newmercman:
I used to run the national roads in France whenever time allowed, to answer the OP it was six of one, half a dozen of the other when it came to costs, you used similar fuel in total as the mileage was often less than the Autoroutes, wear and tear is subjective, if you’re hard on a lorry then you’re hard on a lorry and if you drive it properly then the choice of route had no effect. Of course back then due to le petit cafe, we never had the time constraints of running legal, so the choice was there. I ran the RNs for the simple reason that it was more enjoyable than following the big blue line on a map and the food was better, I could get from Calais to Cenis/Frejus for a whopping FF6, but if I was in a hurry then it was the super slab every time.
Italy was different, I once ran to Ancona on the SS9 Via Emilia and the SS16, I fancied it because I heard about the famous Via Emilia and although I’m glad I did it, I would never do it again, it took forever!
Nmm,
Was that using what they used to call the ho chi min ■■ I can vaguely remember being coerced into following someone down and took forever. Was it st dizier with a shell garage and a bridge over the top ? And later on went past a zoo somewhere ? Or have I started on the beer too early ?
I never swapped peage tickets, it was much easier to act skint and stupid, which actually wasn’t an act [emoji23]
From Calais I would go to Boulogne, Abbeville, Beauvais, Senlis, Meaux, Fontainebleu, then RN6, RN504, RN6, Modane. The only peage used was the FF6 one at Chambery. If time was tight I would use the Autoroute to Paris, blast around Le Peripherique and run the RNs from there onwards, if I was in a real hurry it would be autoroute all the way to Chalons or once they finished the big road around Macon I would go all the way to Bourg. I used Frejus 99% of the time, too many old bill lurking around from Bourg onwards for my liking to use the Blanc.
I have heard of this free use of the Italian toll
Mototorway, i am not sure how they did it, but think it involved your mate coming off a junction then swapping tickets with another mate .
In Portugal, I went through the green express lanes for free on the toll or the Via Verde .
Or when stopping at the booth give them a bank card that they do not accept.
A form is given where you post the money to them .
From Calais to Italy, I used the road to Boulougne sur Mer,Rouen, Evreux,Chartres .
I don’t know how the French got any work done with their two to three hour midday meal, six courses, then come back to the U.K. and see a driver sat in his cab with a homemade white bread sandwhich on a ten minute comfort stop in a lay by .
toby1234abc:
I have heard of this free use of the Italian toll
Mototorway, i am not sure how they did it, but think it involved your mate coming off a junction then swapping tickets with another mate .From Calais to Italy, I used the road to Boulougne sur Mer,Rouen, Evreux,Chartres .
The ticket scam sounds strange.IE the ticket is blank except for entry point when you enter the toll and only calculated for payment when you give it to the toll operator at the end of the tolled section or when you exit the motorway.At that point they keep the ticket. 
It’s more likely that they’d have found a way to exit the motorway without going through the toll.Maybe a services access road for example. 
As for Calais to Italy via Evreux and Chartres not Reims. 
Or did you mean Spain.
Yes Carryfast, Rouen and Evreux for Spain.
Most of it is dual carriageway with terrible coffee in the fuel stations.
If you asked for milk with a black.coffee, you would get the frown and shoulder shrugging that only the French could do sarcastically .
The same brand all over the country .
Creosote for the garden fence .
The ticket scam was simple, if you came on at Milan and your mate came on at Bari you would swap tickets and come off at the exit closest to the one your ticket came from, then you would only have to pay the toll for a short hop up the road, rather than the full Milan to Bari or vice versa price.
The other way was to plead poverty and they would either fill out a form, or better yet give it to you to fill out, the form was a promise to pay at a later date. My name when filling out these forms was Mr U R Knocked [emoji41]
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Lots of interesting posts most all true,basically when i came into European haulage 1980 as a driver for a company fridge work [fresh] you did as you were told and you went the way they wanted you to go especially with a load of fresh hanging meat the reason any breakdown at all you were always near a service station with a phone [no mobs ] …"
All company’s knew the price of road tolls and factored it in to the rates “all ways motoways” in any country that is why they built them ,and as for the SS roads in ITALY UNLESS YOU HAD A collection or delivery using them you avoided them like the plague…so yes auto-route, motorway all the time .
