Two Wide
Its been a while since my last Wide story, some of it due to being lazy and some of it being to lack of driving work and too much decorating at home, so here we go again !
First the boss rings and says you have a week’s work the next week, Cherbourg to La Londe Les Maures, Which is between Toulon and Saint Tropez, usually a 5 day run not including from my house in the Dordogne to where the truck will be near Chateuabriante, a 5 hour drive north.
Then on the Saturday as I was packing and getting my kit ready for a week away, boss lady rings and says…Pack for a fortnight, your also going to Spain.
So, more food, knickers and sox chucked in my bag and I leave home for a night at the bosses house to get ready for an early start Monday morn.
Monday morning seems to come very quickly and during walk round check I find an air leak on cab air bags, Trailer lights not working correctly, and flat battery’s, so in the dark I spend 2 hours fixing stuff, During this my Convoi pilot for the trip arrives and loads his kit into the truck…His van for some reason is at Cherbourg… Bosses don’t always tell you the full story…
So, Away we go to Cherbourg, stopping for a coffee and a Cr**p at the Routier at Guibeville.
When I come to restart the truck, the alternator belt is squealing away and I decide to tighten it at Cherbourg.
We arrive at Cherbourg freight after refuelling at the Esso just outside the docks, much easier without a 4 metre wide load on !, only to find a bit of cosmetic damage to the Mobile home and my mate goes off to sort out a damage report with Brittany Ferries Freight office, I get my kit sorted and tilt the cab to tighten the alternator belt, only to find its brand new, fitted by my boss a few days earlier, and too bloody long, tensioners at full stretch, its usable and apparently the correct one is in the post…
So we commence to load the mobile and find the winch remote not working, so its back out with the tools and another 30 mins and we have go, Mobile loaded, secured, Height checked and overalls off. We have a 45 and get a sandwich and more coffee down my neck.
That done and away we go, a nice uneventful run for a 4hours 10 mins down to Derval.
We cant use the normal routes, we have to use the authorised abnormal route designated by the French government, who I am sure have never tried to drive this route in anything bigger than a 2CV.
Down at Derval we have another 45, more Coffee and a shower and head off down the N137 round Nantes and out to Cholet for the night. been a long day, 9.40 drive, 13.5hrs shift and 699km. ready for a quick sandwich, glass of beer and bed.
Day 2
Checks done and away for about 07.20 and we head off away from Cholet, through Les Herbiers and Vendrennes, meeting up with the N137 and heading south, after a 20min coffee break at a nice little routier, And a lottery ticket just in case I could park up and go home !!!. we truck on to Claude’s, at St Genis for a 30 min break, refuel and work out the days time bans we have to contend with, the main one being Libourne, we cant go through between 1130 and 1400, doesn’t make any sense as that’s the lunch time and the roads are quieter, But we don’t make the rules.
We arrive at the Convoi exceptionelle parking area at Libourne at 1320 after a very clear run down, so decide to have a 45 there and hope to get all the way to St Jory Centre routier in a 4 and half… Do able on a very good day, but unfortunately not today, after Agen rush hour traffic and a few other busy villages I am 18km short when my 4.30 is up, so another 45 and in to the truck park just before 8pm, after refuelling, nice fast pumps and wide bays, we get parked up and chart out at 8.05pm,
I wanted to be parked before 8, as I would have liked to be away at 5am, we only have till 6am to get through Toulouse. Time ban runs from 6am till 9pm, which also means you can be sure you are going to meet another wide one coming towards you.
anyway that’s Tuesday done
9.55 drive 13hour shift and 567km.
A quick can of beer to quench the thirst and an hours TV and its off to bed.
Day 3
and its raining, Chart in at 0505 and then on with checks, Truck, Trailer and Mobile all ok and we pull out at 0515 and battle through the darkness and rain from St Jory, through Toulouse, part of it along the bus route which is part of our designated route, where we meet other wide loads coming towards us and a bendy buss with a driver who thinks his vehicle is about 9 metres wide, after a bit of manoeuvring we manage to get past, and out the other side through Pompertuzat and head towards Carcassone. We have another time ban this morn at Cousson and cant get through there till after 0930, but after 10 is a bit quieter, after 2 hours of driving we pull in at Chez Alan, some breakfast and a coffee, a lie down for a while and after an hour and half, set off again, now daylight and the sun peeking through the clouds… Clear roads, good music and chat on the radio… Doesn’t get much better.
