Riho:
fly sheet:
As for the comments by this limey fella, I last quoted a job to Klaipeda about 9 monrhs back & got laughed off the phone, The Poles at the time where doing Uk Moscow for 1900 gbp the brainless fools.Riga - Moscow for a 40ft container 2400 euros in 2008, now its about 1800-2000 euros.
you could try these then. osnabruck to afghanistan $17000 with 50% up front.
runway-logistics.com/
fly sheet:
As for the comments by this limey fella, I last quoted a job to Klaipeda about 9 monrhs back & got laughed off the phone, The Poles at the time where doing Uk Moscow for 1900 gbp the brainless fools.
They would be brainless fools, if they paid from their own pocket to get that job. But I guess they are able to make money on this somehow - well, good for them.
For me the brainless fools are companies who say “no, we won’t make it for these money, they should pay us more” and then are surprised that someone else took it… And this is not only the international haulage way of thinking, I saw this in UK national market as well…
Maybe, if just one part of the world- let’s say the former eastern Bloc- was opened up to immigrant labour from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, willing to work for 30 zloty a day, then certain folk from those countries might be more able to see things as we do. 
Harry Monk:
Maybe, if just one part of the world- let’s say the former eastern Bloc- was opened up to immigrant labour from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, willing to work for 30 zloty a day, then certain folk from those countries might be more able to see things as we do.
Maybe we see, because we have lot of Ukrainian and Vietnamese imigrants and also Bulgarian and Romanian companies cutting us on prices… We also have our own problems of 1000s of people who claim benefits and work cash-in-hand, also undercutting the economy…
But even if you spoke Polish, you wont see half of this moaning you can find on trucknet in Poland. Not that we are happy with this, no. Its just because that instead of sitting on the coach with bottle of cider and moaning about it, we work hard to try new ways of how to overcome these problems…
orys:
But even if you spoke Polish, you wont see half of this moaning you can find on trucknet in Poland. Not that we are happy with this, no. Its just because that instead of sitting on the coach with bottle of cider and moaning about it, we work hard to try new ways of how to overcome these problems…
Yes. You use Wage Arbitrage to undercut labour costs.
It certainly isn’t because you are racially superior, as you seem to be suggesting, and most of the British companies who have experimented with Polish drivers get rid of them as soon as they get the second year’s insurance quote because of the huge increase in premiums caused by their inability to drive a truck without causing a huge rise in insurance claims.
But, I’m sure you are going to have to have the last word, so feel free. I won’t be posting to this thread again.
Harry Monk:
Yes. You use Wage Arbitrage to undercut labour costs.
Or just prove that we are better workers than newcomers. By actually working and showing it, not by writing some fairy tales on internet forum like you do:
It certainly isn’t because you are racially superior, as you seem to be suggesting, and most of the British companies who have experimented with Polish drivers get rid of them as soon as they get the second year’s insurance quote because of the huge increase in premiums caused by their inability to drive a truck without causing a huge rise in insurance claims.
You saw how the typical van in my place looks like. I work in this company for over 2 years now and I had one incident. Somehow it seems that I have be exceptional Pole, as I seem to fall well over the famous British standards of driving…
I also change bulbs, use ratchet straps to secure my load and always start load from the front, pushing it if necesary, not just put the pallet on the back of the van with the forklift, assuring the driver “it will be all right” slam the doors and drive away as most of our drivers do (every single van in our place has the bulkhead damaged). More over I saw only two other drivers doing thing like cleaning the cab, changing bulbs or checking liquids. But I heard much more drivers moaning about getting dirty, to such extend that one of our drivers claim “I am a driver, its not my job to change the bulbs”. Are these the famous British standards?
