I think it is an excellent first post, too. My tin hat, however, is staying firmly on my own head,
An example for those with their doubts about VDB… I subbed for Translact for quite a while, then I went and subbed for H&R out of Barneveld, Holland. I refused to be based on their UK operation because I was able to beat the tax system better out of the Netherlands than as a UK based subbie, so what difference is there between me milking the systems and the firm doing the same? Also, when you deal with the real bosses on a day to day basis, it improves things. Why would you want to put yourself in any kind of vulnerable position?
Looking at the 2 companies now, I think I was wise, don’t you?
I think it is an interesting turnaround. A few years back, the dutch firms were THE firms to work for. Now there seems to be a rabid anti-dutch feeling simply because they are hiring within the UK… Odd, really.
truckyboy:
i know of a dutch outfit who is opening a depot in the uk with english registered trucks, but when asked about the 6 weekly inspections, was told that is only for the english muppets…they do not stick to the rules like the english…even though we are all supposedly running under eu regulations
i’ve nothing to say about the dutch as never experienced them but truckyboy I’m afraid that the 6 weekly inspection is NOT an EU regulation it’s a UK thing to do with operating licence conditions so just for a change europe isn’t at fault this time
oatcake1967:
Welcome Caledoniandream, a provocative first post and on quite an old thread.
would you like to borrow my tin hat
The Brits are the new Polish, that should stir things up a bit.
Had to edit no capital P on Polish
Polish is not meant to be negative, it’s more meant to be: available labour due to high un-employment in their home country, which can be employed to a cheaper tariff as the the employees in the home country of the employer (like the Polish)
This doesn’t mean that they should get underpaid, but due to using the tax in the right country, companies are able to let it work in their advantage, while the driver still get a decent rate after tax.
In the 80s thousand of British builders would work in Holland and Germany and nobody had a problem with it. Most of them avoided to be more than 90 days a year in the UK, so that they where not eligible for tax in the UK.
It’s a shame that people are not open minded, but already start with seeing the negative things, try to see it with a pair of positive specs.
And if its not for you, no problem.
But never tried is never won.
I worked for more than 24 years on the continent for different companies in different countries, it like Britain out there: good and bad companies al over.
But I never listened to “hear-say” because if you have to believe whets been told at the Truck stops…there wouldn’t be any drivers left.
A guy moaned to me for more than an hour that the company he worked for was the worst in the world, they ripped him of, pushed him over the max etc. etc, on my question how long he was working for the SRB (Stealing Robbing B***reds) company…the answer was 24 year!!! I guess I was missing something there
hello first as some one said give yourself time to settle in and learn the job and the customers also all the washing-out areas, its a great job and you will have fun more than likely also make the odd mistake we all do , get scrounging those spare parts that you will need like extra seals for the pipes and also for the loading man hole, as there is nothing worse than getting the job refused because the seal is no good, they should teach you the necessary points a few tips, all ways ask if you are carrying warm or hot goods what temp they will go solid at, AND then ask to what temperature you can heat the tank up to,i USED TO PUT A BUCKET UNDER the unloading point on the tank so if it did drip it was contained and did not land on the ground, and if using more than one pipe ,make sure that the joints are secure and drip free,when going up on top of the tank, have a clean pair of gloves so that you keep the ladder and railway, clean, if you are doing food stuff you may just get some free samples plus in the tanks is nearly all ways around 5liters rest left in so you end up having say virgin olive oil, or grape oil, perhaps to take home or give away later,plus in some cases wine or whisky etc depending what you have got loaded,
hi grahamzx6r.
i normally post on the old sods site but just happened to zap to this site and saw the thread of v.d.bosch trnspt.i hope that it all goes well for you.just a couple of tips.remember you are a foreigner in holland so they will always feel a little superior[it’s a dutch thing]try to be flexible but don’t let them walk over you[you have as much,or more experience as some of them and less than others]if you can try and learn some dutch,it shows you want to learn and fit in.dont compare the way of working and the way of life with the uk.i don’t know what they have told you re wages. if you are being paid from the uk or holland.if you are paid in holland you should get more or less the same as a cloggy with the same social benefits.FIND OUT.also about the tax system.it’s not a bad country to work in.i worked in the early and mid 70s from the uk running M.E.in 1977 i moved to holland and lived there for 27 years.i also worked in canada for a short time.i now live in lappland above the arctic circle and work for a swedish company so have had a little variaty in work over the years.holland is like anywhere,it has good and bad.it mainly goes back to how YOU personally are treated and how you feel within the company.[sod what others think or say]you work for yourself and your boss so if you are happy with each other that’s the important thing.lots of luck.mike sargent.
