9: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Truck Stop Edition

7:47Squeaky:Let alone take it home with me. Let them put it in your pocket. Yeah.

7:55Jim:Imagine coming out all shifty like you've nicked a shower head from the day whistling away through Peterborough services because you've nicked a freak whistler. It's just ridiculous.

8:04Squeaky:Yeah. I don't know what to do with them. It really is.

8:06Jim:it really is yeah

8:08Squeaky:well the thing is as well it gives drivers a bad name you know it's the minority as usual spoiling for the majority isn't it which is a real shame yeah

8:17Jim:absolutely

8:18Mat Ireland:but

8:19Squeaky:yeah

8:20Jim:I mean I don't know I'm not a great fan of truck stops anyway because I do find a lot of drivers especially in the mornings when they're going and that it's a bit you know loud you park right next to them you know sometimes drivers want to sit there for 20 minutes with your engine running and switch it off, then get out, start banging and slam. I'm not caring what time of day it is or anything. I'm just like, come on, mate.

8:42Mat Ireland:Yeah.

8:43Jim:And then you get the people, oh, you should sleep through it. You should be tired enough for driving for all them hours. You should sleep. But you don't, do you? No, no. You don't. And some places are worse than others, of course. Motorway services is an absolute no-no for me. One I want to speak about, because what's inside these places, is the gaming machines. I've seen, I did have an issue with gambling back in the day. and I just see some of these drivers, and you can see all the names on their eye visits, like at these motorway services, putting 20-pound notes in all these machines.

9:13Mat Ireland:Yeah.

9:14Jim:And I think, you know, and then at night, you've got the guys that do the changeovers. Hello, Charlie, see you. Bang, crash. Yeah. Just like, just don't look at the kiddo. I'm up, everybody's up, because I'm with you. Yeah. I just think, you know what I mean? Yeah. Just shut up. That's why I avoid them.

9:29Squeaky:Fair enough. I tend to normally be a fridge magnet. I'll go and park as far away as possible, and within five minutes someone with a fridge is next to me, even though there's 200 other spaces.

9:39Jim:Yeah, it does happen. It does. But it's just, you know, if the fridge was running all night, it wouldn't really bother me, to be fair. If it starts off and all that. It's an age-old thing, isn't it? People do say you should be able to sleep through it if you've worked hard enough in a day, which is absolutely ridiculous.

9:56Squeaky:Yeah, that's nonsense.

9:57Jim:It's unbroken sleep and it's dangerous, isn't it?

10:00Squeaky:Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's all, you know, some people sleep light. some people sleep heavy you know i'm i'm quite lucky that i will sleep through a lot and i've done a bit done a bit of fridge work as well so you sort of get and obviously the the music trying to trying to sleep at a festival backstage is uh i can imagine that's a bit as well yeah yeah in a black truck that's a that is a bit of an art form yeah but if i do if i do

10:24Jim:if i do stop at trucks i do sort of head to ones i like at the moment that the fox on the a1 there

10:30Mat Ireland:to Southamark Coast has had a massive resurgence.

10:32Squeaky:Yeah.

10:33Jim:I mean, it's, yeah, if I'm, you know, it's only now from where I need to be if I'm coming south back. It's, the shower's got a massive room. You can hang your stuff up. The showers are really powerful and hot. All right, you have to go inside to the brand new toilet facilities are in there. Snap parking, dartboard, pool table. Not too many blokes with high-vis vests and they've got the Bluetooth in their ear because the alarm is calling them online too. there's not too much of that going on yeah and it's i think from for a meal for a meal and a pint if that's it it's six quid oh that's right six six pounds and there's like they do specials they do special pictures every week plenty of parking easy enough to get in you know in and off the a1 if you come in i don't know what the diversion is if you want to go northbound and park there you know you have the colesworth back and then down to the next one back or whatever but yeah it's really good loads of parking no problem the thing is but if you're if you're

11:27Squeaky:heading north by the time you've got the Colstworth you might as well go in the truck stop there really exactly yeah because I mean the food is really good in Colstworth you get I think it was

11:36Jim:like eight and a half quid for egg on time it's a bit expensive in there yeah it's quite expensive in Colstworth since they've had the changeover oh have they had the refurb oh right okay it's lost that little American diner vibe you know with it with you know the speaker with your name being shouted out and all that you know all that but it's I don't know I don't like it in there but me and Squeaky have had a good night in there once haven't we mate

12:02Mat Ireland:yeah we did and in fact we were probably the noisy ones we were mate you were the ones keeping everyone awake we were recording a podcast actually at the time and we paused it halfway through to get out and have a have a vape and stretch our legs and things like that and i opened the driver's door and i had a bottle of wine on the driver's i'm sat in the driver's seat and i had a bottle of wine on the floor at my feet and as i opened the door to step out i kicked this bottle and it went flying out yeah we're not supposed to be it did and that was supposed to be a gift for me for to take it home

12:43Jim:to say, Jimmy's Jim. And there it is on the floor everywhere.

12:48Squeaky:No, Jim, it's a shattered bottle. Thanks, mate.

12:51Jim:I kept the top, though, so we get a deposit back. Fair enough. Fair enough. Yeah, mate, yeah. But have you got a favourite stock, Matt? Have you? That was going to be my next question. That was going to be my next question. I'm adding that one.

13:06Squeaky:I mean, I have thought about this. Now, in the UK, probably two favourites for when I'm out and about. which would be Welford Caff. I've always liked Welford. I'm pretty sure my first ever night out in an actual truck in me seven and a half tonner was at Welford back in the day. And back then it was like a rickety old port-a-cabin or port-a-cabins. And it was for years and years. It's only sort of the last few years it's been like the Fox really, been revamped, refurbed, and it's, you know, really nice diner now, well-priced, and you get a really big, good meal, free showers. Because, you know, if you're going to pick a point to complain about, it'd be a dusty car park.

13:45Squeaky:But then to tarmac or concrete, that lot would just be so expensive. And I think that would then affect the rates as well, I believe. I could be wrong on that, but I think that's why a lot of places don't actually have that sort of ground. It's just a huge investment to start with, isn't it? So definitely there. And funny enough, when we asked this question on the socials, I didn't see anybody about William Gilder's truck stop near Tewkesbury. I can't think the name of the closest town now, but just off the M5 there It's near Asham, isn't it? It's near Asham, yeah. Parking is obviously, you know, it's brickweave so it's the complete opposite of Welford, but big parking on snap, secure you know, through the barriers cameras everywhere, really good big free showers it's got a really big steakhouse which has an awful lot of members of the public come in every night which keeps it busy and there's also like a smaller trucker's restaurant if you don't want a steak is that pricey the steakhouse

14:49Jim:i've no idea i mean because i think one of the guys on the cv app saying it was quite he sat down thinking he was going to get a burger or whatever and it was like how do you want your

14:57Squeaky:sirloin sir being as uh i don't generally no you don't know i don't tend to eat steaks i wouldn't No, exactly. I would say it's probably not cheap, especially compared with the trucker side, because it's essentially a steak restaurant.

