do about it either, a strike wouldn’t achieve anything even if every British lorry took part, they’d just ship more immigrants in and if they run out of Europeans, they’ll get Asians or Africans in to fill the gap.
To be fair this is now a whole different game to that.I don’t think that what’s being called for is any different to the idea that Mexican hauliers can’t carry out US/Canada freight movements let alone internal US or Canadian cabotage and there’s no way that a Brit driver can get a work permit to work in Oz,US or NZ and have to jump through hoops for Canada.So as we’ve seen everything being asked for here is doable if/when it suits the powers that be and without breaking the bank when and wherever it’s applied. 
pierrot 14:
Andrew, I don’t see the figures that you seem to. I’m close to Ouistreham (Caen) and use the A84 regularly and no way are there the amount of UK hauliers coming through that port now as was 5,10,15 years ago. The Spanish trailers that pass through aren’t being hauled by Spaniards, the amount of CZ PL RO that now use this port has greatly increased. And that includes Cherbourg and le Havre. Go sit in the lounge on BF going to or from Portsmouth, hardly any English drivers there, but lots and lots of EE drivers and the odd group of Spaniards
100% correct. I cant speak about Calais but the western Channel is UK lite nowadays. 10 or 20 years there was hardly any EE trucks to be seen, and those that showed up were generally professional drivers, not place fillers. We probably had a biased view of the nationalities, shipping out on Sundays were few foreigners going home, or entering UK with us on a Friday, but the figures show fewer UK trucks work EU today. As Pierrot says,many Spanish trailers are being pulled by EE units, and some of the Esp plated units have drivers fluent in Czech. Some French companies are using Ro units now (Blue River). Hardly any Portuguese drivers or trucks to be seen in the western Channel today. The N10 (horrible road now) is full of EE trucks, and even the worst SatNav wont route London to Warsaw via Bordeaux.
So what’s the difference between Cobham Services being full of EE trucks and Carisio, Coslada, Lokeren, Macon, Rheinbollen and Venlo being full of British trucks as they used to be?
Not to mention the UK registered units that used to run out of Zeebrugge, the Total was full of bobtail UK units every night.
Now here you are complaining about the EEs doing exactly what we did for years and years.
Even complaining about them ■■■■■■■ in laybys and throwing their rubbish out. We’ll I’ve ■■■■■■ on the floor of every country I’ve ever been to and so has every lorry driver in every country in the world. The term going for a spreadaxle was coined by British drivers taking a dump under the trailer and I can remember laybys being full of rubbish as far back as I can remember, long before I ever saw a lorry from Eastern Europe in the UK.
We used to have a thriving international transport industry for one reason, we were cheaper than the rest, now we’ve been out maneuvered by the EEs.
Crying that it isn’t fair isn’t going to do anyone any good, it’s the way it is and it ain’t going to change unfortunately, time to move on and look forwards, looking back is a waste of time.
in a week over the channel the most uk lorries I see will be in Calais on a Friday !
newmercman:
So what’s the difference between Cobham Services being full of EE trucks and Carisio, Coslada, Lokeren, Macon, Rheinbollen and Venlo being full of British trucks as they used to be?Not to mention the UK registered units that used to run out of Zeebrugge, the Total was full of bobtail UK units every night.
Now here you are complaining about the EEs doing exactly what we did for years and years.
Even complaining about them ■■■■■■■ in laybys and throwing their rubbish out. We’ll I’ve ■■■■■■ on the floor of every country I’ve ever been to and so has every lorry driver in every country in the world. The term going for a spreadaxle was coined by British drivers taking a dump under the trailer and I can remember laybys being full of rubbish as far back as I can remember, long before I ever saw a lorry from Eastern Europe in the UK.
We used to have a thriving international transport industry for one reason, we were cheaper than the rest, now we’ve been out maneuvered by the EEs.
Crying that it isn’t fair isn’t going to do anyone any good, it’s the way it is and it ain’t going to change unfortunately, time to move on and look forwards, looking back is a waste of time.
I think the difference is this, the trucks in Zeebrugge were mostly doing work for/from the UK. You say you loaded France for other Eu countries, but surely youd say that was the exception, not the rule? To-day EE trucks are running between countries without any relevance to their home base. I can see that globalisation will carry on, big business has no national allegiance, but I aint too happy about it.