From other companies I used to work, the drivers were usually better, but, especially in jobs like General Haulage, pallet distribution etc (I worked in few places like that over my years in Scotland) I would say about 30% to 50% of British drivers fall into the category described above by one of British members of this forum…
Next time you are in Poland, I dare you to do a small experiment. If you find a car without the taillight or stop light (it might take you longer than in Britain, but off course sooner or later you will find it), stop next to the driver and let him know about it. Most of the drivers will be really surprised, some of them will even go of to check and change if they have spares with them…
Do it in Britian: from my experience more than half of the drivers will answer “yes, I know”, “no problem, its getting MOT’d next month” or things like that…
As for Poles crashing trucks and therefore being sacked on mass scale: I used to know about 20 of Easter European drivers (Polish, Czech and Hungarian), I also read Polish forums for Poles in Britain and Polish equivalent of Trucknet. I never heard about some Polish driver who struggles to get a job (unless it is typical problem of lack of experience, but even then seem to be driving pretty soon). Of my friends, vast majority came back to Poland/Czech Republic not because they could not get a job here “because nobody wants them as they are crap driver who crash lorries all the time” but because since the wages in Poland went significantly up (at least for truck driving), they can be better of there…
Actually, some of my former employers (companies and agencies) call me from time to time asking, if I wont come back to them. When I refuse they usually ask if I don’t have some Polish friends who would like to work for them… Since all the places I used to work pay Poles the same wage as everyone else (as I am not willing to work for somone who would pay me less only because my nationality) I am pretty sure, that they don’t ask it because of the labour costs…
But you wont talk about my own experiences, as you don’t believe in them. You wont also provide any statistics, as you don’t have any to support your words. You just repeated one of the myths that you like to repeat so much and you are happy. You are not interested in facts.
But, I’m sure you are going to have to have the last word, so feel free. I won’t be posting to this thread again.
Yeah, go to BNP forum, your stories about how Poles are bad drivers, avoid to take a shower and are idiots in general will meet much more welcoming audience there…
Orys I have seen first hand the polish attitude to migrant workers in your own country. Let’s just say I was a little shocked. I dare say you’ll tell me it is not so , but I saw it with my own eyes.
Also , go stand next to some drivers on the Chunnel bus , either direction. They stink ! Wether they cannot be bothered to wash or cannot afford the 2 euros I’m not sure. I’m not saying they ate polish but certainly ( usually ) east european.
You paint a crappy picture of the uk and an idyllic picture of Poland ! So don’t be surprised when you get attacked for your views.
And yes I’ve been to Poland many times, and to be honest I don’t recognise the place you describe.
This whole thread started as a discussion about east European low cost competition, and you alone turned it into a pro polish anti British debate. Check the early posts, nobody mentioned “Poland” until you popped up.
You talk about your utopian society back in Poland with your stringent vehicle checks etc. and that is frankly rubbish. There are more cut and shut jobs running the roads of Poland than there has ever been here. As for mot’s ? I’m assured the black economy in Poland is very healthy ! No doubt vehicle testers are immune though.
Polish workers have come here in droves and undercut us ! It’s an indisputable fact. Don’t expect us to be too philosophical about it.
limeyphil:
Riho:
fly sheet:
As for the comments by this limey fella, I last quoted a job to Klaipeda about 9 monrhs back & got laughed off the phone, The Poles at the time where doing Uk Moscow for 1900 gbp the brainless fools.Riga - Moscow for a 40ft container 2400 euros in 2008, now its about 1800-2000 euros.
you could try these then. osnabruck to afghanistan $17000 with 50% up front.
runway-logistics.com/
Thats a different field, I dont know the prices for that kind of work. As far as I know 2 mayor companies that do Afghanistan from Latvia are Willi Betz and Kreiss, but I dont have any information how much they get paid to do it.
turnip:
Orys I have seen first hand the polish attitude to migrant workers in your own country. Let’s just say I was a little shocked. I dare say you’ll tell me it is not so , but I saw it with my own eyes.
And what you saw, if you don’t mind sharing your observations?
Also , go stand next to some drivers on the Chunnel bus , either direction. They stink ! Wether they cannot be bothered to wash or cannot afford the 2 euros I’m not sure. I’m not saying they ate polish but certainly ( usually ) east european.
See, for obvious reason I integrate more on the chunnel bus, simple because unlike you (I suppose), I speak fluently English, Polish and Czech. And I never noticed that Eastern Europeans are more stinky then others… I think if there is a pattern, it is rather if you look as who is doing long distance and who is not. Most of the British drivers I chat with on the tunnel, seem to do some night trunking just over the water and back so they are most likely just living and were at home on the same morning… Therefore if you are there often, you meet the regular guys, so you sit with them, and since they are regular because they are trunkers, you propably always sit with guys who just came from their fresh homes…
Most of European drivers came to Britain, drove there for day or two and as we all good know, Britain is not the best one when it comes to trucking facilities, so it might be true that some of them failed to find a shower… Not only the Eastern Europeans…
You paint a crappy picture of the uk and an idyllic picture of Poland ! So don’t be surprised when you get attacked for your views.