ps.if you go to the old time forum and scroll until you find the thread MIKES LORRY PICS you can see some of the firms i worked for.take care.
brit pete: hello first as some one said give yourself time to settle in and learn the job and the customers also all the washing-out areas, its a great job and you will have fun more than likely also make the odd mistake we all do , get scrounging those spare parts that you will need like extra seals for the pipes and also for the loading man hole, as there is nothing worse than getting the job refused because the seal is no good, they should teach you the necessary points a few tips, all ways ask if you are carrying warm or hot goods what temp they will go solid at, AND then ask to what temptress can you heat the tank up to,i USED TO PUT A BUCKET UNDER the unloading point on the tank so if it did drip it was contained and did not land on the ground, and if using more than one pipe ,make sure that the joints are secure and drip free,when going up on top of the tank, have a clean pair of gloves so that you keep the ladder and railway, clean, if you are doing food stuff you may just get some free samples plus in the tanks is nearly all ways around 5liters rest left in so you end up having say virgin olive oil, or grape oil, perhaps to take home or give away later,plus in some cases wine or whisky etc depending what you have got loaded,
Good post Some good advice especaily about the seals. I’am prett sure we will be on foodstuffs Graham. Lets hope its Chocolate and Wine
hutpik:
hi grahamzx6r.
i normally post on the old sods site but just happened to zap to this site and saw the thread of v.d.bosch trnspt.i hope that it all goes well for you.just a couple of tips.remember you are a foreigner in holland so they will always feel a little superior[it’s a dutch thing]try to be flexible but don’t let them walk over you[you have as much,or more experience as some of them and less than others]if you can try and learn some dutch,it shows you want to learn and fit in.dont compare the way of working and the way of life with the uk.i don’t know what they have told you re wages. if you are being paid from the uk or holland.if you are paid in holland you should get more or less the same as a cloggy with the same social benefits.FIND OUT.also about the tax system.it’s not a bad country to work in.i worked in the early and mid 70s from the uk running M.E.in 1977 i moved to holland and lived there for 27 years.i also worked in canada for a short time.i now live in lappland above the arctic circle and work for a swedish company so have had a little variaty in work over the years.holland is like anywhere,it has good and bad.it mainly goes back to how YOU personally are treated and how you feel within the company.[sod what others think or say]you work for yourself and your boss so if you are happy with each other that’s the important thing.lots of luck.mike sargent.
ps.if you go to the old time forum and scroll until you find the thread MIKES LORRY PICS you can see some of the firms i worked for.take care.
thanks for the heads up on working over there, much appreciated
brit pete: hello first as some one said give yourself time to settle in and learn the job and the customers also all the washing-out areas, its a great job and you will have fun more than likely also make the odd mistake we all do , get scrounging those spare parts that you will need like extra seals for the pipes and also for the loading man hole, as there is nothing worse than getting the job refused because the seal is no good, they should teach you the necessary points a few tips, all ways ask if you are carrying warm or hot goods what temp they will go solid at, AND then ask to what temptress can you heat the tank up to,i USED TO PUT A BUCKET UNDER the unloading point on the tank so if it did drip it was contained and did not land on the ground, and if using more than one pipe ,make sure that the joints are secure and drip free,when going up on top of the tank, have a clean pair of gloves so that you keep the ladder and railway, clean, if you are doing food stuff you may just get some free samples plus in the tanks is nearly all ways around 5liters rest left in so you end up having say virgin olive oil, or grape oil, perhaps to take home or give away later,plus in some cases wine or whisky etc depending what you have got loaded,
Good post Some good advice especaily about the seals. I’am prett sure we will be on foodstuffs Graham. Lets hope its Chocolate and Wine
You will certainly be on chocolate work, but get the finished product instead of what is in the tank as that is usually cocoa solids and is unsweetened… The Mars factory will usually give you some to take with you…
As Pete says, the olive oil is always a good one, as is fresh juice, but the frozen concentrate is a bit of a pain. The temp sensitive stuff like chocolate and some oils will often come on tanks with heater coils and couplings that run off the trucks cooling system. Make sure you keep an eye on the seals and try to catch any spillages from there in a clean bucket for reuse. You can’t steam chocolate so if it starts to cool down get advice from the office.
