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ENVY, REVENGE AND REALITY
Page 10
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surveys slamming all that is British appear to becoming a bit of a habit. First it was our enforcement, now it's the motorway service areas. Yes, yes, we all know what's wrong with our motorway services pricey food, drink and diesel and that there's room for improvement at VOSA, but is it really that much worse than the standards witnessed across the Channel? We think not.
It's tempting to look across the water with green eyes. There the trains run on time, you know, there's no such thing as cowboy operators and the motorway services, well they're veritable oases in the motoring desert. This is, of course, absolute drivel. We've been to the Italian services where the sewage flows freely across the toilet floor; to the Spanish truck parks where drivers stay up all night for fear of hijack; and to the French services where, granted the nosh is decent, but the prices remain eye-watering. The motorway services in this country, as we've discovered this week, demonstrate plenty of room for improvement, not least on pricing, but before we start beating ourselves up too badly there's no motorway services heaven on the other side of the Channel.
"The trains run on time and the MSAs are oases in the motoring desert"
• At Commercial Motor our aim is to ensure we bring you the best road transport magazine possible every week. As part of this commitment we're interested in your views on our publication and this week's issue includes a questionnaire to get your opinions. Please take a couple of minutes to fill in the form and send it back -your views are important to us.
• With just the last few games to play in Euro 2004 our Euro Striker competition, run with Mercedes-Benz, is nearing its climax. As we went to press Steve Mitchell, from PPG Industries, and Chris Horn, from Entwisles Haulage, were jointly poised to collect the £1,000 top prize, though it looks like going all the way to the last game before the money can be counted. Check out next week's issue for the final standing.