Not so bad after all?
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I’ve been reading this month’s Truck & Driver – particularly its independent survey of motorway service areas (whereby staff made surprise visits to 68 of the UK’s 94 MSAs to test the showers, toilets, parking facilities, food and fuelling). What a mixed bag of results they found. While there was plenty of praise for some establishments, others scored far worse. Particular low points included the food at Baldock (Extra); the toilets, showers, potholes and cost of parking at
Clacket Lane (Roadchef); a leaking roof and lack of toilet paper at Keele (Welcome Break); and the cost of fuel at Kinross (Moto). While there’s no excuse for the poor quality, I can almost forgive them for charging over the odds for parking/food/ fuel. After all, they exist to make a profit and have to subsidise the thousands of motorists who call in just to use the loo and allow their dogs to foul the picnic area. Some drivers I spoke to think our MSAs could learn some lessons from the Continent, in particular France. But having just spent a week touring northern France I’m not so sure. OK, its government-funded service areas feature plenty of shade and picnic areas, but the toilets I experienced weren’t particularly clean. And I was far from impressed by the quality and the price of the food. So they don’t charge you to park, but is it really free? Let’s not forget that you’ll pay a hefty toll to use the autoroutes in the first place. Calais to Paris in an artic will set you back more than €50 (£40). And the cost of driving in France is only going to go in one direction next year when the Ecotaxe truck tolling scheme is introduced.
I can’t believe I’ve just written something positive about British MSAs!
Will Shiers
Commercial Motor – the official UK journal of the International Truck of the Year and International Van of the Year Awards