I use the kitchen timer,Salter brand,i can not get to Castets truckstop in France within 10 hours driving time.Same truck from same company gets there in 10 hours,while i run out of time 45 minutes North of Castets on the forest road duel carrigeway.Other driver has no timer,and records drive time manually on note paper.Showed him my tacho for same journey from Dieppe,and got no answer.Heard rumours that some used to do Cherbourg/Caen/St Malo and get to Sunbilla,in one hit.Totaly not possible,as some men with red berrys will be waiting to issue a big fine.Any suggestions of trip times?
peter mill:
I use the kitchen timer,Salter brand,i can not get to Castets truckstop in France within 10 hours driving time.Same truck from same company gets there in 10 hours,while i run out of time 45 minutes North of Castets on the forest road duel carrigeway.Other driver has no timer,and records drive time manually on note paper.Showed him my tacho for same journey from Dieppe,and got no answer.Heard rumours that some used to do Cherbourg/Caen/St Malo and get to Sunbilla,in one hit.Totaly not possible,as some men with red berrys will be waiting to issue a big fine.Any suggestions of trip times?
St Malo to Sunbilla possible but Cherbourg/Caen no way.
Cherbourg to Castets can be done in under 10 hours in favourable conditions, Caen to Castets easily.
We regularly ship to St Malo and can comfortably do the services at St Sebastian in 9.5 - 10 hours dependant on how much you get held up on the way down.
The 2 posts above mine are completely correct
peter mill:
I use the kitchen timer,Salter brand,i can not get to Castets truckstop in France within 10 hours driving time.Same truck from same company gets there in 10 hours,while i run out of time 45 minutes North of Castets on the forest road duel carrigeway.Other driver has no timer,and records drive time manually on note paper.Showed him my tacho for same journey from Dieppe,and got no answer.Heard rumours that some used to do Cherbourg/Caen/St Malo and get to Sunbilla,in one hit.Totaly not possible,as some men with red berrys will be waiting to issue a big fine.Any suggestions of trip times?
Have you checked your tacho against your timer, using one of those disc checkers (or very careful eyeball with pen and paper) ?
Did you get the same result of running out of time far too early ?
If you’ve double checked, over several trips, and you still run out of time early, then either the other driver knows a few short cuts or he is being ‘a bit lax’ in his timing notes.
You’ve done your bit in pointing out the discrepancies in time to him.
Have you tried comparing exact routes?
If the boss is giving you grief about you not making it, point out the driving time on your tacho’s.
Otherwise, leave the other driver to get on with it, he’ll be caught eventually, if he’s being too lax.
The boss should know there’s something odd somewhere (2 drivers doing the same trip, using the same route, with the same wagons, in quite different times).
There should be no need for you to actually point that out.
That’s my opinion.
Next time your mate gets out of the wagon chuck some iron filings at his bag, if they stick you know the answer. He’s been extending his breaks with a magnet and this is a dangerous route to be doing that as the French love a tacho fiddler!!
Some years ago I got pulled near Strasbourg and they took my disc into a van to give it the 3rd degree!! 10 mins later they returned without the disc asking the exact route I’d taken, which ferry I’d used and where I’d taken my 1 hr break. I’d stopped at Capellen, pulled the ‘emlyn’ and legged it to Berchem for diesel & complete the break!! He came back and in superb English told me that there was a problem with the disc as some km’s were missing but as it was a small ammount it MIGHT be due to tacho calibration & tyre wear… PHEW!! He gave me the disc back with a knowing look and said “be carefull” not everyone in France is as flexible as him. Au revoir. 
Ross.
PS, I’ve done Dieppe to Irun literally hudreds of times and don’t think it possible to get to Castets in a limited truck in 1 shift, in a Sprinter it would be possible but not an HGV.
St Malo to Sunbilla is dead easy in a ten shift, Caen to Labenne or thereabouts no prob either but Cherbourg only sees you around the 2nd peage after Castets, at one time it was apush for Castets in a shift from Cherbourg. From Dieppe it’d be about ten and a half, we always used to stop at either Cap de Pin or for a really good meal park at the old post office at Liposthey, always good food and wine here.
FLIP:
we always used to stop at either Cap de Pin or for a really good meal park at the old post office at Liposthey, always good food and wine here.
Both places get my vote, however both fill up early and no fridges running after 2100h.
In the truck I drive Caen to Castets is about 9.5 hours dependant on weight. From Cherbourg though it is just out of reach.
As I recall, this discussion rose it’s head late last year with some members calling me naughty names because I can do Caen to the border in under 10. In my opinion, everyones times will be different simply because no two trucks are limited exactly the same!! I used to drive a Merc 460 and in that, although it said I was doing 90kph, it took me 9’45" just to get to Castets. Now I drive a DAF 480 and in that, once again, it says I am doing 90 kph, I can reach the border easily. I have also done Le Havre to Castets easily in this motor.
Two trucks can go in together and each be calibrated on the same machine. Take them to a garage and put brand new tyres on each on them and they will do different speeds then, assuming the tyre wear wasn’t even on each of them before hand.
Also some drivers use the motorway the whole way via Rennes, Nantes, Niort to Bordeaux when in fact, going Alencon, Le Mans, Tours, Poitiers and Angouleme is much quicker.
TheBear:
As I recall, this discussion rose it’s head late last year with some members calling me naughty names because I can do Caen to the border in under 10. In my opinion, everyones times will be different simply because no two trucks are limited exactly the same!! I used to drive a Merc 460 and in that, although it said I was doing 90kph, it took me 9’45" just to get to Castets. Now I drive a DAF 480 and in that, once again, it says I am doing 90 kph, I can reach the border easily. I have also done Le Havre to Castets easily in this motor.
Two trucks can go in together and each be calibrated on the same machine. Take them to a garage and put brand new tyres on each on them and they will do different speeds then, assuming the tyre wear wasn’t even on each of them before hand.
Also some drivers use the motorway the whole way via Rennes, Nantes, Niort to Bordeaux when in fact, going Alencon, Le Mans, Tours, Poitiers and Angouleme is much quicker.
If a truck has been calibrated on well worn tyres then it will run a good couple of km/h faster when new tyres are fitted.
Done cherbourg to castets a couple of months back . Took me 10 hrs 10 minutes , oops . All on the card , just wrote some b******* on the back . Going via st lo makes it harder btw . Faster to go old road , and yup i know all about speeding etc . Ouistreham to castets should be legal enough , but all trucks run at different speeds and traffic can snarl things up .
If you can average 83kph you will do it in 10 hrs, but in my experience you should expect to average no more than 80kph so that makes it very tight. 
I do have an F12 that would do Cherbourg to Irun in 9 1/2 hrs a few years ago, but I don’t think the speedo was as accurate as it should have been 
jimti:
I do have an F12 that would do Cherbourg to Irun in 9 1/2 hrs a few years ago, but I don’t think the speedo was as accurate as it should have been
mmmm, in the late 80’s I had an F12 that could get from Almusafes to the cabbage patch on one card■■? (my intermittent fault was obviously much worse than yours )
Ross. 