15:12Jim:Not Miller and Cars, but yeah.

15:15Squeaky:Yeah, whereas the trucker side is a lot more restricted on what you've got, but it's your more standard sort of trucker fare on a separate little restaurant. But yeah, it was really, really nice.

15:29Jim:Is it gated as well? I remember going there. Yeah, you have to go. There's a guy saying that you have to propagate it off. Yeah, yeah, go for the barrier. There's a petrol station. And there is a pub there as well. I want to say Torrington. I could get it up on my map.

15:44Squeaky:Teddington Arms, is it? Something like that. I can't remember exactly.

15:47Jim:I'm going to have to fact check it, Matt. You know what I'm like with a fact check.

15:51Squeaky:But I think probably my favourite of all time from when I used to get about a little bit, There was a little small town called Afarnasovo, just about an hour from Moscow as you're heading there. Big truck stop. That's armed security there, like most Russian trucks. Like most Russian trucks. And this was actually like brickweave, paving, all that. It had, I think, two or three different restaurants. There wasn't a truck wash. There was a car wash. And the showers, or the shower there, had underfloor heating. and it was nice yeah I can't think of anywhere else I've been you know it's got underfloor heating got that and that was brilliant in the winter because it was just so warm in there having a shower yeah it was fantastic I mean if you if you ever do go to Russia the water smells very sulphur it's very eggy water sort of wherever you go so but once you get your nose used to that it's alright but I think the parking used to cost two quid and it's like I've got an armed an armed guy there who's keeping an arm on stuff yeah it's a bit different that's cool yeah and it's it was all at night it was all lit up in green like not neon but um all these different green lights everywhere it just looked really sort of quite magical as well i'll um i'll dig i'll dig a photo out and uh put on the old socials for people to see so we should have

17:12Jim:brought june onto this you know our friend june is on the cb app as well but her truck stops that she stays in in you know in canada in the us i are there's my aware isn't it where i or 80 or whatever it's called. It's Teddington Arms, isn't it? Teddington Arms, right. Yes. And the other thing, we've missed out two that people always talk about. Well, three, really. Lincoln Farm. You'll never get me in there. The Red Lion.

17:38Squeaky:Northampton.

17:39Jim:No, it was too close to me anyway. And also Formula Truck Stop. Formula Birkenhead, or wherever it is. I haven't stayed there. You park on the opposite side of the truck stop. It's very tight, muddy, massive metal plates along the side there. And then you walk across, you have to go through certain kinds of screws. It's an oil terminal. You can get your blood pressure there. It's great. But inside the massive toilet seats, if I remember, everything was red and white before, Micah. But it was always empty. Really? But really, I mean. But it was good. You've been in the air squeak, haven't you? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

18:16Jim:Microwaves. It's brilliant. but I didn't see anyone using it. My main two,

18:23Mat Ireland:I thought we were going to go, what's your favourite, what's your favourite top top top? Then I thought you was going to ask Jim and then it was going to be me. And then Jim's just gone through my two that I had banked ready to talk about.

18:34Jim:Oh, sorry, mate. He's always like...

18:36Squeaky:He's just used them.

18:37Jim:I haven't. You crack on a house, go on, mate, you're alright. I want to talk about I'm full tour.

18:43Squeaky:Not again.

18:46Mat Ireland:Yeah, Formula One. Jim's not a fan. we've discussed this before but formula one truck stop for me is the the facilities are absolutely fantastic yeah and i think i think i think the it is tight parking don't get me wrong but i think that that out the the the facilities outweigh that that tight parking you go inside there it is absolutely immaculate it's huge there's there there's you're not queuing for a shower you know you know you go into a motorway services uh you're stood in a motorway services sharing the toilet but the showers are in the main toilet blocks where the members of the public are in and out and they're all using the toilets and you know the coach loads of people are turning up they're going in they're having a wee or whatever and you're stood sort of shuffling around with your bag in your hand waiting for a shower because there's only two showers you know it feels so awkward to be stood there you're not getting any of that at Formula One or most independent truck stops Formula One they must have 15 showers and they're not a tiny little cubicle that you're just standing and your elbows are touching the side each shower room has a rainfall shower there's a sink, there's a mirror it's absolutely huge and it's it's immaculate there must be there must be at least again 15 toilets if not maybe more this place is huge again and and this isn't just for me self-plugging there is a review of it on my tiktok page uh trucker squeaky on tiktok so but i take it that you haven't eaten in a

20:28Squeaky:restaurant there then if you tend to eat no i have you have yeah yeah and again that's on my tiktok

20:34Mat Ireland:You can see the food that I ate on there And they have a games Right, so they have a games room There's a pool table There's an air hockey machine There's five Xboxes Open app There are various different Bandits and gaming machines And things like that And do you know what? They're all free to use Crikey It's all free Really? There's a cinema room Free to use Massage chairs, free to use Blood pressure machine, free to use Brilliant A gym, free Wow, I'm not free Where do you get These guys at Formula One for me Have really, really raised the bar Of what truck stops should be across the country Certainly sounds it I understand that the parking is You are tight They do cram you in But that doesn't bother me Not when you get in them facilities Yeah And the food is amazing The restaurant slash pub Bar that they've got They have these wooden The tiles on the roof are all wooden And they all have these burnt etched Logos on them

21:52Squeaky:Pyrography I think is called

21:54Mat Ireland:I'm glad you knew that

21:58Squeaky:Take easy three I know that sounds like you need to go to a GP to be fair

22:04Mat Ireland:Hang on, have I revealed too much there?

