On thursday evening I decided to park in the “secure” compound in calais… Not ideal but id run out of time shipping out. I was fully freighted with 27,500 kg of waste english newspapers...I drive a "walking floor" trl- like a box with an opening roof.... Friday morning i got up, dressed, had a scratch,■■■■, and wee... then checked my trl... the back doors had been tried.... impossible to open fully due to a hydraulic bar at the bottom... so i asked a few other drivers to help me close the door catches again-not easy with all that weight bearing on them! I then climbed up the front gantry and checked the roof-no marks or cuts.. Away i went heading for gent... NOT CALAIS PORT :laughing: :laughing: Id done about two miles when i saw paper flying out onto the road from the roof 
and the banging got louder
I was going to take them to gent but it was getting noisy so i pulled into a layby… picked my knife up(i was angry and if im honest nervous too!) got out and started shouting "please mr nice iraqi get out of my trl"... i think :wink: .. Anyway 6 climbed out and ran off leaving a cloud of paperdust :laughing: :laughing: . One came back and asked for his bag! I told him if he didnt do one id castrate him.
I decided id hung around there long enough (the adrenaline was wearing off and 6- 1 driver isnt a good bet!). Thanks go to the sealane driver who pulled into the next layby with me to check they were all out. I got to veurne and opened the roof properly and saw the bag-fished it out and reclosed the roof. In it was his 10 year old mobile. An address book(in arabic), a £20 note, and some phrases in english. Anyway later in the day my conscience kicked in and i started feeling a bit sorry for him. (i know all the reasons they shouldnt be coming to england thanks)…
But i thought of how he must have travelled from whichever middle eastern country… perhaps never to see his family again. And i thought of me… Comfortable happy family. Nice car… good job… money in my back pocket.
…So, when i got back to calais i asked to speak to immigration and handed in the bag-but the bloke said it would just be handed over to the gendarmerie so i took the £20 out and decided to give it to a charity- any suggestions as to which one?
Did i do the right thing taking the money out? I feel so guilty but realistically he would never have seen it again
Sorry its a long bit of a ramble but i need to get it off my chest
I was parked there on monday night because of the bank holiday and I passed the time watching the illegals climbing the fence and getting into the compound, there must have been well over 30 of them and security was no where about. I didn’t bother checking my trailer in the morning but set off and checked it at Le Mans (I was going to Spain) Trailer was empty which was a shame as it would have been a fair hike for them 
Don’t feel guilty mate, just keep the £20 as payment for the hassle they gave you. Another point to look at is although they were trying to get to the UK (which is a cushy number for them 
) they have had to pass through a few other countries where they could have claimed asylum and safety from the (apparant) persecution in their own country.
God gave you £20 . In the worse case scenario you could have got a corpse with it… As you say they have a tough life & choose to put themselves thru this. Spend as little time as poss. on thinking about it. On the positive side these people are seldom violent.
lucky escape john, you could well have been going into the port instead, had you got passed passport control and then discovered the passengers you could be down by the tune of 12k, not a happy thought there john.
the beach is by no means secure parking - it has become a boarding point for every immigrant looking for a ride to the uk.
i have never normally parked in the calais area, choosing instead to park further away and usually around the lille area but since starting with sealane i have had to park up when my time runs out and get as far as possible because they will use any excuse to deduct money from my boss and driver stopping 1 hour before he can do comes into that category.
i have parked at the beach twice recently and on both occassions my trailer has been opened and left open, on one occassion i saw 3 gangs of at least 6 people walking around the park at midnight looking in trailers - these were not the police.
the one good thing about parking there is that the police or security will check your trailer for you or with you before you leave if you ask them to.
JB:
And i thought of me… Comfortable happy family. Nice car… good job… money in my back pocket.
glad you got out of the situation okay JB but don’t worry - a combination of jobs going to eastern europe, chinese economic growth and our successive governments’ willingness to do nothing, we’ll be the 3rd world country in 15 years time - cutting willi betz tilts on the M20 to get OUT of the UK if anyone’s stupid enough to still be here 
jj72:
- a combination of jobs going to eastern europe, chinese economic growth and our successive governments’ willingness to do nothing, we’ll be the 3rd world country in 15 years time - cutting willi betz tilts on the M20 to get OUT of the UK if anyone’s stupid enough to still be here
Too bloody true.
