Saw on BBC1 breakfast that VOSA are not allowed to target foreign trucks entering the UK at the docks/ferry ports - WHY? - surely this would be the best place to target them or have I missed something 
got a link rog ■■
i think thats the story Rog was on about
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8216905.stm
some of the ports are private and will only allow “agencies” on there property by “agreement”
"The Commons Transport Committee said non-compliance among overseas vehicles was unacceptably high.
Nearly 47% of foreign vehicles stopped were found to have dangerous defects, compared with 37.5% for UK vehicles"
Right, is 37.5% is “acceptably high non-compliance” then?
Statements like this are laughable. Well, actually not. They’re examples of tragic incompetence and impotence.
ROG:
Saw on BBC1 breakfast that VOSA are not allowed to target foreign trucks entering the UK at the docks/ferry ports - WHY? - surely this would be the best place to target them or have I missed something
Not quite true though Rog. There is often a VOSA presence in Coquelles as you drive through the passport check, it gives them chance to have a cursory look at your tyres and listen for leaks as you are in the queue, Eurotunnel have also got a plate bridge and an axle bridge. Dover Eastern Docks have a facility for VOSA too. They use the old customs examination shed.
P&O European ferries in Hull are a prime place for a VOSA net with a secure axle bridge right outside the dock gates.
In fact I have seen VOSA vehicles at most ports that I used.
lots of crapola being spouted on the Jeremy Whine show with Matthew Bannister at the moment
Wheel Nut:
ROG:
Saw on BBC1 breakfast that VOSA are not allowed to target foreign trucks entering the UK at the docks/ferry ports - WHY? - surely this would be the best place to target them or have I missed somethingNot quite true though Rog. There is often a VOSA presence in Coquelles as you drive through the passport check, it gives them chance to have a cursory look at your tyres and listen for leaks as you are in the queue, Eurotunnel have also got a plate bridge and an axle bridge. Dover Eastern Docks have a facility for VOSA too. They use the old customs examination shed.
P&O European ferries in Hull are a prime place for a VOSA net with a secure axle bridge right outside the dock gates.
In fact I have seen VOSA vehicles at most ports that I used.
also when you disembark at poole vosa now use the shed next to customs so you either pass through one or the other vosa for road worthiness and tachos and customs/police for drugs and immigrants
I love the link to the BBC website where we have an English driver complaining about foreign drivers. Does he think his Hi Vis will save him when he collides with said foreigners who snake about all over the place. We could probably have more sympathy with him if he felt inclined to wear his seat belt.
one of the reasons certain countries vehicles are less road worthy than in the uk is the simple fact that uk hauliers have to inspect their vehcles every 6 weeks to copmly with licensing requirements whereas most of the eastern europeans don’t return home that often so therefore are not inspected or serviced as regularly ,if at all!!
for instance there is a company called steeltrans from slovakia who run groupage from spain and portugal to the uk then reload the uk to come back down.
now i know we are all european and all is meant to be fair but how are they ever going to go home when that is not even close to slovakia and these are not the only ones.
i meet plenty of bg’s, ro’s and even pl’s who load in and out of the uk but never for their own country and hence never go home 
it’s not just about undercutting rates and paying crap wages play fair and load back and fore your own country then we all get a chance to do good jobs at good rates and get home again.
the worse thing ever for europe was growing to 27 countries most of whom have an average wage of 400 a month hardly surprising then that the trucks are underfunded and sheds. every time i enter the uk in my foreign truck i have no objection to being stopped because my boss keeps his trucks in good order.
One of the reasons that 10% more foreign vehicles have defects might just be that they are obviously further away from home and so there is more time for something to have started to leak, or wear out
welshboyinspain:
i meet plenty of bg’s, ro’s and even pl’s who load in and out of the uk but never for their own country and hence never go home
and how is that different from uk-registered trucks doing internals in saudi, spain, portugal etc? what goes around comes around.
I’d agree with vascoingles; the Easterners are further from home and for longer so things have better chance to go wrong.