22:09Mat Ireland:But yeah, they have the outline of a Scania or an old Volvo all in the roof F10 No, they don't like the F10s I'm not going there But it's brilliant What a place The story is how true it is i'm not sure but the story is it was a couple of brothers that used to be drivers and they decided to open a truck stop knowing what the rest of the country is like on truck stops and they've just battered it out of the park in my mind sounds it definitely if you want to have a look just you don't have to follow me this isn't a plug but just head over to the trucker squeaky tiktok page somewhere on there i can't tell you where it is you'll have to filter through and find it but somewhere on there is that a video of where i've walked around there and doing a little voiceover of a video just yeah show it and you'll find you'll find it on that it's amazing place

23:06Squeaky:right okay fair enough well it sounds it sounds really really good to be fair it sounds quite unique to because i know rothwell on the a14 has got a gym but i don't know have you got to pay for it? It always seems shut any time I've ever been in there so I can't really comment too much but

23:27Jim:That ain't a bad stop that way there to be fair When they first opened it was horrendously slow service obviously I did things out I stopped in there a few times, it's a good place to bunker fuel from as well But with the red line as well I actually appeared in the Daily Mail of saying what a wonderful truck stop it was because I was sort of pressed, ganged into it a little bit. But I've never, I've never had a night out there. I've had the lorry washed and I've had the finest Indian cuisine, sausage, egg and chips. You can see the photograph in the Dudley Mail. But yeah, the way they parked the truck, I mean, if you was, say for instance, you got that horrible phone call and I did get the horrible phone call, as you know, back up there, you're parked up in the middle of all that lot.

24:12Jim:Yeah. And you need to get home. You ain't, what do you do, man? Same as Lincoln Farm.

24:17Squeaky:Yeah. I mean, what would concern me more is if there's a fire, that would concern me an awful lot, really.

24:27Mat Ireland:I've got a little piece to put in on this as well. Recently, I contacted my local MP about truck stops and how poor they are and that they're not governed and they're not regulated by anybody. She basically said, if it was in my constituency, then yes, it's something I could do, but I can't. so you'd have to contact central government blah blah blah so i followed that path and off i went and in the end i was passed on to the department of transport sort of sent them a few emails and they eventually got back to me as well but my argument was that this industry that the the truck stop industry not the haulage industry but the truck stop industry you know these independent truck stops up and down the country all over they are not regulated by anybody there is there is no governing body they don't have the government answer to anybody all they need all they need is a plot of land essentially and they need local council permission to make sure that they've got sufficient entry and exit points in respect but they're looking at that from in regards to not disturbing local traffic too much so if you've got 200 200 trucks trying to come out of one place at once you know so yeah that essentially that's all they need so if they deem it if that truck stop think well you know two portaloos and one shower for 300 drivers or 200 trucks is enough then that's enough and they they can charge what they want for that and there's nobody there is no governing body that that goes up and down the country and says to these people well now hang on a minute that's that's not sufficient that's not enough but yet as an employer if you you know you are governed by health and safety regulations which mean let's say for example the toilet facilities if you employ more than i could be you have to fact check the actual numbers if you employ more than five men the male toilets must have at least two urinals and and two actual toilets and you must have a minimum of say three sinks you know the stipulations like that you know yeah truck stops don't they don't have to

26:34Squeaky:adhere to any of that none of that well they will if they employ that many people i suppose but when you think of the volume of people coming through there that could very well be insufficient i mean it's you know they'll have to stick to you know fire regulations and all stuff like that but like you say that it's i suppose it's like any restaurant isn't it they don't they don't have to have you know 50 toilets but just because they've got because you know a restaurant isn't going to have 200 people staying there overnight as such but it is still something that needs

27:09Mat Ireland:really could do with addressing as you know as a bear as a bear as a bare minimum really just for yeah in my mind there should be there should be a bare minimum that everybody has to adhere to so you know there should be if you if your truck stop holds 200 trucks you should have to have a

27:25Squeaky:minimum of say five showers and five toilets yeah yeah yeah yeah i don't think that that's i don't

27:32Mat Ireland:think that that's i don't think i'm asking too much to put that forward no no you know on a

27:38Squeaky:greater scale can you say like 50 trucks you need like three and three you know trucks four yeah something like that just yeah something like that yeah also for for a female drivers as well

27:48Jim:they need to be looked after as well don't they and also and paying for a shower as well if you paid for parking i mean it's just that was so many places sorry squeak you keep pinching my stuff mate mate you can carry on stop showing him your notes he's obviously reading it no but i'll let him be guy i think i think squeaky will i think squeaky will um do it better more justice than on the can really to be fair so go on mate um okay so my my

28:24Mat Ireland:let's say for example a truck holds a truck stop holds 50 trucks 100 trucks and they're charging £30,£35 a night to stay there. Now, this is the driver that chooses whether or not he wants to stay at that truck stop because, you know, based on where he's going, what he's doing, what facilities you have to offer and things like that. If I then come into a truck stop and I've decided to spend£35 at your truck stop just to pack, and then I come inside for a shower and you want to now charge me£3.50 for a seven-minute shower on a token basis, I don't think that that's acceptable I think that the showers should be included in the price of the parking Yeah All you're doing there All that truck stop is doing there Is first of all overcharging on parking Because£35 a night is absolutely ridiculous for a parking spot You're just capitalising on the fact that you can You know that these people will pay it And then secondly you're sort of going Well how can we squeeze a little bit more money out of them Oh I know We'll charge them for a shower and so we'll charge them three pound for a shower but then what we'll also do is we'll limit it so they've only got seven they've only got seven minutes to do it now as a driver our day our life our whole week is on time everything is based around time you've got you know how many hours you can work that week how long is it from to my next destination oh it's four and a half hours so you're conscious of that right i've got to have nine hours off i can only do a 10 today or i couldn't do a nine today good 50 everything is time time time time pressure pressure pressure pressure yeah when i pay my 35 pounds pack up in a truck stop i don't need that truck stop applying more pressure to me by saying you've only got seven minutes to have a wash yeah yeah

30:15Squeaky:yeah yeah and i think as well i think you've just quite well highlighted the difference between the UK and Europe as well because I mean motorway services in Europe I can't think of any country that you have to pay to park in any of them obviously the say Germany for I'm for sake you've got the autohofs as Jim well knows with Eiffel Tour and all the others now a lot of them do charge but generally speaking you'll then get all of that money back off of a meal so as long as you're buying food in there you're parking this for free that kind of thing generally speaking showers again it varies from country to country obviously but you know some places you have to pay for showers others are free anyway but nowhere charges anything like 30 35 pounds a night it's just just shockingly expensive in this country to park i've literally i could just say i just

31:07Jim:literally got my ipad here i just put into gemini the uk's most expensive truck stops uh at the top of the list. Do you know... Let's see if we can guess. Let's see if we can guess. All right, okay. You, go on.

31:18Squeaky:The one on the M25 near Waltham Crop. What's it? Junction 20?

31:23Jim:Yeah, Junction 26. Junction 26. Is 50 pounds a night. Cool. I think Perfleet

31:30Mat Ireland:must be close to that. Perfleet must...