The men in the 1980s 1990s who used the old roads ,yes you had to if the was your route ie to Italy before the new roads . the ones who carried on using them after a new one was available, would have been owner drivers,[saving money] or the drivers with no cash left, spent the running money. but most companys gave the drivers cards…
ohh carryfast a" BAG HOUSE" IS A HANDBAG FACTORY…PDB
So DBP, you are saying that everyone using the RN6 or RN10 was doing so because they were skint or trying to save money.
How about the 99% that used the RNs to escape the monotony of the motorways and see a bit of the country.
Or those that wanted an abundant choice of places to stop and eat rather than having to pay through the nose for the limited choices on offer in the service areas.
newmercman:
So DBP, you are saying that everyone using the RN6 or RN10 was doing so because they were skint or trying to save money.
How about the 99% that used the RNs to escape the monotony of the motorways and see a bit of the country.
Or those that wanted an abundant choice of places to stop and eat rather than having to pay through the nose for the limited choices on offer in the service areas.
Spot on. I was one of those and when you fetched up in a decent Relais and carried your second carafe of vin rouge to the table, it would be full of the other 98% who thought like me! 
Robert
NEWMERCAN The only way i can answer that is that you obviously never had a job ,or run ,that needed to get done,and you have never done Fridge work.ie getting English produce to the EUROPEAN MARKET , groupage, men never messed about, England- tip PRATO ITALY return load and back the same week as many did.they never ■■■■■■ about “sightseeing,” in fact that what it was all about not sight seeing you could do that when you were weekended where ever.
Yes the N 10 Paris -Bordeaux no other way so yes you used it ,however not many trucks shipped Dover =Calais if you were going to Spain regular you shipped POOLE if you shippped LEHARVE, back then you used the N10 no choice, however before the autorute to RIEMS was built you would not have gone that way to Lyon unless of a delivery.
if you were lucky enough to please you self what route you took, if your my age you would know most -all drivers made for the Bakehouse except me… I do not know much but i knew my around EUROPE,not the usual goat tracks either, so i say again AUTO-ROUTES EVERY WHERE.
why have we built MOTOWAYS HERE IN England ,Scotland ,WALES new in IR\LAND to keep off A roads would you go all the way up the A5 NOW!NO the same IS in EUROPE,HAPPY DRIVING …PDB.
OHH sorry ROBERT i do not agree i could think of nothing worse than slopping all that cheap “old house diesel red” down and eating all that fat covered in gravy,the only reason all the drivers now and then go on about the RELIAS ROUTIERS IS BEYOND ME. the time the food was served, you had all been filled up with the red plonk and bread and you did not really now what you were eating, i used to ask my fellow drivers the day after WHAT DID YOU EAT AT THE ROUTIERS they would not be able to tell you…my take on it.no offence . the next day.if i would cook up and offered some around guess where they would eat,cab hotel…
peggydeckboy:
NEWMERCAN The only way i can answer that is that you obviously never had a job ,or run ,that needed to get done,and you have never done Fridge work.ie getting English produce to the EUROPEAN MARKET , groupage, men never messed about, England- tip PRATO ITALY return load and back the same week as many did.they never ■■■■■■ about “sightseeing,” in fact that what it was all about not sight seeing you could do that when you were weekended where ever.
Yes the N 10 Paris -Bordeaux no other way so yes you used it ,however not many trucks shipped Dover =Calais if you were going to Spain regular you shipped POOLE if you shippped LEHARVE, back then you used the N10 no choice, however before the autorute to RIEMS was built you would not have gone that way to Lyon unless of a delivery.
if you were lucky enough to please you self what route you took, if your my age you would know most -all drivers made for the Bakehouse except me… I do not know much but i knew my around EUROPE,not the usual goat tracks either, so i say again AUTO-ROUTES EVERY WHERE.
why have we built MOTOWAYS HERE IN England ,Scotland ,WALES new in IR\LAND to keep off A roads would you go all the way up the A5 NOW!NO the same IS in EUROPE,HAPPY DRIVING …PDB.
…Quick get the pop corn and the comfy seats!!
PDB, Newmercan ( ) has definitely done the things you say and yes he has definitely done non stop fridge work, namely for a certain Storage Company from South London! I think me and him over lapped a bit when I did a bit of casual for them once.
From your posts I assume, politely, that you are of a greater age then some on here and therefore should be afforded some respect as an “old hand”. I don’t think Newmercan ( ) is far behind you though!! 
