Driver breaks cost Dutch £28m
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To a truck driver the welcome and food at his favourite café is well worth making a detour of a few miles; to the operator the extra time and distance travelled means a hefty addition to running costs.
The problem common on the Continent, has never been examined before in such detail as that revealed by a Dutch organisation which has recently published its findings. The report includes figures to suggest that the practice by haulage drivers of leaving new motorways to take their statutory breaks at former traditional stopping places is costing the Dutch road transport industry almost £28 million a year.
In the Netherlands the extension of the motorway network has created many new route patterns while the provision of catering facilities for transport drivers has lagged behind. On the Breda-Antwerp route heavy vehicles continue to use the old road in preference to the new four-lane motorway because adequate pull-ups on this "international" link are only found on the former.
Although 20km added to, say, a daily total of 400km appears of little significance, the report bases its calculations on the premise that of the 55,000 drivers employed in Dutch haulage practice some 35,000 twice daily take a break at a café up to 20km (12 miles) off their normal route. The estimated cost of the extra time/distance ranges from D.F1 8.50 for a 5-ton payload vehicle "doing'' an extra 10km to over D.F1 32.50 (almost £6) for a 25-ton payload vehicle which covers a 25km detour so that the driver can reach his accustomed rest stop. These figures are additional to the normal operational costings which already include an allowance for the rest periods.
The Dutch Minister of Transport has reported that five new motorway service and catering areas have recently been completed while the siting of another two will be announced this year.
The first option in the management and running of new motorway facilities will be given to persons whose existing restaurants had lost most of their trade through the construction of new roads.