Blog Post
This is the story of a trip which required help. The destination was Ibiza and the volume of goods which needed transporting was too much for Mercy! (Mercy – short for Mercedes and a name I’ve given my van!)
I recruited the services of a colleague that I’d worked with on Euro trips many times before. His name is Don (aka Joe 90 or The Navigator!) Don was able to bring his Sprinter with a 14 cubic metre box trailer and the two of us now had enough capacity to complete the transport of goods to Ibiza.
We loaded up on Sunday morning. The weather was perfect in London Bridge and the client was organised and ready to go. Most the furniture we put inside the trailer and the boxes, bags, lamps and pictures etc were all stacked into the vans.
The whole trip was organised around the ferry in Valencia. We had to be at that Spanish port for 19:30 on Tuesday in order to catch the 21:30 ferry to Ibiza port. So by leaving on Sunday, we allowed ourselves plenty of time.
Our route was set to take us right through France and, because it was going to work out the shorter route, we headed for Paris. Normally this is not a great idea! But as we were destined to hit Paris at midnight, we thought traffic would be kind to us.
As it so happened, the roads were relatively quiet and so our decision paid off.
We got as far as a little way south of Paris on the Autoroute when it was decided (via Walky Talky!) that we should rest up. We pulled into a service area, brushed our teeth and settled into position in our respective vans!
Stage 2 – Monday
We awakened to the sound of raindrops on the steel roofs, which is infinitely better than being woken by the burning sun through the windscreens. Once freshened up and infused with coffee, the journey south continued.
The weather decided to change for the better, and of course, the further south we drove, the warmer the temperature became.
We made it as far south as the Millau Viaduct and stopped for some rest and a bite to eat.
The Millau crossing is an awesome structure that bends across the valley below and is the highest bridge in the world and the 17th highest bridge deck in the world, created by a French structural engineer and British architect.
Our next stop was near the south coast of France. Hunger pangs had set in and the lure of those golden coloured arches was causing us to gravitate towards their offerings!
Don had been suffering with a bad back the whole way and this seemed to initiate in him a certain madness! The Macdonalds restaurant had just shut (for its ‘eat in’ customers) and we were forced to walk around to the ‘drive in’ window. Don, in his wisdom, thought it would be hilarious to act out a scene where he was driving a car, and proceeded to give his food order to the petrified teen employee girl whilst gesticulating crazily as if both his hands were on a steering wheel! The ‘brumm brumm’ noises and spluttering only added to the confusion and I was glad to get out of there as quickly as possible!
We then headed for the Spanish border and reached this point at about 1:30am. We found the nearest service area and turned in.
When dawn came, so did its heat! The Spanish sun started as it meant to continue all day – scorching!
We took the opportunity to check tyre pressures, topped up with air and headed for Valencia.
Last stretch to the ferry port
Our ferry from Valencia was at 21:30 but we needed to be there two hours in advance. We made it with hours to spare, sorted the tickets in the air-conditioned ferry offices and cooked up some sausage and beans while we waited!
After being directed into position at the terminal queue by men with whistles, our wait was only interrupted by some random checks by the local police who were only interested in a quick peak in the back. We were ushered through a gate then, by the ferry staff, and up a ramp to the boat where a complicated process was in place to organise a mix of vehicles that mostly had to do three point turns and park in strange fashion.
We then made our way to the bar, bagged our seats and then made plans to find the cafeteria!
The food tasted terrible but maybe it was the fact that I’m not used to artichokes made of rubber with mash potato that had the consistency of semolina!
The ferry was basically a floating disco, although, to be fair, much of the area could be used to avoid the partying. With lights flashing, bass pumping and repetitive beats a-beating, it would be entirely clear to a lost dolphin that he was in the general area of Ibiza!
I tried to get some sleep in an upright position, as there were no spare spaces for lying flat. Don lay snoozing with his new Bluetooth Bose headphones on whilst my head would do that dropping thing every time I managed to sink into unconsciousness!
We arrived at the Ibiza port on the south side of the island. It was about 3am and the client would be ready for our arrival at 7:30am. So a brief, 4 hour sleep in the van was in order, as we were only 30 minutes from our destination.
The property was a very old villa set deep in the country, away from any sign of hedonistic revelries and surrounded by all manner of plant life. The new owners were renovating it as part of their new Holiday Letting project.