Actually, its the other way round. Note that I never start on that subject. It is ususally someone paint completely crap picture of Poland or Eastern Europe when I come and try to streighten the facts, fight some stupid myths etc. So because I refer only to the matter that was mentioned before, for obvious reasons I show in my posts that Poland is not as bad as you claim and Britiain is not as good as you think when we speak about the subjects like road haulage. But its not that I think Poland is the bestest and Britain is crap. If you want, I can compare for you higher education systems and you will think that I am talking about Britain on my knees while I am ■■■■■■■■ into my own country - because, unlike like in haulage, the difference between British and Polish higher education is like between Bentley and Polonez 
And yes I’ve been to Poland many times, and to be honest I don’t recognise the place you describe.
So please, share your observations, unlike most of Britons I met I am really curious about this how strangers see my country. I think we both could learn from such an exchange of observations, if you want, we can take it to PM’s.
This whole thread started as a discussion about east European low cost competition, and you alone turned it into a pro polish anti British debate. Check the early posts, nobody mentioned “Poland” until you popped up.
Because I tried to put the facts straight, and as, unlike some others, I am not happy with just saying “you are talking ■■■■■■■■”, I tried to support my thesis with some concrete factual data. And being Polish, its easier for me to call the example of Poland, because I know the market, because I speak the language and can google for the facts easily etc.
You talk about your utopian society back in Poland with your stringent vehicle checks etc. and that is frankly rubbish.
No, its not. It is true. For example we do have special MOT tests for the cars that were involved in collisions, that focuses on quality of the repairs. You don’t have these tests in UK.
There are more cut and shut jobs running the roads of Poland than there has ever been here.
You mean that cars are cut and welded together? Well, yes, that used to be a plague, now the scale much smaller and also new law was introduced about utilisation of written of vehicle and importing of wreckages, and also people awarness is much higher now, nobody in a right mind would buy car like that. So you are right, it was a problem in the past, and I do believe there is still many cars like that driving on a Polish roads, but there were significant changes on that field.
If you mean that cars are reparied after heavy collision while they would be writen off in Britain - thats true, mostly due to the labour costs. So many lightly damaged cars are written of in Britian not because they cant be repaired to a proper standard, but because it is economically not viable.
My old car was involved in a crash, it was written of, but I found a cheap garage who fixed it for me using second hand parts and registered it back (all legal). I did a full geometry when I’ve been with it in Poland and it was repaired properly. My new car had been involved in much smaller incident, and it is not repaierd properly - so it is not a question of a scale of a damage, but of a proper work has to be done. I heard about a mercedes car that had some head on crash and was repaired by the Polish garage so well, that Mercedes experts at first glance told that the car was never damaged and only throughtful examination proved them wrong. But they said that authorised garage of Mercedes would be unable to fix the car to such good standard…
Off course this is just exeptional case, a good work cost a lot of money, most of the cars are just fixed to a safe standard, not to perfect standard.
As for mot’s ? I’m assured the black economy in Poland is very healthy ! No doubt vehicle testers are immune though.
Off course, only British MOT people are immune to corruption 
Being serious: in Poland to become a MOT garage is much bigger deal than in UK, where every second back street garage does MOT’s. Also it is very good business. Therefore it is too big risk to messing around with MOTs.
I am not saying that such things dont happen, but so do they in UK.
Polish workers have come here in droves and undercut us ! It’s an indisputable fact. Don’t expect us to be too philosophical about it.
I agreed with that already several times in that thread. Now its time for you to agree, that despite they were cheaper, they are not second class humans, and that this is not the only problem that British economy faces in recent decade… I don’t think its too much philosophy to expect just that little?
I started this Thread and it hasn’t gone to plan, I am no Polish hater as I have employed one - he went home but was a nice guy came from a farming background but was well educated had been to technical college and was a very good welder.
What Orys has failed to mention is back home for him they have big issues with chinesse labour working in ship repair yards and this is causing big issues and if you think we like a rumble try going to a Polish shipyard there has been all sorts of ‘accidents’ right wing ■■■■ based issues and i speak as some one who works direct for the likes of Skandi and Stena Drilling who put their boats in there. The fact remains OUR problems are Eastern european based opeators who don’t understand cabotage regulations, Uk and European based Freight forwarders who are complicit in there use and the uk Government for failing to police the issue properly and deploy resources correctly.
