Just want to know what people do for showers and how clean are motorway services?

its very much hit and miss in the uk unfortunately. as normal the facilities for truckers here is way behind those in europe. some are ok, some are dire. i've found alot of the ones in the "first motorway services" group are ok. the best showers are normally to be found at the independant truckstops dotted around the uk, but as a rule i would never go in any of said showers without my flip-flops
if your starting out in tramping, keep your eye out in the cafes/truckstops for a free newspaper, (truckers news, or similar) as they have adverts and listings for some of the better truckstops.

Can't help you with your question mate as i'm home every (afternoon!)

Good luck with the new job, though.

just dont bend over to pick ya soap up lol

ive tramped for last 2o odd years , showers in services are a bit hit and miss but generally not bad , as some one said , take flip flops , some of the older truckstops have showers that are best described as well used ,
best bit of advice i could give you is try to shower in the morning , there is usually a humungus queue at night .
the showers in uk are now on a par with france and spain , dont know about germany havent done it for a few years now likewise italy .

after seeing the bad hygene requime of some uk drivers it makes me wonder if they wash at home some times , like free showers in most truckstops if you pay for parking and still they wash with a flannel and a bit of old soap and think theyre clean ,

Thanks for your advice, most welcomedI don't want to fall into the trap of eating fry ups everyday.

Why is it called "Tramping" I think It's a horrible term?

ive been driving artics since 83 , tramping since 87, i was told we were tramps due to always sleeping in a different place , and prob the smell from some of the less intelligent drivers i have met .


that brings up another thought , it always seems to be a measure of how thick people are as to how bad they smell , i know sometimes its difficult to find showers but some people dont make the effort ,when i started most towns had lorry parks , usually a car park during the day , lorry park at night , then i use to find the local swimming baths and off i went , paid to go swimming but most times just used the showers , ,


god i sound old , im not honest guv

Think this might do the job http://youtu.be/_e6mCb7gk0I

pretty awesome...


But to the OP.. Yes its very hit 'n' miss

There are some service stations you could pretty much live at if you were homeless seriously! (decent showers, 24 hour opening and 24 hour food, wifi, variety of seats etc)