Just wondering if anyone else who uses this wretched port is getting a bit irked by the regularity of truck and body searches of late.I really take issue with having some goon ferreting around in the cab under the auspices of unearthing lethal weaponery that could be used in the port area.They of course are ‘only doing our jobs’ but what exact threat to the world order can a truck driver driver represent?why is Southampton the only port that zealously pursues this godforsaken policy when the very act of doing it is liable to provoke the situation they are claiming to be preventing.
‘is that a bread knife sir i see over there’?’ my god should’nt their attention be,perhaps more container based in it’s scope?
its been a while since ive been in either port but ive never been searched, shouldn’t they be trying Brixton south London rather than Southampton dock.
Cab search… Is that when a security guard looks into your cab from the last step of the cab and gets back down ? I’m not being pedantic but if you had anything to hide then surely you would put it on the top bunk or in the cupboards or under the bed ?
It use to ■■■■ me off totally,the “security” were/are mostly agency rejects given a hi-viz and a light sabre and a bit of power and was a total waste of 5 minutes of my time.
I once saw an irrate owner driver pull down his trousers when he was frisked which amused me greatly,although he was most probably banned from the port after that by the SCT fun police.
Im struggling to understand why theres a need to frisk us and search our cabs?when did this become acceptable? I’m given the regular crap about preventing us somehow attacking the staff at the container port with concealed weaponery as though this is in any way plausible.I got some tripe about it being connected to the american wish to see more draconian measures implimented but the security bods I presume are just grateful for the work.
It’s bizarrre in the extreme but as I must bear a resemblence to carlos the jackal,I seem to be enduring rather too much ‘security’ attention of late for my liking.I never got this level of intrusion when shipping in at Dover even during the cab searches.Completely baffling.
Angus25:
I use Southampton daily and the searches can be a ball ache when in a hurry but you can have a good crack with them
why exactly would i want to be having a ‘good crack’ with them please tell/ theyre an irritant,encroaching on my privacy and hindering my progress for the most spurious of reasons.You may enjoy being physically manhandled.I sure as hell do not.
Ive noticed the cab searches at Felixstowe are getting a bit more regular lately, although they are always a quick nose in the cab from the step and a look at your rhides card
although I did upset the one port copper down there on tuesday last week by tellling him " If you nick one of the doughnuts I’ll know as ive counted them all before getting out the cab "
Try refusing to be searched…that totally blows their mind…they get very confused when someone refuses to play ball with them.
When I was on boxes 3 days in a row they stopped me for a search…the 3rd time I simply refused to let them frisk me. Accused them of victimisation and harassment…
They really didn’t like it, managers were called, heads were scratched…but I never got pulled again after that.
Last time I went to the Olympic park they were searching everyone’s cab thoroughly at the M11 logistics centre, 2 blokes in the cab looking everywhere.
Of course it was still a good few miles from there to the main gate
Also I had a trench box type affair on that clearly could have been concealing something that you wouldn’t have seen unless you climbed on the body and looked inside.
why should they be glad of the job ect? I,m earning less now then i was working in security 10 years ago, infact unless my employment gets better i will be going back to it…
been offered £10 p/h 40 hrs per week over 7 days of my choice… i just have to work it that i do everyday/ day and night shift over a 4 monthly cycle,
You want to try delivering into Sellafield 5 times a week, Bonnet open, mirror underneath and the works. Every single time. Luckily now I’m starting to get to know the guards its getting a bit more bearable, but as it’s not really a major site anymore it’s a touch overkill.
It only takes a small lapse in security to let a terrorist through, it’s been proved to the woe of mankind lots of times in the past.
I don’t give a damm how many searches they do if it stops those murdering cowards.
Recently had two body searches on different weeks. Never had one of these before, so the first time the security guard was trying to show me how to stand like an aeroplane by demonstration, with arms outstretched, & everytime they put their hands back down, so did I so they repeated the action a few times , & each time i followed their action like a mirror image, until I realized I was supposed to keep my arms outstretched while they did the search It must have looked something like a PE class to anyone going past , the rest of it I could have done without !!:oops: & the hold up was putting me behind time when they were finished I was up the truck steps & in the cab faster than a lurcher after a rabbit , & headed on my way
They could be if you failed the attitude test
When I have been stopped on the way in, I tell em they should be doing it when we are on our way out after we have had the chance to nick stuff out of boxes.
When they say they are looking for lethal weapons, I ask if they are gonna take my 3 cell maglite torch off me.
Believe it or not, I was told a 4 cell maglite could be classed as a lethal weapon!
A total waste of our and their time.
on different weeks. Never had one of these before, so the first time the security guard was trying to show me how to stand like an aeroplane by demonstration, with arms outstretched, & everytime they put their hands back down, so did I 