It interesting that on another thread someone is getting a beating from Vosa for pointing them in direction of the rule book yet vehicles like what I saw at the start of this thread continue to ply our roads
This is not just a problem in Britain, it is the same across the whole of what was formerly known as “Western Europe” before The Wall came down.
In simple terms, drivers from the former eastern block earn much lower wages than their western equivalents. Due to the European ethos of freedom of movement across the EU, they are eligible to work in all countries of the EU.
Of course, in the haulage industry, they do not have to physically move to the west but can work there quite legally for months at a time without ever having to return home.
This fact has long been realised by the Big Players in the European haulage industry and has lead to the situation that exists today, namely that most international journeys across the whole of the EU are these days undertaken by eastern European sub contractors on behalf of the large western European haulage companies who control an increasing share of the freight volume in Europe.
With one of the major cost factors in moving goods from A to B by road being drivers’ wages, the ability to legally employ or engage drivers on a fraction of the wages that were the norm a few years ago has been seized upon by the big boys to the detriment of drivers and smaller firms in western Europe who for years had made a living from international European haulage.
Whether it be registering part of their fleet in the east and manning these vehicles with eastern Europeans, forming “joint ventures” with random eastern European haulage firms or offering appalling rates for international transport on the open market via the Internet, these larger organisations have, at a stroke, drastically increased their own profits and effectively killed off the western European international haulage industry.
They would argue, of course, that it is a “dog eat dog world” and that it is either “sink or swim” but the bottom line is that it is pure greed on behalf of a few to the detriment of many.
The Big Boys must be thinking that all their Christmases have come at once.
They have no concern for the fact that they are responsible for what can only be described as legalised slavery. Profit is the only thing they understand.
That Bogdan spends months at a time shuffling between Germany and Spain or Denmark and Italy without ever having the chance of a return load home matters not. Profits have been optimised.
That he has to subsist on eastern European wages in the west for months and is therefore existing under the poverty line, is water off a duck’s back. If he can’t hack it, NEXT!
That the experienced western European drivers who used to earn their living and support their families by doing a round trip to Spain and then having a couple of days off before doing it again are now plodding around on national work on lower income (if indeed they still have a job) because their firm has gone under or set up a satellite company in the east, is not their problem.
That a knock on effect that restos in France, Spain, etc are having a hard time as their former western European clientele disappears and the new kids on the block exist on cab cuisine for months at a time as they cannot afford to eat out in the west, is of no concern.
The extra profit generated after the eastern chappies have been thrown a few crumbs can be invested in even shinier and bigger facilities to further increase the strangle hold of the major players.
Bogdan and his chums are merely pawns in a pan European game, spending months at a time away from home, dammed to week-ending on motorway parking areas, which are increasingly becoming eastern European ghettos. They have no disposable income to speak of and the shiny things available in the west (including 20 cents for the toilet or 2€ for a shower) are beyond their reach, save for the occasional foray to Lidl or Aldi.
In Germany, which is a classic transit country, the days of hordes of Swedes and Danes in top of the range motors sweeping through en route to Italy and Spain, southern Europeans heading in the other direction and French, Belgians and Austrians parked up at an Autohof of an evening for a nosh and a drink, have long gone.
With the exception of the Cloggies, who still have a sizeable presence (at the moment) it is becoming increasingly rare to spy western European trucks on international work on the highways of Germany.
German hauliers are also having a hard time of it, losing an increasing market share of international work to eastern Europeans.
Norbert Netzer, for example, who used to specialise in Germany - UK, appears to have gone pop. I spotted one of their trailers being pulled by a Bulgarian the other day and when I googled them, their web site no longer exists.
Our firm (15 motors) used to have on average 6 trucks a week on international work. No more. These days I am lucky to get across the border to Holland once in a blue moon.
At the moment the only thing preventing the situation deteriorating further is existing cabotage legislation. Although this is probably being abused on a massive scale across Europe, it serves to stem the tide somewhat. If it is abolished, the situation will become many times worse than at present.
There is growing animosity across the whole of western Europe to the eastern Europeans who are perceived to be stealing jobs by undercutting rates, while the main culprits are the greed orientated firms at the top of the food chain, who are mercilessly playing the EU game to maximise their own profits with scant regard for whom they harm in the process.
