News

As our operators' panel reveals, most people working in the industry think the conditions truck drivers have to endure are little short of shocking. Adam Purshall from TM Logistics says: "It's becoming increasingly difficult to find somewhere safe to park. Motorway service areas are too busy unless you get there early enough - and drivers do end up parked in lay-bys out of desperation." This view is reflected in our survey - 70% felt the provision of parking facilities was inadequate.

As  well as a lack of facilities, our survey clearly shows that operators feel that what we have at present is, at best, average (49%) - with almost a quarter describing them as poor. Almost half (47%) of respondents say a price between £6 and £14 pounds would be acceptable, although it is interesting to see that 19% would be prepared to pay £20 or more.

Charges average £15 for an overnight stay and in our survey almost 75% felt that they were not getting value for money. Paul Arthurton on our operators' panel believes charging is fundamentally wrong as drivers are fulfilling a legal requirement to take adequate rest. Again, a resounding thumbs down from our survey - 70% felt that parking areas were not secure enough. Clearly it is impossible to secure lay-bys, but operators have a right to expect a certain level of security at motorway service areas.

Some 70% of operators feel there are not enough parking facilities and the vast majority (81%) think the ones  we have are average at best 74% feel they aren't getting value for money 92% think they should be provided by the public sector and 83% feel that planners should do more to accommodate trucks.

Opinion is split between councils and government but it's clear from this survey that operators believe facilities should be provided by the public sector, not private business. To operators they are like any other bit of infrastructure - our operators' panel makes comparisons with the Continent where governments routinely provide good parking facilities.

The basic facilities that operators believe are necessary for their drivers are parking and toilets, closely followed by food and showers. Charles Burke from TRS Engineering says: "I think they need to be government-owned sites. It would be nice if they had fuel but they don't need to have food facilities."

In this survey 5% operators reported attacks on their drivers. Our panel of operators has given a damning verdict on planners, with 83% of respondents saying that they do not take truck drivers' needs into account when designing new industrial or distribution areas. Surprisingly, given the perception that attacks on drivers are rife, only 7% of operators in our survey advise their drivers to park securely. However, this figure is skewed by the number of respondents who didn't express an opinion.