well thats me out of the business now, i sold my motor last month and good riddance .
i am 50 now and been driving artics since i was 22 so i feel ive done my time .
i have been an od twice now , the first time i sold up and went to live in eire until the the work started to dry up there about 1990 so imoved back to uk and set up again, doing spain (yes tiles back) and i was making a good living at it, so much so that in the beginning i could afford to run down empty if needed to , not now .
i gave up spanish work about 3 yrs ago and have tried everything in the uk but to no avail, i just dont accept these crap rates that i have been offered this last year , one customer even had the nerve to ask for a reduction due to higher costs 
so good luck to you all and i hope you have a better year than you had last year.
just an aside i am not doing my driver cpc so my licence is stuffed come 2014 i refuse to be taught to ■■■■ eggs by some numpty in a suit who probably wouldnt know a truck if it run over them
Good luck to you Spikey in whatever you do, it can be hard at times Chap but if its not paying its best to get out before the vultures decend. The driver CPC is just another kick in the teeth too.
Third time lucky Spikey,the job will come right again,but it will take a few years and a lot of pain,but when its good…its not a bad way to make a living…don’t worry about the Driver’s CPC…,there’ll be a dire shortage of quality professional drivers in five or six years time…
Good luck to you Spikey, I am 69 and I have been a trucker all my life, but i wouldn’t come in to the game now.Like you say ,to many numpty’s in suits getting paid twice as much as drivers, making up rules they know nothing about .
In my opinion ,its not the UK who should pull out of Europe , its europe who should be kicked out of the UK
Riverstick:
Third time lucky Spikey,the job will come right again,but it will take a few years and a lot of pain,but when its good…its not a bad way to make a living…don’t worry about the Driver’s CPC…,there’ll be a dire shortage of quality professional drivers in five or six years time…
It will? Maybe if we come out of Europe but I don’t see that happening. Personally, I started work on an alternative about 4 years ago which should start to pay dividends this year. I hope!
If we do not take the DCPC,they will take away our driving licence,but hang on,we have paid for it,so maybe we all go to the european courts for a breach of contract,sales of goods and services act.
Some firms in Ireland wont hire drivers without the DCPC,how can they demand that,when we have until 2014 to comply?
Spikey,did you get those free maps of all the tile factories around Castellon and Onda,the area is quite large with thousands of factories in one area,the places i was sent to,were never on the map,had to ask around to locate them,sometimes wasted hours to find them,they were strict on closing times,and most had long waits in turn to get loaded.The 3 hour lunch breaks too.
toby1234abc:
If we do not take the DCPC,they will take away our driving licence,but hang on,we have paid for it,so maybe we all go to the european courts for a breach of contract,sales of goods and services act.
Some firms in Ireland wont hire drivers without the DCPC,how can they demand that,when we have until 2014 to comply?
No-one can take away your driving licence, the only thing they can do is prevent you driving commercially. I might be able to get a few days visiting race tracks and actually watching some close racing 
How do they take the licence for not taking the dcpc,is it when it needs to be renewed and they keep it at dvlc,if working in europe,would the old bill park us up with a large fine until the dcpc has been taken,and have to send a driver with a valid dcpc to get the load tipped.?
toby1234abc:
Spikey,did you get those free maps of all the tile factories around Castellon and Onda,the area is quite large with thousands of factories in one area,the places i was sent to,were never on the map,had to ask around to locate them,sometimes wasted hours to find them,they were strict on closing times,and most had long waits in turn to get loaded.The 3 hour lunch breaks too.
iused to deliver in st boi then stright over to castellon for reload 2 hrs loading but good toilets/showers deliver to wicks/bq rdc
hanging up my keys due to pay cut for 18 mths no pay rise til 2013
good luck mate
Good luck to you spikey.
Riverstick:
Third time lucky Spikey,the job will come right again,but it will take a few years and a lot of pain,but when its good…its not a bad way to make a living…don’t worry about the Driver’s CPC…,there’ll be a dire shortage of quality professional drivers in five or six years time…
i dont have the time patience money or inclination for a third time, as for a shortage of drivers , i dont think so, i seem to remember reading in that toilet rag thats given away free that there is a massive shortage now ■■ WHERE ■■
just to get me by till my next project gets off the ground i went and signed on for 3 agencys, that was a fortnight ago , still waiting,
if there is a shortage in 2014 i suspect that another country will be let into eu ,hey presto , loads of drivers , i seem to remember that happening not too long ago, isnt that why we now have wincanski and nolanski ?
toby , i did tiles for a long time and you get to know the ones that shut for dinner and shut early, i always did between 9-12 pickups and could more often than not get them on in a day then have the night at fernandos, or the office as we called it , 
then back to caen on 2 cards and home the next night
like i said hope it gets better for you lot sticking with it i really do but i cant wait or put up with it anymore
Spikester,you may have stopped for a meal at that Australian ladies restaurant on the way out of Valencia,she would borrow money to drivers,if they have had a cab robbery,and pay her back next time down there,heard the hygeine was not too good,belly aches,more so,in the summer,with the flies on the meat.The new road to Teruel is very fast now,but you can still run parallel to it on the old national.You remember the Spanish good old boys,with a cigar the size of a cuban missile,and those Pegaso trucks that went like stink.