The pool was positioned in a beautiful setting low down in front of the house with a high, angled stone wall giving it shelter and privacy. Bamboo plants overlooked the wide lounging area.
It had an awesome serene atmosphere, which explains why the previous owner, a 73 year old, self sufficient feminist lady was able to achieve inspiration for her art, I’m sure.
After our little tour, we started the unloading. It was tricky for “The Navigator”, aka, Don, to reverse the van and trailer down the narrow lane, with its edges bordering a drop into a dried up stream. But he did brilliantly.
As with a lot of the destinations that I am commissioned to find when transporting goods to Spain, Italy, France and other parts of Europe, the lane in this case was not one in which a big moving lorry would have been able to negotiate. My service is a useful one when access is limited because of the size of my vehicle. In this case the customer had too much to transport for one van, but having the ability to pull any size trailer was a real help. Plus it’s great to maintain relationships with other guys who do what I do whenever there’s an even greater need for volume.
We were able to unload the vehicles in under an hour by enrolling all the on-site tradesmen in the process! At 7:30am, the process was a much cooler one, although this didn’t stop me taking advantage of a dip in the pool!
Once we were all refreshed and we’d ensured every last table leg and box of towels had been delivered, we headed for the port of Ibiza to arrive in good time for our ferry back to Valencia.
As we had two hours to kill before embarkation, we had a bite to eat.
The opportunity also afforded us the time for a proper van tidy-up…
… and the burning sun helped with the wet swimming shorts!
Back to the mainland
Once again, men with whistles supervised the vehicles ascension into the boat and once parked to their satisfaction, we climbed our way upstairs to the bar.
By this time the effects of reduced sleep had kicked in. Something to do with seeing empty seats in the shape of beds I think! It didn’t take long to drop off, even amongst a room where 10-12 Spaniards were being entertained in a circle, randomly clapping in sync at the fella doing tricks!
After my snooze I succumbed to a chocolate cake followed by a wander out on deck.
After 5 hours blogging, eating, snoozing and searching online for potential van loads from Spain to UK (using the brief spells of Internet data available!), we arrived at the Valencia port.
I wished we’d had more time to see this beautiful city with its wide, open palm tree-lined roads and architecture. But alas, we needed to make our way back.
The journey north was beginning at dusk and so it was time to consider our next location for a sleep.
We arrived at a service area north of Barcelona, fuelled up and grabbed hold of about 6 hours sleep.
Again, the burning sunshine was very unpleasant to wake up to inside a van cab! But at 8:30am, it was probably a good idea to get going.
Friday 18th March 2016 (UK Collections)
Chiswick – 07:30
Tregunter Road, SW10 – 08:00
Kingsgate Place, Kilburn – 09:00 – 09:30
Spruce Hills Road, E17 – 10:30 – 11:30
Cornsland, Brentwood – 12:00 – 13:00
Brighton Road, Coulsdon – 13:30 – 14:30
Dover Port – 15:30 – 16:30
Saturday 19th March 2016 (Italy Deliveries)
Pietralunga – 16:00
Monte Santa Maria Tiberina – 17:30 – 18:30
Sunday 20th March (Italy Deliveries)
Campersalle – 09:00
Nocera Umbra – 11:00 – 12:00
San Vito Dei Normanni – 20:00 – 21:00
Monday 21st March (Italy Deliveries and Collections)
San Michela Salentina – 11:00 – 12:00
Oria – 12:30 – 13:30
Cutrofiano – 14:30 – 15:30
Bari – 17:30 – 19:30
Tuesday 22nd March (Italy Deliveries and Collections)
Milan – 12:00 – 14:00
Sesto Calende – 13:30 – 15:30
Wednesday 23rd March (UK Deliveries)
Brighton Road, Coulsdon – 10:00 – 11:00
Slough – 12:00 – 15:00
Bristol – 15:00 – 18:00
Thursday 24th March (UK Deliveries)
Warwick – 12:00
Leaving for Italy tonight (Sunday 7th June)
Schedule:
7/6/15
21:00 – Chiswick (collection)
8/6/15
08:00 – 12:00 – Brussels
8/6/15
17:00 – 19:00 – Emmen, Switzerland
9/6/15
09:00 – 12:00 – Cesena, Italy
12:00 – 15:00 – Campersalle, Umbria, Italy
15:00 – 18:00 – Loro Piceno, Le Marche, Italy
10/6/15
08:00 – 09:00 – Ostuni, Puglia, Italy
13:00 – 16:00 -Scario, Province of Salerno, Italy
11/6/15
09:00 – 12:00 – Marseille, France
Transport to Germany and Italy
This month’s shuttle trip to and from Italy has gone well so far. A slight delay caused by some high winds meant I’d fallen behind slightly, but I’m back on track!