Cousson is relatively quite this morn and doesn’t cause to much of a prob and its back on the open road heading for Sete and Palavas along the way, planning a 45 at Palavas as there is a nice wide parking area next to the sea but its full when we arrive so we push on to Lunel and park up there for a break, Map read and route memorised and away for the last stint. Round Nimes, Arles, Salon de Provence and through Lambesc in a lay-by for the night, parked up at 1700… Early start…Early finish. No boss on our back and we please ourselves when and where we stop, on the odd occasion we meet the Mr and Mrs Boss out on the road there is usually a meal and glass of wine for us. All they ask is we get the job done, send a text when tipped and that’s that.
After a hot meal in the cab and a cool beer, chat with the wife back in the Dordogne, Whose birthday I missed yesterday, a quick wash and settle down to a film before a sleep… 11 off tonight WooHoo… Plan to leave 0630 in the morn.
8.55 Drive 11.55 shift and 485km
Day 4
And I get a knock on the door at 0600, My Convoi pilot has got a flat battery and his van wont start, and where he his parked we cant get jump leads to him, So, chart in early and reverse down the lay-by and attach a strap to his van from the back of my trailer, Then a few attempts to tow start him the length of the lay-by, without success
So plan B, tow him as far as poss. and get his van over to the right and back the truck down between him and the wall, then run jump leads through his drivers side window from 1 of my batteries to his, which is under the seat. and success, It lives again.
So
now running later than planned and set off without breakfast to miss a bit of traffic round Aix en Provence.
3 hours later we arrive in destination village and park up while my pilot go’s off to find the site and best route in, site found and its tight, as always. and the bad news is, the area they have for unloading into has been washed away in a storm and the site owner wants us to reverse round a corner up an hill and deliver inside, I don’t think it will go in, but we give it a go, but there is no chance, so we get his staff out and slow the traffic down on the road and tip it on main road, Job done, signed for and Convoi van loaded on the trailer for the trip back up the country, After a coffee with the site owner its off we go, Me driving and my mate asleep in the passenger seat, as usual.
All going well, until !!!
Cruising along A52 and the engine has a misfire and starts losing power, there is no hard shoulder so I head for the inside lane as we come to a halt
Within a few minutes the autoroute patrol arrives and wants us on the grass bank, he also surrounds us with cones. I have other plans and want to be under the cab with the tools out, It seemed like fuel starvation and I managed to convince the patrol guy that I could fix it before they arrived with a tow truck, so up the cab goes and its out with the tools, I couldn’t get the fuel filter off with the kit I had but checked a few things out but still no go,
15 mins later and the breakdown vehicle arrives and we are banished to the grass verge. after what seemed like an hour still no go and the tow truck is sent for, A very nice Volvo 660 arrives and soon we are suspended ready for the trip to their garage, We follow behind in the mechanics van, When we arrive they decided its to late to continue working on it and will continue in the morn.
So its a night outside the garage on the N7 at Le Canet.
Morning arrives, along with more rain and we await the mechanic, who arrives and gets the fuel filter off, only to find its spotless, He then manages to fire it up with easy start, A good sign but not running on its own fuel. After a few hours he decides its now time to tow it to the MAN dealer in Marseille, another 750 euros on top of the 1450 euros for motorway recovery…A phone call to Mr & Mrs Boss and we are told there is no way its going into a French dealer and to leave it where it is and we were to come home in the pilot van, while he decides what to do. We have had a previous experience with French MAN dealers and MAN/ERF ■■■■■■■■ They don’t have a clue apart from charging thousands.
So its time to empty my cab into the van and begin the long trek north. 1000km Back to the yard, We double drive the van only stopping for a pizza takeaway in Clermont Ferrand and we arrive at the yard 15hours later, all my kit loaded into my car and then the drive home, stopping for a kip at Poitiers for an hour en route. finally arrive home at 9am Saturday morn
Still no news on what’s happening to my truck, so a well earned rest for a few days.
Hope for a better trip next time