Oh dear, you have no idea. Yes I was one of the one a week groupage gang, I also worked and later subbed for the most prestigious fridge company in Britain, I’ve also done hanging meat and I still managed to use the RNs through choice.
I’ve also shipped out of Dover many times en route to Spain as leaving London I could be south of Poitiers long before a boat had docked in Caen, Cherbourg or Le Havre.
I’ve spent many nights in good routiers sat at a table with total strangers from all over Europe dining on freshly cooked food and sharing wine, learning new things and improving my grasp of different languages, all with a wallet full of DKV, EuroShell, Caplis and Via cards.
While you follow the big blue line on the map drivers sat on your own in a service station cafeteria eating bland food from the freezer.
I know one thing for sure, I’m bloody glad I did it the way I did the job and not the way you did it. I’ve got a truck load of memories and made a lot of friends during my time over the water.
robert1952:
newmercman:
So DBP, you are saying that everyone using the RN6 or RN10 was doing so because they were skint or trying to save money.
How about the 99% that used the RNs to escape the monotony of the motorways and see a bit of the country.
Or those that wanted an abundant choice of places to stop and eat rather than having to pay through the nose for the limited choices on offer in the service areas.
Spot on. I was one of those and when you fetched up in a decent Relais and carried your second carafe of vin rouge to the table, it would be full of the other 98% who thought like me! Robert
To a certain point I agree, however I think the rose tinted spectacles may be on, as indeed they were when I asked the question…
Was all a bit different if you shipped nicely on a Thursday to tip MADRID / barcelona / Milan / Malaga / dark side of the moon on Monday…
But as we all know the reality was always late Friday night / Saturday morning with groupage, and whatever time of the day or week with frigos,
I always thought the nationals were ok for a gentle south bound ride. But a total nuisance when going north bound…
I didn’t do many frigos but I for one found them easier than late groupage / shoe load mentalness
Thanks for your comments, really didn’t expect such a turn out !! I must be improving !
peggydeckboy:
NEWMERCAN The only way i can answer that is that you obviously never had a job ,or run ,that needed to get done,and you have never done Fridge work.ie getting English produce to the EUROPEAN MARKET , groupage, men never messed about, England- tip PRATO ITALY return load and back the same week as many did.they never ■■■■■■ about “sightseeing,” in fact that what it was all about not sight seeing you could do that when you were weekended where ever.
Yes the N 10 Paris -Bordeaux no other way so yes you used it ,however not many trucks shipped Dover =Calais if you were going to Spain regular you shipped POOLE if you shippped LEHARVE, back then you used the N10 no choice, however before the autorute to RIEMS was built you would not have gone that way to Lyon unless of a delivery.
if you were lucky enough to please you self what route you took, if your my age you would know most -all drivers made for the Bakehouse except me… I do not know much but i knew my around EUROPE,not the usual goat tracks either, so i say again AUTO-ROUTES EVERY WHERE.
why have we built MOTOWAYS HERE IN England ,Scotland ,WALES new in IR\LAND to keep off A roads would you go all the way up the A5 NOW!NO the same IS in EUROPE,HAPPY DRIVING …PDB.
I know exactly where you’re coming from PDB, especially with regard to 'fridge-work. But there are two things I would disagree with in your post. Firstly, you can’t compare our cramped and congested Isle with France. The Routes National are France’s equivalent to our A-roads, but they were empty and a pleasure to use. Secondly, it wasn’t a matter of sight-seeing and having fun instead of getting on with the job; it was a matter of introducing some quality of life into the gritty business of Continental trucking and you planned it so that you didn’t lose significant amounts of time. In fact we learned this art from the Continental drivers themselves, who like me (and others) continued to enjoy the brilliant old RN10 long, long after the A10 was built. Alas, the old RN10 is now just another motorway without tolls. Neither of us ‘right’ here, however, because both you and I did it the way that suited us. Cheers! Robert
peggydeckboy:
NEWMERCAN The only way i can answer that is that you obviously never had a job ,or run ,that needed to get done,and you have never done Fridge work.ie getting English produce to the EUROPEAN MARKET , groupage, men never messed about, England- tip PRATO ITALY return load and back the same week as many did.they never ■■■■■■ about “sightseeing,” in fact that what it was all about not sight seeing you could do that when you were weekended where ever.
