Half way (so far): Liberty Steel (Hartlepool 20" Pipe Mill): We just drop ‘n’ swap at this place, so dead easy. But, their shunter thinks he’s God, threatening to ban you from site if you leave your empty trailer in a mess or don’t roll your straps to the sides.
Sabic (Wilton LDPE Plant): Usually get loaded quickly, but one of their forkies has Hitler syndrome, barking orders like a sergeant major to drivers (e.g “Oi! Move your curtain!”, etc) whilst sitting in his Linde throne. God forbid if you turn up at 16.55 on a Friday night!
Worst (so far): XPO (Kellogg’s) Trafford Park Bowker (Preston)
Worst is a toss up between BT magna park Lutterworth or Britvic around the corner , as neither has concept of time
Eg BT booking time of either 6/6:30am get on bay may be 8am and out by 9am worst was 10am
Britvic you just spend hours there waiting
Best is either
Boots in Burton opposite hobby craft or Heinz Wigan picking up for export
There’s a company I deliver to at Measham (won’t name them in case I get someone into trouble for failing to follow the H&S rules). I drive in, back onto the bay (I choose which one) and walk to the back of the trailer to check everything’s correctly lined up and levelled. Before I get to the back of the trailer, they’ve got the door open and started unloading. They tip a full load of Euros in less than 10 minutes, which just about gives me time to walk to the Goods In office, hand the notes in, go for a leak and get a (free) coffee from their canteen.
This happens every time I go there. Except once - they apologised that they were unable to tip me straight away as I was an hour early. They made me wait in their canteen (with free coffee) for half an hour.
Worst:Leicester DHL dunhelm:
only space for one lorry at a time and your sort of blocking the main road whilst waiting
security guards, talk to you like your ■■■■
tight yard esp for new drivers
takes forever to get unloaded
also you cant sit in your cab, has to be in the canteen
on the way out the red light stays lit but the barrier opens and they aint fixed it in months
Sainsbury relay park tamworth takes forever for paperwork
Best:
AO Crewe, loading bays tight for a new driver, but the staff are real nice
any small company get unloaded right away and you can ■■ off
DHL Bicester. Crap yard, crap attitude from staff there. Bunch of clowns. I hope they’re serious about me being banned so I never have to set foot in the ■■■■ hole again.
The goods in staff must all be related. The miserable old ■■■■ who works evenings nights never looks up when you go in. Just takes your paperwork, then eventually barks a bay number at you. Never smiles, never even says anything really, and if you try to make small talk he gives you a scathing look then goes back to tapping on his computer. ■■■■■
Best - I mostly tend to have smooth and relatively quick tips/loads/trailer swaps at most Coke depots. Plus you can sit in the cab.
Worst - The only one that really sticks out in my mind is Iceland at Swindon. Hours upon hours in the worst tiny cramped little hole of a drivers’ room on half broken chairs, wobbly tables, noisy vending machines, and a screechy tv.
toonsy:
DHL Bicester. Crap yard, crap attitude from staff there. Bunch of clowns. I hope they’re serious about me being banned so I never have to set foot in the [zb] hole again.
That yard is a pain to maneuver in. Everytime I went there the office staff always ignored drivers and kept them waiting at the desk or give attitude over the intercom at the gates.
I’m now promoting Bowker’s Preston to one of the best places to tip because (even though I was half an hour late for my booked time) they had THREE fork trucks waiting for me and managed to whip off 22 IBCs (ADR load) in about 10 minutes! I had trouble keeping up with them.
XPO Euroterminal (Trafford Park): One of their loaders was on a hissy fit and refusing to tip me (load of paint) until I moved some lengths of box section (dunnage) because they were in the way of the load (back door tip).
XPO Normanton: Ridiculous site rules. When on a bay, you have to either: Uncouple your trailer (and still hand in your keys), but you are allowed to stay in your cab, or leave it all coupled up, but you then have to wait in the canteen whilst they tip or load you.
Kingspan Holywell: After collecting your loaded trailer (sometimes dumped in a lake by a shunter) , You have to squeeze between two gantries with hardly any breathing room between them so they can get the straps on the load (managed to hit a bollard and break a side indicator on the tractor unit on one occasion whilst lining up)! Plus, the inspector there speaks to you like total dirt and the same tone if you were a toddler.
Any Brenntagg UK site, you’ve got Hitler’s on steroids because their holding a few nasty chemicals , forklift lads at Manchester esp seem to run the place , i.e the office are terrified of telling them owt if i go in and ask how many more hours till they tip these 4 IBCs, plenty of arguements have been had in there lucky our gaffer now refuses to send us in.
Best I’ve done Kingspan Leominster, pointed in direction of subsidised canteen, happy to accommodate me on their yard for 2 hours whilst waiting for reload, it’s small gestures that stand out like this when your mostly dealing with tools.
Places I hate are unmaned sites
Where you see fella in gate house he radios through tells you what bay. Leave keys paperwork at back door or in the pull down hatch.
. There’s no office no facilities.
No one to complain at to get a move on. Etc
Only person as such is the security fella in his gatehouse.
Avery Dennison (Cramington): Great craic with the lads on site, and there’s a wheel lock at the bay, so no keys are handed in.
Liberty Steel (Thrybergh/Aldwarke Works, Rotherham): Simple trailer change on site, and all the coils are already strapped (MEGA tight) for you on your loaded one.
not relevant today,but we use to backload out of grand met brewery Isleworth(long gone) but them forkies were a sight to behold, two pallets at a time 24 full shoot took about 10 mins. and still had time to be sociable .
ahh the good old day’s…
plus you could use the subsidised restaurant and showers…
God forbid if you turn up at 16.55 on a Friday night!
Plus, the inspector there speaks to you like total dirt and the same tone if you were a toddler. 
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