Stranger than fiction
Page 52
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PART OF the purpose of CM's International Conference at Calais and Dover recently was show operators and their customers what drivers had to contend with on a cross-Channel tr We had built into the programme a number of aspects and in the discussion many mc hypothetical cases were advanced — but truth is stranger than fiction, and in many cases mc dramatic.
Hardly had we left London than One of the coaches developed a leak in the air reservoir and the audible warning buzzer let us all know. Some 60 miles later the driver met a motorway' service snag.
At Farthing Corner services the southbound service area was bereft of staff except for a pump attendant. We crossed to the north side to be told by a mechanic that he would help "when I've finished this job" — he was putting a replacement engine into a car.
We left the air tank leaking and headed for Dover with the buzzer silenced by a piece of cardboard keeping the contacts apart! Troubles over? Not so.
As we went to board the ferry our sub-contracted coach was measured and found to be too high for Free Enterprise 11.
The lesson for operators is check the ferry before booking and make sure the vehicle fits. Any delay here would have been the operator's responsibility We travelled as foot passengers, to be picked up in France by a local coachman.
Feeling weak at the knees after a force 10 gale and lunchtime lecture on board, we staggered ashore and rested. A driver is expected to get on the road. Another force 10 on the return leg delayed us for three hours. That could have meant an overnight stop for a lorry driver — it probably did for those on the next terry. Ther more!
Coming through Swar combe Cutting on the A2 local courier was explainh that this was the most "unf, tunate" section of the road. that precise moment a partrid flew into and smashed t windscreen of the leadil coach.
All that between London ai Calais.