I’m hoping someone out there can help me? I’ve received some advertising from a company offering civil penalty awareness training, whatever that is. I don’t normally do EU drops but I’ve a few short hauls coming up to France. I know very little about civil penalties or what I need to do not to get one. I’ve not had a chance to read it fully but they say that they run a registration system that provides me with a defence against any fines. Is this going to be worth shelling out for? 
welcome to trucknet mason
i have no idea what this company are offering you but you ask what you can do to avoid fines, well thats easy stick to the law especially on tachos and you won’t have a problem.
what you might consider in the UK as a nice friendly copper giving you a warning not to do it again the europeans will get there fine book out but don’t worry too much life is less stressful when over the water 
Cheers welshboyinspain, from what I understand from the ad is that they are talking about illegal immigrants.
A company I used to work for copped a big fine after 17 stowaways were found in one of their hardsiders in Birmingham. The driver got fined too. I cant afford big outlays now and drivers I’ve spoken to say that things are getting bad again with the immigrants.
Free Civil Penalty Training to Avoid Illegals.
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Do not park within a couple of hours of the port. Park earlier in the day and start earlier in the morning.
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Always carry out your own checks on seals, underneath trailer, roof of cab, curtains/tilts/roof after each stop when heading home. Tug on the seals and any sealing cords to make sure they haven’t been cut and glued.
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Draw up a simple check-list with the above items on it, the seal number and spaces for the date, the reg number, the trailer number and sections where you can tick each item after every stop. Print several copies and make sure you fill each one in religiously on every trip.
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A further tip is when heading home spin round at a junction and park in an area heading away from the port, then spin back round in the morning.
=====================================================
There you go, training complete. That’s saved you a few quid, you’re welcome. 
Oh and incidentally, that company in Birmingham and the driver should not have paid those fines as the penalty is for bringing them into the country/across the border and Birmingham is a long way from the nearest border so who can say where they entered the vehicle. they might have climbed in in Coventry.
I once found an illegal in my trailer side locker in Slough when I arrived back from a trip. He had climbed in during the ferry crossing. The police were called but they could not take any action against me or my company as there was no proof where he had entered the vehicle.
Cheers Coffeeholic, Try and keep those tips in mind. Shame there’s not some sort of ‘big stick’ we can hit the ■■■■■■■■ setting the fines with!
20/07/11
Read through the ad and called them up. Explained the tips coffeeholic gave, they said that the tips were a good start but full training and inclusion on a Europe wide data base provides a strong defence against a fine! The company is run by ex-immigration officers so I think they must know what they’re talking about.
The price isn’t too bad, but I’m still not sure.
Remove all the labels that are on the pallets/boxes,to show what the destination country is,as if they get in,they will know that you heading to the land of the free house that is the uk.
park in calais, wait a while then when you see them offer to take them to the UK for £500 each, give them all a london A-Z and stick them in the back.
drive to a quiet ind est in paris with no road signs drop them off and show them some dodgy address in the A-Z thats where they are 
or charge them £3000 each bring them to the UK and pay the £2000 fine and you make a grand per ■■■■■■■
welshboyinspain:
park in calais, wait a while then when you see them offer to take them to the UK for £500 each, give them all a london A-Z and stick them in the back.
drive to a quiet ind est in paris with no road signs drop them off and show them some dodgy address in the A-Z thats where they are
or charge them £3000 each bring them to the UK and pay the £2000 fine and you make a grand per [zb]
charge them a tenner, and shoot the [zb]. 
browncow2:
welshboyinspain:
park in calais, wait a while then when you see them offer to take them to the UK for £500 each, give them all a london A-Z and stick them in the back.
drive to a quiet ind est in paris with no road signs drop them off and show them some dodgy address in the A-Z thats where they are
or charge them £3000 each bring them to the UK and pay the £2000 fine and you make a grand per [zb]charge them a tenner, and shoot the [zb].
I will give You a tenner for each one You Shoot
It sounds like he will getting you Border Agency Acreditation, but you could do it yourself for free, although there is a question about training, which I suppose is what he’s offering.
and it’s still no guarantee that you won’t get fined if you have immigrants in the trailer.
Being on the scheme does not mean you will never be fined. We may fine you if we find you are using a system that is not the same as the accredited one, or that your system is not as effective as it was when you joined the scheme. We will review your accreditation regularly. If we find clandestine entrants in your vehicles, we may contact you and ask you to improve your protection system.
Individual drivers cannot apply to join the scheme. If we find clandestine entrants in one of your vehicles, we may need to interview the driver. We may fine drivers if they have not operated your system properly, even if your company is accredited. You will still be liable to pay any fine imposed on the driver, if he has failed to operate the system properly.
The accreditation scheme is a voluntary one. If you do not join it, you can still avoid being fined by making sure you operate an effective system of protection.
muckles:
It sounds like he will getting you Border Agency Acreditation, but you could do it yourself for free, although there is a question about training, which I suppose is what he’s offering.and it’s still no guarantee that you won’t get fined if you have immigrants in the trailer.
Being on the scheme does not mean you will never be fined. We may fine you if we find you are using a system that is not the same as the accredited one, or that your system is not as effective as it was when you joined the scheme. We will review your accreditation regularly. If we find clandestine entrants in your vehicles, we may contact you and ask you to improve your protection system.
Individual drivers cannot apply to join the scheme. If we find clandestine entrants in one of your vehicles, we may need to interview the driver. We may fine drivers if they have not operated your system properly, even if your company is accredited. You will still be liable to pay any fine imposed on the driver, if he has failed to operate the system properly.
The accreditation scheme is a voluntary one. If you do not join it, you can still avoid being fined by making sure you operate an effective system of protection.
