Maverick's European Adventures

[Maverick89]

On August 9, 2025, I started my new life as a logistics company owner-operator, with the goal of expanding throughout much of Europe from my current, and somewhat humble, headquarters: an old garage in Barcelona's Zona Franca. As I didn't have a truck when I bought the aging structure, I signed on with a company that delivers in all of Iberia, France, and Benelux.

Needless to say, I've been working for this company for a while now, delivering to places as far west as Sines in Portugal to as far east as Strasbourg in France. I even had a job going into Switzerland, though it was just over the border to Geneva.

Then, today, some time later...a great oppertunity presented itself.

After finishing a job from Zaragoza in Spain to Le Mans in France, I checked out the used truck market as I did every so often...and came across an offer that almost immedietely caught my attention. A fellow that lives in Tarragona, a city located a little bit to the southwest of Barcelona, was selling his old Renault AE for a little over €7,000. I had about €5,800 on hand from working as a company driver, and after checking with the bank, they allowed me to take out a €2,500 loan, which would give me enough for the truck with a little bit left over. With that in mind, things were set in motion, and I bought the ol' gal! He was even kind enough to have it towed to the garage in Barcelona too, so I didn't have to travel at all.

The lorry itself had quite a bit of kilometerage on it, no doubt from travelling all over Europe...but it was a start. Euble Transport was finally lifting off the ground!

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I started a realistic (hard economy) profile a bit ago and got to the point where I was able to my first truck, which ended up being the Renault AE from the Renault Magnum Megamod by Krille! I'm planning on using this thread to post screenshots from that profile, which I'm hoping will be a long-running one. I'm also hoping to add a bit of a narrative/roleplay aspect to it too, just to add a little twist.

I'm using a few truck and map mods in this profile. If you want more info, feel free to ask me!

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Also yes, I was inspired by Drive Safely to start this...and yes, an ATS one is in the works too.

[Maverick89]

I got my first batch of routes, and was it a doozy.

It was a string of ten drops, circling back to Barcelona...but I'd be going all the way out west to Lisbon before returning back! In total, the route was a little over 4,100 kilometers.

The journey itself, well, didn't start off on the right foot--the first leg took me from Barcelona to Madrid, and of course with my luck, the A-2, which connects Zaragoza to Madrid, was closed because of a major accident. I had to take a lengthy detour around it, getting to Madrid with bags under my eyes from driving a bunch. Let's just say that the grogginess and fatigue docked my pay for this load a little...at least the next couple legs were pretty uneventful as far as anything unexpected. After leaving Madrid, I ended up making stops in Murcia and Gibraltar--and it was my first time in the latter. The Rock of Gibraltar is magnificent--I'd seen it in pictures and in the distance from delivering to Algeciras before, but seeing it up close is something else! It was late enough that I decided to stop there and rest for the night.

The next morning, I was to pick up some Salt & Spices that came from Morocco across the way at the Port of Gibraltar and deliver them to the Transportes Caballería warehouse in Algeciras. I failed to mention that at the top--I'm leased on with these guys for a bit, at least until the move up to Scandinavia happens, so I'll be delivering and transporting things between their hubs in Spain (and of course the lone one in Lisbon in Portugal) and to some of their other customers. At any rate, the drop was made in Algeciras and then from there I headed towards Portugal and Lisbon, delivering some post packages. I bet a few of them are going to be crossing the ocean.

I spent a couple days in Lisbon as I had some time to kill before heading back east, so I went and sampled some of the food here and took in the sights and sounds. Portugal is quite the beautiful country.

After my small break, it was time to head back to Barcelona. The return trip...actually went pretty smoothly! No unexpected detours, and the full route itself took me north to Vigo from Lisbon, and then mostly following the northern coast of Spain to Bilbao before turning south towards home. All in all, I made stops in Valladolid, Santander, and the port in Bilbao. I guess there was one thing...I had a minor scare with fuel. While I didn't run out completely, I got dangerously close to empty during the Lisbon-Vigo leg. Other than that, it was, for the most part, a smooth ride!