Inselaffe:
This is not just a problem in Britain, it is the same across the whole of what was formerly known as “Western Europe” before The Wall came down.In simple terms, drivers from the former eastern block earn much lower wages than their western equivalents. Due to the European ethos of freedom of movement across the EU, they are eligible to work in all countries of the EU.
Of course, in the haulage industry, they do not have to physically move to the west but can work there quite legally for months at a time without ever having to return home.
This fact has long been realised by the Big Players in the European haulage industry and has lead to the situation that exists today, namely that most international journeys across the whole of the EU are these days undertaken by eastern European sub contractors on behalf of the large western European haulage companies who control an increasing share of the freight volume in Europe.
With one of the major cost factors in moving goods from A to B by road being drivers’ wages, the ability to legally employ or engage drivers on a fraction of the wages that were the norm a few years ago has been seized upon by the big boys to the detriment of drivers and smaller firms in western Europe who for years had made a living from international European haulage.
Whether it be registering part of their fleet in the east and manning these vehicles with eastern Europeans, forming “joint ventures” with random eastern European haulage firms or offering appalling rates for international transport on the open market via the Internet, these larger organisations have, at a stroke, drastically increased their own profits and effectively killed off the western European international haulage industry.
They would argue, of course, that it is a “dog eat dog world” and that it is either “sink or swim” but the bottom line is that it is pure greed on behalf of a few to the detriment of many.
The Big Boys must be thinking that all their Christmases have come at once.
They have no concern for the fact that they are responsible for what can only be described as legalised slavery. Profit is the only thing they understand.
That Bogdan spends months at a time shuffling between Germany and Spain or Denmark and Italy without ever having the chance of a return load home matters not. Profits have been optimised.
That he has to subsist on eastern European wages in the west for months and is therefore existing under the poverty line, is water off a duck’s back. If he can’t hack it, NEXT!
That the experienced western European drivers who used to earn their living and support their families by doing a round trip to Spain and then having a couple of days off before doing it again are now plodding around on national work on lower income (if indeed they still have a job) because their firm has gone under or set up a satellite company in the east, is not their problem.
That a knock on effect that restos in France, Spain, etc are having a hard time as their former western European clientele disappears and the new kids on the block exist on cab cuisine for months at a time as they cannot afford to eat out in the west, is of no concern.
The extra profit generated after the eastern chappies have been thrown a few crumbs can be invested in even shinier and bigger facilities to further increase the strangle hold of the major players.
Bogdan and his chums are merely pawns in a pan European game, spending months at a time away from home, dammed to week-ending on motorway parking areas, which are increasingly becoming eastern European ghettos. They have no disposable income to speak of and the shiny things available in the west (including 20 cents for the toilet or 2€ for a shower) are beyond their reach, save for the occasional foray to Lidl or Aldi.
In Germany, which is a classic transit country, the days of hordes of Swedes and Danes in top of the range motors sweeping through en route to Italy and Spain, southern Europeans heading in the other direction and French, Belgians and Austrians parked up at an Autohof of an evening for a nosh and a drink, have long gone.
With the exception of the Cloggies, who still have a sizeable presence (at the moment) it is becoming increasingly rare to spy western European trucks on international work on the highways of Germany.
German hauliers are also having a hard time of it, losing an increasing market share of international work to eastern Europeans.
Norbert Netzer, for example, who used to specialise in Germany - UK, appears to have gone pop. I spotted one of their trailers being pulled by a Bulgarian the other day and when I googled them, their web site no longer exists.
Our firm (15 motors) used to have on average 6 trucks a week on international work. No more. These days I am lucky to get across the border to Holland once in a blue moon.
At the moment the only thing preventing the situation deteriorating further is existing cabotage legislation. Although this is probably being abused on a massive scale across Europe, it serves to stem the tide somewhat. If it is abolished, the situation will become many times worse than at present.
There is growing animosity across the whole of western Europe to the eastern Europeans who are perceived to be stealing jobs by undercutting rates, while the main culprits are the greed orientated firms at the top of the food chain, who are mercilessly playing the EU game to maximise their own profits with scant regard for whom they harm in the process.
Well said.
I think Orys your playing the race card here, I last transited Poland in 1999, I have to also mention I was going to Poland when a Brit needed a visa to get in & my takes is its the capitalist private companies who have been the ruination of a good job, I take offence over your night trunking comments too, if it wasnt for the Poles, Czechs, Lits etc it wouldnt be so, I could no longer compete with Your countrymen as I wasnt prepared to lower my standard of living to theres its that simple.