I’d hope that Immigration, certainly in respect of the note book, do more that just hand it over to the Gendarmerie, where it would be ‘filed and forgotten’. i’d have hung on to that and handed it in to the S.B. office at Dover. It’s almost certain to contain contact addresses/phone numbers for when they arrive.
Have you seen the post Accident in Madrid Johnny “G”
Not a favourite of the Beach but if I was stuck in Calais, I would always head for Cortimmo and use the services of an armed guard. Not sure how much it costs though as we had a guaranteed parking area and an account.
I got a routine control a couple of weeks ago at the tunnel. I was to be training fodder for the dog 
Anyway the dog was doing its job jumping into every wheel arch and orifice of my trailer when there was a shout from the customs shed. about 15 olive skinned chaps were taking a shortcut to the tunnel. I have never seen the UK and French customs work together so well chasing these illegals.
I was left looking after the dog
If life in Iran, Iraq, Africa is so bad why do these brave souls leave their wives and children to fend for themselves?
just a line to let others know that illigals are jumping your truck as far away as jabbeke and according to one driver I spoke to the other day even beyond this.I picked up 4 the other week in jabbeke,but I was only going to ostend to make my final collection and whist waiting for the factory to open felt an unusual movement to the trailer, I was driving a wagon and drag at the time,so I open the wagon sides and found them on top of the load.I thought what do I do now.best course of action was to be nice to start with and then if it got rough scarper into factory and ask for help,but luckily they were very nice about it and all got off and appologized for being there but they had to get to uk, one of them even shook my hand and applolgied again,they then walked off in the direction of ostend station aiming to get back to calais to try again.I think I was lucky this time after all the horror stories one here’s.so, my tip is only park at the beach if you are empty, and heading away from uk.
Funny really.They enter the country clinging to the axles of a truck then ,a few months later they are driving the truck…
This post could have gone anywhere. anyway it is here, an update of the original post and a very upsetting day for me.
Due to the problems at the tunnel, the ferries are busy, so busy that the tunnel is actually running better than they say on the radio reports. So yesterday afternoon. I am in the queue for a train to the UK after going through the French CO2 monitor. I had also checked the load before going into the terminal. My delay was about 2 hours so I was happy with a flask of hot water, some pasta salad and a few biscuits with time to read my magazine.
I was rudely interupted by a driver banging on the door and pointing under my trailer. I understood him to mean I had a passenger, it turned out that he had got on the axle while we were parked inside the terminal. I looked under the trailer and saw nothing, I dropped the air suspension trying to squeeze him out and finally raised the air where i could see clearly a scruffy wet olive skinned youth of about 20.
It is here where the story begins to frighten me. I had grabbed my roof pole, a piece of 3/4 inch box section steel that is about 9 feet long. On one end there is a steel hook welded on and the other end is quite sharp. However I found myself stabbing at this wet bundle until he fell off the axle. I kept stabbing and was not at all worried that I had him screaming in pain. I was shouting loudly at him when I suddenly realised I was alone, he was also alone and it frightens me that I was trying to kill someone or at least injure him severely.
Someone had called for security as it turned out there were 2 immigrants inside the terminal. In typical French fashion they arrived, shook hands and started glancing around various trailers. A van appeared with the biggest meanest Rottweiler I ever saw. He was wearing a muzzle and I was begging the handler to let it go and chase this little ■■■■ who I had tried to kill.
Now it seems that we are not even secure inside the terminal, and either someone is allowing them into the terminal or these 2 were willing to risk capture by moving around inside a guarded compound.
Im afraid I was not as forgiving as Kenny Manning or Harry Monk and didnt feed my passenger or offer him dry clothing. I cannot get the picture out of my mind though and the thought of what I did has made me wonder if I can continue in this job.
No smileys, no emoticons, just a very mixed up Wheelnut.
