Parking fee hits haulage drivers at Portsmouth Port
Date: 20 March 2008
Portsmouth Port has decided to charge haulage drivers parking for more than eight hours £6.
However, many drivers are not happy and have contacted Commercial Motor to tell them the charge is "one more cost that subcontractors waiting to collect containers could not afford".
Edward Sullivan said that the £6 fee is unfair, considering a driver's rest time is nine hours.
"It looks like [the port is] trying to get rid of lorries totally, when all we're doing is waiting for the ferries to come in to collect a container," he said.
He said that the charge would cost him £30 a week, which he can "ill afford".
But Portsmouth Port has said it is imposing the charge because there is congestion at the port, and that freight drivers should go to the Walton Road truck stop if they have to wait for long periods.
"The area they are parking in is designed for those waiting for a ferry to come in in the next couple of hours," said a spokeswoman. "It's not a long-term parking area and unaccompanied trucks are being left in the port, creating congestion."
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