MSAs able to bar rivals by Eugene Silke • Hauliers
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could face inflated repair charges and delays at motorway service areas following a change in an obscure Department of Transport regulation.
Operators of privatised MSAs will be free to exclude rival repair and recovery companies in a move that has surprised and alarmed transport organisations. At present, MSA operators must give free access to the AA and RAC where a driver is a member, and to other repair companies if the site does not have suitable facilities.
That obligation has now been removed as part of the DOT's deregulation policy under which MSAs are to be sold and the private sector is to develop new sites.
The Freight Transport Association has written to the DOT protesting the change which was not canvassed in the original consultation paper. The new regulation gives MSA operators "a total monopoly" on emergency repair services, says Don McIntyre, Freight Transport Association controller for highways and traffic. He complains that the Government has reneged on its commitment "to guarantee the continuation of minimum standards" at privatised MSAs.
McIntyre says the move has implications for road safety as well as service charges and HGV down-time. "It can only exacerbate the problem" of vehicles being pushed back on to the hard shoulder for repairs, he says. The Road Haulage Association is also concerned by the new regulation. "There should be public access to areas where vehicles can be repaired," says Tim Inman, operations director of the RHA, which wants facilities like those in France and Germany.