The problems of parking and tachograph infringements, are on my mind a lot since working more in the UK. It's a sad fact that the busiest motorway in the country (M25) has only 3 service areas along it's entirety. If you're heading west from the Dartford crossing it's a long way to the next service area after Clacket Lane services with Fleet services being 47 miles away and Reading services being 56 miles away both should be within reach of a driver with over one hour driving time left but quite often it can take 2 hours to reach Reading services, with very few places in between where a truck can park off the road and the driver can have use of the normal facilities that they may require through the night such as food, washing facilities and toilet, it's a disgrace that there is such a large distance between the service areas on such a busy road.

So what about the future? I am still scratching my head, thinking of ways to introduce the 5 extra days holiday entitlement I now have to give along with the 5 more I'm going to have to give next year! I appreciate the fact that my drivers do need a holiday, they also need to be earning money too, as with most other companies holiday pay is based upon basic hours only, no overtime or night out allowance meaning my drivers will be down by around £200 next year and a further £200 the following year and my costs will be up covering the holidays.

The lead time of a year on new trucks you hear about doesn't bother me at the moment as I don't know what truck to buy next anyway! But more on this another time. . .

John English has been trading for 20 years, mainly international work but more recently in the UK. he runs 4 Scania artic trucks, all unmarked white, His drivers are all British drivers with approx 20 years experience