whisperingsmith: > Kempston: > Not having been someone who drove abroad unless you count the Isle of Wight, how does it pay compared to uk haulage? Both from a drivers perspective and also the operator? Reason I ask is there seems to be a high number of operators that don’t last long, I worked for one (albeit only a fortnight) but probably not a good example as they were dire at everything hence only staying two weeks.
Going back to ME days it depended on who you got the work from, as a subbie Davis Turner’s rates were almost half what I could get direct (Lucky I had some good contacts & Clients), Astran were better but you could be well overloaded if you left a trailer there as they would load it to the roof.
As for drivers, it depended on the outfit, some paid trip money which could work out well - or really badly if you had lots of hold ups.
I paid weekly, a basic wage equivalent to the average UK wage + tax free expenses that worked out at about 4x average UK wage.
Plus hotel and food once every 5 days, although on average hotel claims were rarely more than twice a trip:- a night in the Harum Istanbul on the way out & another on the way home.
That way the drivers weren’t tempted to be silly, but also knew they were looked after if there were any hold ups or delays, which could add 2 or 3 weeks+ to a round trip.
Very interesting whisperingsmith. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Back in 1977 Abou Said & Om Said (Sammy Sirrisi & his wife) were my guests at home in the UK.
It was a funny time as there were bread strikes & queues for bread at the bakers, Sammy had brought a young Palestinian relative from Jerusalem with them.
Sammy said it would be a good learning experience to send him to buy bread with a note written in English as the poor lad couldn’t speak a word of English.
Eventually he reached the good ladies in the shop and got the bread.
We feasted on Chicken & Bread - so nice to have Sammy & Om Said as guests after all the hospitality he gave all of us
I was surfing through the news channels late last night trying to see if there was any more news about the war in Ukraine when I came across T.R.T. which is a Turkish television station. They were at the time, showing the opening yesterday of the new Canakkale Bridge across The Dardanelle Straights from Europe to Asia.
I know that there are still a few of us left who can remember using the little ferry across to Cannakkale on the way to Izmir as it was quite a pleasant part of the journey which often followed the coast line.
You might remember seeing those Turkish forts up in the hills and I remember seeing those huge impressive Turkish flags which were about the size of a tennis court. I don’t know why I never took a photo of them as I must have had a camera with me.
I was surfing through the news channels late last night trying to see if there was any more news about the war in Ukraine when I came across T.R.T. which is a Turkish television station. They were at the time, showing the opening yesterday of the new Canakkale Bridge across The Dardanelle Straights from Europe to Asia.
I know that there are still a few of us left who can remember using the little ferry across to Cannakkale on the way to Izmir as it was quite a pleasant part of the journey which often followed the coast line.
You might remember seeing those Turkish forts up in the hills and I remember seeing those huge impressive Turkish flags which were about the size of a tennis court. I don’t know why I never took a photo of them as I must have had a camera with me.
Thanks for posting that,intresting video and a awesome looking bridge.
I was surfing through the news channels late last night trying to see if there was any more news about the war in Ukraine when I came across T.R.T. which is a Turkish television station. They were at the time, showing the opening yesterday of the new Canakkale Bridge across The Dardanelle Straights from Europe to Asia.
I know that there are still a few of us left who can remember using the little ferry across to Cannakkale on the way to Izmir as it was quite a pleasant part of the journey which often followed the coast line.
You might remember seeing those Turkish forts up in the hills and I remember seeing those huge impressive Turkish flags which were about the size of a tennis court. I don’t know why I never took a photo of them as I must have had a camera with me.
Thanks for posting that,intresting video and a awesome looking bridge.
The big advantage for international truckers is that the new Cannakkale Bridge means that they will no longer have to go through Istanbul. The downside of which is that yet another adventure is lost to an increasingly bland transport experience. All the villages, towns and cities we used to have to negotiate are nearly all bypassed now. I can’t imagine doing M/E work without spending some time in Istanbul! Ro
I was surfing through the news channels late last night trying to see if there was any more news about the war in Ukraine when I came across T.R.T. which is a Turkish television station. They were at the time, showing the opening yesterday of the new Canakkale Bridge across The Dardanelle Straights from Europe to Asia.
I know that there are still a few of us left who can remember using the little ferry across to Cannakkale on the way to Izmir as it was quite a pleasant part of the journey which often followed the coast line.
You might remember seeing those Turkish forts up in the hills and I remember seeing those huge impressive Turkish flags which were about the size of a tennis court. I don’t know why I never took a photo of them as I must have had a camera with me.
Thanks for posting that,intresting video and a awesome looking bridge.
The big advantage for international truckers is that the new Cannakkale Bridge means that they will no longer have to go through Istanbul. The downside of which is that yet another adventure is lost to an increasingly bland transport experience. All the villages, towns and cities we used to have to negotiate are nearly all bypassed now. I can’t imagine doing M/E work without spending some time in Istanbul! Ro
I never realised how tall the mountains were on the Asian side, until I saw this photo.
I’m not on FB but someone showed me the Astran & Middle-East drivers forum. Interesting stuff but why in God’s name doesn’t the administrator remove all those dozens & dozens of irritating brash emoji’s and GIFs that some inane twelve-year old has littered the forum with?! It certainly doesn’t make me want to go on FB!
That’s an interesting photo could that be a Whittles from Preston tilt behind the Merc.
I have a feeling that that Merc has been shown on another photo somewhere on Trucknet.
The clip from the 9 minute mark makes me smile and always reminds me of Turkey.