Another contributing factor could be the frequency of inspection: 6 months in the UK, less frequently elsewhere (I think it’s once a year in most countries).
Now, 37.5% UK reg trucks fails at roadside checks - that’s not a number to be proud of. Regular inspections in the UK are twice as frequent as elsewhere. I.e. UK trucks are 100% more often checked yet their state is only 10% better. Any thought on this?
Somewhere else I read that there are twice as many non-compliant vehicles discovered during roadside checks than there are during regular inspections. This to me means that there are far too many vehicles brought to inspection in just legal state that is simply left to deteriorate further until next inspection is due…
welshboy:
you are exaggerating a bit, those who operate euro-wide typically work on rota, 3-4weeks away, 1 week at home.
That type of operation you are describing is fully legal, everybody can do it. It’s just like in those books / mag reports about US truckers, loading Oklahoma for Florida, then California and back home to New Jersey. That was the whole point of EU creation - making cross-broder trade easier, bigger markets for businesses. The rules were set by the “old” EU states, well before the new 10 were admitted, by people YOU had voted for.
I also think that 15-state EU taking on 10 new members was a bite too big but there you go. You can moan about it or take advantages of it. (You apparently did your bit too…)
Oh, as of SteelTrans. That was not the right pick, that company could be an example to many others. Trucks kept tip-top, strict on driving hours, well-planned trips, own training centre - driving courses, languages, load securing, ADR etc. Moneywise: min wage (~270), 60eur per day abroad + personal bonus depending on experience, 1500-1700euro, maybe 2000 - that is very nice payslip to bring home in SK.
milodon:
welshboyinspain:
i meet plenty of bg’s, ro’s and even pl’s who load in and out of the uk but never for their own country and hence never go homeand how is that different from uk-registered trucks doing internals in saudi, spain, portugal etc? what goes around comes around.
milodon don’t get offended its not personal just because you are from lithuania or latvia.
i didn’t say internals, which are now allowed under the change in the cabotage rules spain-uk-spain is hardly internal is it?
i talk to a lot of them when in france or on the ferry and that is their job fulltime, if they do go home its via bargain airlines not in the truck.
how would you like it if i were to load near your home in my spanish truck for say russia then reload from russia back to you and never go home and undercut you so badly you lose your job?
HomoFaber:
welshboy:
you are exaggerating a bit, those who operate euro-wide typically work on rota, 3-4weeks away, 1 week at home.
That type of operation you are describing is fully legal, everybody can do it. It’s just like in those books / mag reports about US truckers, loading Oklahoma for Florida, then California and back home to New Jersey. That was the whole point of EU creation - making cross-broder trade easier, bigger markets for businesses. The rules were set by the “old” EU states, well before the new 10 were admitted, by people YOU had voted for.
I also think that 15-state EU taking on 10 new members was a bite too big but there you go. You can moan about it or take advantages of it. (You apparently did your bit too…)
Oh, as of SteelTrans. That was not the right pick, that company could be an example to many others. Trucks kept tip-top, strict on driving hours, well-planned trips, own training centre - driving courses, languages, load securing, ADR etc. Moneywise: min wage (~270), 60eur per day abroad + personal bonus depending on experience, 1500-1700euro, maybe 2000 - that is very nice payslip to bring home in SK.
sorry homer but unless you’ve spoken to these guys then you’re simply quoting as a guardian reader where nobody does any harm.
firstly most sk, bg, ro’s i meet do not do 3 or 4 weeks away, they live in the truck and only go home on a plane every 3 to 6 months parking the truck for a week at a time wherever they can.i know the operation is legal as we are all european but is it fair if a sk loaded say peterborough for france then reloaded in france for peterboro every week? shouldn’t that job be undertaken by a uk or french company at least then the driver AND vehicle would return home on a regular basis.
