Many moons ago i had collected a load of steel castings in Milan.
They were on a flat trailer and each weighed about 4 or 5 tonne
On clearing customs at Concorezzo (Now there’s a name from the past )
the Italian customs official was stumped as to where to affix his seals.
After much arm waving and cappucinos it was decided to run a customs wire around the load and trailer and then seal the two ends. The wire went under the chassis about a dozen times.
It was so long that on the first bend the wire was dragging on the ground and then promptly fell off.
I dont think it would have stopped anyone stealing the load the weight of each piece probably put off most potential thieves
shuttlespanker:
well, if i take an empty container into Seaforth Dock in Liverpool, it must be sealed before they will allow it in
That s easy mate. It’ll generally be going on a ship, and if there’s anything in it that there shouldn’t be, then they have your name and the fact you sealed it before it went into the customs area rather than a 'i thought i was empty ’ excuse. They also make you write on your notes…‘empty container’, so you should really make sure it is empty, or you’ll be liable !!!
I got sent out in a little transit for a quick job. It was empty i was only dropping someone off when security sent me back to transport. The reason for this was they said i had to have a seal on the door handle even tho empty and the seal wouldnt actually secure anything it would just be on a normal door handle.
PRICELESS
I loaded at Bookers in Haydock last week for Bookers in Cardiff, In amongst the paperwork is a red seal which i duly went to put on the rear doors (reefer) at security, The security guy stopped me and told me “thats the wrong seal mate it should be a yellow one and its usually left just inside the back doors for you” Oh ok i says and opens the back door and sure enough there is the yellow seal ( i didnt notice it when i checked the back after hitching up) So yellow seal on numbers all matched up and i get the thumbs up to leave, So i asked “whats the red one for then?” …“Dunno” says the guard
Anyway i get to cardiff and tip and asked the guy there about the red seal and he told me that after were empty he is supposed to seal the trailer this is left over from the days that the deliveries were done in house coz apparently one of their drivers had sorted himself out a nice little earner of collecting and delivering Sofa’s on the way back to base… Only thing was the inevitable happened and he broke down one time with said sofa’s on and though he apparently pleaded with the recovery driver to go via the unofficial sofa drop off point the recovery driver refused and took them directly to Bookers… Imagine the head scratching when the warehouse boys got the reefer on the bay and found the sofa’s. And also i’d have liked to see the driver trying to explain himself to the boss too…
Dont know if it was a true story or not but it passed the time while i drank my cuppa and waited for the stuff to be checked off
)
