I rang them up about 7pm and asked about parking
I was told overnight parking is £10 or £14 with a meal voucher
He told me you will need to get hear before 10pm as that is when the cafe is closed
I arrived at 9.15pm
The guy on the hut charged me £12 and said all the cooks have gone home and the cafe is now closed
But toilets and shower are still open
I told him what I was told and he said I will make a note of it
I asked him if I could fill my flask up with hot water he said sorry the truck stop is nothing to do with us we just do the security for the whole site even though he took the overnight parking fee from me
But he did fill my flask up for me though
The showers are blocked and has flooded water all over my gear and there is no one working on site to report it to
So good security guard who works for someone ells
But bad staff coz there are non!
I see there is a notice board in the entrance with the usual fly posting rubbish of driver seriously urgently majorly required which I have ripped down and binned just for badness like
I remember a lot of years ago parking somewhere round hear at at a truck stop in my van
but that truck stop as I recall was on an industrial estate where you could park for free
Dose anyone know what Im talking about?
The security guard mentioned something about lorries parking on the road side behind Birch services behind the back of the pub
Is this true?
Thanks
B&G
What ever happened to the knights of the road being self sufficient?
I reckon 80% of this forum us working within the UK, a few of us in the EU.
I can pack a large butty box and live on the road for a week,
If you want a home cooked meal then stay at home 
chester:
What ever happened to the knights of the road being self sufficient?
I reckon 80% of this forum us working within the UK, a few of us in the EU.
I can pack a large butty box and live on the road for a week,
If you want a home cooked meal then stay at home
I agree chester if you are on the road you need to be prepared for all eventualities.
regards dave.
dafdave:
chester:
What ever happened to the knights of the road being self sufficient?
I reckon 80% of this forum us working within the UK, a few of us in the EU.
I can pack a large butty box and live on the road for a week,
If you want a home cooked meal then stay at home
I agree chester if you are on the road you need to be prepared for all eventualities.
regards dave.
Think this boss and driver was the one moaning cos he could not charge his lap top or fill his flask in pub in macclesfield,buy a kettle and an inverter mate then thats two of your problems we aint gotta hear about
seth 70:
That notice he pulled down could have been a job someone aswell,what was the point in that 
Well he was hungry and he’d wet his handbag in the shower room,better watch out he’s a bad ■■■ going round picking on notice boards!
dafdave:
chester:
What ever happened to the knights of the road being self sufficient?
I reckon 80% of this forum us working within the UK, a few of us in the EU.
I can pack a large butty box and live on the road for a week,
If you want a home cooked meal then stay at home
I agree chester if you are on the road you need to be prepared for all eventualities.
regards dave.
I must admit, I take some butties (usually what’s left of Sundays roast) on the Monday, and some emergency food incase I can’t eat out, but I plan on eating out.
BUT, I’d walk to a chippy or a pub or whatever, because the whole point for me is to GET OUT of the truck.
waynedl:
dafdave:
chester:
What ever happened to the knights of the road being self sufficient?
I reckon 80% of this forum us working within the UK, a few of us in the EU.
I can pack a large butty box and live on the road for a week,
If you want a home cooked meal then stay at home
I agree chester if you are on the road you need to be prepared for all eventualities.
regards dave.
I must admit, I take some butties (usually what’s left of Sundays roast) on the Monday, and some emergency food incase I can’t eat out, but I plan on eating out.
BUT, I’d walk to a chippy or a pub or whatever, because the whole point for me is to GET OUT of the truck.
on that note we should get some old pallets out of the back of trailer and have a camp fire in front of our barbecued road kill
who needs truck stops when we can live the polish
Just another big trucker. Big mouth. Does your mum make your sandwiches and pack your suitcase for your big wagon adventure?
I usually park up miles from anywhere. I carry lots of water, a kettle, a cooler with food in it and I have a microwave. I used to have a gas cooker but I got lazy.
happysack:
Just another big trucker. Big mouth. Does your mum make your sandwiches and pack your suitcase for your big wagon adventure?
I usually park up miles from anywhere. I carry lots of water, a kettle, a cooler with food in it and I have a microwave. I used to have a gas cooker but I got lazy.
dont forget the bog roll for when you need a dump in the woods, any good trucker carries bog roll, as you never know when your going to be caught short
Bog roll or kitchen towel!
