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EC admits to playing part in growing truck parking crisis
andy.satterlBrbi.co.uk THE EUROPEAN Commission (EC) has admitted it is inadvertently to blame for growing levels of truck crime.
Speaking at the Improving European Truck Parking conference, held in Brussels this week, Matthias Ruete, EC director general for Mobility and Transport, said truck and freight crime costs the ELI approximately €8bn (£7.1m) per year.
"We have been indirectly responsible for this €.)3bn issue. By fixing more stringent rules on drivers' hours, we have forced drivers to stop, but we haven't built sufficient infrastructure for them to stop."
Ruete explained that two new directives are on their way that will ensure all new motorways are built with adequate truck parking provision in the future and that intelligent transport systems would support an improvement in information about the level of services available at the stops.
Meanwhile, the conclusion of the pilot scheme into a set of common standards for truck parking areas. codenamed project Label. were unveiled.
A total of 70 truckstops were au di Led as part of the pilot in order to present an example of how the system would work.Truckstops would be rated from one to five: one indicating basic security and service provision, five being the most secure and fullest service offering The initiative is now being passed over to industry to take it forward. A handbook and a set of online tools were presented to the conference by the EC aimed at assisting truckstop owners in setting up their facilities.
"This is a strong initiative and we now know what is expected of us when setting up a facility," said Ton Barton. CEO of All4Trucks, one of the biggest truck parks in Europe.
• More information is available at wvvw.truckparkinglabel.eu
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