I left Gloucestershire on Wednesday 6th, early and headed for London to collect goods for onward travel to Germany and Italy. Previously, during the week, I’d loaded the van with other goods and had left enough space to collect the remaining loads.
Loading Worries!
It is always a worry, when you plan separate loads for individual customers, that you may get the calculations wrong and not have enough room by the time you reach your last collection before making your way to the ferry! And today was no exception! Due to some inaccurate measuring by two of my wonderful customers, it was looking like a running out of space situation by the time I reached New Addington for the last pick-up!
All Good!
Luckily, I’d allowed some extra space in case this might happen, and so all was (just about) well!
Once across the channel, I set my GPS for Munich – the first customer’s home. Gemma had ordered some decking and balustrade timber from the UK so that her husband could set about building their pergola!
Savings!
Now, you’d think it all a bit less complicated to order the timber locally in Munich! After all, surely wood is in plentiful supply and therefore cheaper in the country that houses the Black and Bavarian Forests! But after raising this point with my prudent client, Gemma, it would seem this more complicated plan of hers saved her over £1000!!!
Onwards, Through Stunning Austria
Next on the list of destinations for this trip: Monte Santa Maria Tiberna in the Perguian mountains.
From Munich, I set in the way-point to Fernpäss, and headed to Italy. This is a more direct route than heading to Salzburg and west to Innsbruck along comparably dull Autobahns. And here’s why:
Italy
After a good sleep, parked between trucks at the rest area on the Brenner Pass, I headed across the Austria-Italian border at about midnight. The Autostrade was pretty clear at that hour, shadowed by the towering mountains on either side as the moonlight shone behind them.
I reached Monte by 7am and waited in a mountain lay-by until it was time to meet the housekeeper who would be at the house by 9:15. Literally, the only sound I could hear was the birds. No distant traffic or planes. Just literal, avian tweeting in the morning sunlight!! It was so serene!
So at 9:15 I started unloading the furniture and boxes and carried them along the cobbled corridor and into the home. Joe and Robbie are the clients whose products I was transporting to Italy. Their company, SPINA, are a team of interior designers, so the goods were very expensive and fragile. Once delivered, I took a few surrounding photos of the area and mode onto the next delivery.
Irsina, near Matera was the next destination. Wayne, the customer, had given me a key to his place in this town, so that I could deliver his sofa, rocking chair, nest of tables and cupboard in his absence.
The tricky but was getting into the town!
Eventually, I found my way to the town, only to be faced with very narrow streets with archways to negotiate, protruding doorsteps to avoid and overhanging air-con units to miss!!
The street I needed was particularly challenging for a 7 meter Mercedes Sprinter and I only JUST managed to reverse into the street entranceway without any scratches!
After single-handedly unloading, wheeling and manoeuvring the 2.5 meter sofa down a small flight of stairs and into Wayne’s home, I placed the other items inside the house, locked up and made my way to the next one…
This next delivery was to Martina Franca in Puglia.
Now, transport to Puglia is not so easy for people to find, so my customers tell me! And I’ve capitalised on this fact over the years, acquiring a small client base there since 2008. This trip saw 6 of these clients all needing a small load in a concentrated area near Ostuni.
Nevertheless, it still took all day to deliver all their goods, such is the terrain and level of ease locating villas and trullos in this rural area!
After a Saturday fraught with arranging Italian Architects, builders, housekeepers and clients to be present for spuriously timed deliveries, I moved on to the next area of Italy: Calabria…
Zambrone is a small town in the region of Calabria and very near to the Tyrrhenian Sea. This is where my next client had asked me to go in order to collect his boat that needed transport from Italy to Blandford, Dorset. This was a 4 hour drive southwest from where I was, so speeding along past Taranto and the coast of Ionian Sea, I eventually arrived in a town 30 minutes from Zambrone, called Pizzo. Here, I perched the van facing the water in a kind-of car park overlooking the sea.
