Truck & Driver UK – September 2019

Truck & Driver August 2019^89

0330 1245 654 • EMAIL: [email protected] • WWW.HIRECOTRUCKPARK.CO.UK

The six members

of Team T&D so

far are...

Paul O’Callaghan

Ireland, Australia

and all points in

between

Location Ireland

Currently

driving Scania R580 Topline

Chris Maddison

Sufferer of acute

Fodenitis

Location

Holmfirth, West

Yorkshire

Currently driving

Foden Alpha XL

Luke Vernon

Pioneer of truck

vlogging

Location West

Wales

Currently

driving Volvo FH 500

Dual-Clutch

Russell Oliver

Shine bright like

a diamond

(geezer)

Location

Somewhere in

Europe

Currently driving Scania

S730

Mat Ireland

Writing, rockin’

and rollin’

Location Suffolk

Currently

driving Daf XF

440 Super Space

Simon Butler

Marine

machinery

mover

Location

Hawkinge,

in Kent

Currently driving Renault

Range T 460 AML 6x2 with

Comfort interior trim

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Disclaimer: your employer has

to be okay with it. And why

wouldn’t they be? We’re being

all super-professional and that

to pick up the D1075 and head

to Bourg-en-Bresse, then to

Besançon and up to Vesoul.

Our destination is the Routier

restaurant at Chaumont called

The Viaduct, which now isn’t as

busy with the Brits because of

the bypass around the town.

A starter, a main, a cheese

platter, a dessert and a jug of

wine sets us back just €14 –

that’s four courses for around

£11 – then it’s off to bed.

Day 5

A nice cuppa, a wash and north

to Calais. It’s a doddle to Reims

via Châlons-en-Champagne

and, as we cross the centre of

Reims, we spy the fantastic

headquarters of the

champagne producers.

We have to find

another route to Calais

as Saint-Quentin

gendarmes need

72-hour notification for a police

escort, so it’s across to Roye

then up to Arras. Sven has been

spot-on with the timings round

the towns and so we miss all the

rush-hour curfews.

About an hour from Calais,

we stop for a quick drink at the

Windmill Routier and then Sven

escorts me for the last stretch to

the port. I say goodbye to Sven

and his wife, who will head home

to Belgium, then I collect my UK

movement order from the P&O

office and board the ferry,

followed by a quick run up to

Ashford Truckstop for the night.

Day 6

I enjoy a nice lay-in this morning

as I wait for all the traffic to

relax, then it’s up to Dartford

Tunnel. My pocket is lightened

by £42 for the escort, then it’s

through the pipe into Essex.

We are routed up the M11

and across the A14 and some

roadworks then straight up the

A1, coming within two miles of

home – but with no time left in

which to stop, we make Purdy

Lodge, just north of Morpeth.

Day 7

Eleven hours off and we head up

for the final few hours to our

delivery point, Port Edgar

Marina, directly below the Forth

railway bridge. It’s quite tight

through the village and, as

we enter the marina, we

reverse down the slipway

under the gantry crane.

Two big slings are fed

round the underside of the

boat and within 30 minutes

the trailer is empty and

everything stowed away.

I enjoyed this trip, as it

was a little more challenging

than our normal loads.

Convoi regs – so it’s night

driving only on Côte d’Azur

Thanks, Sven, who escorted Russell from Nice up to Calais