Yes the N 10 Paris -Bordeaux no other way so yes you used it ,however not many trucks shipped Dover =Calais if you were going to Spain regular you shipped POOLE if you shippped LEHARVE, back then you used the N10 no choice, however before the autorute to RIEMS was built you would not have gone that way to Lyon unless of a delivery.
if you were lucky enough to please you self what route you took, if your my age you would know most -all drivers made for the Bakehouse except me… I do not know much but i knew my around EUROPE,not the usual goat tracks either, so i say again AUTO-ROUTES EVERY WHERE.
why have we built MOTOWAYS HERE IN England ,Scotland ,WALES new in IR\LAND to keep off A roads would you go all the way up the A5 NOW!NO the same IS in EUROPE,HAPPY DRIVING …PDB.
As I remember it the A26 didn’t even exist as we know it today let alone the the A5/A31/A39 links via Dijon.In which case you just had the choice of the relatively short autoroute link between Calais and Paris and then just the A6 to Macon or Lyon and beyond.As for Spain what motorways are you talking between Poole and Spain bearing in mind Paris to Poitiers was just about all there was to the South West of France.
peggydeckboy:
OHH sorry ROBERT i do not agree i could think of nothing worse than slopping all that cheap “old house diesel red” down and eating all that fat covered in gravy,the only reason all the drivers now and then go on about the RELIAS ROUTIERS IS BEYOND ME. the time the food was served, you had all been filled up with the red plonk and bread and you did not really now what you were eating, i used to ask my fellow drivers the day after WHAT DID YOU EAT AT THE ROUTIERS they would not be able to tell you…my take on it.no offence . the next day.if i would cook up and offered some around guess where they would eat,cab hotel…
That was, I agree, often the case in the Centre Routiers chains. However, the individual Routiers were a bit like English pubs: capable of brilliance! Some of them were situated in towns or villages with wineries that had exceeded their export quota, so they simply supplied their local Routier with top quality vin rouge to pass off as vino collapso. The discerning French drivers and Sunday families knew perfectly well which side their bread was buttered in these establishments. Many British drivers were absolute experts at digging out these places. The food in some of them was exceptional. I always kept a copy of the Guide Des Relais Routiers
in the cab at all times! Cheers Robert.
Tubbysboy:
robert1952:
newmercman:
So DBP, you are saying that everyone using the RN6 or RN10 was doing so because they were skint or trying to save money.
How about the 99% that used the RNs to escape the monotony of the motorways and see a bit of the country.
Or those that wanted an abundant choice of places to stop and eat rather than having to pay through the nose for the limited choices on offer in the service areas.
Spot on. I was one of those and when you fetched up in a decent Relais and carried your second carafe of vin rouge to the table, it would be full of the other 98% who thought like me! Robert
To a certain point I agree, however I think the rose tinted spectacles may be on, as indeed they were when I asked the question…
Was all a bit different if you shipped nicely on a Thursday to tip MADRID / barcelona / Milan / Malaga / dark side of the moon on Monday…
But as we all know the reality was always late Friday night / Saturday morning with groupage, and whatever time of the day or week with frigos,
I always thought the nationals were ok for a gentle south bound ride. But a total nuisance when going north bound…
I didn’t do many frigos but I for one found them easier than late groupage / shoe load mentalness
Thanks for your comments, really didn’t expect such a turn out !! I must be improving !
I certainly agree that there were times when it was best to crack on up the motorway. My driving life took a turn for the better when I grew out of the notion that being back home for Friday night or Saturday morning was the bee-all and end-all. Easy for me because I was single; but it transformed the quality of my existence at the end of the week. The thing about les Routiers was that it gave you a social life, which stopped you being a robot! Robert
Same here Robert, many times I haven’t had the time to ponce around on the old roads. I worked for an Italian firm for a while and because of the requirement to be out of France before 10pm on Saturday when heading to the UK in an Italian lorry I even used to use the then new Dijon to Reims autoroute and eat in Sommesous, just in case I needed to dive into Belgium to beat the 10pm deadline.
Many times I’ve got on the motorway in southern Italy and stayed on them all the way to Calais, I’ve also used the autopista from Barcelona to Alicante rather than take the N340 when the click was ticking.
One very well respected fridge firm I worked for insisted that we run the national roads from Macon to Angouleme when going to Madrid from Chalons rather than run the quicker peage route down to Le Bolou and take the N11 to Madrid. That was the only stipulation they had though, anywhere else we could go whichever way we wanted.
Also bearing in mind that the French motorway network was nothing like as large as it is today anyway.