Migrants Gaining access to Lorry Loads at Calais

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Paul-H

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Any long Distance Larry Drivers on here.

After watch all the news coverage this week of the nightmare at Calais port during the latest French strikes, with film coverage showing no end of Migrants running upto the back of lorries, opening the back doors and just jumping on with someone else closing the doors behind them, has left me with just one thought.

These lorries are carrying thousands of £ of stuff, why are they not locked, what wrong with having a good strong locking system on them, that would stop the quick jump on's in the cue and make it easy to see the ones that had been tampered with before they get on the train/ferry.

Why is it not law that for lorries to travel across borders their loads have to be secure, why are the insurance companies that are paying £millions to cover losses to damaged loads insisting on this.

Obviously it not going to work with curtain sided lorries but would be a big deterrent for the Box type lorries.

Why are they not locked and secure.

Paul
 
I have wondered about that. Seems so obvious that I must be missing something.

It is bound to be suggested on here so I'll just start it now (and get a comfy chair plus the obligatory popcorn). Why are there not people there shooting the "stowaways". :exit:
 
Paul-H said:
Any long Distance Larry Drivers on here.

After watch all the news coverage this week of the nightmare at Calais port during the latest French strikes, with film coverage showing no end of Migrants running upto the back of lorries, opening the back doors and just jumping on with someone else closing the doors behind them, has left me with just one thought.

These lorries are carrying thousands of £ of stuff, why are they not locked, what wrong with having a good strong locking system on them, that would stop the quick jump on's in the cue and make it easy to see the ones that had been tampered with before they get on the train/ferry.

Why is it not law that for lorries to travel across borders their loads have to be secure, why are the insurance companies that are paying £millions to cover losses to damaged loads insisting on this.

Obviously it not going to work with curtain sided lorries but would be a big deterrent for the Box type lorries.

Why are they not locked and secure.

Paul
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The rear doors are sealed. The seal number appears on the EX1 Customs document.
We had Reefer truck arrive this morning with a 5mm woven steel seal.
In Calais these migrants obviously took some bolt cutters to try to gain access.
Luckily for him they had not managed to pull it off and open the doors
This is what it looked like when he reached us.


20150706_124023-1 by viv1969 on Talk Photography

What else are they supposed to do?
 
DorsetDude said:
use a tougher padlock?
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They can't use padlocks for overseas shipments like they can for domestic.
Like I said above they have to use a shipping seal...the number of which is entered on the customs doc.
 
viv1969 said:
They can't use padlocks for overseas shipments like they can for domestic.
Like I said above they have to use a shipping seal...the number of which is entered on the customs doc.
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Edit.
Some do use the plastic ones, which are next to useless even without marauding migrants :lol:
 
Some interview or another, apparently some of the traffickers are very good at removing seals and replacing them again so you don't know that the have been tampered with.
It wasn't explained how to, but then again I guess if we all knew how to, we would all be trafficking wouldn't we?
 
Cobra said:
Some interview or another, apparently some of the traffickers are very good at removing seals and replacing them again so you don't know that the have been tampered with.
It wasn't explained how to, but then again I guess if we all knew how to, we would all be trafficking wouldn't we?
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Only takes one person (trafficker?) to remain outside. Voila. Job done.

However, a quick check at destination will tell you if the seal on the truck has the same number as the seal on the paperwork.
If it doesn't, it's call the Bill time, and a possible GBP 2000 fine for the driver (not the company) for EACH illegal found aboard.
 
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jeez......
 
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As @viv1969 said they are sealed. French, Belgium port authorities regularly break these open. In addition there are a number of technological defendes as well that the UK government pays for and the French/Belgiums operate. It still hurts me when I see them use the co2 detectors as a crowbar to remove the seals to take a look inside a lorry.

I feel sorry for the freight operator when they sneak in like that, and reseal the lorry, as when they are caught they get fined.
 
All the border agency is doing is create more problems. A driver finds 20 immigrants in his lorry when he reaches his UK destination.. What's he going to do, ring the old bill and face a £2k fine for each one, or open the doors and turn a blind eye.

As usual the government is punishing honest working people because they can't control a situation.
 
TCR4x4 said:
All the border agency is doing is create more problems. A driver finds 20 immigrants in his lorry when he reaches his UK destination.. What's he going to do, ring the old bill and face a £2k fine for each one, or open the doors and turn a blind eye.

As usual the government is punishing honest working people because they can't control a situation.
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A much better way would be reward the driver/freight company for catching them.
 
cowboy said:
A much better way would be reward the driver/freight company for catching them.
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But then you'd get dodgy drivers and traffickers working together to rip off migrants and claim the reward money.
 
Llamaman said:
But then you'd get dodgy drivers and traffickers working together to rip off migrants and claim the reward money.
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Instead of reward money make the reward being able to shoot each one in the face. I'm sure there'd be plenty of applicants for the job...
 
Anti vandal paint could work wonders. Cover the lorry in it. They'd just fall straight off...

If this is such a problem at Calais and nearby why aren't the french police doing more? They're quick with the riot gear and such like for any minor uprising so why aren't they out in force at the feeder roads picking up migrants and dumping them somewhere worse? Stick the lot in a crate off to Siberia and I'm sure they'd go off the idea pretty quickly.
 
DorsetDude said:
Instead of reward money make the reward being able to shoot each one in the face. I'm sure there'd be plenty of applicants for the job...
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At least one that I can think of!

srichards said:
If this is such a problem at Calais and nearby why aren't the french police doing more? They're quick with the riot gear and such like for any minor uprising so why aren't they out in force at the feeder roads picking up migrants and dumping them somewhere worse? Stick the lot in a crate off to Siberia and I'm sure they'd go off the idea pretty quickly.
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Last week, I heard the French authorities complaining that the UK was not doing enough. They conveniently forget that these migrants have already come into their country!