Dont let it get to you mate and force you out of a job that i presume you really enjoy.
You reacted to a situation that had potential to go either way, and as a result had the adrenaline rush of your life. That can cause you to do things that seem unnatural with hindsight but seem like the best option at the time. And if I’m honest I would have no doubt done something similar if not worse.
At the end of the day - think of yourself first. You didnt put him on the axle. You didnt give him permission. You dont know what his history is, why he’s escaping his country or even what he has in his pocket.
He made his own choices in life and has to deal with what happens as a result.
They didn’t feel bad about possibly costing you £2k per immigrant so why should you feel bad about having £20 off of one of them.
■■■■ em
Buy 20 lucky dips on lotto…
It seems that Illegals are becoming a very big hazard for us European Operators at the moment. We have in the odere of 2000 crossings per month via Dover and the tunnel… It is not a question of if we are going to find them on boards its how many times a week.
Many horrow stories simliar to the avove… Worst was when we had two drivers severely beaten whilst parked just out side of Calais… and robbed.
Wheel Nut… I understand your Feelings and do sometimes wonder why some of my drivers put up with the abuse and danger themselves.
I admit to you I gave a bloke a hiding for trying to pinch my car some years ago and ended up feeling very sorry for him foir weeks… Why ?
I tell my blokes now DO NOT stop in or around Calais … Get on a boat or train… or GET OUT of the area… they will get into your trailer… or onto your unit… or under it… whatever. IT IS NOT SAFE !
Check, Check and Check again… ALWAYS USE A HEAVY PADLOCK !
JB:
On thursday evening I decided to park in the “secure” compound in calais… Not ideal but id run out of time shipping out. I was fully freighted with 27,500 kg of waste english newspapers...I drive a "walking floor" trl- like a box with an opening roof.... Friday morning i got up, dressed, had a scratch,■■■■, and wee... then checked my trl... the back doors had been tried.... impossible to open fully due to a hydraulic bar at the bottom... so i asked a few other drivers to help me close the door catches again-not easy with all that weight bearing on them! I then climbed up the front gantry and checked the roof-no marks or cuts.. Away i went heading for gent... NOT CALAIS PORT :laughing: :laughing: Id done about two miles when i saw paper flying out onto the road from the roof
I was going to take them to gent but it was getting noisy so i pulled into a layby… picked my knife up(i was angry and if im honest nervous too!) got out and started shouting "please mr nice iraqi get out of my trl"... i think :wink: .. Anyway 6 climbed out and ran off leaving a cloud of paperdust :laughing: :laughing: . One came back and asked for his bag! I told him if he didnt do one id castrate him.
I decided id hung around there long enough (the adrenaline was wearing off and 6- 1 driver isnt a good bet!). Thanks go to the sealane driver who pulled into the next layby with me to check they were all out. I got to veurne and opened the roof properly and saw the bag-fished it out and reclosed the roof. In it was his 10 year old mobile. An address book(in arabic), a £20 note, and some phrases in english. Anyway later in the day my conscience kicked in and i started feeling a bit sorry for him. (i know all the reasons they shouldnt be coming to england thanks)…
But i thought of how he must have travelled from whichever middle eastern country… perhaps never to see his family again. And i thought of me… Comfortable happy family. Nice car… good job… money in my back pocket.
…So, when i got back to calais i asked to speak to immigration and handed in the bag-but the bloke said it would just be handed over to the gendarmerie so i took the £20 out and decided to give it to a charity- any suggestions as to which one?
Did i do the right thing taking the money out? I feel so guilty but realistically he would never have seen it again
Sorry its a long bit of a ramble but i need to get it off my chest
What a nasty thing to do, granted they should not be trying to get ion to our country illegally, but to take his last money and all his personal belongings, you should have found a gendarme, there are plenty about that area, handed them to the authorities tpo deal with,
They live in abject poverty and they, most of them, want a better life for their famillies.
A great cliche’ on here is familly comes first and that is what they are all about.
REMEMBER, THE SUN IS A TABLOID NOT A NEWSPAPER
[quote="
They live in abject poverty and they, most of them, want a better life for their famillies.