Sunday morning
While I tried to have a Sunday lie-in, the echoed sound of Italian dogs snapping in the marble-floored apartments behind me, together with eager church-going residents starting their nearby cars, prevented this!
So I peeled a banana, scrubbed my face and armpits with a bodywash product and headed up the winding cliff face roads.
I was to meet someone in Bar 88 who would lead me to where the boat (on a trailer) was being stored. Even though it was 9:30 on a Sunday morning, the bar owner was there, busy serving smartly dressed Zambronians with espresso as they made their way to church.
I was introduced to a man who spoke zero English and asked to follow him. He led me and the van in his car to the field where the boat was.
The trailer had no electrics, but I was forewarned of this. We hitched up and strapped down the boat securely in the burning sun! Next, i fastened on the tailboard lights and looped the cable around the trailer frame. After plugging in and a quick lights test, I made my way to the nearest garage where I could get some air into the trailer tyres! They were dangerously low on pressure and my snail-pace drive back down the winding cliff indicated this!
Pumped and ready to go!
Riding on air again, I set the sat nav to the next destination: Treviso, in the north of Italy, near Venice. A mere 12 hour drive! But at least it was homeward bound!
This was a slow, 56 mph plod along the Autostrades and peppered with frequent stops in order to check the boats security and the heat of its trailer’s tyres. I think I put way too much air in! They were scorching after the first stop! Do I let a load out and moved on.
The next stop saw a vast improvement. The tyres were running warm and I was happy! Although, the deep whirring sound of a dodgy wheel bearing did alarm me somewhat! But when you are 2000 miles away from home, you just got to put your fingers in your ears and pretend it’s not happening…! (Said no courier ever!! Haha!)
100 miles away
10 hours later, no sign of any wheels falling off! I pulled into a service area on the road to Padova for a sleep. It was, after all, 3:30 am and my main concern was to get past the busy Bologna, Monday morning rush hour point during the dark and quiet hours.
I awoke at 7am by the heat of the sun, robbing me of the two extra hours which I’d planned to spend zonked out!
I was only 100 miles from the load at Treviso (3 pallets of goods destined for Blantyre). I’d acquired this job through Courier Exchange, the network where notifications of jobs are sent out to couriers like me. This one came in en route to Munich a few days earlier, where I quickly seized on the opportunity to quote for it, knowing the ETA for that part of my route home would coincide with the customers requirements.
It doesn’t always work out like this, but I was thrilled to get this job as it meant I would not need to spend any time searching for other loads back.
Treviso
I am writing this while waiting… And waiting… And waiting… for the promised three pallets out of this factory in Treviso. It’s one of those ‘piggy on the middle’ situations. I go into the reception office. The lady says (in excellent English) she knows nothing about a collection. I ring the people who booked the job with me. He rings the customer/buyer in Ireland. They say it’s all paid for and arranged. The receptionist says it isn’t. She rings the customer/buyer direct. He says he’s got it wrong. I ring the agent again. He says there’s definitely a collection. I tell the receptionist. She rings Ireland AGAIN. No answer. I ring agent to say “what’s going on??” he says there’s now been an error!
All this, and the goods are ready to go! But just not been paid for! Crazy! 100 miles out of my way!
Next stage is to charge a cancellation fee, but it’s frustrating that I reserved the space on the van all week for this! Now it’s too late to get any loads back. I can wait intil Wednesday!!! And charge waiting time!!
So do I hire myself a gondola for two days and eat Cornettos on the waterways of Venice? Of head back empty and lose out?
Decisions decisions.
In the end I decided to head back and see if any other jobs back might come up. As it happened, (and always seems to!), a little load would pop up on an email about 100 miles behind me as I made my way across Germany! Such is Sod’s law!
Back to Blighty!
The pic above is of the Macdonalds restaurant on the Brenner Pass. It’s got the greatest views I’ve ever seen when seated in a fast food chain! So I treated myself after a week on grapes, bacon frazzles crisps, mini-muffins and nuts!
