Xmas holiday and truck stops closed

Wheel Nut:

Driveroneuk:

Lucy:
There were 6 of us, all from different companies, parked up in a very closed Colsterworth on Tuesday night, with only an outside tap and the grotty 24hr bog between us. On the plus side, it was free. On the minus, none of us won the raffle, despite having the best odds ever.

… and there is the exact reason why they aren’t open. Having done lots of w/end tramping over the past 6 years I know the problem only too well. Yes ofcourse us drivers would like them to be open, but you have to try & see it from a business point of view aswell.

If it was your business & you knew it was going to cost more to open than you were likely to take, would you open?

Tis indeed the reason the bar isn’t open at Lymm on a Saturday night.

The glass is half full or half empty though. If the bar was open and drivers knew about it, maybe more would use the “err facility”. Like they did at Wolverhampton. I have had some decent nights in the bar there with a dozen Irish drivers heading for Sundays boat.

On a weekend the parking is generally free, the kitchens can do a reduced menu with limited opening times as a service. You can normally get a pub meal until 9 pm 7 days a week, so why not a truckstop meal?

Might want to check what threads you’re replying to. All your posts have been on threads which are several years deceased. This one by 6 years!

Perhaps he’s like me , stuck at home on the sick
(3rd week ) bored to tears . Roll on next tuesday!!

I posted it originally!!!

Ken.

So here I am, setting off on Tuesday from Leeds to go and do 4 drops on a 3 day run starting at Street, then Truro and finally Cwmbran and Abergavenny.

As I didn’t know Street was to be delivered on Tuesday until I got into the depot, the original plan was to stay at the Albion on the A39, and deliver Wednesday morning. (Thanks Dan172) However Street was duly despatched and I met up with my mate at Exeter services where we both parked up for the night, as he was doing Barnstaple, Bideford, Bude, Penzance, Falmouth and Plymouth.

That’s when the first problem of the week arose as Exeter services had no hot water meaning a shower was impossible. Never mind I thought, at least I can have a cold wash, and crack on until Wednesday evening where, if I get on with it, I can get a good hot shower somewhere else, a decent meal not services crap, and a good night’s sleep, as the onset of manflu was coming on.

So Wednesday morning, set off for Truro on a very foggy A30, delivered, and set off back towards Cwmbran, and saw Denis F at Whiddon Down near Moretonhampstead at the last minute in his shiny black Premium. Tipped Cwmbran and Abergavenny high street precinct, (With an artic!!! ) and checked to see how much time I had left.

Excellent. 3.25 hours of driving time available on a 10, it’s now 4.50pm so thinking that the nice shower, hot meal and good sleep was gonna happen, I started to think about where I could get to. So I narrow it down to 2 truckstops that I have been to before, one of which has just won a national award.

So I bell the first one up to see if they’re open, and the conversation goes like this:

Me. “Hi are you open?”
Them." No food, just parking"
Me. “Ok then”

2nd one:

Me. “Hi are you open?”
Them. “Only serving food until 7.30pm”
Me. “I can get there at about 7.45pm, any chance of something?”
Them. “Sorry, only serving until 7.30pm, but you can still pay to park”
Me. “Ok then”

Now why the ■■■■ would I want to pay to park in a truckstop and not get anything to eat? I might as well park in a layby free, or an industrial estate, neither of which I will do, that pay to park and not be able to get a meal. It’s exactly the same.

I know it’s the xmas holidays, but don’t these places realise that drivers are still working? Obviously not.

I ended up staying at Trowell, 710 kms later after 9.5 hours driving and had to put up with EDC’s offerings, but at least it cost me next to nothing for food with the voucher.

Rant over.

Ken.

but don’t these places realise that drivers are still working? Obviously not.

Perhaps, as in your comments on agency drivers, these truck stops are staffed by agency workers wo have decided to excercise their right not to work over Xmas

There were 6 of us, all from different companies, parked up in a very closed Colsterworth on Tuesday night, with only an outside tap and the grotty 24hr bog between us. On the plus side, it was free. On the minus, none of us won the raffle, despite having the best odds ever.

Shoulda pm’d me Ken when you was in Cwmbran. You’d have had a square meal at least cos we had the worlds biggest turkey which the dogs only just finished yesterday.

Thanks Dai.

Daft thing was, Y Fenni was a precinct with a 4.30pm entry time, (They gave me 7 1/2 hours from Truro.) and Cwmbran was a Thursday morning tip!!!

I took the bull by the horns and belled up Cwmbran, and the guys were delighted to get it a day earlier, meaning a 45 on the way the Abergavenny got my onto the precinct just after opening, hence the driving time left.

Ken.

i went bacck to work on the 29th and both lockerbie and penrith were closed my mate also said colsterworth and markham moor were closed it is a joke,
think marham is a joke anyway wants to be a truckstop on infant school hours that place…

refuse to work the the 2 weeks that most other places are closed, I always take christmas and new year off, not worth the hassle

Quinny:
So I narrow it down to 2 truckstops that I have been to before, one of which has just won a national award.

They give AWARDS to these places■■? The mind boggles.

These so called “truckstops” in the UK are, with a couple of exceptions, a joke. Crap food, crap parking, crap facilities, crap beer (if indeed any is available).

If I had been so inclined, I could have gone to my local truckstop here in Germany for a hearty Christmas Day repast, served by a delightful honey limbed goddess.

Needless to say, it is open 24x365.

Lucy:
There were 6 of us, all from different companies, parked up in a very closed Colsterworth on Tuesday night, with only an outside tap and the grotty 24hr bog between us. On the plus side, it was free. On the minus, none of us won the raffle, despite having the best odds ever.

… and there is the exact reason why they aren’t open. Having done lots of w/end tramping over the past 6 years I know the problem only too well. Yes ofcourse us drivers would like them to be open, but you have to try & see it from a business point of view aswell.

If it was your business & you knew it was going to cost more to open than you were likely to take, would you open?

Tis indeed the reason the bar isn’t open at Lymm on a Saturday night.

Driveroneuk:

Lucy:
There were 6 of us, all from different companies, parked up in a very closed Colsterworth on Tuesday night, with only an outside tap and the grotty 24hr bog between us. On the plus side, it was free. On the minus, none of us won the raffle, despite having the best odds ever.

… and there is the exact reason why they aren’t open. Having done lots of w/end tramping over the past 6 years I know the problem only too well. Yes ofcourse us drivers would like them to be open, but you have to try & see it from a business point of view aswell.

If it was your business & you knew it was going to cost more to open than you were likely to take, would you open?

Tis indeed the reason the bar isn’t open at Lymm on a Saturday night.

The glass is half full or half empty though. If the bar was open and drivers knew about it, maybe more would use the “err facility”. Like they did at Wolverhampton. I have had some decent nights in the bar there with a dozen Irish drivers heading for Sundays boat.

On a weekend the parking is generally free, the kitchens can do a reduced menu with limited opening times as a service. You can normally get a pub meal until 9 pm 7 days a week, so why not a truckstop meal?

only place between bradford and felixstowe open today was stibbington dont think that shuts ever

Driveroneuk:

Lucy:
There were 6 of us, all from different companies, parked up in a very closed Colsterworth on Tuesday night, with only an outside tap and the grotty 24hr bog between us. On the plus side, it was free. On the minus, none of us won the raffle, despite having the best odds ever.

… and there is the exact reason why they aren’t open. Having done lots of w/end tramping over the past 6 years I know the problem only too well. Yes ofcourse us drivers would like them to be open, but you have to try & see it from a business point of view aswell.

I think we’d worked that bit out for ourselves…