Maybe Poland is different now but my veiw of the place is the same of Turnip & Harry, I think your living in cloud cuckoo land really, and in fairness if it is the utopia you seem to describe wtf are you residing in the uk for. You seem to have turned this thread into an us & them which in my day we all helped each other once we crossed the border & it didnt matter where you was from,
How many Soviets do you see nowadays in the west now? Your Polish colleagues have even undercut them lot too.
Nextdrop:
What Orys has failed to mention is back home for him they have big issues with chinesse labour working in ship repair yards and this is causing big issues and if you think we like a rumble try going to a Polish shipyard there has been all sorts of ‘accidents’ right wing ■■■■ based issues and i speak as some one who works direct for the likes of Skandi and Stena Drilling who put their boats in there.
No, i did not failed, I mentioned Ukrainian and Vietnamese workforce, the shipyards are rather marginal thing, alotugh I gues in your trade they play important role.
With the shipyards there is another issue, shipyards are viewed special, as, after all, it was the shipyards of Gdańsk in 1980 where communism started to falling down, therefore people see it as a symbol and Polish heritage and are very unhappy when shipyards are closed down or taken over by foreign labour force. The truth is though that we could not compete with fareast shipyards due to labour costs and, as someone mentioned, quality of work (because it is another problem that these shipyards that are still in Polish hands are full of trade union parasites and they paradoxally became an enclave of old Poland, as trade union do not allow any changes. Other enclaves are Polish railways, school system etc etc, but this is subject for another discussion).
Thank you that someone confirmed my words, so maybe now people stop telling me “you don’t know how is to have cheap labour in your country”.
Inselaffe:
This is not just a problem in Britain, it is the same across the whole of what was formerly known as “Western Europe” before The Wall came down.… Although this is probably being abused on a massive scale across Europe, it serves to stem the tide somewhat. If it is abolished, the situation will become many times worse than at present.
This is very good analisys, I just have one thing to add:
It was good from Eastern European point of view, as Western Europe had 60 years to build their haulage industry, we started from scratch in 1990. So if one ever wanted that all European Countries will compete at the level field, there had to be created conditions when Eastern Europeans can build their industry quicker, in a manner of speaking, at the expense of their Western counterparts. But in a manner of speaking Western wealth is build at the expense of Eastern Europe suffering behind Iron Curtain, so altough I can see how the Western hauliers are feeling about that, there is some karma in it (or historical justice if you prefere) if you look at the wider view.
If it wasn’t like that and if we weren’t allowed to compete with you with our lower prices, the big players will just come to Eastern Europe and buy everything leaving these part of Europe without any hauling companies that stayed in Eastern European hands… I think you will agree that in a long run that would not be benefitial for anyone…
BUT
This analysis would be complete 10, max 5 years ago. We live in fast changing world and my invilvement in this thread is to show you, that recently there were some changes. Namely, the economical crisis happened. The small Eastern European companies grew and they are now big enough to be something more than just pawns in that game. Customers all over europe seek further discounts in the price, the big Western companies cannot offer them without further squeezing their Eastern European subcontractors. But these subcontractors have their costs significantly up (except for the Romanians and Bulgarians, lets just ignore them for the moment, I will come back to them later), wages went up, the number of drivers stabilised, awareness of the employee rights risen and average Bogdan will no longer accept the job in which he is away from home for months in the row. This was true 10 years ago, I remember hitchiking with the Polish trucker who recently changed his lorry from Renault Major to Scania and he was very unhappy because his only holidays were when the truck was broken down, and this scania never brokes down…
Nowadays, if you read the Polish trucking forum, the job market look completely different, most of the people work in a 3 weeks on, one week off or 4 weeks on, two weeks off basis, they earn twice as more as they were earning 10 years ago and so on. The jobs you describe off course still exist, but they are considered crap jobs, the companies still advertise for drivers, and just as in Britain, if someone constantly advertise for drivers it means that it is usually not worth to work there…
So, back to the companies: they decided that instead of being squeezed furthther by the big players and they try to unify into some power that can stand against them… Most of the players become of significant size over the years, and they are now working on something like your pallet networks etc, just for European transport…
Some Polish companies open their offices in UK and succesfully compete with the big players.