31:34Jim:Birch Hanger's 40 pounds, 50, Eps 3 is 38. I don't know what else you're going to get. Hopwood Park is 37 pounds. parking fees at T-Bay between£22.50 and£30 depending on the voucher I mean if you're doing five nights out a week and you've got to park at Wolfram Abbey you're going to need half a monkey in your bin to park your wagon up

32:02Squeaky:250 quid 250 quid is that the most expensive

32:05Jim:in the UK

32:07Squeaky:the food is good in there but the calf don't come to late o 'clock for breakfast mate

32:13Jim:right okay you can't get naff all in the morning yeah

32:18Mat Ireland:it's just that just shows what sort of work Matt's doing now doesn't he he's like he's not even getting out of bed till 8 o 'clock

32:26Squeaky:hey hey hey hey hey I'll be up at 4 o 'clock tomorrow morning don't you worry I've got a full I've got a full day

32:34Mat Ireland:tomorrow only to empty your bladder and then you'll be back in bed again I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,

32:44Jim:you, you forget, he talks to us everyday listeners about his day, right, on the CB Talk app, brought to you by Midland Communications.

32:53Squeaky:Lazy. Now, I'll have you know, I'll be getting up at four o 'clock tomorrow, because it's Wednesday tomorrow, for those listeners. Wait, washing your socks? No, worse than that, it's bin day in Kings Lynn. So I want to be in and out before them bin men get on the A10 and I lose loads of time.

33:11Jim:I can see the guys now outside of Coolstax at 10 to 9 or up our state sticking their fingers up and going, principal road, the bin's looking to be empty. Now, come on. Love it.

33:26Squeaky:So I will be getting up early tomorrow. I'll have you know.

33:30Jim:I'm pretty sure we've missed lots of truck stops out there I mean

33:36Squeaky:Chippenham truck stop I enjoy staying there fabulous really good

33:44Mat Ireland:I'd like to I feel like the listeners now especially if they're listening in headphones they'll be taking them off Jesus, them three are just shouting I'm sorry, we apologise

33:56Jim:South Mims is the best South Mimms is the best truck shop in the UK. I'll tell you, I went swimming there the other week.

34:03Squeaky:I had four days and nights consecutively sat in South Mimms once whilst I was on tour. That is the epitome of depression. That is, I can tell you.

34:16Jim:Do you remember when it was the Beacon Cafe?

34:19Squeaky:That's when it was a problem. I'm not as old as you, Jim, I'll be honest.

34:23Jim:I was going to say FYM, but I won't.

34:25Squeaky:No.

34:26Mat Ireland:i've got one that i've also got somewhere that i would like or a section of this industry that i'd like to bring up and specifically point uh point one out and that's depot parking yeah yeah and so fabulous um obviously for the people that don't know what that is there is an app for truck drivers that's called in truck and this will highlight and pinpoint all the truck stops across the uk that you can go and park in whether or not you are on snap or cash or you can add the filters and it'll it'll you know you can select which one you want to go to it'll give you information on what's there whether it's whether it has a cafe how many parking spots what the price is if it's pre-bookable so on and so forth and then we have what we call depot parking and this is other hauliers across the uk that will allow other hauliers to park in their yard overnight and so this is obviously at a cost but it's a much more reduced cost than than it is to stay in a truck stop my favorite depot parking is at a place called one jim is it ems transport driver it is driver it's ems transport doncaster oh it's fabulous um a place called edlington in doncaster and so if you was headed north on the alpha one and you come through the 18 split so the 18 split will go above you and you go under it it's the first junction after that it takes you to a little village in doncaster called edlington uh it's just a just a transport yard that's all it is but they've just done uh they used to have a a crappy old porter cabin in the in the corner that had these horrible showers that were piss weak and and you know it was it wasn't great the toilets were horrendous but they've pumped some money in and they've they've had an extension built on the main building they've put in uh two new toilets and showers so when you go in to the door if through the door to the toilet you that you have a toilet sink shower everything all in one room to yourself they've made like a driver's communal room they've put a couple of sofas in there big TV on the wall it's right there

36:44Jim:bargains driver isn't it all bargains is rip that road and you get massage and haircuts you get haircuts across the road she's right now sorry I'm taking a piss now but yeah it's well anti freaky bad local thieves in the Londis it's so good Matt honestly you step out the gate

37:05Mat Ireland:and because you're not in a motorway services or at a truck stop, you're not a captive audience, are you? It's within sort of like a, not a housing estate, but it's on a main road that runs through a residential area. And so you step out, there's a Chinese, there's a Kabam House, there's home bargains, there's a shop, there's an Asda. There's a pharmacy.

37:30Jim:Honestly, it's a really cool place to stop. And the only, well, after this podcast, so I hope there's only 10 spots. But even if... They will fit you in, won't they, as well, this week? Yeah, yeah, yeah. They'll fit you in. They'll really, really accommodate, and it's so good. And if you want to do the massage as well, there's just around the corner, there's a massage to five players in this week. Apparently, you told me 25 quid or something.

37:50Mat Ireland:Yeah, but you said you went in and that they don't do happy endings.

37:55Jim:No, apparently. No, we joke. But that is... Also, if I'm up that way, running out of time, that's where I'm going. I'm going to the ends. because the guy's in there really good. I mean, the thing is, well, if you've got a problem with your motor in the morning, one of the other guys stayed there, his lawyer wouldn't start, you know, and he's opposite a garage. A guy's just come out with a jump pack, jumped him, and he's away. You know, no. So what Jim's saying there is this transport company

38:23Mat Ireland:also have their own workshop on site.

38:26Squeaky:Yeah.

38:27Mat Ireland:And they do, like, local MOT preparation and bits like that for other companies and trailers and stuff. So if you are stuck, them lads, they're straight out there. Really good. Just a real hearty northern place to be.

38:41Squeaky:Yeah, fair enough.

38:43Jim:You won't get that in St Albans.

38:45Squeaky:No, you won't. No.

38:50Jim:Matt, can I tell you about one other truck stop just quickly? Of course you can. How long are we going for? Well, we did do a lot. But when I was European driver, you know, I'm on the window giving it a big one. We used to go to Hamburg. Is it Marfleet? Marfleet? Marfleet. Pink Neveg. We used to go to TJ Maxx. Anyway, we're talking about DHL. I used to stop there. Is it Enschede? Enschede, yeah, yeah. And that truck's got Franz Op de Bolt?

39:19Squeaky:Yes, one of the best in the Netherlands.

39:21Jim:Oh, my God.

39:23Squeaky:Yeah.

