Depending on whether you work out of Felixstowe or not, this may or may not be interesting. But I’ve posted a set of pictures that I have taken of the docks and I hope that they give you a good impression of the place and what goes on there.
On the way, there are many places to find trucks parked up and awaiting delivery and collection of cargo from the port. This one is in Ipswich:
This pic is one of my favourites, because the trailer waiting to be collected was new-ish and the alloys look great. Made by Ray Goudy of Stowmarket by the looks of it.
Another place a bit further East is the Orwell Truck Stop, which is a great place for trucking pics in general, and depending on the weather in the North Sea can get very busy!
Ok, on the way you’re greeted by the famous sign that many of you will probably know well!!
Then on and past the many companies who operate around the periphery of the docks. This old Volvo was originally operated by Ralph Morton, but now it’s one of the many shunters that ply their trade round the dock area. Looks a bit tired, doesn’t she■■?
This yard sits kind of behind Sub-Station Road, where Carters operate out of. I believe they also own another of the companies based along here, Corstor.
Below is another one of a dock shunter at work, the hauliers keep some ‘retired’ trucks for this purpose and they live out their lives running around the dock, getting more and more battered! The sea air can’t help their chances either.
Next, a view of the container storage area round the Landguard Terminal in the docks. For those not familiar to containers, the writing on the ground denotes the location on a grid system, used to locate cargo. It’s based on the row, the column, and the vertical position of the container, giving a unique number with those three positions on it - that’s how the crane guy finds a certain container!!!
In the case of Landguard Terminal there are three columns and nine rows, plus the vertical position. The little diagram is a sample from the port web site, and shows on an hourly basis the activity in a certain place.
Next up, a couple of idle Scanias back at Ipswich. Waiting seems to be a major part of port work generally, especially when the winter weather comes in.
The trailer in this pic is one of the many dock internal ones which are pulled around by the ‘Tugs’ that work there. These are collapsed containers.
Next, getting closer to the water front, is a shot of the cranes used to unload. This ship is the Helene S, which is operated by IRISL, the Iranian shipping line.
This trailer is a solid-tyred one used again to pull newly loaded containers around the dock. A bumpy ride is assured.
A nice shot of one of the cranes, these are not by any means the largest ones.
Next is a reach stacker forklift which stacks and loads the boxes.
Another view of the vast number of containers sitting there waiting to be shipped off to somewhere else in the world.
On your way out, you can also see the huge number of companies who are based in the docks, for example Hanbury Davies, whose yard you pass.
Finally, a few more trucks parked up waiting at the BP garage by the Routemaster.
Any way that’s it for now, hope you liked them!! [/img]