The current driver shortage has just reminded me that I had some correspondence a few years ago with my local MP on this subject. It was initiated by our local council fining lorries for parking in the large public car park in the middle of Llandovery; much to the annoyance of both the drivers and the local food outlets who made a bit out of them especially outside of the tourist season. It was precipitated of course by a couple of whiney incomers who “didn’t like being woken up by noisy lorries”.
Dear Simon (Hart)
Firstly my thanks for your prompt response to my query. It would appear from the reply received by you that in this case, regrettably the council is legally justified in its actions. I appreciate the fact that you took the trouble to pursue it.
However, the response highlights a worrying ignorance of the needs of lorry drivers and operators, together with a misunderstanding of the law on this matter which for someone so highly ranked (and therefore presumably experienced) in the transport sector I find frankly disturbing. Mr. McEvoy seems to be under the impression that all lorries should return to their bases once their day’s work is done; this might indeed be the case for council vehicles but it is obviously impossible or at least impractical in other parts of the transport sector. I shall contact him directly to appraise him of the true facts of this matter, and to ascertain whether alternative measures have been, or will be considered by the council.
You will be fully aware that since Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire lie on a main traffic route to Ireland, it is inevitable that HGV’s travelling along the A48/A40 corridor will by necessity have to stop en route in order that their drivers may observe the rest periods which the law specifies, and some of this will of course involve overnight parking. Add to this the HGV’s which are delivering to, and collecting from, businesses and particularly farms in both your own constituency and neighbouring ones, and the sum total is a considerable number of vehicles whose drivers should be able to find somewhere in the vicinity to park safely and with access to local facilities. Put simply, a remote lay-by in the middle of nowhere isn’t good enough; as a former soldier like myself you will be accustomed to “roughing it” for the odd night or two but in the 21st century we really shouldn’t expect an ordinary working man to experience on a day-to-day basis such inconvenience, or more to the point, a lack of accessible conveniences!
I appreciate that you are a busy man, and that there are more pressing needs at this moment in time; but I would urge you to put any weight you can behind any motions to improve the general lot of lorry drivers. The United Kingdom as a whole treats them very shabbily compared to the rest of Europe, particularly where accessible overnight parking and facilities are concerned, and this is a major factor in the difficulty which operators experience in recruiting and retaining suitable candidates. This, I suspect, will only worsen once the “Brexit” vote is passed, and many EU nationals forsake UK employment. We desperately need more designated, or at the least, available and accessible lorry parking, this is not an issue which is going to go away. Any positive actions on either your part or that of the government in general would win you many friends in my sector of employment both at driver and operator level.
Once again, my thanks for your efforts, and wishing you my continued support.
I’ve just sent that back to him, commenting, “I hate to say “I told you so”… but I did”!