The trip back was straight forward. The boat remained stable on the trailer, I wasn’t stopped by German or Austrian police, and the sun didn’t stop shining! All was going well, until I got to the queue of trucks at the ferry terminal! Just a THREE hour delay then…!!
Until next time… Gordi
Posted 11 days ago
Setting Off
This month’s shuttle trip to and from Italy has gone well so far. A slight delay caused by some high winds meant I’d fallen behind slightly, but I’m back on track!
I left Gloucestershire on Wednesday 6th, early and headed for London to collect goods for onward travel to Italy. Previously, during the week, I’d loaded the van with other goods and had left enough space to collect the remaining loads.
Loading Worries!
It is always a worry, when you plan separate loads for individual customers, that you may get the calculations wrong and not have enough room by the time you reach your last collection before making your way to the ferry! And today was no exception! Due to some inaccurate measuring by two of my wonderful customers, it was looking like a running out of space situation by the time I reached New Addington for the last pick-up!
All Good!
Luckily, I’d allowed some extra space in case this might happen, and so all was (just about) well!
Once across the channel, I set my GPS for Munich – the first customer’s home. Gemma had ordered some decking and balustrade timber from the UK so that her husband could set about building their pergola!
Savings!
Now, you’d think it all a bit less complicated to order the timber locally in Munich! After all, surely wood is in plentiful supply and therefore cheaper in the country that houses the Black and Bavarian Forests! But after raising this point with my prudent client, Gemma, it would seem this more complicated plan of hers saved her over £1000!!!
Onwards, Through Stunning Austria
Next on the list of destinations for this trip: Monte Santa Maria Tiberna in the Perguian mountains.
From Munich, I set in the way-point to Fernpäss, and headed to Italy. This is a more direct route than heading to Salzburg and west to Innsbruck along comparably dull Autobahns. And here’s why:
Italy
After a good sleep, parked between trucks at the rest area on the Brenner Pass, I headed across the Austria-Italian border at about midnight. The Autostrade was pretty clear at that hour, shadowed by the towering mountains on either side as the moonlight shone behind them.
I reached Monte by 7am and waited in a mountain lay-by until it was time to meet the housekeeper who would be at the house by 9:15. Literally, the only sound I could hear was the birds. No distant traffic or planes. Just literal, avian tweeting in the morning sunlight!! It was so serene!
So at 9:15 I started unloading the furniture and boxes and carried them along the cobbled corridor and into the home. Joe and Robbie are the clients whose products I was transporting to Italy. Their company, SPINA, are a team of interior designers, so the goods were very expensive and fragile. Once delivered, I took a few surrounding photos of the area and moved onto the next delivery.
Irsina, near Matera was the next destination. Wayne, the customer, had given me a key to his place in this town, so that I could deliver his sofa, rocking chair, nest of tables and cupboard in his absence.
The tricky bit was getting into the town!
Eventually, I found my way to the town, only to be faced with very narrow streets with archways to negotiate, protruding doorsteps to avoid and overhanging air-con units to miss!!
The street I needed was particularly challenging for a 7 meter Mercedes Sprinter and I only JUST managed to reverse into the street entranceway without any scratches!
After single-handedly unloading, wheeling and manoeuvring the 2.5 meter sofa down a small flight of stairs and into Wayne’s home, I placed the other items inside the house, locked up and made my way to the next one…
This next delivery was to Martina Franca in Puglia.
Now, transport to Puglia is not so easy for people to find, so my customers tell me! And I’ve capitalised on this fact over the years, acquiring a small client base there since 2008. This trip saw 6 of these clients all needing a small load in a concentrated area near Ostuni.
Nevertheless, it still took all day to deliver all their goods, such is the terrain and level of ease locating villas and trullos in this rural area!
After a Saturday fraught with arranging Italian Architects, builders, housekeepers and clients to be present for spuriously timed deliveries, I moved on to the next area of Italy: Calabria…
Zambrone is a small town in the region of Calabria and very near to the Tyrrhenian Sea. This is where my next client had asked me to go in order to collect his boat that needed transport from Italy to Blandford, Dorset. This was a 4 hour drive southwest from where I was, so speeding along past Taranto and the coast of Ionian Sea, I eventually arrived in a town 30 minutes from Zambrone, called Pizzo. Here, I perched the van facing the water in a kind-of car park overlooking the sea.