39:23Jim:Very good. It was like a white shirt. I mean, you paid, I think,€5 for the year, and you were giving your own towel and it just honestly just the best truck stop funny stock shop not with all ride products do all ride products what was the other truck stop in near between eindhoven and venlo i can never remember it well uh i mean you've asked aston

39:46Squeaky:you've got you've got a truck in no truck in novice at aston which is really good aston's really good got a really good wash uh you've also got as well uh junction acht uh which is eight at Eindhoven at South Eindhoven

39:58Jim:yeah oh my god oh yes I know that that's what the DHL depo was oh was it Trucks at 8 yeah Trucks at 8 yeah I actually

40:08Squeaky:went in there with my my Irish mate Joey and we met our Dutch mate Monty who used to work for Peter Smith's and we'd gone and have some food and the waiter came over and we ordered our stuff and then Monty was trying to order in English and this waiter was sort of trying to talk to him in English and they were both sort of tripping over each other and I just sort of looked at them and just said, stop, guys, stop. You're both Dutch. Just speak Dutch to each other whilst you're in your homeland. Don't worry about that. They're just sort of laughing.

40:44Jim:I remember a meal from there and I hope our mutual friend Bert de Moyes is listening because it was an acht schlottel, S-T-H-O-T-E-L Achslotel and it was just like mad on the noodles didn't they the barmy in the Dutch with chicken it was just like chicken chow man my mouth's watering oh mate yeah great memories there at Truxtum Plate yeah and the other one of course that you went to a couple of weeks ago when you was in Dubai you went up to Mir didn't you yeah Mir do you remember when you go to Mir the Ropes Gallery that people didn't pay

41:22Squeaky:yeah yeah yeah And you wonder if you were on it. Is it still there? Oh, my God. I would definitely not be on it because I always pay.

41:30Jim:Always pay. Yeah, always pay. Always be Tarlan. Yeah, exactly. Always be Tarlan.

41:34Squeaky:Because you also used to have Mia, and then you have Hazeldonk on the other side of the road.

41:38Jim:Hazeldonk, yeah. Of course, that little river bridge.

41:40Squeaky:Yeah, which I think is now closed, possibly, at Hazeldonk. So Mia still exists. And, I mean, again, the Netherlands has got a lot of good, hidden little truck stops.

41:52Jim:Oh, isn't it, Josh?

41:53Squeaky:Here and there, yeah. Again, same with Germany. And Poland, should you head east, Poland is just a wash with really, really good truck stops. Not done for Poland. Yeah, yeah, there's plenty there. Again, really good facilities, free parking, solid parking, all stuff like that, and good food. As you head from Frankfurt over to east, you've got the Nevada Centre. Just off the motorway, you've got the Nevada Centre, you've got Port 2000. you've got this whole it's like what the a17 used to be where there's truck stops left right and center all that and it's quite i mean this this chat has been quite interesting to see just how many independents there are left because there's not i didn't think there was as many as what there is so again for i'm saying the a17 used to be absolutely littered with them and now there's just a handful left there's not there's not many left at all which is really sad but it's

42:51Jim:it's difficult there was one from antwerp we used to stop at go for the kennedy tunnel part rent head down and it was at a wardminster i think and it was called e17 truckie snack yeah and we stopped there all the time and then you had the spiegel eye which is obviously the the fried egg yeah and all that and it was she got to know us quite a lot bridget and now become friends, Facebook friends. And we're just ahead for that. Bacon rolls, egg rolls. Yeah. Squeaky dropped it off.

43:19Squeaky:Squeaky seems to have disappeared temporarily. I don't know why. That's all right. But yeah. He's come back.

43:25Jim:I'm with another girl called Kelly, who's a dog breeding now. She was at the... Do you remember going over to Gembrugge with the bumpy bridge? You know, before you sweat right to go towards our stand. And there was one on the right there. They're just a fabulous truck stop in Belgium. Still bumpy, that bridge. Is it really? I've not been able to bridge. But when I get my... Oh, Matt, you need to come on tomorrow. We need to sort... Jim's getting a camper van. What am I getting on? A motorhome. It's the same thing, isn't it? Is it camper van? I don't know. But anyway, that's another story. If people want to tune in to the CB Talk app by Midland and, you know, listen in to the GBR truck, put it in your search menu.

44:06Jim:You can hear all three of us talking shield day.

44:09Squeaky:They should sponsor you, shouldn't they, Jim? The amount of plugs you and Squeaky have given it.

44:14Jim:I do think, though, there are some guys out there listening, remember the old CB days, and on our particular channel, we try and keep it old CB if you like, break it on the side, give each other a space, room, key up, talk about all sorts of nonsense, traffic delays, you know, and you can speak to anybody in the world about it. It's just the most fantastic app. It's just... I think that's probably a good point, actually,

44:42Mat Ireland:to shout out one of the listeners. I won't say his surname in case he wants to keep it a secret, but a listener called John who lives in Australia. He listened to the podcast, as you two both know, this is for the listener's sake. He listened to the podcast where we spoke about the CB app. He downloaded it, and now he's a frequent user. Yeah, absolutely.

45:03Jim:you know,

45:04Mat Ireland:he's sending us pictures and videos of his rig out in Australia and the things that he does. And how amazing is that?

45:11Squeaky:Yeah. And a future guest on the podcast, I think as well.

45:13Jim:Yeah. And people might think it's good. Maybe people just playing music and all that, but squeaky and I have control of the channel. When anybody comes in, it's a bit of a dickhead. We just delete them straight away. How come I'm still on there? Well, you know, we've got, we've got history, me and you, Mr. Island. But yeah, it's a great, we have to allow so many in,

45:33Mat Ireland:don't we?

45:35Jim:you know, for it to balance itself. But if anybody's interested in doing it, and I know Alex Broadley, our friend, Alex Gloves Cakes, he subscribed to it ages ago because he's still on my list and he doesn't go on it anymore. But I'd love him on. He's the funniest, driest bloke. Well, I know. I love that bloke.

45:53Squeaky:He did come back on. He did. He was there. So I don't know if he's still there or not.

45:59Jim:What, on the app?

46:00Squeaky:Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I spoke to him the other week on it. spoke to him the other week on it

46:04Jim:he must be avoiding me

46:06Squeaky:yeah you're probably in big K or something like that I'd expect probably mate yeah

46:11Jim:but yeah obviously people are screaming but you've not mentioned this truck stop you've not mentioned that truck stop I mean that one at Bridgewater on the cattle market you pull up on snap you're giving like 11-12 quid food voucher and you've drawn extra spuds you've got to pay two quid showers are brilliant, all security coded fabulous parking, get in and out off the M5, lovely, brilliant place

46:35Squeaky:Newark truck stops still open at the cattle market

46:38Jim:it is, if you want a dinghy this time of year you need a dinghy or canoe

46:44Mat Ireland:let's also can we just point out there about Newark truck stop, Newark truck stop is a council run truck stop

46:50Squeaky:that's a rarity these days then

46:52Mat Ireland:yeah it is, but they're making the money aren't there, because look at the size of it, look how much they charge per truck, so they're making the money The showers and the toilet block in there are really, really good. So they've put in this, it looks like a port-a-cabin, but I suppose it's like a modular building. I think there's probably like 20 doors that you can walk in, and each door, when you walk in, has your own toilet, your own shower, a towel radiator, a sink, you know, all that sort of jazz. And then they have a guy that's stood outside with a mop and bucket, and each time somebody has finished he goes in, mops, cleans, wipes it all down.