A great cliche’ on here is familly comes first and that is what they are all about.
[/quote]
Then why does it appear that the majority leave their families back in the country they are alledgedly seeking asylum from?
Okey-Didley-Dokely:
JB:
On thursday evening I decided to park in the “secure” compound in calais… Not ideal but id run out of time shipping out. I was fully freighted with 27,500 kg of waste english newspapers...I drive a "walking floor" trl- like a box with an opening roof.... Friday morning i got up, dressed, had a scratch,■■■■, and wee... then checked my trl... the back doors had been tried.... impossible to open fully due to a hydraulic bar at the bottom... so i asked a few other drivers to help me close the door catches again-not easy with all that weight bearing on them! I then climbed up the front gantry and checked the roof-no marks or cuts.. Away i went heading for gent... NOT CALAIS PORT :laughing: :laughing: Id done about two miles when i saw paper flying out onto the road from the roof
I was going to take them to gent but it was getting noisy so i pulled into a layby… picked my knife up(i was angry and if im honest nervous too!) got out and started shouting "please mr nice iraqi get out of my trl"... i think :wink: .. Anyway 6 climbed out and ran off leaving a cloud of paperdust :laughing: :laughing: . One came back and asked for his bag! I told him if he didnt do one id castrate him.
I decided id hung around there long enough (the adrenaline was wearing off and 6- 1 driver isnt a good bet!). Thanks go to the sealane driver who pulled into the next layby with me to check they were all out. I got to veurne and opened the roof properly and saw the bag-fished it out and reclosed the roof. In it was his 10 year old mobile. An address book(in arabic), a £20 note, and some phrases in english. Anyway later in the day my conscience kicked in and i started feeling a bit sorry for him. (i know all the reasons they shouldnt be coming to england thanks)…
But i thought of how he must have travelled from whichever middle eastern country… perhaps never to see his family again. And i thought of me… Comfortable happy family. Nice car… good job… money in my back pocket.
…So, when i got back to calais i asked to speak to immigration and handed in the bag-but the bloke said it would just be handed over to the gendarmerie so i took the £20 out and decided to give it to a charity- any suggestions as to which one?
Did i do the right thing taking the money out? I feel so guilty but realistically he would never have seen it again
Sorry its a long bit of a ramble but i need to get it off my chestWhat a nasty thing to do, granted they should not be trying to get ion to our country illegally, but to take his last money and all his personal belongings, you should have found a gendarme, there are plenty about that area, handed them to the authorities tpo deal with,
They live in abject poverty and they, most of them, want a better life for their famillies.
A great cliche’ on here is familly comes first and that is what they are all about.REMEMBER, THE SUN IS A TABLOID NOT A NEWSPAPER
What complete and utter ■■■■■■■■ You a Guardian reader and wear sandals■■?
go off thread a bit yu back on walking floors jb■■?
Neville:
It seems that Illegals are becoming a very big hazard for us European Operators at the moment. We have in the odere of 2000 crossings per month via Dover and the tunnel… It is not a question of if we are going to find them on boards its how many times a week.
Many horrow stories simliar to the avove… Worst was when we had two drivers severely beaten whilst parked just out side of Calais… and robbed.
Wheel Nut… I understand your Feelings and do sometimes wonder why some of my drivers put up with the abuse and danger themselves.
I admit to you I gave a bloke a hiding for trying to pinch my car some years ago and ended up feeling very sorry for him foir weeks… Why ?
I tell my blokes now DO NOT stop in or around Calais … Get on a boat or train… or GET OUT of the area… they will get into your trailer… or onto your unit… or under it… whatever. IT IS NOT SAFE !
Check, Check and Check again… ALWAYS USE A HEAVY PADLOCK !
I know what you are saying Neville, however. I was inside the terminal having done all the checks available to me. This kid was already beyond the UK Border Control and the X Ray scanner. I was parked in the lanes waiting for my call to board the train. It was daylight as well although very wet.
We also use a check list system as well as customer and company seals, we have our own mobile security guards around and about Calais too.