ive started doing alot of work shipping through cairnryan then down the A75. obviously i no the limit for us is 40MPH but i dont realy know how far to push it,
as everyone knows that extra 5 or 6mph (or more!!) over the 2 odd hours down the A75 does help and knocks maby 15 mins of your driving time.
most of the time id do 46 to 49ish but often find other drivers on my tail itching to get past, most just seem to go flat out,
what really can you get away with??
I’ll stick me neck out and say 40mph if you need to know what you can REALLY get away with. 
Here we go!
I presume being irish you will have an AM cb (bit of a generalisation i’ll admit but anyway),if not get one and you can be flat to the mat the whole way 
,also most people will give you a flash or thumbs down if the camera vans out.Watch out for unmarked BMW’s and Audi’s(plod round here like quality wheels )usually black or grey,if you’re pulled you’ll get away with nowt
It really depends on how much value you put on your licence, and how far you are willing to succumb to pressure and consequently risk losing it so your boss can get richer.
On the other hand you could stick to the limit, demonstrating to your boss that the schedule he has set you is too tight which would result in him setting you a realistic schedule thus making your life easier and keeping your licence clean, and if you are on an hourly rate that’s a double bubble…Just a thought!
The Traffic Police on the A75 are ultra strict when it comes to HGV speed limits. Feel free to risk it if you want to save just 15 minutes but don’t be surprised if you get a ticket.
If you feel so much pressure that you think you have to do it to get the job done its time to find someone else to work for.
or…let a few bush shakers get out of cairn 1st…then sit in the rocking chair all the way to gretna. dont be 1st,dont be last…and dont be in the front group if you can only manage 90kms flat out,or youl be left standing,and within a few mins,your on the front door of the next bunch( where you dont want to be)… your driving on the most truckie unfriendly 97 miles of euroroute in europe. if they dont stop you for speeding,you will get a dig for doing 44 as itl be assumed youve something to hide.the cars are out 24/7 for entrapment purposes only unless there attending a smash somewhere ,other than that,your ■■■■■■■■. they know the ferry times,they know where to sit invisible,their entrapment is why most of n.i hates english work. some will do it,but refuse point blank to ship from cairnryan,and its birkenhead/holyhead or new job.the 100% must have is an a.m cb as all the irish use that.no point in a fm one as nobody will be on it.if your heading for the boat,sit nicely and let the donegal mafia (or equivelant) overtake you,then tailgate them.other than that its 100 miles of chronic boredom as if your not lit,then theres no need to look for plod,.they have had average speed cameras sitting in the council yard for years,but they would lose too much money by installing them,so they stick to entrapment. you have d&g stranraer,wigton,and lockerbie on the road ,they do not take prisoners as therespressure on them from above to milk in the revenue.drive like your a tanker in an atlantic convoy during the war,and the big car is the submarine. just your pot luck,but use your loaf,and its safe enough ,but still your running the gauntlet every time,then theres the added bonus of castle kennedy at 1 end,and carlisle at the other.to me ,thats the reality of it,or am i mistaken?? 
From the M6 to Dumfries,i have seen unmarked Police cars.
At the side of the road,you see tyre ruts in the field,where trucks have come off the road.
You can not win on that road.Stick to 40mph,within minutes you have 100 cars behind you,all in a hurry to get past and take risks getting past while offering coffee beans,a free brake test and a demostration in the workings of their audible warning device.
If go flat out,you are on edge looking for the Old Bill.
The Irish plated trucks go over 56 mph,i guess they can go at 70mph or more.
Enjoy the views.Nice cafe in a lay by over looking the bay.A wooden chalet place.Nice owners in there.
My nut is bursting with that rant
Ah this old chestnut again. Am cb is huge bonus, but for some reason McBurney’s seem to keep shtum now. Manfreight drivers generally speak.
Speed wise? Don’t do 40 or you will have a tailback like you have never seen before (like the ones that gather behind tractors or bocm Paul’s tippers). Anything below 50 and you will generally be OK. Otherwise flat out, keep traffic moving.
If you are going slow pull over and let the traffic by because overtaking lanes are few and far between. Oh yes and if you are tootling along at a snails pace, don’t shoe it on overtaking places.
