Last week I had the misfortune to have to take a load to the UK, not something that any of us over here in Spain look forward to. The reasons are as I am sure you know the appalling lack of parking, horrendous traffic, roadworks, the general attitude to truck drivers etc… etc…
Working mainly in the civilised part of Europe - that part 22 or so mles to the south of Dover beginning at Calais it is very easy to forget what goes in in Britain.
I managed to park inside the customers premises in a well lit yard overnight prior to tipping, although this was more so because I was blocking their gates and the security guard couldnt speak Spanish so he let me in out of sheer frustration I think.
What did suprise me though was next morning, I wandered into the warehouse and asked to use the toilet - by the look on the guys face you would have thought I wanted to take a dump in his hard hat! The answer was a definite NO!
At this point I lost my rag and informed the guy that if I didnt get the key to the toilet I would take my morning ablution right there in his warehouse - he must have beleived me as I got the key, I also got tipped in double quick time and banned from the site!! As for being banned I dont care a monkeys - I am extremely unlikely ever to load for there again anyway, and my boss thought it was hilarious too.
This incident of pettiness did however serve to on the one hand remind me of one of the reasons I emigrated (jobsworths) - and also set me thinking about the multitude of laws you suffer regarding H&S and Duty of Care.
Now I would have thought that as they had a “Duty of Care” towards me as a visiting driver then they are obliged to allow me to use their toilets as it is unhealthy to “hang on” if you need to go - without getting into details!! Is this “You cant use our toilets” a common occurrence and if it is why the hell doesnt somebody do something about it■■?