47:30Mat Ireland:He's sending a dupe now. He's sending a dupe at£2.00 in the square. Yeah. It's brilliant. Kuros,£2.00. But the... You've thrown me now. Sorry, Matt. The cafe, the restaurant, the restaurant that's on there is independently owned. So they pay rent to the council for that building. to feed the truckers. And it's all AMPR and everything else. I like that. Although the ground's crap and it is very sloppy and muddy, so to speak, I like it. And the food in there is absolutely fantastic. The guy, I think it's husband and wife that run the cafe in there. Everything is all homemade. So your chips are all homemade.

48:19Mat Ireland:If you order a burger, for example, he stands there and forms it and makes it himself out of all his mincemeat. He adds all the salt and pepper and everything, whacks it under the grill. It's all homemade stuff, and it's very reasonably priced, I think. I think it's about£10 for a meal with a drink or something like that.

48:37Squeaky:You can't ask that.

48:39Mat Ireland:Good quality food, yeah.

48:40Squeaky:Yeah, definitely. Another thing as well that I want to point out is during this process

48:46Mat Ireland:where I told you that I reached out to the government about the truck stop standards and things like that. They sent me an email with some information on there that a scheme that they've just recently ran of where they helped fund truck stops up and down the country. It was like a help scheme and it was like a 50 % job. So a truck stop could apply for some funding from the government. Let's say, for example, they wanted to re-tarmac the place and it was going to cost£60 ,000, as long as the truck stop could put up£30 ,000, the government would give them the extra£30 ,000 on top. So it was capped.

49:30Mat Ireland:It was capped at a certain amount. I think it was£30 ,000. I could be wrong. The email's on my phone. I could go back to this, or I can put that on the socials if people are interested. But my argument to this is these truck stops that were given this 50%, to be able to upgrade truck stops for truck drivers i mean the the opening of this email from the government says that we understand that drivers are the backbone of this country so it's important that we get this right but these truck stops they didn't spend that money on things that truck drivers want they didn't upgrade the toilet block they didn't upgrade the showers they didn't put heating in the in the toilet blocks or you know they didn't create a new restaurant or something for drivers they spent it on things like anpr cameras so that the trucks can come in and out without having to pay somebody to stand there and take the registration do you know what i'm saying so yeah they've looked they've made the choice to go well if we have this these cameras in this anpr system we don't now have to pay somebody 10 pound an hour to stand there and do it for 12 hours.

50:42Squeaky:Yeah.

50:42Mat Ireland:So it's in their benefit. That hasn't benefited the driver. We don't care if you've got AMPR cameras or not. No. So you've spent 60 grand on what you are calling an upgrade, but all you've done is essentially is upgraded your entry and exit sort of systems so that you benefit financially. Yeah, interesting.

51:10Jim:nothing worse than going to a bar and writing your number down on a bit of paper yeah and a lot of these snap machines you do it automatically as well don't you so they probably have to pay for the kiosk for the snap or whatever yeah interesting

51:26Squeaky:this episode of Match Trucking Great Podcast is kindly sponsored by QDUK QDU offer one of the largest ranges of truck accessories in the UK and Europe partner of well known brands such as Hadley ned king truck chef strands tom tom light fix and many more shop online at www.qduk.limited.uk and use a discount code trucking great for 10 off your next order thank you very much qd for your support we really appreciate it i was just thinking because there's still quite a few that we've missed obviously well i mean oh massively i mean we could be here three hours

52:05Jim:Oh, of course we could.

52:06Squeaky:Of course we could.

52:07Jim:Maybe the part one of a good number of parts on that one.

52:10Squeaky:Yeah, I mean, well, the stockyard, that's another one that comes to mind. Absolutely, yeah. You know, good, reasonably priced from, yeah, again, from memory for me, but, you know, had a few different ones. Carbrier every night. Yeah, if you like it, a bit of karaoke, if you like that, which I really don't.

52:27Jim:On a Tuesday, by the way, apparently our friend Pete Hall always goes there, doesn't he, on a Tuesday?

52:32Squeaky:Does he? He does.

52:33Jim:Yeah. there are countless ones but you know I'd like to know if there was any ones down in the west country you know because you don't ever hear about truck stops down that way you know or on the south coast or in Kent Kent ones are basically ones around surrounded by Dover and Folkestone with you know low cost carriers and European hauliers and stuff but yeah it's yeah I mean

52:58Squeaky:it's an awful Chesterfield Junction 29

53:01Mat Ireland:Chesterfield Chesterfield yeah

53:02Jim:yeah

53:02Mat Ireland:That place, Junction 29's okay. That's en route now, isn't it? Junction 23, Shepshed. Shepshed, yeah. Now, that place rattles me a little bit. Right. Because they have, it's not contract parking, but it's like semi-long-term parking, where they allow, I think the Polish drivers in blue tractor units, blue Mercs, they stay there, they might be there for like two weeks, probably while they're waiting for another job to go home or whatever and they they allow them their drivers to park in full-length truck bays scattered around all over the truck park and so at five six seven o 'clock at night when you're pulling in and and you're struggling to find a space you've got all these units just taking up full bays if if you know that they're there for a week how come three abreast in one bay yeah yeah oh yeah you know the the topaz in

54:01Squeaky:Dublin Port used to be like that with Nolan's.

54:03Jim:Oh, goodness me, yeah.

54:05Squeaky:Nolan track units just everywhere, taken up, you know, an entire space. Yeah.

54:10Jim:And that awkward barrier getting out that took an age to get out, didn't it? Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, it's awful. Dublin Port.

54:18Squeaky:A quick story about the Topaz at Dublin Port, or whatever it's called these days, because it's not the Topaz. I was over there for whatever job. My good mate, Alan Daniel, who works for Birds, was over there. At the time, he had a staff and he had a little urban trailer. So he was in there and he was backed up. Now, in the topaz, surrounding it, you've got a wall. And obviously, at the back of each bay, you've got your usual metal barrier. So your axle goes up to it. You stop. Job done. Not a problem. So Alec was in there with his little urban trailer. He backed up. So he's tucked in there nicely.

