being an ex international driver , although many years ago , i think the government set-up at manston is a bloody discgrace ! no toilets , showers , food supplies , what were they thinking ?
would they sit in the house’s of parliament without a bar and food ? we all know they pee in their pants so no need for toilets there !
don’t blame brexit they have had months to sort this !
Those conditions have been normal for the UK for decades! 
mixerman1:
being an ex international driver , although many years ago , i think the government set-up at manston is a bloody discgrace ! no toilets , showers , food supplies , what were they thinking ?
would they sit in the house’s of parliament without a bar and food ? we all know they pee in their pants so no need for toilets there !
don’t blame brexit they have had months to sort this !
There are plenty of portable w/c facilities positioned at Manston by the local authority,this situation is due purely down to Macron closing French border,nothing whatsoever to do with the Brexit deal,although Manston was originally intended as the Brexit truck park.
David
5 th wheel , when i see the photo’s of the parked up trucks there is no sign of toilets or food supplies , the drivers there are saying no loos or any facilities ?
i see you are in central portugal , i am down in the algarve .
Aerial views show that there are portaloos situated by every second truck around the perimeter of the parking area. What is less clear is how many are situated in the interior space because the lorries mask those areas.
For those of us who’ve been long-haulers it is very tempting to wonder at the fuss being made about this. Three days was nothing to a long-hauler and it took several days to a couple of weeks to clear some borders. But that was our job and we went out equipped to survive in the wilderness with no facilitates sometimes for days on end.
It has to be remembered that these drivers are essentially Channel-hoppers with a ‘home by Friday’ culture and high expectations of modern creature comforts. The only experienced long-haulers among them will be the odd Turks. So it will be an ordeal for those trapped in Manston, especially those who were expecting to be home for Christmas. I’ve spent many Christmases in a lorry cab in the middle of nowhere but I left Blighty fully expecting that to be the case; and there’s the difference.
I heard the Mayor of Folkestone on the news lament the fact that the RHA hadn’t told the drivers to head for Manston instead of Dover. Such astonishing ignorance! If he thought a British haulage association had any lines of communication whatsoever, he obviously either believed that there would be a single Brit driver down there (and you can bet there won’t be); or that the RHA had the ears of thousands of Eastern European drivers working for Western European companies. Likewise the news announcer asked her correspondent on the ground what the collective mood of the drivers was. Did she not know that drivers have never had a collective voice and that historically, any attempts to create one has been like ■■■■■■■ in the wind?
Whichever way you look at this, France has obdurately created an unnecessary crisis by doing what it has always been good at: using truckers as political pawns. I’ve always been very pro-French but this recent action rather stinks. Here endeth the first lesson.
Merry Boxing Day to one and all.
Well I was not going to say ought on this thread as I sincerely expected it to be removed to “Bully’s” by now as it is political rather than mechanical, we have seen that in the past, But those of you who think that the French closing there borders for 48hrs is covid19 related need to get tested as this was purely a tactic by Macron to show us Brits what to expect Brexit wise if we dont tow the line, it was kind of a little punishment but it effected few British truckers as Ro said it is mainly eastern Europeans driving Western European trucks, they are well used to spending up to 3/4 months away from home and are well equipped to feed and water themselves. Anyone who has ever done International work will normally have supplies of tinned food under the bunk for such emergencies and today modern trucks have small freezers and microwave’s as well, strikes periodically happen and it’s not always the drivers on strike, the roads and ferries over the years have been blocked by farmers and fishermen if they have a dispute and we have been caught up in them many times, the only thing you can say is when they have a grievance they do all stick together unlike the Brits.
Personally I think there were plenty of toilets put in place at Manston, the council would not like the job of clearing all that no2’s up, as there were no actual reporters on the ground no one really knows plus I heard that 1000 meals were taken to Manston by the Indian community from London so there was a little good will about, Buzzer
Can only echo what has already been said. Only been held up for hours, rather than days in the past when I used do regular Euro driving. Occasionally it was due to the weather but mostly it was down to the French blockading Calais or the corridor. France is a beautiful country but it is wasted on the French.
Fair play to the Indian community for sending the food to Manston, wouldn’t fancy the job of emptying the portaloos out though 
Suedehead:
Can only echo what has already been said. Only been held up for hours, rather than days in the past when I used do regular Euro driving. Occasionally it was due to the weather but mostly it was down to the French blockading Calais or the corridor. France is a beautiful country but it is wasted on the French.
Fair play to the Indian community for sending the food to Manston, wouldn’t fancy the job of emptying the portaloos out though
David
Season greetings, to all,100%in agreement with all the posted comments,
On Southern news last week a Irish driver in que was interviewed and he said he had SCOTISH Lamb on board and was worried it the hanging fresh lambs would go off.
He in my view as any meat man would know that the paper work would have the kill date stamped on by the vet and you had 21 days of carrying the meat before it is deemed OFF.
.
He did not mention the destination it could have only been Paris ,he was a lone ranger in amongst the whole gang of
non BRITISH DRIVERS, i hope there were a lot of FRENCH MEN amongst them, repayment for the past .
I hope all the BRITISH companies that have been using non brit drivers ,and non EEC companies will now support our trucks and companies.PDB.
The first press reports were boasting that there were 70 toilets at Manston initially. The Factories Act requires 4 toilets per 100 men and 3 per 100 for women. The issue isn’t just that the numbers were insufficient it is that anyone with half a brain would have had more on site ready for use at the beginming of December along with proper washing facilities given that it is winter and the xmas period. Kent County Council and the Government have been negligent in their (lack of) planning. The Government’s excuse for the fiasco was that the contract to provide facilities on site doesn’t commence until January 1st. As an example of their ineptitude the KCC and Kent Police sites to check the current status of operation Stack are not working at present.
Yesterday initially they were stopping lorries at J8 M20 and telling drivers to go to Manston for a Covid test and then return to J8 to join the queue.
cav551:
The first press reports were boasting that there were 70 toilets at Manston initially. The Factories Act requires 4 toilets per 100 men and 3 per 100 for women. The issue isn’t just that the numbers were insufficient it is that anyone with half a brain would have had more on site ready for use at the beginming of December along with proper washing facilities given that it is winter and the xmas period. Kent County Council and the Government have been negligent in their (lack of) planning. The Government’s excuse for the fiasco was that the contract to provide facilities on site doesn’t commence until January 1st. As an example of their ineptitude the KCC and Kent Police sites to check the current status of operation Stack are not working at present.Yesterday initially they were stopping lorries at J8 M20 and telling drivers to go to Manston for a Covid test and then return to J8 to join the queue.
It’s surprising what the the Factories Act doesn’t apply to; and I suspect that Manston temporary lorry holding facility is one of them. I remember back in December 1973 walking into the Head’s office in the school where I taught and saying, ‘It’s 42 degreess Fahrenheit in my classroom. Under the Factories Act we should be sending these children home.’ The Head replied: ‘I’m sorry but schools do not come under the Factories Act!’ So we all sat in our coats all day.