I returned back to Barcelona in the afternoon, making my last delivery and then heading back to the old garage after getting some work done on the truck and refueling the old lady. I'm starting to get my next set of hauls ready, and I've decided that I'm going to stay somewhat local for a bit...


(I hadn't forgetten about this...the timing was kind of bad, with 1.56 releasing, and then having to wait for mods to update, as well as IRL things. That combination pushed things back quite a bit!)

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[Maverick89]

It's been a bit, hasn't it?

Overall, things have been as per usual. I've continued my hauls all around Iberia and France...and even got a chance to go across the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel into the UK, making a delivery from Guarda in Portugal to Cardiff in Wales--or Caerdydd if you know how to speak Welsh! I will say driving in a left-hand car while driving on the left is a weird experience....

There was one major event though...I bid farewell to my first truck, the white Renault AE that I bought that started it all. While the old lorry had about 1.8 million kilometers on it already, I put around another 10,000 before I sold it off again.
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However...the AE was replaced with its literal successor...the Renault Magnum! Everything about this truck was an upgrade. The diesel tank is about 300l more than the AE, and the interior is a bit more modern, which I think it's worth it when all I was trading in was literally about 20 HP for it all! Somehow, I have a feeling that this Magnum might be something I hold onto for a while...maybe even for some time after the move up north. Odometer-wise, it was in slightly better shape than the AE was--there was still a bunch of kilometers on it, with about 1.6 kilometers compared to the 1.8 the AE had when I first bought it. It was a bit more too, but the money from selling the old AE covered just over half of it. So all in all, I only paid..a little under 7500 € for it. To put it plainly, it really was an offer I couldn't refuse--the more modern version of my then-current lorry for not much more than I paid for it!

Speaking of the move up north...There's four cities I'm looking at for a potential new headquarters--three in Norway, and one in Sweden. The three in Norway are Lillehammer, Trondheim, and Ålesund, and the one in Sweden is Östersund. That third one was kind of a late addition--I saw some pictures of that city (which is on the coast of Norway) and my, I was blown away. And I suppose with my current HQ in Barcelona I have an affinity for coastal cities, don't you think?

At any rate, the plan moving forward is to keep working in the general area, maybe straying a little further to the east into countries like Germany or even the Benelux area. It should be a lot easier with the new truck. Though I have an inkling the move up north might be a little closer than I think...maybe within the next couple months or so.

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One could say I've "traded in" my old Renault AE for a Magnum--and it's the updated one by knox_xss! It's one of my favorite truck mods out there right now and I was glad to be able to pick up and use it.

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[Maverick89]

Going to try to post in this thread a bit more often. While the whole journaling/RP idea was great on paper, it's a lot of work, and then there's times where there's nothing to really discuss. Not to mention the pauses due to mods needing updating (like right now with 1.57).

So I think going forward, I'll make it more of a scrapbook style, and do journaling when I can!

In the meantime, I finished the Cruising Nordic Horizons event yesterday--and visited all three spots on the Arctic Circle in the three featured countries!

Norway...
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...Sweden...
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...and Finland!
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[Maverick89]

Back in the driver's seat again, this time in the Western Balkans!

On the way to Skopje....
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...and finally into the North Macedonian capital!
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After finishing that delivery, my next one takes me into Serbia...from Skopje to Novi Sad. The Serbian landscapes are pretty!
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[Maverick89]

Some snapshots from this past winter! Nordic winters can be brutal...lots of snow and very little daylight. But the Northern Lights are pretty...

Some last pictures of the old Renault Magnum I've had since my days in Barcelona...
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I had a Volvo FH4 Sleeper before I traded that one in for the current Globetrotter. Also a custom trailer I had briefly!
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Quick run down to Belarus...
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...and finishing this post with some snapshots from Iceland!
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