bigsidney:
…You are obviously an idiot attracted to shiny things and half shut curtains.You will be the one who goes for the interview with said company and categoricly states “I ONLY WANT THE JOB IF I GET TO DRIVE ONE OF THOSE BIG SHINY YANK TRUCKS FROM YOUR WEBSITE” You go for it mate!!!
FPMSL…come on Mark, your turn!!! 
Calm down!! Calm down lads FFS. Slagging each other off over a ■■■■■■■ wagon. 
I still remember my old F86 Volvo .with a scaffolding board behind the seat for my kip, with great affection. 
The more room you,ve got, the more crap you carry about with yer.
Anyway newmercman, what,s wrong with kipping in the shed.??I,ve done it a few times in the past, when I,ve took the hump with my missus. I wasn,t the only rat in there on those occasions. 
I think you,ll find ravanoli that bigsid was having a personal , frank exchange of views with newmercman and aiming a bit of a broad-side at our man in the USofA. (or Canada or summat). where he went coz he couldn,t stand the pace over here in DownThePanLand .
I,m not trying to stoke things up. Honest
Buycrider and Harry (long retired) have more chance of a spin in 500 and 1000. They are used for promotional work, calenders websites and for the retiring driver to have a poodle round the local area on their final few days. Having said that both of them are fully kitted for tank work with hydraulics, electrics and couplings.
And if this becomes a slanging match, my money is on Marc
bigsidney:
Erm how anally retentive are you mate, either that or you are driving one of these things and have stopped at the services to make all the measurements HOW SAD!!!
It is personal opinion of what I want to drive and I personally would pick a topliner or an fh u can stand up get dressed and as I do hang your clothes from the ceiling and I could do a 15hr shift and still feel like driving further, you do that in one of these things and you know you have done 15 hrs and unless on the motrway these things dont make very relaxing but then again why would you want to relax you are a professional!!! With a Merc???HOW ARE THE ARM EXTENSIONS WORKING OUT■■?
You are obviously an idiot attracted to shiny things and half shut curtains.
You will be the one who goes for the interview with said company and categoricly states “I ONLY WANT THE JOB IF I GET TO DRIVE ONE OF THOSE BIG SHINY YANK TRUCKS FROM YOUR WEBSITE” You go for it mate!!!newmercman:
bigsidney:
44 Tonne Ton:
limeyphil:
i suppose you have to do some arse licking to get one of those american trucks.probably got a waiting list of cab happy pricks waiting for a shot at one of those and not caring what the money is as long as they can swan up and down the motorways like rubber duck!
Ohhhhhhh green eyed monster coming out there, if you read further into the company the Volvo NH is their 1000 truck so they made it special as do some UK hauliers on reaching specific historic milestones and I personally wouldnt want any Yank crap whatever the money!!! and the truck pictured is probably assigned to a Dutch driver who has worked for the company for years and it is probably a reward for many years loyalty. I would take a Globetrotter or topliner over that any day mate, but you just stick with your Day cab Scania doing supermarket deliveries and leave the real driving to the professionals
So you’d take an FH over the VNL? I suppose that makes sense… if you’re [zb]ing stupid
The piece of yank crap has a bunk area that stretches out 78" from the back of the driver’s seat, this gives room to walk about, a bottom bunk that converts to a proper table & chairs, a top bunk the size of a single bed, it will have a ‘minibar’ style fridge/freezer, proper wardrobes where you can hang your clothes & cupboards big enough to fit an FH cab inside
Or you can cram all your gear in silly little cupboards & sleep with the back of a seat in your face in your FH, It’s like moving out of your house & sleeping in the shed
You contradict yourself driver, you say you wouldn’t have the big super lorry, but then you tell someone to stick to their little day cab & leave the real driving to the professionals, so in your mind a professional drives a BIG lorry & yet you don’t want the biggest you can get, ergo, you ain’t a professional yourself
Right then, here goes…
Sid, you should do a bit of research before you start gobbing off pal, I DO drive one of those shiny yank trucks, that’s how I know the size of the bunk area, it’s why that particular model of Volvo is known as a VNL780, the 780 refers to the bunk size of 78 inches, it’s all easy to work out if you know what you’re talking about & I do I also did a spell in an FH Globetrotter XL just this month whilst over in the UK on an extended holiday & it is tiny in comparison, if I cleared my Peterbilt out I would have to leave half of my stuff at home because there’s nowhere to put it in the Volvo As buycrider says, the bigger the cab, the more crap in inside it
I would never go for an interview with VDB or anyone else for that matter, I packed up driving in the UK because the job is [zb]ed, that’s how I became newmercman, I used to work for Merc as a salesman, stopped doing that & headed over the pond for some proper trucking, but decided to keep the name
And I hate curtains pulled halfway across the window & I particularly dislike frilly curtains 
More to the point, having driven the FH and the VNLs I know which one I prefer. It has nothing to do with the type of work you are doing, either. With the VN I was on plant and sitework a lot of the time and it was excellent.
There is a bit of condescension here from some (not you, Mark) about things that are not known. We, Mark and I, do know and are in a position to comment. If VDB are hiring then, in the current climate, it has to be worth a try. They were decent enough to work alongside, and we did quite a lot of work through them. If you can get on the caramel tanks then you will be well set.
My God, Mark, you know how to wind them up…
bobthedog:
More to the point, having driven the FH and the VNLs I know which one I prefer. It has nothing to do with the type of work you are doing, either. With the VN I was on plant and sitework a lot of the time and it was excellent.There is a bit of condescension here from some (not you, Mark) about things that are not known. We, Mark and I, do know and are in a position to comment. If VDB are hiring then, in the current climate, it has to be worth a try. They were decent enough to work alongside, and we did quite a lot of work through them. If you can get on the caramel tanks then you will be well set.
