More than 1,400 HGV drivers will be forced to spend the night sleeping in their cabs tonight, due to a chronic lack of safe and secure parking spaces for their vehicles, according to business group Logistics UK. Despite government assurances over the past three years that provision of adequate locations for drivers to take their legally mandated rest breaks, including short stops and overnight stays, will be prioritised, as Elizabeth de Jong, the organisation’s policy director explains, a lack of progress means that drivers are still being forced to put themselves and their loads at risk, and new entrants to the sector are being deterred from applying:
“Whether working in a factory, retail outlet, office or at home, we all take it for granted that we have access to a toilet, handwashing facilities, a hot shower and food when we need it,” she says, “as well as somewhere safe and secure to have a rest. Yet for many HGV drivers, these basic human rights are still a fantasy. No one wants to see drivers forced to park up on the roadside, on industrial or retail parks or in public spaces but for many of those tasked with keeping UK plc stocked with everything it needs, there is simply no alternative – and this situation is hindering the diversification of our workforce. That is not acceptable.
“Currently, it is estimated that less than 1% of the HGV drivers working on the UK’s roads are women, but with no reassurance of safety and security when taking a legally required break, even for a couple of hours, no woman would want to put herself in a potentially risky situation. Industry can only do so much to attract new entrants to the industry: we need government to prioritise the provision of new parking areas across the strategic roads network so that all potential employees can regard an HGV driving job as a safe and highly valued role.”
The Transport Focus 2020-21 Logistics and Coach Survey found that 56% of respondents rated the availability of parking spaces for their vehicles as “fairly poor” or “very poor”, while a survey published by the Department for Transport in 2017 identified an urgent need for 1,400 safe overnight parking spaces in England.
“Government has been promising improvements in this area for a number of years, but we need these promises to be delivered,” says Ms de Jong. “It is galling to think that the workforce which was celebrated as key workers when they ensured we were stocked with the goods and services we needed during the pandemic is not worth more. It is almost impossible for our sector to attract new employees, particularly women, into the industry when they could be forced to take their legally mandated breaks in unsafe locations. The industry is doing all it can to fill the current shortfall of drivers, but needs government to fulfil its promises to help. Without it, logistics cannot be expected to support the full recovery of UK plc in an effective manner.”
Unfortunately the public don’t want to see trucks and Vans but they do want and need what we bring them.
For too long Councils and government have made it more difficult to park overnight safely and perhaps now is the time to capitalize on the position to put pressure on to open more areas and truck stops.
Driver need to be treated as valued human people. But also some driver don’t help the situation with their attitude to littering etc.
After leaving the navy in mid 70s i was offered a government run scheme called training opportunity scheme. I gained my class 3 and class 1 license through this scheme. Didn’t cost me a penny except the licence fees. You learned all the skills needed to become a successful and professional Hgv driver, including how to rope and sheet properly. There was no bullshit dcpc. Which in my opinion was at the time, and still is just another means of extracting money. You can do the same module five times and still get a dcpc card. Some courses I’ve come across recently, you don’t even have to turn up. Just send £70 per module and you will get your brand new dcpc card from the dvla in a few weeks time. Meaningless and a waste of money. Another financial wall for a new driver to get over on top of the costs of licensing and training.
With regards to overnight parking. Again, back when I was on long distance, almost all major towns had safe and secure overnight parking facilities for hgv drivers. They didn’t cost the earth. I think in most circumstances, the fees we paid covered the wages of the night guard. But there were all the facilities and local eateries were only a stones throw away. Also, in them days there were numerous truck stops to choose from too. Where in some, marshals would position trucks into departure times. Sadly, they have all been put out of business by the fast food giants, which are only interested in car customers. The truck driver used be welcomed by the then new motorway services. Even when it was busy, we could go to the front of the queue and show our hgv license, which was a book with the gold royal crest on it. Something to be proud of, and get 10% discount. Even designated driver areas, so we could have a bit of peace and quiet from the crowd. Now it will cost in excess of £25 per overnight stay. No security, and certainly no peace and quiet. So now we’re left with no option but seek out somewhere to take our legal daily break. No security. No facilities whatsoever. You have to leave a back door open otherwise the parasites will slash your curtains or worse, hijack the entire truck. It’s no wonder the industry is struggling to attract women into the industry.
The haulage industry in general, needs to get its head out of its own arse and start using the immense weight it has and to force local councils to build secure truck only parks with proper facilities. I know this sound hash, but we have on board what they want. No secure sites. No deliveries. Simple. The public need to be reminded, perhaps through the media. Everything they live in, everything they drive, everything ware, eat, drink, their beds, thier sofas, thier carpets, thier toiletries, tellies, thier post, papers, books, flowers. Even the materials that build the roads, the bridges, the tunnels. All come by truck and that truck has to have a driver. Put the accountants back in the back room where they belong and start putting the most important person in the fleet back behind the wheel where he or she belongs, with the pay and respect they deserve. Then and only then, will the driver shortage be resolved. We don’t need to seek drivers from outside the UK. We have plenty of our own laying idle. Let’s get back to old ways of doing things. When it used to be a fixed price per tonne mile no matter how big or small you were. We all had a level playing field. No undercutting. Put the driver back in control. No more spy cameras in cabs. No more having to phone the office to ask permission to stop to use the toilet. No more strict timed deliveries. All these things put unnecessary pressure and stress on drivers. Which ultimately makes unsafe drivers.
I’ve been putting up with this bulls#!t for over 8 years now and I have finally made the decision to move on from it. I work mostly nights and every single break time is a stressful challenge to find parking and toilet facilities. To make matters worse is the constant and in my opinion pointless road closures. Miles of roads closed or reduced to single lanes with nothing happening. This just increases our working hours and make finding parking even harder. Then there is this ridiculous phenomenon called smart motorways. The smart thing to do is avoid them if you can. I regularly travel on the M4, M5, M25, M3 and M27 and every shift I see “confused” signs. Every shift I see signs giving the wrong information. They reduce 3 lanes to 1 with miles of traffic piling up just to finally give up when miles later the road is still clear. Also showing different speed limits for different lanes on the same stretch of road. Smart motorways are dangerous. If anyone is considering HGV driving for a career, I urge you to think twice..
All very interesting so what about us that come in at Holyhead? The truck stop shuts this week so where can we park?
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