I was approaching the barriers at Dartford tunnel earlier today. On the tunnel side of the crossing the barriers have not been taken away yet. The barrier is closed when you approach but opens very quickly as soon as your number plate has been read. In the lane next to me a container lorry approached a bit ahead of me but the barrier failed to open and he was left sitting there for a short while. By this time I had made it to the front of the queue however all the barriers stayed down and everybody was held. A traffic officer then drove on to the tarmac the other side of the barriers and reversed up to the container lorry with the ‘follow me’ sign on. The container lorry’s barrier only opened and he was escorted off of the motorway to near the crossing offices. Once they were off everyone else’s barrier then opened and it carried on as normal.
Why was the container lorry stopped? Did a bloke in a booth see something he didn’t like? I couldn’t see hazardous goods signs or anything. The truck looked clean and tidy. It mas have been fairly important and not just a random inspection to hold up everybody else on the motorway? Maybe they have the registration was flagged up when they scanned it for the dart charge? Would they link databases together?
plates are not read there they are read at gantry just before the entry of tunnel the barriers are there to slow the traffic so it don’t clog as they merge and stop haz and over hight trucks. the container prob had haz on or had been spotted removing his orange plates
I understand that they had to put the barriers down to get him to him to get him off the motorway safely. I’m just wondering why. As he went off the motorway he turned round so he was facing the opposite direction so I could see the front of his cab and there was definitely no hazardous markers there or on the rear and it was definitely not over height. As I say it must have been important to hold up everybody else to get him off. I had thought the camera had flagged it up but if the cameras are on the gantry just before the tunnel as ‘chester1’ sais this cannot be the case and they just didn’t like the look of him?
Is that their procedure at the site to pull traffic over for routine DVSA checks? Even of it was due an ocrs check for DVSA that’s a bit of a hassle to stop the entire flow of traffic to pull one for just a routine check and could start a wave effect for congestion. There must be stacks of “reds” that drive by. Surely they can’t be doing that each time for routine checks and there’s better places to do it like laybys. Must be more to it. Do other agencies use the check point perhaps, customs and excise, police etc?
All payments to use the Dartford crossing will have to be remote - there will be no facility at all for any users to pay as they approach or leave the crossing.
The free flow impact assessment estimated overall payment rates of 93% for UK drivers and 86% for foreign registered vehicles which are expected to make up around 3% of all vehicles using the crossing.
Non compliance will be dealt with by penalty charge notice (£35 if paid within 14 days plus the original road user charge) with those for non-UK vehicles being issued via a European debt recovery agency.
Though I’ve never seen them used, there is a set off traffic lights on the E/B A13 at Dagenham, and to the left there is a gate that goes through to a VOSA checkpoint, so I always assumed that the lights were to stop the traffic for the VOSA to pull trucks in. So this method may not be new
All payments to use the Dartford crossing will have to be remote - there will be no facility at all for any users to pay as they approach or leave the crossing.
The free flow impact assessment estimated overall payment rates of 93% for UK drivers and 86% for foreign registered vehicles which are expected to make up around 3% of all vehicles using the crossing.
Non compliance will be dealt with by penalty charge notice (£35 if paid within 14 days plus the original road user charge) with those for non-UK vehicles being issued via a European debt recovery agency.
All payments to use the Dartford crossing will have to be remote - there will be no facility at all for any users to pay as they approach or leave the crossing.
The free flow impact assessment estimated overall payment rates of 93% for UK drivers and 86% for foreign registered vehicles which are expected to make up around 3% of all vehicles using the crossing.
Non compliance will be dealt with by penalty charge notice (£35 if paid within 14 days plus the original road user charge) with those for non-UK vehicles being issued via a European debt recovery agency.
I have a few hours in that place before, the place on the left is for holding overheight vehicles (When the big one is closed) and is also used by DVSA.
All payments to use the Dartford crossing will have to be remote - there will be no facility at all for any users to pay as they approach or leave the crossing.
The free flow impact assessment estimated overall payment rates of 93% for UK drivers and 86% for foreign registered vehicles which are expected to make up around 3% of all vehicles using the crossing.
Non compliance will be dealt with by penalty charge notice (£35 if paid within 14 days plus the original road user charge) with those for non-UK vehicles being issued via a European debt recovery agency.
Does it say you will be banned from the crossing?
No but it can be an option if non payment has not been met. ie not paid the bill won’t allow you to cross.
All payments to use the Dartford crossing will have to be remote - there will be no facility at all for any users to pay as they approach or leave the crossing.
The free flow impact assessment estimated overall payment rates of 93% for UK drivers and 86% for foreign registered vehicles which are expected to make up around 3% of all vehicles using the crossing.
Non compliance will be dealt with by penalty charge notice (£35 if paid within 14 days plus the original road user charge) with those for non-UK vehicles being issued via a European debt recovery agency.
Does it say you will be banned from the crossing?
No but it can be an option if non payment has not been met. ie not paid the bill won’t allow you to cross.
Surely, if they can pull up a vehicle like this for “non payment” - it would be to do with the company account not being paid, thus all vehicles from that yard would be stopped in the same way…
If they were stopping a vehicle by it’s unique registration (or anything else not “yard of origin related”) on the other hand - that would be something else entirely wouldn’t it?
Winseer:
Surely, if they can pull up a vehicle like this for “non payment” - it would be to do with the company account not being paid, thus all vehicles from that yard would be stopped in the same way…
If they were stopping a vehicle by it’s unique registration (or anything else not “yard of origin related”) on the other hand - that would be something else entirely wouldn’t it?
Dunno Winseer as the OP only says a container wagon it could be a one man band …all I was saying it could be …it could be any thing really so unless the driver is on here we’ll never know
