arriving at dover very early this mornin (SAT) due to a breakdown (see there is a god post) got a tug from british customs
nothing in that, happens quiet often
but its what the officer then told me “your late this week”
(Im normally back in the UK thursday pm) they were waiting for me and pulled me out of the Q as we were leaving the port kept about a hour for a full rummage
Yep, that’ll happen. It raises a flag and the same can happen if your load is almost always the same thing then you load something different which is why i always used to say the load was computers when booking on in Calais even when it wasn’t as that was the back load 90% of the time. Many things will attract their attention such as using a different port from your normal one or using a different method to pay for the crossing, with paying cash guaranteed to get you the full treatment.
Shipping out & back through different ports will also ‘flag you up’ for a pull, then there’s the questions they ask that you know they have all the answers for. (what port did you ship out of, when did you leave the UK, what cargo were you carrying etc) Get any of them wrong and prepare for their attention 
Ross. 
2 drivers can also raise theiir suspicions 
I left my truck in Belgium for my holidays and came home with another driver. It attracted a certain amount of interest as they searched through bags of sweaty socks
Wheel Nut:
2 drivers can also raise their suspicions
Dead right, I went out ‘bob tail’ to bring back a loaded trailer of onions after the unit had ‘blown up’ near Le Mans, I also brought the driver back and we got the warmest welcome at Newhaven!! 
Ross.
The main reason there was the vehicles went out with one driver and came back with two, that will always attract attention and more so than if the vehicle went out and came back double manned.
Arrived back in Dover in the mid-90’s after loading groupage at the regular Rotterdam agent. Got the ‘random’ pull. While the young lass was in the cab she left her clipboard which I took a sneaky look at. On it was registration number, trailer number, place of loading, my name and my passport number.
“Just a routine random check, Sir - honestly.”
Pop Larkin:
“Just a routine random check, Sir - honestly.”
Dont you just love it when they ask you “do you know it’s illegal to being certain things into the country?”
No, is it??.. is the answer that will almost certainly get you a ‘turnout’ 
Ross.
bigr250:
Dont you just love it when they ask you “do you know it’s illegal to being certain things into the country?”No, is it??.. is the answer that will almost certainly get you a ‘turnout’
On one occasion I was asked that question and then the follow up question. “Do you have any weapons, drugs or ■■■■■■■■■■■?” Answering, “Why, what do you need?” will also get you a turn out. 
bigr250:
Dont you just love it when they ask you “do you know it’s illegal to being certain things into the country?”
.
“Drugs, firearms, pornographic material”
It threw a curve ball to Dover C&E when I said “No, but I took Sixty million quid’s worth of heroin to Sweden on the way out”
Which I had. Three month’s supply of pharmaceuticals for cancer patients in Swedish hospitals.
No turnout
I just went back to the UK for the first time in a good while and was amazed by the sheer number of customs officers at Dover. We have all been tugged by the Douane in France for the once over at various peages and border crossings and just come to accept it, but entering the UK is something else - theres hundreds of the buggers. Talk about a seige mentality, havent they heard of the European Union??
Hombre:
I just went back to the UK for the first time in a good while and was amazed by the sheer number of customs officers at Dover. We have all been tugged by the Douane in France for the once over at various peages and border crossings and just come to accept it, but entering the UK is something else - theres hundreds of the buggers. Talk about a seige mentality, havent they heard of the European Union??
There might be hundreds of the buggers, but they cannot stop the influx of illegals coming in on a daily basis. Although everytime I come through the tunnel or into a port I get the third degree.
Coffeeholic:
bigr250:
Dont you just love it when they ask you “do you know it’s illegal to being certain things into the country?”No, is it??.. is the answer that will almost certainly get you a ‘turnout’
On one occasion I was asked that question and then the follow up question. “Do you have any weapons, drugs or ■■■■■■■■■■■?” Answering, “Why, what do you need?” will also get you a turn out.
Nothing quite beats the entertainment as when you refuse to allow a turnout though.
It doesn’t seem to matter what you reply anyway.
I had a stroppy cow wanted to check my frozen load, at Dover. She took upon herself to turn the fridge off, for which I gave her a bit of a grilling. Oh its health and Safety she said, get yourself a some thermals then said I, just like any frozen warehouse has to when they work in freezer conditions, its not frozen for nothing. - stupid cow.
Another one that annoys me is the - Is it sealed ? 
No its locked (Bulldog bar lock) whichs one more secure ?
I have been lucky in that the last few jobs I have had I could dictate the way the customs could check my load.
Obviously with food products and chemicals its a hygiene issue so if they want to break the seals they have to follow me to the customer and wait until I have tipped. This happens quite often.
Another time when I was on car delivery. We were in our right to stop the customs from going in our trucks. Many of the cars were prototypes and had to kept out of view of journalists and photographers. I got stopped at the tunnel and this stroppy cow was adamant I had to open my doors. I went to the cab and got my phone and called the head of security at Ford in Avely. When I passed her the phone she went red and passed me the phone back saying I could go this time
Hombre:
We have all been tugged by the Douane in France for the once over at various peages
Hi ‘Hombre’, as your from the land of the afternoon ‘kip’, do they still plot up at the third peage northbound after Irun?? It always used to amaze me, they’d be standing between the booths and look you in the eye and let me through (most times) in my old Iveco and pull a brand new Volvo or Scania on UK plates.
Must’ve thought ‘they’re up to something’ or how else could they afford a new truck??
They pulled me one night in 1997 about 11pm and instructed me to open one curtain, she told me to open the r/h side which I did. She then climbed up on top of the onions and walked the length of the trailer shining he torch up & down, after a couple of mins she said “close the trailer and go”.
The irony of this was that my ‘Turbostar’ only had 1,100 litre tanks and I had 2 drums of Spanish diesel behind the 1st & 3rd (single) pallets on the left at the front of the trailer. (4x2 tractor loading 24 pallets 1, 2, 1 2 2 etc ) The dilligent female Douanne failed to spot my drums, I couldn’t believe it!!
Ross.
do they still plot up at the third peage northbound after Irun??
Yes theyre usually at either the second or third peage after Irun, sometimes you even see them at the border crossing!!
[/quote]
“Just a routine random check, Sir - honestly.”
I have been stopped like everyone else sooo many times but I always refuse to let the dog (sniffer) in the cab, I tell them I am allergic to pet hair, (I don’t want some smelly mutt’s paws all over my clean cab) this pi**es them off and they generally start to strip the cab and that is when I ask politely that they WILL put everything back as they found it won’t you? Not usually there too long after that but they always know where I have been and where I am loaded for (or seem to) .