Afternoon all. I had a little time on my hands so i thought i would do a little work diary of the last week.
Monday .
My week started Monday with loading for Norway. The plan then was unload on the Tuesday and head to Holland, A nice easy week i thought. So after spending Monday morning loading i set off to Norway with my usual 5 drops around the Oslo area. The loading and unload i do my self so having booking times is not an issue except for one or two warehouses which close early. On this run i know i will only get two of my 5 drops off the Monday night as drop 3 will be closed by the time i get there. This isn’t an issue as i can park outside their warehouse on the door and tip as soon as they open. I clear customs and get the first two drops off no issue and park up for the night. Its a nice -10 outside but inside the cab is nice and toasty so have a meal and watch a movie then settle down for the night.
Tuesday
Up bright and early book on get the kettle on and get tipped… Once tipped a walk around check to make sure every thing is working as it should in the cold temperatures and crack onto drop 4/5 these two are in warehouses next to each other and 5mins from my reload so i get them off quick. Once at the reload point i notice the office has been awfully quite. This makes me a bit suspicious. I don’t usually hear from them as it is but something didnt sit well 
Once loaded i text in to tell them Im heading south and they get back to me telling them to check in once i clear customs. No issues so far and im looking forward to my dinner on the boat to Germany later that night and then into Netherlands. i clear customs txt the office to check in to be told to head to Gothenburg and swap trailers with another one of our drivers then head back to Norway… Ah balls there goes my nice week. I speak to our other driver and we arrange to meet. He informs me that there’s only two drops on the trailer. One is where i reload and the other is next door… So after an uneventful drop and swap i find my self parked up in Oslo again for the night.
Wednesday
Wake up early this morning. Fire the truck up and a quick look the temp gauge tells me its -12 so not to cold. I head around to my first delivery and its only a couple of pallets so they whip them off sharpish then next door to tip and reload. I walk into the office where we reload and the man behind the desk gets me a coffee then informs me he will be happy if he doesn’t have to see me again for a while as i have been there nearly 3 times a week the last few weeks. We have a joke and laugh and i tell him it looks like i won’t see him till next week.
Once loaded i start to head south again i keep on passing a farm by the e6 and i always ponder how people can own so much junk. This time i notice they had a local artist come in and brighten up the place with some graffiti stating they “love sl*ts” i have a chuckle about this and think Maybe this time ill make it to Holland. i arrive at customs where they are starting to know me and the lady asked me if i missed them that i was back so soon. Have a good laugh with them and once i get my documents i txt in and am told to come straight back to the yard to drop the trailer then head home for a 24 as iv used up all my 15s and need to reset them. Happy days for me as i get a day at home. I figured its always good to have a 15 available so didn’t complain about my mid week day off.
Friday
after a nice day off on the Thursday it was Into the yard Friday morning to see what’s going on. I know the plan already so i get the truck into order and check over my trailer to make sure it has snow chains etc. as are required for law. After a few cups of coffee and breakfast with the boss and the planner i set off to load. Nice and easy loading in once place. Then straight up to Norway to tip in one of the warehouses up there then around to my favourite place to reload on Sat morning for Germany, I get tipped in quick time and then around and park outside the reload for the night… Nothing exciting happened so watch a movie and off to sleep.
Saturday
Lovely crisp morning this morning and the sun is out. When i pull my curtains around i notice one of ours is already getting loaded. I venture into see my mate in the office and we have a coffee and chat about what has happened since i saw him last… Not much happens in two days… Once the other trucks loaded i get a call off the office telling me to swap trailers so i take the loaded trailer and head south. Not one to complain we swap trailers and i punch on south as have a boat to catch. The drive down to Trelleborg is uneventful and i arrive in good time for the ferry. Looking forward to a good feed tonight on the Boat and a shower with what i know will be an easy day tomorrow…
Sunday
We arrive in on time to Trawemunde and im straight off the boat heading hamburg direction. Bit of a misty morning but roads are empty and we are making good progress. For some reason i decide to check google maps and to my horror i can see from Bremen downwards its solid red. I stop and fuel up just south of hamburg and start to notice all the trucks coming towards me are absolutely covered in snow. This isn’t a good sign. I get to around 50Km before Bremen on the a1 and hit a white out blizzard and the motorway is down to one lane… I need to tip tonight so i call the office and we hatch a plan… slow progress was made and i head off the motorway onto the National road as they ended up closing the motorway to trucks so i nip across the 213 onto the A31 at cloppenburg. The road was empty with loads of fresh snow upon it so slow and steady i eventually make it to the a31 just after lingen, from there its direct south to leverkusen. Im use to driving in snow but the last few hours were hairy enough. I arrive to my destination and speaking to another driver it seems coming off onto the nationals was the right decision. he was ahead of me and said the motorway was horrific. We both get tipped sharpish and bond farewell so i head up into holland and couldn’t get parked. started looking at 8.5 hours driving and managed to park up just after a 10 and just shy of a 15hr day. Thank goodness i had that 24 as this was not in the plan
Monday
Woke up Monday morning and noticed there was more snow so i gingerly make my way out onto the motorway where it took me two hours to get to my reload. should have taken an hour but slow and steady wins the race. Where i reload is quick so i get a 45min break in have a coffee and then decide my best course of action is head up to Groningen then across to Oldenburg drop down to bremen and back onto the a1 and head to trawemunde for the night boat back to Sweden. Lucky the route i chose had little snow on it after yesterdays antics so i made great progress back to the ferry. Arrived with plenty of time so booked off and sorted my stuff out as when i get off the ferry in the morning ill tip beside our yard and then straight home… Over all it was an eventful week but fun non the less and lots of miles covered. I also have plenty of photos which ill upload when i figure it out.
