Freight Dog:
That is very cool! You’re a skipper of that? I have a friend (engineer) in the MN and know from him how much is involved even as a 4th be it engineer or deck. Law, nav, loading etc etc. Ducking in and out of small ports picking up timber cargo sounds like a great little number. Must be nice scenery, no blue water sailings and lots of challenges.
Little ports ? she is a landing craft so we only enter port to unload in Troon, in short there are special built ramps that we go on to in the middle of nowhere and the machine visible in the picture loads us, to be honest with you that ship is the most heart attack, nervous breakdown inducing thing I have ever had to berth cos she is nigh on impossible to handle in any thing more than a breath of wind. And now when on leave I have a 3.5 ton van I do courier/light haulage work with occasionally but insurance costs are crippling.
How do you mean by ramps? Do you beach it onto the ramps or do they desend onto the ship? Sounds a challenge.
Where do you sail to and from? How long are you out at sea?
We are based at Troon, longest we spend at sea is about 20 hours each way plus loading and depending on the tides, hope these pictures help …
Kf28, you say you are 24 and keen to try European work, that should not hold you back.
The Hungarian firm Waberers sends 18 years old drivers all Europe and TIR countries.
In the UK, Pulleyn transport, specialise in pharmaceuticals.
They cover Scandinavian routes and Greece or Turkey, the Baltic states and Russia.
Ask Scot for an interview.
There is some training to do, and maybe cab hopping to cover full time drivers holidays.
They are based in Reading.
Richard Long in Norfolk covers Europe on wide loads, and agricultural machinery/irrigation equipment.
Or fly out to Hungary for Waberers, you get two weeks off at Christmas.
So live in the cab all year.
Wages about 700 euros per month for poor fuel performance figures, up to 1200 euros.
was lucky enough to do a bit in the mid 90’s uk-spain, spain-greece Greece-uk. about 14 days round trip all told, met some great guys and girls and had a good laugh but as so many have said I was young and single which was a great help.
weekends on the beach were great - weekends in a truckstop not so great.
seen some amazing sites so don’t buy the whole a road is a road argument, but it was one I am glad I done but would I hell want to do it nowadays.
raymundo:
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That looks a bit like the ships they used on the Rio ferry
Did it in the late 80s, mainly Spain and Italy, loved it, I really enjoyed it. Do it today? no way. But young guns might like it, in my day there was borders to cross, permits, european books, agents to deal with and clearing customs, pain in the backside back then, but they often ment enforced rest…Now they just ride on thru borders, like the Germans when they fancied a slice of Poland…opps a Clarkson moment just come over me…
The German/Poland borders used to amuse me, posh part building of the German side with the red line down the middle and then the crap condition of the Polish side. And the Polish customs refusing to stamp your papers until they had their ‘coffee’ money.
started at 21 in 1984 only got job by my uncle being ex middle easter and already taught me most of customs paperwork .stayed on european till 2005 worked for most the well known outfits . but as i feared in 1992 when borders started comlng down the whole euro job went downhill no customs no meeting up with few friends in spain or where ever . companies could hire a guy no exp loaded trl a cmr and away he went for less money and shiny truck the job now is nothing as it was i left uk 2005 for canada /usa work went back uk last summer to possibly return .soon realised what a mess trucking in europe has come guys on eurowork mainly channel hpooing working harder than uk drivers the few so called long haul outfits scrapping round trying to keep up with the eastern invasion .needless to say im back in canada not easy as they say but still better than watching every ex ■■■■ poor eastern bloc mob walk all over us . very glad i did continental in earlydays met some good ol boys that had time to speak and have the craic 
i,m in my 24th year of doing euro work now, no its not the good old day’s but still better than dealing with uk roadwork’s and num nuts in rdc’s that think they are god id give up driving before doing domestic work
ye see what ya mean m8 i probably run into ya somewhere lol gd luck
