Convoyers report Maidstone National II 27th May

Racepoint Maidstone National 2
Friday 5pm 2 wagons were used but had to tranship 30 baskets from one wagon onto another to ensure that the correct amount of vehicles were used for the journey to Maidstone.
NP and TD were moved on to the wagon with CON AP DV.
We then proceeded to hook up the trailer to the wagon but had problems with the pneumatics and hydraulics on the control switch panel on the wagon.
This fault could not be rectified so had to hook up the trailer with the wagon in the upper position on the suspension which meant that the trailer was being towed in the incorrect position for the wagon setting .
The only alternative option to pulling the trailer in the incorrect setting was to tranship all of the baskets from the trailer onto the spare wagon in the yard but there’ were fault codes on the dash display which indicated a break fault condition .so decided against this for safety reasons.
Left the yard to go to Collect the remaining federation birds from WD,Cockfield and Darlington but the wagon had little diesel so we had to go fir tree to fill wagon with diesel.Arrived at tindale Crescent and collected birds from Cockfield and West Durham federation .
Left Tindale crescent at 8.00 pm and proceeded to Darlington to collect their birds.Due to the additional time taken to pick up all of the birds and with the wagon and trailer issues we arrived at Blyth service over 2 .5 hours later than the expected scheduled time which in turn meant that we would not arrive at Maidstone until the early hours of Saturday morning providing no further issues .
With this in mind and due to the hot weather conditions we took this opportunity to put the drinkers on for the birds and to travel down to Maidstone with the water on the baskets.We arrived shortly after 3am on site but couldn't gain access due to the gates been locked ,waters were topped/splashed for the birds.
Saturday morning we were up at 6.30 checking the water and awaiting the gates to be opened up to allow us to get in position for the liberation of the birds.
730 gates were opened no word till 9 as full cloud cover which was breaking up and sun started to appear full .At 830 wagon and drag was all opened up waters were splashed again to try and get the birds to drink. 9 15 birds liberated in a North East Wind Sunshine blue skies bits of cloud. Line Of Flight
Essex, Huntingdon, Peterborough, Grantham, Worksop, Doncaster, Wetherby, Ripon, Darlington, Bishop Auckland, Cockfield, Crook, Consett, Stanley, Newcastle
Due to driver restrictions we were unable to leave site until 12 noon.
Left site and endured a 7 mile tail back at Dartford.
Stuck in this for a considerable period and coupled with the heat at this time of day it was really uncomfortable.
Travelling back up the motorway Neil the driver was complaining of a headache and feeling nauseous.
I requested that he pull over as he was sweating and had gone very pale.
Neil managed to pull over onto the hard shoulder and I then pulled on the handbrake as Neil fainted after he had managed to get the wagon and trailer onto the hard shoulder and stationary.
Neil came around after a couple of minutes and I got him out of the cab and into a safe place away from the vehicle.Neil then proceeded to vomit.I got him some water and started to communicate with him to monitor his condition.
I then tried to contact Brian Ford but was unable to get any answer from his telephone.I then contacted Kev Mckimm who in turn told me he would contact Richard Wade to inform him of the situation and also said that if Neil got any worse that I should contact the emergency services for assistance .
Richard Wade contacted me within seconds of the call to Kev and informed me that mine and Neil’s safety were paramount and that we were not to move and he would arrange everything to ensure that we were recovered .
Abig thanks goes out to Richard as he gave up his Saturday evening with his family to drive down to Harrogate with a replacement class 1 driver , collect Neil and drive him home.
I am not sure of what the prognosis is with Neil but some of the issues could have been caused by heat due to being in the traffic jam for a long period in all of the heat in the middle of the day,sleep deprivation due to arriving at Maidstone at around 3.30am and then having to move the wagon when the gates are opened early next morning.
I have spoken to Neil today and he feels much better
I have spoken to Brian and Richard on the above issues and feel that there’s an opportunity to improve the pick-up of the birds and to reduce the amount of transhipping of as many baskets on a weekly basis but will need to be discussed as a team to ensure that we all work together to improve the situation
I am sure that there will be improvements to be had but there may need to be some compromises made to ensure the welfare of the birds and above all the welfare and safety of the drivers,convoyed and all of the support staff
This organisation is one of the best in the country and we need every member to pull together.
Yours in sport Joe
WELL DONE TO LITTLE LEGS HIMSELF AND BIG HUNGRY
KEEP IT UP KIMBO