in your career as a HGV driver. how many times have you been arrested?
did you get charged with an offence?
how was the food?
did you lose out on any money because of it?
do you consider arrest as an occupational hazard?
I’ve never been arrested in the line of work so no it shouldn’t be seen as an occupational hazard
Once in Swiss ,the number plates had been nicked from the truck. 6hrs
Once in France & truck impounded,spelling mistake on T form. 5hrs.
Germany twice,overloaded 1hr. &12hrs respectively.
Italy ,chased for 90 kms. then talked my way out of it.
Never in long enough for food & treated`well except by the French who only let me go when I realised I was in the Routiers club & demanded a rep.
For me it was a constant occupational hazard.
I was arrested at Moscow Sheremetyevo airport after I had driven an aircraft refuelling tanker to Tbilisi, Georgia, and was flying home, because the trip had taken far longer than planned and my Russian visa had expired which I needed to transit Moscow. I was held overnight in a detention centre and deported the next day.
I was also arrested in Germany after a minor road accident and taken back to the Police station but I was only held there for an hour and was then released without charge because it was basically the other bloke’s fault.
Never, but I’ve not done continental work, maybe it’s different if you do?
I was arrested at the péage on the white motorway coming from Italy, held for two hours, French coppers are just arrogant, searched the truck and when they couldn’t find anything just held me for the sake of it I reckon, let me go without a word. Arrested by the Germans while driving a van, put in cuffs and taken to the nick, one of the cops drove my van to the nick, they thought I had been in a hit and run but it turns out they were looking for a Dutch van, they did give me a sandwich and a coffee though, held for about two hours as well, pleasant for coppers.
yes, bed was [zb], food was [zb], company was [zb], lawyer was [zb], fine was [zb], but the satisfaction of seeing that perverted [zbs] head down the loo and the button being pushed a few times was absolutely worth every penny of the fine
scotstrucker:
yes, bed was [zb], food was [zb], company was [zb], lawyer was [zb], fine was [zb], but the satisfaction of seeing that perverted [zbs] head down the loo and the button being pushed a few times was absolutely worth every penny of the fine
“You are a disgrace to Scotland!” “Aye & don’t ye ferget it!!” Rab Nesbitt.
Has anyone ever done Community Service/Community Payback/Unpaid Work as part of a Community Order given by the Courts?
Fileep:
Has anyone ever done Community Service/Community Payback/Unpaid Work as part of a Community Order given by the Courts?
twice.
Did you complete it Phil? And were you employed as a HGV driver at the time you completed it?
Fileep:
Did you complete it Phil? And were you employed as a HGV driver at the time you completed it?
completed both. 40 hours, and 200 hours.
and yes i was a hgv driver on both occasions.
200 hours of the ■■■■!
Nope never, only the stupid get caught… 
I got out of community service in 2010 because I argued about rest periods and the wtd 
I work for the Probation Service, my area in this field is actually Unpaid work. HGV Drivers who work Monday-Friday/Saturday should not be doing Unpaid Work for the following reason:
A rest is an uninterrupted period where a driver may freely dispose of his time. Time spent working
in other employment or under obligation or instruction, regardless of the occupation type, cannot be
counted as rest, including work where you are self-employed.
I have sucessfully returned Orders back to both Magistrates & Crown Courts due to the Order being unworkable and given the Courts the above information. I have had some drivers complete their Orders who were working 4 on 4 off.
harry:
scotstrucker:
yes, bed was [zb], food was [zb], company was [zb], lawyer was [zb], fine was [zb], but the satisfaction of seeing that perverted [zbs] head down the loo and the button being pushed a few times was absolutely worth every penny of the fine“You are a disgrace to Scotland!” “Aye & don’t ye ferget it!!” Rab Nesbitt.
aye n rab c’s heed shood be doon the chunty wi the pervs asweel as there beth [zb]
Fileep:
I work for the Probation Service, my area in this field is actually Unpaid work. HGV Drivers who work Monday-Friday/Saturday should not be doing Unpaid Work for the following reason:A rest is an uninterrupted period where a driver may freely dispose of his time. Time spent working
in other employment or under obligation or instruction, regardless of the occupation type, cannot be
counted as rest, including work where you are self-employed.I have sucessfully returned Orders back to both Magistrates & Crown Courts due to the Order being unworkable and given the Courts the above information. I have had some drivers complete their Orders who were working 4 on 4 off.
but what alternative do the courts then give the driver?
surely they don’t just quash the unpaid work order and leave it at that?
Many moons ago I drove a wagon and drag for IPEC we had demountable bodies (SWAP) on the truck and trailer. After many trips abroad with no probs the french suddenly decided that they wanted T/forms for the demounts as they could leave the vehicle and therefore should be treated as items of freight, they took me to St Omar and held me there for 4 hours until an agent came out and payed a big fine, UK customs would not issue T/forms for the boxes so they did the same again on the next trip and the same to several of our other drivers until our Paris boss could square it all with the French duoane.
A none existing problem they drummed up to make money that had no legal answer until a sweetner was probably paid.
Twice in France.
1st time I was stopped near Chamonix with what I thought was an empty belly tank on the trailer. As far as using the fuel in it was concerned it WAS empty, but they measured 1/2 inch BELOW the tap x size of tank. Reckoned I’d got 35 litres of cherry in it. Held for about an hour, given a coffee, paid the fine with eurocheques after clearing it with the boss.
2nd time at Boulogne after a numpty sergeant in a marked police car tried to undertake me on my blind side on a roundabout whilst I was being directed by a gendarme on traffic duty 
. The car (Renault 25 Savannah estate) ended up under the trailer having taken the underrun bars out and also all his windows on his passenger side.
To his credit he held his hands up and said it was his fault, as did the copper that was directing traffic, apparantly he’d told his sergeant to wait . Still got arrested and taken to the nick for questioning but the Cheif threw it out and gave the sergeant a right bollocking in front of me
3 months later the firm got a letter asking if we wanted to pursue a claim for damages to the trailer