Sunday morning
While I tried to have a Sunday lie-in, the echoed sound of Italian dogs snapping in the marble-floored apartments behind me, together with eager church-going residents starting their nearby cars, prevented this!
So I peeled a banana, scrubbed my face and armpits with a bodywash product and headed up the winding cliff face roads.
I was to meet someone in Bar 88 who would lead me to where the boat (on a trailer) was being stored. Even though it was 9:30 on a Sunday morning, the bar owner was there, busy serving smartly dressed Zambronians with espresso as they made their way to church.
I was introduced to a man who spoke zero English and asked to follow him. He led me and the van in his car to the field where the boat was.
The trailer had no electrics, but I was forewarned of this. We hitched up and strapped down the boat securely in the burning sun! Next, i fastened on the tailboard lights and looped the cable around the trailer frame. After plugging in and a quick lights test, I made my way to the nearest garage where I could get some air into the trailer tyres! They were dangerously low on pressure and my snail-pace drive back down the winding cliff indicated this!
Pumped and ready to go!
Riding on air again, I set the sat nav to the next destination: Treviso, in the north of Italy, near Venice. A mere 12 hour drive! But at least it was homeward bound!
This was a slow, 56 mph plod along the Autostrades and peppered with frequent stops in order to check the boats security and the heat of its trailer’s tyres. I think I put way too much air in! They were scorching after the first stop! So I let a load out and moved on.
The next stop saw a vast improvement. The tyres were running warm and I was happy! Although, the deep whirring sound of a dodgy wheel bearing did alarm me somewhat! But when you are 2000 miles away from home, you just got to put your fingers in your ears and pretend it’s not happening…! (Said no courier ever!! Haha!)
100 miles away
10 hours later, no sign of any wheels falling off! I pulled into a service area on the road to Padova for a sleep. It was, after all, 3:30 am and my main concern was to get past the busy Bologna, Monday morning rush hour point during the dark and quiet hours.
I awoke at 7am by the heat of the sun, robbing me of the two extra hours which I’d planned to spend zonked out!
I was only 100 miles from the load at Treviso (3 pallets of goods destined for Blantyre). I’d acquired this job through Courier Exchange, the network where notifications of jobs are sent out to couriers like me. This one came in en route to Munich a few days earlier, where I quickly seized on the opportunity to quote for it, knowing the ETA for that part of my route home would coincide with the customers requirements.
It doesn’t always work out like this, but I was thrilled to get this job as it meant I would not need to spend any time searching for other loads back.
Treviso
I am writing this while waiting… And waiting… And waiting… for the promised three pallets out of this factory in Treviso. It’s one of those ‘piggy on the middle’ situations. I go into the reception office. The lady says (in excellent English) she knows nothing about a collection. I ring the people who booked the job with me. He rings the customer/buyer in Ireland. They say it’s all paid for and arranged. The receptionist says it isn’t. She rings the customer/buyer direct. He says he’s got it wrong. I ring the agent again. He says there’s definitely a collection. I tell the receptionist. She rings Ireland AGAIN. No answer. I ring agent to say “what’s going on??” he says there’s now been an error!
All this, and the goods are ready to go! But just not been paid for! Crazy! 100 miles out of my way!
Next stage is to charge a cancellation fee, but it’s frustrating that I reserved the space on the van all week for this! Now it’s too late to get any loads back. I can wait intil Wednesday!!! And charge waiting time!!
So do I hire myself a gondola for two days and eat Cornettos on the waterways of Venice? Of head back empty and lose out?
Decisions decisions.
In the end I decided to head back and see if any other jobs back might come up. As it happened, (and always seems to!), a little load would pop up on an email about 100 miles behind me as I made my way across Germany! Such is Sod’s law!
Back to Blighty!
The pic above is of the Macdonalds restaurant on the Brenner Pass. It’s got the greatest views I’ve ever seen when seated in a fast food chain! So I treated myself after a week on grapes, bacon frazzles crisps, mini-muffins and nuts!
The trip back was straight forward. The boat remained stable on the trailer, I wasn’t stopped by German or Austrian police, and the sun didn’t stop shining! All was going well, until I got to the queue of trucks at the ferry terminal! Just a THREE hour delay then…!!
Until next time… Gordi
Posted 11 days ago
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