Rubbish etc ? Seems to me, (maybe a false impression, but I dont think so), that laybys and parking areas are dirtier today than a few years ago, both in UK and EU. And I seem to see more clean up crews than before, so I reckon its caused by more littering. I dont sit in parking areas watching whos chunking what out of their windows, but if there are mostly EEs parked in rest areas, and there is more litter than before, what conclusions would you reach?
Franglais:
newmercman:
So what’s the difference between Cobham Services being full of EE trucks and Carisio, Coslada, Lokeren, Macon, Rheinbollen and Venlo being full of British trucks as they used to be?Not to mention the UK registered units that used to run out of Zeebrugge, the Total was full of bobtail UK units every night.
Now here you are complaining about the EEs doing exactly what we did for years and years.
Even complaining about them ■■■■■■■ in laybys and throwing their rubbish out. We’ll I’ve ■■■■■■ on the floor of every country I’ve ever been to and so has every lorry driver in every country in the world. The term going for a spreadaxle was coined by British drivers taking a dump under the trailer and I can remember laybys being full of rubbish as far back as I can remember, long before I ever saw a lorry from Eastern Europe in the UK.
We used to have a thriving international transport industry for one reason, we were cheaper than the rest, now we’ve been out maneuvered by the EEs.
Crying that it isn’t fair isn’t going to do anyone any good, it’s the way it is and it ain’t going to change unfortunately, time to move on and look forwards, looking back is a waste of time.
I think the difference is this, the trucks in Zeebrugge were mostly doing work for/from the UK. You say you loaded France for other Eu countries, but surely you
d say that was the exception, not the rule? To-day EE trucks are running between countries without any relevance to their home base. I can see that globalisation will carry on, big business has no national allegiance, but I aint too happy about it.
Rubbish etc ? Seems to me, (maybe a false impression, but I dont think so), that laybys and parking areas are dirtier today than a few years ago, both in UK and EU. And I seem to see more clean up crews than before, so I reckon its caused by more littering. I dont sit in parking areas watching whos chunking what out of their windows, but if there are mostly EEs parked in rest areas, and there is more litter than before, what conclusions would you reach?
It stands to reason when you put third world Eastern Europeans in a truck they’re not going to have the same standards as us, particularly further East you go. I dread to think what it’s like in a Romanians unit based on the tatty stained clothes they wear.
newmercman:
So what’s the difference between Cobham Services being full of EE trucks and Carisio, Coslada, Lokeren, Macon, Rheinbollen and Venlo being full of British trucks as they used to be?Not to mention the UK registered units that used to run out of Zeebrugge, the Total was full of bobtail UK units every night.
Now here you are complaining about the EEs doing exactly what we did for years and years.
Even complaining about them ■■■■■■■ in laybys and throwing their rubbish out. We’ll I’ve ■■■■■■ on the floor of every country I’ve ever been to and so has every lorry driver in every country in the world. The term going for a spreadaxle was coined by British drivers taking a dump under the trailer and I can remember laybys being full of rubbish as far back as I can remember, long before I ever saw a lorry from Eastern Europe in the UK.
We used to have a thriving international transport industry for one reason, we were cheaper than the rest, now we’ve been out maneuvered by the EEs.
Crying that it isn’t fair isn’t going to do anyone any good, it’s the way it is and it ain’t going to change unfortunately, time to move on and look forwards, looking back is a waste of time.
Very true …a man who talks sense and states facts instead of drivercrap.
As well as the foreign regd trucks thing on here, it’s like all the belly aching on here about foreign drivers on Brit trucks.
Yeh I agree, it’s crap, and arguably maybe they COULD be keeping wages down, (although all the stuff about them being on a lower rate than a Brit on the same co. is on the whole ■■■■■■■■)
BUT… wtf can you do about it ■■?
If there had been on line forums in the 80s/90s I bet Dutch drivers would have been kicking off about ‘‘Those bloody Brits taking our jobs, and keeping our wages down’’
Nobody has the nous, backbone or ■■■■■■■■ as they once used to have, to stand together to even attempt to do something positive, or try to improve or stop it.
Nobody is interested in joining a …ooh so nasty 
Union anymore because instead of looking at it as a possibility it is much easier to jump on the bandwagon and chant…they ‘‘don’t believe in them’’’ .