Like already said, drop in behind someone if you can. Not always easy to keep up though!
Also as well as traffic police (■■■■■) and camera vans, you also have the local police out and about. They look out for mobile phones, seatbelts etc. Why the local police man you ask? Because why risk tackling junkies, thieves and gypsies when you can sit outside springholm shop in a warm car stuffing your face while waiting to target anyone who gets off their arse and gets a job.
Above all, seatbelt on, cb on, foot down, hang on tight, enjoy the ride, enjoy the scenery and give me a wave.
Irish ferry traffic is D&G Police’s bread and butter.
Through the day you hardly see plod but at night is when they come out and catch their prey. Even the panda cars get in on the act! It almost verges on victimisation the way they target it and is clearly why D&G Police let so much basic localised crime slip through their fingers.
As said just follow someone else going faster (why can’t more drivers use this most basic of logic?)
50 or under and in general they won’t worry you as they have plenty of other pray to deal with.
Thats a good insight, as use say, nothing worse than sitting at 43ish holding up 15 cars behind you,
Ive a CB there, good am one, just havnt it fitted at the min, starting working with a diffrent haulage co and been in diffrent trucks on each trip,
Hopfully get my own lorry soon, get the cb plumbed in then,
As use say, il wait for the southern irish possey to come of the boat then tuck in the middle and try to keep up
V8-Chris:
Thats a good insight, as use say, nothing worse than sitting at 43ish holding up 15 cars behind you,
I have no problem with sitting at 43mph holding cars up 
Spent at least 10 years going Across the 75 with either straw or with a bulker, and only ever got caught once! as said get in behind others and go with the flow.
I think your more likely to get caught now, compared to 15-20 years ago since the traffic has died down, the odds are against you with less hgv traffic.
The ports have suffered thanks to the over keeness of the traffic police.
A lot less heavy traffic now, more and more using Holyhead. Nice big dual carriageway compared to the poxy single track we have!
It’s 40mph. Anything else will be a ticket.
Nothing more to say. If your boss is kicking off, do what I did when firm told me that 56mph was ‘acceptable’ on the A14…
Tell him to read the Highway Code section on LGV speed limits and ■■■■ off! 
The A75 can be a dangerous road.Shame it is not a dual or motorway all the way to the port.But some bits are going to be dual soon.
Are they really that tight up around there, normally everywhere you will always get the 10% plus 2 rule, so anything below 46 and you’d be fine.
then again (and this is just my view (along with others)) when certain cops / Vosa officers over there see a northern or southern irish number plate its like red to a bull,
some may say that’s rubbish but ive seen it first hand, there are officers that are fine, fair with you and if you showing common scense and been behaving they send you on your way, but there are some who get a kick out of it, think they take there job to seriously
it used to be the same with certain haulage company’s, they were always the first to be stopped because that company had maby a name in the past for offences etc.
Seriously mate ffs 
, it aint complicated, the FACT is the law says 40mph… whether you or me agree or not is irrelevant. If you hit a car on a two way track at 56 you have no defence, if you hit same car within the legal limit you have
It doesn’t matter what Tom ■■■■ or Paddy’s opinion is on how fast they go and get away with it , it’s up to YOU. If you want to teararse on the limiter through a notoriously bad road then crack on, if you want to act in a responsible manner and drive accordingly do it, it’s entirely up to you so deal with it
I have drove on both Dutch and Belgian plates in the past, so I got pulled regular, but I gave them no excuse to do so as my head was screwed on.
V8-Chris:
you will always get the 10% plus 2 rule, so anything below 46 and you’d be fine.
There is no such “rule” / “provision”, that is just a fairy tale started by some hard up haulier somewhere sometime to get his drivers to break the law.
The question here is simple, the law says 40, are you willing to give up your career for your boss? You are not gaining anything but have everything to lose.
IT is not ours to wonder why, it is ours to do or die.
We can complain all day long about the validity of the speed limits but as long as they are there it is up to us to stay within them.
Off couse, i agree, i would never sit flat out in a 40, but its just knowing whats best to do, ive had cars pass be in dangerous spots because they were losing there head with me sitting just over 40, how do you keep everyone happy,