Foreign drivers
Page 30
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EN arlier this month I tipped at Athens and
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1 ' set off to Bulgaria. After travelling the longest route via Kauala because of extortionate motorway charges in Bulgaria, I entered through Ormesia. Here I was immediately forced to pay over DM200 for various taxes, visas and even medical insurance.
I wonder what the average Bulgarian driver has to pay when he enters Great Britain?
On the main Turkish transit route I began to notice British trucks in abundance, but with Turkish drivers. And the more miles I drove the more of them I saw.
Surely this is not legal practice? Would I be able to drive an Istanbul-registered truck?
At each border I was asked whether I was English or a Turk with an English-registered truck.
This must save companies a fortune on transit charges and when all the ex-communist ministries clock on to these antics and forget our bilateral agreements, will the British government subsidise the handful of operators left using these routes legally?
I think not. It's about time the Government put an end to this disgrace before we become like our Dutch colleagues who are confined to loading trailers for our kind cousins to move.
John Cooper, Warrington, Cheshire