Which is a shame because we would often come across the bent policeman or the awkward customs man who were always out to make a bit, or a lot, of extra cash from western lorry drivers.
The great majority of Turks were usually very helpful, welcoming and sometimes curious to see if they could practice their “Ingless” often with an American accent.
We all knew that we could of been locked up if we had been involved in an accident even if it wasn’t our fault. The middle east mentally appeared to be that we were foreigners and if we hadn’t of been there then the accident would never of happened. I must admit that after I saw the 1970’s film Midnight Express that it was always on the back of my mind and I used to always breath a sigh of relief when ever I crossed back into Greece.
I remember asking one of our agents in Istanbul had he ever seen Midnight Express and he replied “no, it’s banned in Turkey because it is a Greek propaganda film against the Turkish people”.
I never realised that the film had caused so many political problems at the time until I came across this very interesting documentary yesterday.
The clip from the 9 minute mark makes me smile and always reminds me of Turkey.
Which is a shame because we would often come across the bent policeman or the awkward customs man who were always out to make a bit, or a lot, of extra cash from western lorry drivers.
The great majority of Turks were usually very helpful, welcoming and sometimes curious to see if they could practice their “Ingless” often with an American accent.
We all knew that we could of been locked up if we had been involved in an accident even if it wasn’t our fault. The middle east mentally appeared to be that we were foreigners and if we hadn’t of been there then the accident would never of happened. I must admit that after I saw the 1970’s film Midnight Express that it was always on the back of my mind and I used to always breath a sigh of relief when ever I crossed back into Greece.
I remember asking one of our agents in Istanbul had he ever seen Midnight Express and he replied “no, it’s banned in Turkey because it is a Greek propaganda film against the Turkish people”.
I never realised that the film had caused so many political problems at the time until I came across this very interesting documentary yesterday.
ERF-NGC-European:
Third pic down looks like the Yeni Cami’i (New Mosque) at the beginning of the Galata Bridge to me.
You are right. The first pic is Sultanahmet Cami AKA Blue mosque. You can tell because it has 6 minarets and was for many years the only mosque outside Mecca with 6 minarets. There is now another one with 6 in Istanbul. The 2nd pic (view from the taksi) and 3rd pic are both Yeni Cami. Gorgeous view from the office in Karakoy, across the Haliç (Golden Horn) to Sultanahmet, Topkapı Sarayı and Aya Sofya. What was Tachi’s name in Turkish? The Aya Sofya, which was a fine museum 1934 - 2020 is now a mosque again.
The On Sekiz Mart Çanakkale Köprüsü (18th March Çanakkale bridge, named after the date of the Ottoman victory at Gallipoli) was opened recently and costs 200TL (just over £10) to cross. The ferry is most definitely still the way to go, while enjoying a balık ekmek (fish sandwich), picked up from the jetty before boarding.
I lived in Istanbul 1996-2001 and still visit Turkey (mainly Çanakkale these days) regularly. I used to go past Londra Camping all the time and wonder what sort of camping went on there. Now I know! I enjoy looking at the old pics and reading the Turkey chatter on this thread.
ERF-NGC-European:
Third pic down looks like the Yeni Cami’i (New Mosque) at the beginning of the Galata Bridge to me.
You are right. The first pic is Sultanahmet Cami AKA Blue mosque. You can tell because it has 6 minarets and was for many years the only mosque outside Mecca with 6 minarets. There is now another one with 6 in Istanbul. The 2nd pic (view from the taksi) and 3rd pic are both Yeni Cami. Gorgeous view from the office in Karakoy, across the Haliç (Golden Horn) to Sultanahmet, Topkapı Sarayı and Aya Sofya. What was Tachi’s name in Turkish? The Aya Sofya, which was a fine museum 1934 - 2020 is now a mosque again.
The On Sekiz Mart Çanakkale Köprüsü (18th March Çanakkale bridge, named after the date of the Ottoman victory at Gallipoli) was opened recently and costs 200TL (just over £10) to cross. The ferry is most definitely still the way to go, while enjoying a balık ekmek (fish sandwich), picked up from the jetty before boarding.
I lived in Istanbul 1996-2001 and still visit Turkey (mainly Çanakkale these days) regularly. I used to go past Londra Camping all the time and wonder what sort of camping went on there. Now I know! I enjoy looking at the old pics and reading the Turkey chatter on this thread.
Yes, I too lived in Istanbul and visited all those mosques and many more during my time there.
Ahhh, that explains your excellent mosque spotting capabilities A fellow yabancı? Or a yerli? Where did you live, when were you there and who did you drive for, ERF-NGC-European?
Hello Driver ess, you asked what Tachi’s name was in Turkish, that’s a good question because I seem to remember that we had a debate about this about fifteen years ago here on Trucknet. Our drivers all called him Targee but there were lots of other drivers who used to be on the forum who had met him and the various spelling of his name was Tarki, Targi, Tachi, Tahee and a few other spellings that I can’t remember now.
There used to be a member of this forum called Bestbooties who came up with the spelling Tachi with a little dot or a triangle over the letter a or it might of been the c which I think might of been the correct spelling. I used to have one of Tachi’s business cards over forty years ago and I had a feeling that his name was spelt with that little dot over one of the letters.
I am sure that you or Ro will know what I am trying to explain about.
As regards the six minarets, well for many years we have often wondered where exactly I took this photo and thanks to you we know now.
Our next stop after coming out of The Blue Mosque was the short walk to The Pudding Shop. It’s thirsty work being a tourist but that’s another story.
It certainly doesn’t make me want to go on FB! 