54:55Squeaky:a certain Dutch haulier with white trucks and a blue logo who have an awful lot of Polish registered vehicles and drivers now. They do chickens. They might do. I'm not saying any more than that.

55:07Jim:Luke Vernon might know them.

55:10Squeaky:He might do, and he might have mentioned their name on a podcast that I recorded with him. Anyway, this driver came in.

55:20Jim:Oh, no.

55:21Squeaky:I'm sure you can probably guess what's going to come here. obviously backed in to his spot and obviously thought, well, my track unit probably needs to be level with this one next to me not realising that he's got a small urban trailer and once his first axle hit said metal barrier at the back he thought, well, that's a bit strange and obviously gave it enough welly to manage to get the trailer over it and into the wall, not all the wall down

55:46Jim:Oh my God

55:47Squeaky:But he got himself level Oh my God When I turned up, there was just bits of wall everywhere. There's truck parked there. Oh, dear.

55:59Jim:The company you mentioned, actually, wasn't one of their drivers video from a helicopter eating spaghetti coming down a route hall?

56:08Squeaky:A55, about 70 miles an hour. Eating spaghetti.

56:12Mat Ireland:Yeah, eating spaghetti, staring with his knees. I couldn't eat spaghetti at a table without making a mess.

56:19Squeaky:Yeah.

56:19Mat Ireland:Is that not normal now? Oh, sorry.

56:25Squeaky:now now so here's here's a quick one here's a quick one for the gents as well um so gonzo rob on tiktok who works for punchards him and also my good mate glenn heskey have both said stanford farm cafe at stanford norfolk walver hampton wow the food wow yeah oh my god well

56:45Jim:nothing matches the the tables are different the chairs are different the cutlery is different the place. All the grub in there is fabulous. Really? Yeah. Oh, God. Yeah, yeah. Honestly, proper old school. Dumped. It is a grub. Oh, mate.

56:59Squeaky:We're literally with... That sounds like my kind of place.

57:02Jim:Yeah, honestly, it's fabulous. Yeah. Oh, you see what I mean? We're missing so many. We're missing the hollies. We're missing the other one down the road. Trucker's rest. Trucker's rest. Oh, God. Proper old school, mate. I tell you.

57:17Squeaky:Yeah.

57:17Jim:Bird services. We'll never have a bird services. Clacket Lane. Gaz will love you for that. Clacket Lane. Oh, yeah, the best services in the world, honestly. Oh, well done.

57:31Mat Ireland:Let's just crunch some numbers for a minute, just to give the listeners a bit of an idea of what these places are. Because I'm a massive advocate for these places make huge amounts of money and they don't reinvest it back into the truck stop. I can't emphasise enough that some of these places, not all of them, Some of them that we go to are horrendous, where you wouldn't even want to wash your dog in the shower, you know? It'd be fine for me, though. You open the door, you walk in, there's, like, holes in the walls, in the floors. Mould on the ceiling. Some of them...

58:06Jim:A turd in the shower, I think, yeah, I know.

58:09Mat Ireland:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Some of them are absolutely horrendous. So what I won't do at this point is I won't pinpoint specific truck stops, but what we will do is we'll work it out on an average okay so the you you said you there jim that the most expensive truck stop was uh what 50 something pound a night um so we'll work it out let's say on average what 35 pound a night would you agree that that's fair yeah yeah i'll go lower

58:36Jim:30 pound a night well i'm not paying it doesn't matter if i was paying i would i'd be tempted to lay-by and industrial estates just to take the risk because i couldn't it probably costs more to repair the lorry afterwards if you're going to get broken into but if you get broken into at the truck stops that are probably done by other drivers it's going to cost you the same money anyway a lot of these break-ins i think are actually done by other drivers and not necessarily the people that travel miles miles away you know i do think you're parked in trucks off your curtains have been slashed. I actually think it's done by other drivers.

59:15Jim:Sadly, you're probably right. I really do, because sometimes you look at one of these banana slices that you see in the curtain. How tall was this guy? He's a nine foot eight? Yeah. It's somebody that's standing up and he's got the same level. But yeah, this is a part two.

59:35Squeaky:Unless it's Peter Crouch, of course, cutting a hole in the curtain. Of course, yeah. doesn't he do doesn't he do recovery work

59:41Jim:out of the A6 in Leicester oh no yeah yeah

59:43Squeaky:he's had a successful career after his football um he's got orange lorries yeah I'm I'm gonna run out I'm gonna run out of steam here because I've got no idea who he actually played for because I don't really like football just I just know he's a really tall bloke I'll just say Spurs Spurs yeah is that right

1:00:00Jim:I don't know yeah he did mate yeah fair enough he did I thought yeah I'm a squeaky squeaky's the football squeaky loves football like Gazza oh yeah yeah yeah i'm about to crunch some numbers and you're banging on about something else sorry so it's jim putting me off again go on go and crunch some numbers what do what do we we

1:00:23Mat Ireland:need to establish what do we think is the a reasonable average rate across the uk for say 30 pounds 30 pound okay so let's say that most truck stops hold about 150 trucks do you think that's right yes fair so 150 so that's 4 500 pounds a night just just on truck parking that's about what what they make for on food or yeah if they charge an extra three pound for a shower purely parking it's four and a half thousand pound a night so obviously we'll work it out we'll be we'll play it fair we'll say that this is over four nights because not everybody stays yeah so that's 18 000 that's 18 000 pound a week yeah so you times that by a month yeah that's 72 000 pounds a month yeah so if you have a spot that you've got 150 trucks at£30 a night that's£72 ,000 do you understand now when I'm saying why aren't these places immaculate

1:01:29Squeaky:yeah yeah I know they're going to have rates and all things like that but sure they can't they can't wages, insurance, blah blah blah but it's got to be

1:01:43Mat Ireland:so I don't think when you're making I'm just going to run them numbers again through the calculator just to double check. So we say that£30 times by£150 is£4 ,500. So times... Times it by£50.

1:02:01Squeaky:By£4. If you say times it by£50 to not include a couple of weeks holiday, that would give you a yearly total. OK.

1:02:10Mat Ireland:So 30 times£150. And this is average as well because some truck stops hold more.

1:02:15Squeaky:Oh, yeah, yeah.

1:02:16Mat Ireland:It's 4 ,500 times that by 50. Say 50, yeah, because you've got holidays and stuff like that.

1:02:24Jim:I'm fact-checking this is the same, because Junction 26 holds 50 to 60 spaces. All right, so 50 trucks at£50 to£2 ,500 a week.

1:02:37Squeaky:A night.

1:02:39Jim:Yeah, sorry, a day, yeah.

1:02:41Squeaky:Yeah.

