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Call for better
Page 14
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local services
Jennifer Ball reports on the launch of a campaign to improve facilities for
truck drivers in the West Midlands.
HAULAGE LEADERS in the West Midlands have launched a campaign to improve the region's roadside facilities for truck drivers.
The West Midlands joint industrial council (JIC), a body which includes the Road Haulage Association and the Transport & General Workers Union, has writtento Warwickshire County Council and Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council highlighting the lack of truckstops and service areas, and urging the councils to rectify the situation. Mike Farmer, the RHA's regional officer for the Midlands and the South-West, says: "If we work to-gether, we can share information and highlight the problems. Not only do drivers deserve better facilities and greater respect, but
improved services will help to attract new drivers, such as more women, into the industry."
Jimmy Hill, national chair of the T&G's road transport sector, agrees: "There are motorway service areas, but drivers can't afford to pay £25 a night to park on their wages. All the small truckstops have been closed down in favour of more lucrative things such as buildings on the land. On the Continent, drivers have very good facilities, and we need these for drivers over here, too."
Peter Jackson from Kenilworthbased Peter Jackson Transport says he would welcome more truckstops in the region: "For the number of trucks passing through this area, there's a distinct lack of facilities," he reveals.