Now the Bulgarians and Romanians come and do what we done 10 years ago… But 10 years ago it was 15 Western Countries vs 10 cheap countries. Nowadays situation is different: Its 15 Western countries + 10 not so expensive countries vs 2 cheap countries… You cant see it, as we are still cheaper than you are, but when it comes to Bulgarians and Romanians we are already on your side… And as the costs in Poland are still growing fast, much faster than in Britain (over last 5 years diesel price in Britain rised about 40%, in Poland about 90%, the wages of the drivers in Poland rised significantly, in Britain they are still at the same level or even lower etc etc etc) you should be able to compete with Eastern Hauliers soon, in some cases (as I provided in this thread) you are already able to fight back.
So the level playing ground is to be here soon, be prepared to it! Don’t look at the world as it was here 10 years ago, maybe its not “GO!” stage yet, but it is certainly state of “Ready, Steady…”
There is growing animosity across the whole of western Europe to the eastern Europeans who are perceived to be stealing jobs by undercutting rates, while the main culprits are the greed orientated firms at the top of the food chain, who are mercilessly playing the EU game to maximise their own profits with scant regard for whom they harm in the process.
This is very interesting point, I think we should all stand against the greedy capitalists. We are the 99% and stuff
fly sheet:
I think Orys your playing the race card here, I last transited Poland in 1999, I have to also mention I was going to Poland when a Brit needed a visa to get in & my takes is its the capitalist private companies who have been the ruination of a good job,
So you base your opinion on Poland on what you saw 13 years ago? Poland has changed a lot, I am going to my home town once in a six months usually and I am always amazed how many changes I see… 13 years it is a looooooong time for Eastern Europe.
I take offence over your night trunking comments too, if it wasnt for the Poles, Czechs, Lits etc it wouldnt be so,
How you can take offence if I am talking about facts? At least I am not telling that all Britons don’t wash and cant drive
I could no longer compete with Your countrymen as I wasnt prepared to lower my standard of living to theres its that simple.
When there were money in that, British hauliers were going allover Middle East and as far as to Pakistan border. I doubt you have climatised space cabs and showers every 10 miles back then. So I guess it was the British drivers who lacked shower back then and might be looked at by the local drivers as “this dirty, bearded guys in their battered lorries”. Whats my point? My point is that you are as human as we are, and if there is money in spending two months in crap lorry, you will do it as much, as any other Polish driver.
Maybe Poland is different now but my veiw of the place is the same of Turnip & Harry,
Shame, you are smart guys, if you only wanted to open your eyes and look at reality, even if you believe in 30% of what I say, that could change your opinion dramatically…
I think your living in cloud cuckoo land really, and in fairness if it is the utopia you seem to describe
Unlike yous with your myths, I always try to support my points with concrete factual data.
wtf are you residing in the uk for
Because things that are interested in are better here than in Poland. But that does not mean, that EVERYTHING here is better than in Poland.
You seem to have turned this thread into an us & them
In case you haven’t noticed, this thread started from “us vs them”. I just defend “them” from “you”, as your perception of “them” is based on some myths, not on facts.
which in my day we all helped each other once we crossed the border & it didnt matter where you was from,
It is still like that in Eastern Europe… When I have problem on the road, I always can turn to any Eastern European truck and ask for help. I bet any English person can do it as well… But when I am trying to ask something from British truck, my Polish accent often stands in the way and I am just told to bugger of.
How many Soviets do you see nowadays in the west now? Your Polish colleagues have even undercut them lot too.
Now thats one of the best craps in that thread so far.
Btw This Russian thing is actually a good lesson for this, who say foreign hauliers should be banned from UK: Yeah, Russian have exclusive rights to their market, but they lost access to European market. Was it worth it?
I’ve had enough of this nonsence so I’m un-subscribing.
Ross.
bigr250:
I’ve had enough of this nonsence so I’m un-subscribing.
Translation from British to universal English: Nonsence - facts, that do not support my opinions on the subject
Orys,you don`t half go on mate,can you shorten your text,so i have time to read it on a 45 min break.
U mean lke dat? So Im no ritin 2 much n’ stuff?
Well Orys, you do seem to be confusing TruckNet with your University work, where a lengthy and minutely detailed internet-researched article will score you a good mark.
Unfortunately, in the real world, three words can completely destroy your verbose and long-winded thesis.
“We have eyes” 