VDB have some washes of their own and will look after you well. One of the worst countries for washouts is Italy. Keep your eye on them and carry a good torch to check the upper parts of the inside. If you get turned away for a lidseal, you can, at a pinch, take it out and turn it upside down. They usually only get weird about them when they are peeling a bit. Buy yourself a long aluminium tube and fix a big bulldog clip to one end, then carry some spotlessly clean rags to mop the little tiny bits of water out of the bottom when loading oils, which usually collects around the outlet.
Tanks are great. It is clean work, steady and sort of elite. You get to know lots of people in the job and they become familiar.
hi all. i dont wish to be a spreader of gloom but dont look at foreign work through too rosy coloured specs.i don’t know what work they have told you that you will be doing but remember.most of the big dutch tank companies have a diversity of work.they have a lot of less than nice products to transport as well as the good jobs.as a new guy you may get a fair few crap loads at first,because you’r new and also to see if you can cope with the job.also all the bigger firms have quite a few tank containers which involves a lot of short distance work from and to railheads and ports.germany in hollands biggest trading partner so there is a lot of work to and from germany.it’s quite possible you may get a lot of tank containers to get settled into the job.
one of my old companies nijman zeetank had a lot of tank container work within the benelux as do the most of the firms in holland.there is so much work going through rotterdam.i know vd bosch had a job which involved staying three weeks in italy and running tank containers to and from novara rail teminal.lots of luck.let us all know how it goes.as geriatric gypsys wer’e all interested.mike
Tank containers dont bother me! I’ve done Tanks for 3 years but never foodstuff. Hope to learn the dutch way of doing things, as i’m lead to belive they are very professional company. Dosent look to good for Sunday not with the Airports closed I have never worked a left ■■■■■■ before
ravanoli:
Tank containers dont bother me! I’ve done Tanks for 3 years but never foodstuff. Hope to learn the dutch way of doing things, as i’m lead to belive they are very professional company. Dosent look to good for Sunday not with the Airports closed I have never worked a left ■■■■■■ before
ey up lad, i’ve had phone call this morning from vdb, they keeping an eye on plane situation, apparently there will be 4 of us going over this weekend, hopefully, left hookers are not as bad as ya think, i had 1 for a year over here, it was ok
Main thing to watch for with LHD is the left mirror and door pillar are unfamiliar blindspots because they are right in your face. Road positioning is no real problem after a little practice because you are used to using your mirrors. Don’t expect everything to be just right straight away, and remember that your left side is your good side for reversing… believe it or not, that can take some remembering.
If you are new to euro driving, remember to think twice. The biggest thing I found was turning left across a road. I actually turned across onto the wrong side once. When there is daylight and traffic, it is not bad, but at night on a deserted road it can be interesting.
If you are put on lift tanks, the surge will catch you unawares. If you are new to tankers then get one thing firmly in your head… If you have to stop hard PUT THE HANDBRAKE ON STRAIGHT AWAY!!!. Even with road barrels it can knock you four ways from Sunday- with a lift tank it is much much much worse. Avoid hill starts to begin with… (no problem in Holland) and just get accustomed to the way it handles. In no time at all you will see that there is nothing to worry about, but they can surprise you. Also, once you are committed to a corner, don’t bottle out halfway through. They are generally forgiving enough and you can cruise around curves just as well with liquids as you can with a curtainsider, but you can’t change your mind as easily.
If I am honest, I am almost envious. I am sat here with a heavy load of steel in a van trailer reminiscing about the fun I had on the liquids…
bobthedog:
If I am honest, I am almost envious. I am sat here with a heavy load of steel in a van trailer reminiscing about the fun I had on the liquids…
if you are being paid from the uk or holland.if you are paid in holland you should get more or less the same as a cloggy with the same social benefits.FIND OUT.also about the tax system.it’s not a bad country to work in.i worked in the early and mid 70s from the uk running M.E.in 1977 i moved to holland and lived there for 27 years.i also worked in canada for a short time.i now live in lappland above the arctic circle and work for a swedish company so have had a little variaty in work over the years.holland is like anywhere,it has good and bad.it mainly goes back to how YOU personally are treated and how you feel within the company.[sod what others think or say]you work for yourself and your boss so if you are happy with each other that’s the important thing.lots of luck.mike sargent.