Contacted them again with this info. They say that they have nothing to do with the accreditation scheme as they maintain an “…independent record of ongoing driver training and a company’s maintenance of its established ‘Effective System’.” To quote his email. They said that (as stated above) the Home Office does not allow individual drivers to apply to join the accreditation scheme and that this “…excludes them from the informed protection that individual knowledge of an Effective System provides. This is due to a driver receiving his training third hand.”
I can see their point, if your boss is only worried about covering his ar*e then is he bothered how much is he going to pass on to you? He’s alright Jack!
Decided to make the investment, better a few hundred now than a few thousand and my job later!
MasonCash:
Decided to make the investment, better a few hundred now than a few thousand and my job later!
A few hundred? 
Total waste of money. Have you checked with The Border Agency, or whatever they are called this week, if they even recognise this ‘training’ because you could still find yourself fined.
They only want you to have some form of checks in place and you can do that yourself for the cost of a few sheets of paper and some printer ink.
ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec … ry-leaflet
ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec … cklist.pdf
ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/about … tindustry/
Read through them links and when you see me buy me a coffee it’s exactly what you will be shown for a few hundred so you save loads of dosh and I get a free brew…win.win.
MasonCash:
Decided to make the investment, better a few hundred now than a few thousand and my job later!
Quick question…
Do you pay silly money for a weatherman to tell you if it’s pi55ing down outside■■?
Ben9:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/workingwithus/lorry-leafletukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec … cklist.pdf
ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/about … tindustry/
Read through them links and when you see me buy me a coffee it’s exactly what you will be shown for a few hundred so you save loads of dosh and I get a free brew…win.win.
MasonCash:
Decided to make the investment, better a few hundred now than a few thousand and my job later!Quick question…
Do you pay silly money for a weatherman to tell you if it’s pi55ing down outside■■?
My ex company that had the find of 17 stowaways in Birmingham had check lists and did what they were ask to do but got fined cos they couldn’t prove that they kept an effective system or trained the drivers or somesuch bollcks eventhough they had all tthe check lists filed! They appealed but it got tossed out cos unlike a normal court where tthey would be looked at as innocent and the home office had to prove them guilty they were guilty and had to prove themselves innocent!! How the F** is that right?
To answer your question: No. But I would pay the weatherman to tell me if its going to pi55 down in a months time on a Tuesday. Thats what farmers do.
More money than sense, clearly.
The way I understand it, is that if a company has a suitable system in place, (and it doesn’t have to be a Border Agency acredited one, but it probably helps) all the driver has to do is follow the laid down precedures. If the driver does this and has the paperwork work to prove it then they are less likely to be fined, but having a system in place won’t stop a driver being fined if he hasn’t followed the procedures.
As the Border Agency don’t provide acreditation for drivers just companys I can’t see how a course for drivers is going to help you reduce the chance of a fine, because you’ve had some training and are on some database which isn’t reconised by the Agency responsible.
Of course the Border Agency might think that if you have immigrants on board your systems weren’t good enough and therefore you’ll get fined whether you have acreditation or training.
Rob K:
More money that sense, clearly.
Beginning to think that.
The worst bit is I think he’s been serious.
Ben9:
Rob K:
More money that sense, clearly.Beginning to think that.
The worst bit is I think he’s been serious.
Well, you might both be right, in fact you probably are. But, the fact that after 12 years (I take it that it is 12 years cos its the 1999 act) drivers and companys are still making the sam mistakes and still getting big fines, illegals are still a big problem, and there seem to be more than ever, it looks like the transport industry still hasn’t got a grip on what it should be doing and is happy to let the f****** government rake it in! The real question is: Do I keep doing what every mug thats ever been fined before me has done or do I change the game?
Probably more money than sense, but just cos the bloke in front of me in the que ordered a dog sh** sandwich and spent his time complaining about it don’t mean I have to.
MasonCash:
Ben9:
Rob K:
More money that sense, clearly.Beginning to think that.
The worst bit is I think he’s been serious.Well, you might both be right, in fact you probably are. But, the fact that after 12 years (I take it that it is 12 years cos its the 1999 act) drivers and companys are still making the sam mistakes and still getting big fines, illegals are still a big problem, and there seem to be more than ever, it looks like the transport industry still hasn’t got a grip on what it should be doing and is happy to let the f****** government rake it in! The real question is: Do I keep doing what every mug thats ever been fined before me has done or do I change the game?
Probably more money than sense, but just cos the bloke in front of me in the que ordered a dog sh** sandwich and spent his time complaining about it don’t mean I have to.
To be honest I’m not questioning your motives for wanting this training, but I think you can cover your arse, so to speak by reading the Border Agency web site and downloading a few forms. Especially as it seems this training isn’t even reconised by the Border Agency.
muckles:
MasonCash:
Ben9:
Rob K:
More money that sense, clearly.Beginning to think that.
The worst bit is I think he’s been serious.Well, you might both be right, in fact you probably are. But, the fact that after 12 years (I take it that it is 12 years cos its the 1999 act) drivers and companys are still making the sam mistakes and still getting big fines, illegals are still a big problem, and there seem to be more than ever, it looks like the transport industry still hasn’t got a grip on what it should be doing and is happy to let the f****** government rake it in! The real question is: Do I keep doing what every mug thats ever been fined before me has done or do I change the game?
Probably more money than sense, but just cos the bloke in front of me in the que ordered a dog sh** sandwich and spent his time complaining about it don’t mean I have to.
To be honest I’m not questioning your motives for wanting this training, but I think you can cover your arse, so to speak by reading the Border Agency web site and downloading a few forms. Especially as it seems this training isn’t even reconised by the Border Agency.
I’m phoning them tomorrow and find out if the Border Agency does recognise them.