'Surely they should not be allowed to charge for a legal requirement'
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Drivers hours laws dictate that a driver must stop for the relevant rest periods, but increasingly more insurance companies are specifying that vehicles are only to be parked in reasonably secure areas such as service stations, truckstops or the operating base. Laybys and industrial estates are no longer acceptable parking places.
With the motorway services becoming a more common place to pork, these areas have introduced a hefty parking charge, normally in the region of 210, which they say includes a meal voucher for 24—but how much of a meal would 24 buy you at a services? Not much. In a week it works out at 250 for parking alone. This is money you have to have before you set off as well as money for tolls and food. Unfortunately, as with the Dartford crossing, the majority of services do not give receipts. Without a receipt it is quite hard for a number of drivers to claim back their expenses. As the motorway services have the monopoly on parking just off the motorway, why is it they can charge such ridiculous amounts? What happens when you run out of driving hours and have to stop at a services? If you cannot pay can they remove you? Are they allowed to send you a bill for E25 or more for not paying? What are you supposed to do if you pull in because you're shattered, when you shut your eyes only to be woken up by a carpark attendant demanding money you have not got? Do you jump back in the driver's seat, go back on the road and hope you don't fall asleep trying to find somewhere else? There used to be a number of services which provided showers and drivers' restaurants—a godsend come holiday time. Not only was the food a little cheaper but you didn't have to queue for ages with the holiday-makers. But increasingly this is becoming a thing of the past due to one group taking over more services and closing drivers' restaurants. It provides the least service. For example, take its new services on the M40 Cherwell Valley and the Mb at Stafford. Where is the HGV park? You guessed—as far away from the services as possible, which can be really inconvenient on a cold rainy night. Even though the lorry park is so far away from the services, they still have the signs forbidding the use of gas stoves—and they have the cheek and audacity to charge you 210 for the inconvenience.
Please correct me if I am wrong, but I was led to believe that the motorway services had to by law provide parking for all vehicles, inclusive of HGVs. The services are there by permission of the Department of Transport which stipulates that sufficient parking be provided. While I appreciate the services are on private land, surely they should not be allowed to charge for what is after all a legal requirement. Where do you stand as a driver? Do you have to pay when you are already on your daily/weekly rest? Can they force you to break the law by continuing to drive to find alternative parking? I, like many other LGV drivers, am fed up to the back teeth with arguing with carpark attendants at our dreaded motorway disservices.