Owner operators worried about truck stop closures
Date: 24 December 2007
The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has found that the closure of truck stops in the UK has affected the operations of road haulage companies.
In fact, three quarters of owner operators have experienced difficulties of one kind or another due to the closures like the Alconbury truck stop on the A14 near Cambridge.
One in seven owner operators have had difficulty sticking to drivers' hours regulations because of a lack of places for freight haulage drivers to stop and take a break.
One in ten owner operators have had to change their routes in order to allow freight haulage drivers to take breaks in secure areas.
One in five have said that the closures have exposed their operations to "significant additional security risk", and one in six said that they had "serious concerns" about the personal safety of their drivers, as well as potential danger to their freight haulage trucks.
The FTA's Malcolm Bingham said: "Truck drivers operate under strict drivers' hours rules, requiring regular breaks and rests for road safety reasons. The government must not legislate for frequent stops by drivers and then fail to ensure that appropriate facilities are available for vehicles to park up.
"Planning rules must also restrict land use designations for existing truck stops to 'lorry parking areas'. This will help safeguard existing facilities from speculative commercial development.
"It is vital that where a truckstop is closed, local councils make contingency plans to accommodate the displaced trucks, otherwise drivers are forced to use industrial estates and local roads which lack appropriate facilities and impact on local residents."
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