This is just one of those questions that crossed my mind recently. If you regularly do euro work, do you ever miss the ferry that you’re booked on, not including the Herald?
If you’re heading to Europe and there is disruption at Dover due to the French blockading Calais, and the police have implemented ‘operation stack’ on the M20. How long has it taken you to get on a boat and how do you go on for driving hours if you’re sat in the stack, maybe moving a few hundred yards every hour? What happens if the stack lasts for a couple of days? Do you have to keep awake all that time in order to keep moving the truck as the stack moves forward?
If you’ve loaded in Spain or Hungary or somewhere and returning to the UK, do you always catch the ferry that you’re booked on or do you just go standby for any ferry once you’ve reached the port?
I just wondered how drivers plan their journey across Europe in order to arrive at the port at just the right time to catch their booked ferry?
citycat:
This is just one of those questions that crossed my mind recently. If you regularly do euro work, do you ever miss the ferry that you’re booked on, not including the Herald?
If you’re heading to Europe and there is disruption at Dover due to the French blockading Calais, and the police have implemented ‘operation stack’ on the M20. How long has it taken you to get on a boat and how do you go on for driving hours if you’re sat in the stack, maybe moving a few hundred yards every hour? What happens if the stack lasts for a couple of days? Do you have to keep awake all that time in order to keep moving the truck as the stack moves forward?
If you’ve loaded in Spain or Hungary or somewhere and returning to the UK, do you always catch the ferry that you’re booked on or do you just go standby for any ferry once you’ve reached the port?
I just wondered how drivers plan their journey across Europe in order to arrive at the port at just the right time to catch their booked ferry?
I’ve often wondered the same or very similar. I assume that old bill or someone would simply move lorries by ferry number. Ie 30 trucks on that ferry we need 30 trucks from the stack. But I suppose it wouldn’t be that simple
not personally ever sat in operation stack on m20,but once the porta potties get dumped on the hard shoulder i would imagine if you where close to your hrs it would be a case of park up on the hard shoulder and draw curtains for 9 or 11 , and if they wanted you to move,they would have to provide written authority
Had delays on the aproach to boat or train , that can be bad enough,
Last mob i was on for some years ago had 1 truck booked on the Saturday morning Cadiz to Tenerife boat! The driver arrived at the docks Friday evening & instead of checking ferry details bookings etc etc found the local bar so on saturday morning 2 hours before sailing time he was shocked to hear his booking hadn’t been confirmed to the shipping line & there was no time to rebook! Now them boats only sail weekly & the show he was transporting was happening in 3 days time so he had to (at the hauliers own expense) drive all the way back to Madrid & air freight the load to Tenerife then drive empty back to Cadiz & ship over the following saturday just arriving intime for the loadout!
Let’s just say the cost for all this was about the same as buying a 2 year old Premium!!!
I’ve been marooned on the island for quite a while now but using Dover or the train you were never booked on a particular ferry sailing anyway, not until you got to the ticket gate. Then it was annoying if the next sailing changed as you were getting your ticket so you were first on the next but one (or two) instead of last on the previous But like buses it wasn’t a great issue as if you miss one there’s another just behind. OK you lost an hour or so but Euro work teaches you how to chill.
On the longer sea crossings it would be a bigger issue if there were only one sailing per day or less.
In the old days of Sally we would be booked on a sailing but there was no guarantee you’d get on it; luckily our company paid for all it’s sailings in advance and so we stood a better chance than some when on the waiting list.
Yeah,i agree, most uk companies had an account with agents in the ports, so it was done on a first come first service, there could be problems with loading, breakdowns etc, change of plans, and so it would have been impossible to turn up at a scheduled time. Of course the boats from Ancona to Patras were different, you almost certainly had to be there or face a 2 day wait, same with Marseille to Algiers, and the Spanish boats from the uk.
I ended up on ferry circling outside Calais for 5 hours while the French dockers decided whether to go back to work or not. In the end they decided not to bother working, so we went back to Dover, which was nice.
After a few hours sat in Dover trying to get some information, I decided to get some sleep only to be woken by my co-driver telling me they’ve put a boat on to Zeabrugge and we were getting on it.
Finally got into Belgium at 6am and over 12hours behind schedule, so that buggered a nice steady run to Valencia.
I think in all the years I did euro work I never caught the ferry I was booked on, I can remember one night pulling into Zeebrugger complete chaos, down to Ostend the same, happened to have a permit not that I needed one to go down the corridor, in to Calais straight on the boat, result!!!
Dieseldog66:
I think in all the years I did euro work I never caught the ferry I was booked on, I can remember one night pulling into Zeebrugger complete chaos, down to Ostend the same, happened to have a permit not that I needed one to go down the corridor, in to Calais straight on the boat, result!!!
Do they actually take bookings for Dover Calais I’ve never booked
Didn’t men to quote on the diesledog comment just ment to comment
Cant say that I have ever been booked on any particular sailing, just arrive, over the weighbridge and to the required operators lane and from there to the boarding point on the card.
While back when off to Larne via Troon on the express as a foot passenger to join a ship in Warrerpoint I missed the morning one and had to get the evening sailing but that put me into Larne when there were no trains or buses running out of the terminal ie.2200hrs !! Only way was to get a taxi at a cost of £110, don’t you just love the Irish way of doing things
allthe south coasts are pre booked and generally make a booking when know reload details etc
Eg load valencia day 1 in evening afternoon ferry cherbourg caen dieple etc
Day 3 deliver am day 4
Have missed boats due to traffic delays or driving hours etc
Pulled in watchibg it sail away then get put on wait list for next And hope
Worse case in cherbourg few years back were 3 crossings a day
Missed morning boat wait list on afternoon
No room sailed on night boat
Once hD operation stack 12.5 hrs toget to calais
Luckily was pre digi days and was double manned that trip so sorted it
A few weeks ago on a sunday night I was going for the ferry from Plymouth and the M5 was shut!!! I phoned my office who then phoned Brittany ferrys who said they would wait for me brittany ferries even phoned me to check how i was getting on!!! But I made it with 20 mins to spare.
Were based in southampton and a few years back 1 of our drivers on a Sunday night missed the ferry from Portsmouth
Another 1 of our drivers was in our 4x4 & trailer heading for Dover when operation stack was in place and decided to join the Q on the M20, once he was stuck in the middle of all the trucks he phoned the office to explain where he was, lets just say he didn’t get a “well done”
Every othertime came a through back roads and back entrance into train and away
One time spotted a mate in op stack
I was across into belgium swap trailers and getting bsck off in folkestone
And he was just at the booths
Brittany if running late are good if you keep communicating they wont normally hold the boat but hour before if u not there they put u to wait list and start confirming those there on the wait list
But if use them reguler and communicate and they know your coming they keep your confirmed space for you
Had it once gave them passport details over phone
And guy waiting for me on ramp with my ticket
but at stobrats a couple of weeks ago 
Santander to Cadiz 
and the boat set sail without him to Tenerife! 
5 days on the lash 
don’t you just love the Irish way of doing things 