Steve.
 
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srichards said:
If this is such a problem at Calais and nearby why aren't the french police doing more?
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As per Steve Smiths posts, they are blaming us for not taking them.
Steve Smith said:
They conveniently forget that these migrants have already come into their country!
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Absolutely ! but they ( the French) are claiming its only a stop over to the land of milk and honey.
Its our fault for making the UK so damned attractive in the first place.;)
 
I thought the point of seeking asylum was that it should be done at the first safe port. Surely France is safe.

To me it comes across they don't care, hence w pay so much to sort out their mess. It just shows that the French authorities pick and choose; take a look at uber and the assault of taxi drivers, and her once again. They should process them and take them in.
 
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The government should hire a fleet of lorries, let as many immigrants in as they can fit, then drive the truck to most desolate, miserable place possible and say Welcome to the UK! Stick a few fat people in Burberry caps dotted around the place to make it look legit and then drive off.
 
srichards said:
If this is such a problem at Calais and nearby why aren't the french police doing more? .
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I totally agree, illegal immigrant come all the way up through European countries, then sit at Calais for ages - why haven't they been dealt with at the countries they have come through, or by the French police at Calais. It's all very well blaming us when they are spending days, weeks, months etc in your country.
 
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TCR4x4 said:
The government should hire a fleet of lorries, let as many immigrants in as they can fit, then drive the truck to most desolate, miserable place possible and say Welcome to the UK! Stick a few fat people in Burberry caps dotted around the place to make it look legit and then drive off.
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Middlesbrough then :D
 
stumeech said:
I totally agree, illegal immigrant come all the way up through European countries, then sit at Calais for ages - why haven't they been dealt with at the countries they have come through, or by the French police at Calais. It's all very well blaming us when they are spending days, weeks, months etc in your country.
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Because EU law basically says you have to declare asylum in the first country you're caught in. And the French police think we should do more, so they won't make the effort to catch them
 
boyfalldown said:
Because EU law basically says you have to declare asylum in the first country you're caught in. And the French police think we should do more, so they won't make the effort to catch them
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We are already paying for policing, fencing etc at Calais, so not entirely sure what more they'd like us to do there.
 
stumeech said:
We are already paying for policing, fencing etc at Calais, so not entirely sure what more they'd like us to do there.
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you asked why - I told you why. But I think what they'd like us to do is take what they see as our fair share of migrants. Note no opinion or discussion on the right or wrongs of that viewpoint
 
boyfalldown said:
you asked why - I told you why. But I think what they'd like us to do is take what they see as our fair share of migrants. Note no opinion or discussion on the right or wrongs of that viewpoint
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Yes I understand that, as you'll notice I haven't offered an opinion or the right or wrongs either. My point still is my annoyance of how people can travel all over Europe and not get caught, detained, or returned, then all pool up in one place and everyone just seems to sit back and watch.
 
stumeech said:
Yes I understand that, as you'll notice I haven't offered an opinion or the right or wrongs either. My point still is my annoyance of how people can travel all over Europe and not get caught, detained, or returned, then all pool up in one place and everyone just seems to sit back and watch.
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Yep, although I imagine as France and Germany both have more then double the number of asylum seekers we do feelings in those countries run equally high.I guess thats why the somewhat relaxed attitude to catching them
 
stumeech said:
Yes I understand that, as you'll notice I haven't offered an opinion or the right or wrongs either. My point still is my annoyance of how people can travel all over Europe and not get caught, detained, or returned, then all pool up in one place and everyone just seems to sit back and watch.
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That could be because all the countries are not bothered because all their migrants are "birds of passage". They have no intention of residing. If there was no attraction for them all to head here they would try to settle all over the place and then the borders would soon be tightened up.
 
TCR4x4 said:
The government should hire a fleet of lorries, let as many immigrants in as they can fit, then drive the truck to most desolate, miserable place possible and say Welcome to the UK.
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Sunderland or Newcastle football club?
 
Or fit jet nozzles inside the container where they emit the most foul smelling of fumes, similar to a stink bomb, so that any stowaways wouldn't want to stay inside the container for very long and then another set of chemicals to neutralise the smell upon arrival of destination. I'm sure someone with a bit of knowledge on chemicals would come up with something like that, although it might not work with lorries carrying perishable goods.
 
There are new security devices available, I presume the majority of truckers don't want to go to the expense of buying them. They showed a trucker on the TV news recently who did have a new high security clamp lock that didn't interfere with the seals or conventional locking positions and couldn't be broken with hand tools.

It was similar to this one:

 
Ian D J said:
Or fit jet nozzles inside the container where they emit the most foul smelling of fumes,
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I don't know if it still happens or not, but some containers are ( were) fumigated before departure, (Shipping) with formaldehyde
and the like. Especially from hot countries carrying wicker furniture.
Notices were obviously displayed on the outside, with DO NOT OPEN for 48 hours ventilate for 6 hours before entry etc
I'm surprised that there hasn't been any personal injury claims TBH even if they can read English. ;)
 
It's not just that you can lock them, but also that they can be easily unlocked. When the vehicles go through the scanners they do this without stopping. If there is something popping up access gets gained by the port security staff to investigate. That must be done as quickly as possible as loading has commenced by that stage.

It's a fine balance. Naturally with the French on strike once again, the issue gets compounded when the vehicles are queuing up outside the secured zone.
 
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