Makes me laugh when people say they don’t have big enough cabs. I only have a high line but can carry enough to last me a week. As well as drinking water I have a container of washing water that warms at the back of the cab. I also have a tool box, runnng gear, 2 pairs of trainers, heavy duty tow strap and shackles, air line for blowing up soft tyres, fire extinguisher, first aid kit, waterproofs, emergency spill kit, axe and a handful of ordnance survey maps.
Then there’s a couple of road map books, a tablet for reading, wash stuff, clothes, ppe and a respirator for when I tip recycled wood.
Oh and I have a hold all packed with a couple of days worth of clean clothes, gloves, jacket and toiletries because I’m on call at all times where possible.
Get that up you flask boy.
happysack:
Bog roll or kitchen towel!
Makes me laugh when people say they don’t have big enough cabs. I only have a high line but can carry enough to last me a week. As well as drinking water I have a container of washing water that warms at the back of the cab. I also have a tool box, runnng gear, 2 pairs of trainers, heavy duty tow strap and shackles, air line for blowing up soft tyres, fire extinguisher, first aid kit, waterproofs, emergency spill kit, axe and a handful of ordnance survey maps.
Then there’s a couple of road map books, a tablet for reading, wash stuff, clothes, ppe and a respirator for when I tip recycled wood.
Oh and I have a hold all packed with a couple of days worth of clean clothes, gloves, jacket and toiletries because I’m on call at all times where possible.
Get that up you flask boy.
How bloody hard done to are you, ONLY a highline… Have you ever seen a car transporter cab?
I used to have a low cab volvo. Same as a car transporter. Bloody horrid. Needed crampons to climb over the engine hump.
I assume you arrived on a Saturday night.It is possible that there is not much trade for the cafe at that time of night and they go home early.
The foreign trucks have kitchens on the side of their trailers and do no not spend money on food.
On a weekend ,you will not find many UK drivers parked up there.If there were Irish trucks on weekly rest,they may be foreign drivers.
There are two pubs that do cooked meals within walking distance from the truckstop.
I use Heywood and never had problems.Cafe shuts at 22.00 on week days.Good food.Opens 7 am and hot drink vending machine has now gone if leave before 7am.
Of course it is just possible that the OP doesn’t normally do nights out or very rarely and so carries the bare minimum of night out gear.
Not everybody that drives a truck is a rufty tufty self sufficient tramper.
If you are told that certain things are available then what’s wrong with expecting them?
waynedl:
happysack:
Bog roll or kitchen towel!
Makes me laugh when people say they don’t have big enough cabs. I only have a high line but can carry enough to last me a week. As well as drinking water I have a container of washing water that warms at the back of the cab. I also have a tool box, runnng gear, 2 pairs of trainers, heavy duty tow strap and shackles, air line for blowing up soft tyres, fire extinguisher, first aid kit, waterproofs, emergency spill kit, axe and a handful of ordnance survey maps.
Then there’s a couple of road map books, a tablet for reading, wash stuff, clothes, ppe and a respirator for when I tip recycled wood.
Oh and I have a hold all packed with a couple of days worth of clean clothes, gloves, jacket and toiletries because I’m on call at all times where possible.
Get that up you flask boy.
How bloody hard done to are you, ONLY a highline… Have you ever seen a car transporter cab?
How any of us ever managed months away before megaglobespacetrotters is a mystery eh 
I expect Lucy to rock up shortly with pictures of her old p cab Scanny. Just don’t mention the “pink thing” 
billybigrig:
The very nature of this job requires a degree of self sufficiency. What if you get held up, break down or run out of hours before you can get to facilities ■■ I always aim to get out of the cab and eat but carry enough to be ok if I hit problems. If he’s a cab hopper or infrequent night outer he could simply get a plastic storage box in which he could keep essentials that would sit tidily up on the bunk out of sight or even in the trailer. It aint rocket science 
Agreed and whose to say that he didn’t but after a hard day fancied some comforts like a hot meal and a shower so rang ahead to find out what was available…and then it wasn’t.Hence his post to maybe warn others and all he gets is the ■■■■ taken out of him, as I said what’s wrong with expecting some decent facilities that were promised.
There have been numerous threads on this forum about bad and total lack of facilities for truck drivers in this country but anyone reading this thread would think that most truck drivers prefer to sleep in lay byes or industrial estates,cook in the cab,not shower, ■■■■ in a bag etc…no wonder drivers are held in such low esteem. 