you say in your post about the americans but you mention the word HOME which is my point exactly, they don’t go home
as for voting for the expansion? i nor anybody i know voted for the one eyed dictator in power and only the french, irish and dutch have been"allowed" to vote but the irish got it wrong and now have to do it again
as for “doing my bit” i lost my job to 2 poles who would double man my truck for less money than i earned but my bank wouldn’t halve my mortgage payments, and when my local CofE school changed to an islamic faith school because of numbers i moved because i want my daughter to learn about God not Mohammed
welshboyinspain:
milodon don’t get offended its not personal just because you are from lithuania or latvia.
i didn’t say internals, which are now allowed under the change in the cabotage rules spain-uk-spain is hardly internal is it?
i talk to a lot of them when in france or on the ferry and that is their job fulltime, if they do go home its via bargain airlines not in the truck.
how would you like it if i were to load near your home in my spanish truck for say russia then reload from russia back to you and never go home and undercut you so badly you lose your job?
I’m definitely not offended, but it’s not so black and white usually. Considering that for the time being I’m tramping between Sweden and Spain myself I’d like to say that my truck goes in for service every 30 000kms, is in mint shape, and although, admittedly a swede would demand a higher rate per km, there are things that the “natives” would probably object to, 30+ drops and collections during a S-E-S round trip being one of them for example. I used to do humanitarian aid runs to godforsaken places in rural ukraine, the aid came from Sweden but the swedish firms wouldn’t touch a load like that.
I see a lot of Steeltrans trucks about, haven’t seen a clean one for ages though.
milodon:
I’m definitely not offended, but it’s not so black and white usually. Considering that for the time being I’m tramping between Sweden and Spain myself I’d like to say that my truck goes in for service every 30 000kms, is in mint shape, and although, admittedly a swede would demand a higher rate per km, there are things that the “natives” would probably object to, 30+ drops and collections during a S-E-S round trip being one of them for example. I used to do humanitarian aid runs to godforsaken places in rural ukraine, the aid came from Sweden but the swedish firms wouldn’t touch a load like that.I see a lot of Steeltrans trucks about, haven’t seen a clean one for ages though.
2 good points you make though
1 you run back and fore sweden which if my geography is any good means you get home regularly for servicing truck and body
2 you haven’t seen a clean steeltrans because they don’t earn what homerfaber thinks and don’t care about their trucks
just a question to homerfaber
have you spoken to a steel trans driver? 2000 a month is beyond their wildest dreams, if that were so they wouldn’t all be driving fridges in spain for 32 euros a day!!
and have you had your boss ask you to take a 50% paycut or lose your job to a flipflop and sock wearer? if you have you know how i feel if not don’t worry it won’t be long the turks are coming!!!
HomoFaber:
The rules were set by the “old” EU states, well before the new 10 were admitted, by people YOU had voted for.
How do you know who voted for whom?
For all you know everyone on this site could have voted for the exact opposite. For example. At the last election every politician that stood for re-election, did so with a manifesto stating they will hold a referendum on the EU treaty.
Now although those that stood with this on their manifesto were by far the mass majority, we didn’t get one did we?
And neither did 500million other EU citizens.
13 August 2009
Operators need not stick to six-weekly inspection periods if they can prove to their TC that they can operate safely for longer periods - up to 13 weeks, in fact.
What sort of message is this sending out then, OK, most operators will welcome the cost saving of every other inspection.
I too worry about the disparity of the percentages that the “select committee”■■? quoted. The UK 37.5 percentage are the same drivers who do not know how to avoid Switch Island, Perry Barr or Dorking.
I bet there is a similar difference in France when Le Ministère De Transport sets up shop on the outskirts of Lille or when BAG opens a Kontrole in Weisbaden.
One of the main complaints I heard recently is that the UK is becoming the second class citizen because the foreigner hauliers are all getting grants, subsidies and run new trucks.
Or you listen to the recent radio and TV news report to hear that all these foreign trucks are old and dangerous and drivers are working illegal hours.
The only thing that this news report has done is to provoke a new argument in the pubs and wine bars. I have seen the trucks the report says are dangerous, I disagree, many are well looked after, many drivers are proud of them, some drivers take pride in their work. A bit like the UK truck parc that!