Truckstop survey to Marsham Street • Mother of three Diana
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Dooner of Ipswich, who is campaigning for better services for Britain's truck drivers, has been asked by the Department of Transport to submit details of a massive European survey she has carried out.
Dooner has spoken to around 1,000 drivers throughout the country and on the Continent since last September. "I want to expose the shortcomings in this country's services for truckers — I've seen them myself," she says. "This is an important issue and no one is doing anything for truckers."
She points out that shortcomings such as broken windows and no heating at truckstops would not be acceptable on the Continent, and questions why they are here.
Truckstops in other countries offer free overnight parking, reserved parking areas for refrigerated units, food at value-formoney prices and showers, baths and laundry facilities, says Dooner.
She is calling on the Government to build truckstops — and she says truckstop operators should end or at least slash their overnight parking charges. A fee of around £1 would cover their operating costs, she claims. Average fees are £7.50 and she found one stop in the North charging £18.
Dooner, who used to live with a truck driver, is determined to press ahead with her campaign: "It's what I believe in", she says.