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Parking pressure
Page 20
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The pressure on truastops has been all too apparent in recent weeks, but wi I the Highways Agency consultation help provide a national strategy for lorry parking?
Roanna Avison finds out
Truckstops are an essential part of every driver's life. With strict legislation governing the number of hours they can drive, having safe and secure places to park up to take the required rest breaks is a must. But in recent weeks there have been a number of issues around truckstops that will hardly put drivers' minds at rest Nightowl's Alconbury truckstop is due to close on 31 August ( Alconbury Nightowl truck stop to close; CM 9 August). although the Road Haulage Association is trying to fight the closure.
The previous week Orwell truckstop managed to heat the threat of closure and was given permission to serve LGVs and the public (Orwell truckstop allowed to serve the public; CM 2 August).
Pricing is the other issue that has caused some consternation and RoadChefs move to increase the price to overnight at Clacket Lane Services on the M25 to £25 has angered many (CM 16 August).
The problem The problem seems to he the lack of joined-up thinking. The Highways Agency (HA) is responsible for the strategic road network in the UK and for the provision of facilities that sit alongside it, although not the facilities themselves But its approach to parking places for LGVs can hardly be described as joined up or even national.
At present the rules stipulate that there should be a place for trucks to stop every 30 miles on the strategic network.
A Highways Agency consultation paper on the provision of motorway service areas was open for comment at the beginning of the year. While some of the feedback has been made public (see panel) the HA's full response has yet to he published.
Not impressed James Firth,strategic road network manager at the Freight Transport Association (FTA), says the FTA was a little disappointed with HA's consultation document because there was not enough emphasis on trucks. "Our view is that HA is responsible for the strategic road network and therefore has a responsibility to allow [LGV] drivers to take their required rest,"he says. "But other parts of the industry have a responsibility to support that."
Firth adds the FTA believes there should be more service areas and more provision for commercial vehicles: "Where one large commercial vehicle could park the MSA [motorway service area] could get a coachload of customers or lots of cars with paying customers, so yes, 1 think we do need some national policy directing this."
He accepts local concerns about truck stops are understandable. but warns there is a national lack of capacity for trucks so something needs to be done, -particularly when you consider the increasing need for security to protect trucks from crime".
Jack Semple, director of policy at the Road Haulage Association (RHA), agrees that trucks were not given enough emphasis in the HA consultation document. "There should be a national policy for lorry parking that is developed by the government," he says.
Semple goes on to suggest that there should be an independent planning authority to oversee major projects in transport, energy and waste, so that the industry's needs are taken into account along with local needs.