My God, Mark, you know how to wind them up…
Me I don’t know what you mean mate
In this instance, especially as dear old Sidney threw down his gauntlet with his silly remarks about prefering a much smaller cab to spend his week in, forget all the chrome & big bonnets for a moment, space & comfort wise, compared to a VNL an FH is like buycrider’s old 86, I know he likes kipping in the shed, maybe he could double man it with Sid
You know I am not into bling really. There is a lack of knowledge based on US trucking movies which has clouded judgements.
VDB were running some conventionals when I was there and I saw the W900 a few times. But what about that stretched Scania that was on Hoogeveens a few years back? Nobody says anything about that one, do they?
Because the mainstay of VDBs work is tanks they can run almost anything they want to and stay within the regs. If you work there and they say you will be switching trucks regularly then you will have signed up accepting the fact.
As for the pay scales, knowing that Holland is nearly as expensive as the UK I really doubt there is that much difference. The dutch may lack some organisation sometimes but they know how to treat people as a rule. Seems there is bad blood here but the specifics sound a little questionable.
newmercman:
I know he likes kipping in the shed, maybe he could double man it with Sid
Me and Big Sid!! Worra team.
That bobthedog, he,s another one. Pulled out of Cornwall because the Grockles were eating all the pasties.
ps. I,m a Bokwurst man meself. I,ve just had some for me brekky.
Us Grockles love that there them Pasties; I do thank thee,
bobthedog:
VDB were running some conventionals when I was there and I saw the W900 a few times. But what about that stretched Scania that was on Hoogeveens a few years back? Nobody says anything about that one, do they
This one 
Or this one
think the thread went off the scale just a wee bit, the lad who done original post must be confused as hell!!
plus i think the yankee units would probably more of a show piece than a every day working unit, (i could be wrong),
and lets face it if you have to have nights out its better to spend it in a bedsit on wheels than a euro prison cell,
personally i would like to try my hand at a yankee/canadian driving job, i have no problem driving euro or yankee vessel, its all good
Neither of those. There was a white 164 custom built about 7 years ago. I think it was on for Hoogeveen out of Amsterdam. It had a huge sleeper on it but was not a longline. If I get home later I will try to find it. I know it was featured in a mag or two so maybe Mark will remember.
As I said, VDB have been going a long time and are no upstarts. If they are hiring then you will be part of a huge company who know what they are doing. Got to be worth a shot I reckon.
Yup, I had to come over here to show the north Americans real proper cuisine!!
Yup, I had to come over here to show the north Americans real proper cuisine!!
[/quote]
full english?
The Scania is not owned by VDB, but by a sub contractor.
Good luck to all who apply And more luck trying to get your Tramping gear on a plane Hope its not RYAINAIR
I remember the longline’ish one you’re talking about Rob, it was in Trucking, I think, it was a subbies motor, I’m sure the old boy was in his last couple of years before retirement & wanted to go out in style.
Reading between the lines.
They are offering reasonable rates of pay, I believe the rates are higher than advertised.
They are offering full training and are willing to take inexperienced drivers.
They are offering good facillities and conditions.
It all comes down to this 3 weeks on 1 week off, the key word in their advert is flexibillity.
Am I right in saying that they want you to work for 3 weeks, they pay for flights to and from the nearest airport to the base your working from then pay to fly you back, but they will have another driver on your vehicle whilst your at home and you will have to hump all your belongings back and forward through airports and airport security?
Is the above the only catch?
I’m sure that if you plan your packing well and only take the bare minimum of clothes and find places to do your laundry it won’t be that bad.
where will they expect you to park up on your weekly rest period whilst your away from home?
Do they have good drivers facillities at there operating centres.
Why are they advertising for British drivers, will the Dutch not work for them?
I’m intrigued to find the answers out?
Anybody shed any light on this?
I saw Van den bosch advertising for drivers to do 3 wks on continent I think based in brum, leeds and so on, well I live on the continent in Austria the job did say various deliveries on the continent not just near Netherlands, germany and the like so I phoned em been as I’m already in the continent got put through to uk they told me they was looking for drivers in leeds, so whats that about then… bizarre… if I wanted to be based in leeds I’d go there dont see the advantage of being based in Leeds for them unless they can pay drivers less but then they got to get them over here and that involves a ferry crossing, mmmmmmmm that’ll be cost efective then LOL, but they sounded ok on the phone
If I remember right, he had just divorced and sold a bar in Spain and had gone back on the road. He bought a 164 and had the sleeper stretched instead of buying a house. White with a red stripe. I saw it in Holland a few times.
At least VDB are looking for brit drivers instead of poles… I suspect you would be able to leave most of your kit behind when you took your time off anyway. Not sure what they have in mind but straight is straight. If they are looking then it has to be worth considering, and just because some say it is crap means nothing.
i started this post, didn’t think it would cause this much trouble and i’ve just had my interview today, after reading the posts on here i can honestly say i wasn’t looking forward to it, for a guy who has been driving class 1 for 17 years, and who has never done european work, some of your comments really put me off, alright its probably my fault for asking about the company, but after going to the interview, and having the job and the company details explained to me, i can honestly say i hope i get offered the job, its not ideal being away from home for three weeks but i’m willing to give it a go, i may like it i may not, if anybody else has an interview, go for it, i think you will be quite suprised, the pay is better than advertised.