They would rather just bore everybody ■■■■ less and moan about it to everyone on here and their mates in the pub instead.
As I said what can you do ■■?
Well the answer to that is if you can not at least TRY and stand together is.
■■■■ it all up and shut the ■■■■ up for Christ’s sake, as I and many others are ■■■■■■ off with hearing it all about foreign drivers this and foreign regd trucks that.
…And breathe out…ahhhh.
It’s not just me then robroy. It drives me up the wall, people have short memories. Lots of UK international hauliers broke every law in the book, some were downright criminals, not just going over their hours or running on red, but using stolen credit cards, counterfeit money, on the ■■■■ morning, noon and night, getting into punch ups and harassing the local talent and then there were those that got captured with contraband.
Yet to listen to some of the moaning about the EEs, you would think that everybody drove from church to church on every trip and offered bone marrow donations at every hospital they passed.
From what I’ve seen, these EEs are a bunch of ■■■■■■■ [emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23]
Franglais, as you say, we were among the few that used a blue book as it was intended, but we weren’t alone.
Yes the lorries in Zeebrugge were tipping and loading to/from the UK, but I don’t think the Belgian traction boys were too happy about it.
I can remember retail parks starting to ban overnight parking in the 90s, long before the EE invasion, the reason was because of the mess the drivers were leaving behind, you say it’s worse now, that may be the case, but it was still an issue before they came, who knows, they could have adopted a when in Rome attitude.
newmercman:
It’s not just me then robroy. It drives me up the wall, people have short memories. Lots of UK international hauliers broke every law in the book, some were downright criminals, not just going over their hours or running on red, but using stolen credit cards, counterfeit money, on the ■■■■ morning, noon and night, getting into punch ups and harassing the local talent and then there were those that got captured with contraband.Yet to listen to some of the moaning about the EEs, you would think that everybody drove from church to church on every trip and offered bone marrow donations at every hospital they passed.
From what I’ve seen, these EEs are a bunch of ■■■■■■■ [emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23]
There used to be a joke going round, many moons ago.
At any time on any parking area in Europe, you would see three wagons parked up. A Danish truck, a Dutch truck, and a British truck. The Danish trucker would be cooking something, the Dutch trucker would be smoking something, and the British driver was doing nothing, because he had gambled/drank all his running money up the wall…
True enough except that the Dutch didn’t park often. They were also fond of a drink and a punch up, big lads most of them too, best avoided when they started getting belligerent.
newmercman:
It’s not just me then robroy. It drives me up the wall, people have short memories. Lots of UK international hauliers broke every law in the book, some were downright criminals, not just going over their hours or running on red, but using stolen credit cards, counterfeit money, on the ■■■■ morning, noon and night, getting into punch ups and harassing the local talent and then there were those that got captured with contraband.Yet to listen to some of the moaning about the EEs, you would think that everybody drove from church to church on every trip and offered bone marrow donations at every hospital they passed.
From what I’ve seen, these EEs are a bunch of ■■■■■■■ [emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23]
I’ve said many times on here that many of the ones who do all the shouting about this stuff have never been anywhere (or dared to go) south of Dover.
Their ‘trucking careers’ have consisted of monotonous daily timed deliveries to Tescos and Travis Perkins, with their sat navs (that they can not find their own arse holes without using) all done with driving in their pristine hi viz, and then home to bed.
Then they criticise guys who have driven through Gawd knows how many countries, and double manned, to find a back st. in London… for a pittance compared to what they are getting for their fully nursemaided (if that’s even a word) day runs.
I don’t give a ■■■■ if I upset anybody with this, it is fact and needs said to clear the air.
Nobody is willing to speak up for anything, foreign drivers/trucks, long hours, being pushed, crap pay, unfair t.s and c.s, and a the rest of the stuff that has gradually eradicated the quality of this job since I started it many years ago, they just ■■■■ moan about it and have zero ■■■■ intention of making the slightest ■■■■ effort to join together and deal with it.
That is the reason that I just look after numero uno, and succeed in having a much better life in the job than many of my counterparts, if I come across as conceited on that, tough crap, do the same yourselves if it bothers you.
Having a bad morning here, off to kick the cat if I had one.
Then a few pints with mates later on maybe to unwind, with the promise of not mentioning anything transport related. 