1:02:42Jim:The daily estimated gross is$2 ,700 and$2 ,900 a day

1:02:47Mat Ireland:That's one truck stop that holds company

1:02:51Jim:They're saying$50 to$60 But they do say about the full house thing as well

1:02:56Mat Ireland:But also, what's your source that you're using there, mate?

1:03:01Jim:Let me have a look It's Welcome Break and The Guardian

1:03:07Squeaky:but also also bear in mind the fact that because of its vicinity to London its rates and costs are all going to be an awful lot more than they will be in other parts of the country yeah

1:03:18Jim:like Suffolk

1:03:20Squeaky:Suffolk's not quite as bad actually

1:03:23Jim:Suffolk have not got a truck

1:03:25Squeaky:have they? not anymore not since the Orwell Cross and Close well no no tell a lie we've got Cooper's Cabin and we've got Risby Truck Stop at Berries and Edmonds

1:03:34Jim:Scoop you've got the home He loves Cooper's cabin.

1:03:37Squeaky:You've got the Hungry Stag. There's the Hungry Stag Cafe at Elmsville, but you can't park there.

1:03:46Jim:It's like saying you've got the super sausage on the A5. You can't park there. That's it. The super sausage, Northampton Town Centre. That's a different story.

1:03:56Squeaky:It is, yeah. Now, the Hungry Stag, you can park on the road outside, but you can't park there overnight. Bad.

1:04:03Jim:More regulations.

1:04:04Squeaky:anyway anyway i listen i i um yeah nothing carry on your numbers oh i've closed it oh fair enough i always closed it i'm joking i've got it um that was 225 000 pound a year yeah so that's based that's based on 150 trucks at four days a week. Yeah.

1:04:31Mat Ireland:Quarter of a million, pretty much. Quarter of a million. And that is purely just on parking feet. Yes. Let's remember that these places, they have restaurants, they have shops, they have bars. And I understand the bigger the outfit, obviously the more staff the employ and stuff like that. But that is a staggering amount of money to be making. And I've got to emphasise to the listeners as well that that is a staggering amount of money to be making. for what facilities are on offer when we turn up and there's only two toilets, one shower that someone's had a poo in. Do you know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah.

1:05:08Yeah.

1:05:09Squeaky:But they're not all like that.

1:05:11Mat Ireland:You know, some of them, like I've said, Formula One, for example, fantastic place. Perfleet, again, fantastic. Perfleet, Sister Sight, which is... Oh, the name's escaped me.

1:05:22Squeaky:Is that the Titan?

1:05:23Mat Ireland:No. No, that is Perfleet. What's the Sister Sight? It's Perfleet. Don't know. Oh, my God. My mind's gone blank. I can picture it. But there's another one not too far around the corner. Owned by the same people. Again, fantastic. You go in. Mardyke.

1:05:39Jim:Mardyke.

1:05:40Mat Ireland:Mardyke truck stop. Again, run by the same, owned by the same people. You go in, pool table. I think there's a diet board. There's a cinema room with all big comfy chairs, all free to use. There's a kitchen area. Huge, big, comfortable Chesterfield chairs that you can sit in. that is a good choice yeah

1:06:00Jim:all these trucks are a long way from the A34 in Bloxwich where they had kernels with the attached nightclub next door I'm telling you when I was in my MA like Matt with a pod on the roof no power steering and 15 tonne yellow pages on the back the kernels on the A34 at Bloxwich was just something to behold I'm sure some of the older people remember it really

1:06:25Squeaky:is that like a bit like Watland Street with a wagon and horses down the road. Well, no, no. He had to walk to the wagon and horses. You know I live near there.

1:06:35Jim:I don't, Matt, I've never been there. How dare you? I didn't say you had. I think her name was Sabrina. Anyway, yeah, it was literally attached. It was just early days of my driving career, yeah. Fair enough. Fantastic memories. Yeah, the Watlin Street. Junction 9 has just been brought out by Sirtas now, I think. Right. I'm going to updo it a little bit. But I did come and make you do that one, because it's obviously not far from where I live.

1:07:03Squeaky:Yeah.

1:07:04Jim:And we'd partner a skip, weren't we? We was.

1:07:08Squeaky:Well, I think, like Jim said, this could probably go into part two or three, but I think because of the amount of time we've gone on, we're going to have to sort of wrap this up. But as I said at the start of the podcast, we do have a bit of a special announcement to make, which we were going to integrate with the second half of this one, which never actually happened, did it? So we'll save that for another day. But I'm going to hand over to Squeaky, and he's going to announce this wonderful prize from Cuda UK.

1:07:38Mat Ireland:Brilliant. So what we've decided to do is Cuda very, very kindly have given us a£250 voucher to give away to one of our lucky listeners. What we're going to do is on the 24th of April, don't worry, this will all be all over the socials as well, at Matt's Trucking Great podcast where you'll be able to re-watch this if you miss this now. On the 24th of April, we're going to do a live TikTok where we will reveal the winner. So if you don't know what Cuda are, Cuda they supply things such as truck accessories such as air horns, microwaves, 12 volt TVs, sat-navs, wheel trims, you name it. If you need it for your truck, Cuda have got it so what we've decided to do is anybody that has contributed to the buy me a coffee or the patreon link for march trucking great podcast we are going to randomly select a winner from that list of names and announce it on the 24th of april live on tiktok and then we will send you this no strings attached 250 pound voucher for you to spend at cuda.uk.limited.uk so all you've got to do to be part of it is be in that list so if you've it doesn't matter if you've made a 50p donation or you've made a five pound donation to the links on the social medias of buy me a coffee or patreon you will automatically be entered into that into that raffle so yeah just to just to clarify it's the 24th of april live on tiktok it'll be all over the socials we'll make sure that that's there but don't worry what we don't want to do is we don't want to alienate people that maybe perhaps are not in a position to be able to financially put into the buy me a or patreon links we do also have a 10 voucher uh for everybody else to use uh and all you've got to do if you want to check out at cuda uk dot limited dot uk is use trucking great 10 for 10 off your next order yeah fantastic so basically you've got up until the 24th 23rd to to drop

1:09:51Squeaky:a little donation and Squeaky will make a big list of names hopefully and yeah we'll get all that sorted yeah one lucky listener we'll we'll win that voucher I mean that's a that is a good £250 that's a hell of a voucher it really is I think so that is

1:10:08Mat Ireland:who'd have really outdone themselves there I think

1:10:11Squeaky:yeah fantastic well I think we better wrap this one up then gents thank you for your company and been a pleasure yeah most enjoyable and we shall hopefully speak to you very soon take care buddy

1:10:23Mat Ireland:thanks a lot ta-da