Ok I know some of you here don’t think much of the Night owl Truck stops, but i hear the Wolverhampton is now going to close.
Is it me or what are we meant to park! I don’t like lay-bys and neither does my company as the loads are not covered but the insurance(so they tell us)
The moterway services are far to expensive for what they offer so i’m getting a bit cheesed off really!
to be honest with ya john im not bothered about nightowl selling there truckstops cuz i found them to be a disgrace never clean and the food was worse than the stuff motorway sevices dish out and it aint cheap to park at em.just up the road offa junction 2 of the 54 is a truckstop on the cannock road. then theres the hollies on the a5 at junction 12 and a little further down the road from that is the truckers rest which is a good cafe.if your willing to pay nightowl prices you may aswell park at hilton pk on the m6.
john-sussex:
Is it me or what are we meant to park!
Anywhere you want, as ong as it’s not in their backyard.
Apparently, Nightowl are looking at being turfed off the site to make way for yet another supermarket.
Slag NT off all you want, but we still need places to park.
As for Alconbury, English Heritage have accepted the application for listing and taking it under consideration. So, for the moment, no more warehousing.
The recent closures of truckstops to be converted to more unneeded warehousing just shows that these companies are only interested in pleasing the shareholders.
I dont disagree with companies making profits, thats what it is all about anyway. without profits companies fail.
However if the truckstop owners think we are an easy touch because they can serve food that the RSPCA would have problems with being fed to animals & expect drivers to wash and shower in places that themselves could be a health risk. You are more likely to get swamp fever or trenchfoot in most of the facilities in the UK
Before all these supermarkets and shopping centres are built, plans must be made for facilities for trucks and drivers. The local council who probably get brown envelopes from Morrisbury and Tesda for planning permission should make sure truck parking facilities are provided. After all it is these giant supermarkets that are causing most of the traffic hold ups on motorways with just in time delivery schedules at RDC and queues of 4x4 cars driving 10 miles for a loaf of bread
In France apart from the excellent Resto Routiers on most trunk routes, they also have major shopping centres and supermarkets that allow trucks to park after hours, indeed even through the day you will see the car park full of trucks as the drivers either use the restaurant in the supermarket or use the shops to buy their food for the week. None of these charge for parking, they make profits from the core business of either selling good wholesome food or by selling groceries
I take on board what has been said about the NT stops, i can agree, however as i said we all need somewhere safe to park.
It just seems that we are the ■■■■ of everyones jokes, almost the lowest form of life!
I have never taken a truck across the water, bit have seen this when we have been abroad.
Makes me wonder why all these trucks want to come from abroad as they are made no more welcome than we are.
Its not just the stops closing but all too many industrail estates now have yellow lines all other place.
Don’t mind me just letting of steam!
I don’t know where we are supposed to go.
I am a tramper who spends at least four nights out per week.
I am fortunate in that my company has an account with Nightowl, Welcome Break and Moto, so I don’t have to cough up the best part of £100 per week to park.
But what have we got?
Nightowl aren’t overpriced as far as grub goes - but have you seen the state of the showers??
Welcome Break, to be fair, have invested in the showers and toilets at many MSAs, but £9 for a full English■■? I don’t think so.
I try and stop at the good little independants where possible, where you get a balance of decent food at reasonable cost with clean facilities. My company will also pay any parking expenses - no questions asked even if it includes a meal voucher, so I guess I have it pretty good and shouldn’t moan.
Sure there’s good and bad. Trick is knowing where to stop. 
Last issue of Truckstop news had on the front page the story of someone from the house of lords having a go at the parlous state of parking for trucks, maybe it is time we all contacted him to let him know the reality of the problems we have, and present him with our ideas.
One that I have is legislation that states that ALL industrial estates MUST provide a number of parking spaces, with minimum facilities for our use.
Another would be that developers MUST be forced to take into consideration the real life size of our vehicles, and stop playing with their dinky toys when developing an estate.
Dratsabasti:
One that I have is legislation that states that ALL industrial estates MUST provide a number of parking spaces, with minimum facilities for our use.
Now that, my friend, is an EXCELLENT idea.
Companies on said estate should ALL contribute to provide at least basic style food and shower facilities.
We don’t ask for cordon-bleur cooking - a few rounds of beans on toast is all we ask.
These people want the stuff, they should accomodate the needs of the people that have to supply it
flying_fenman:
Dratsabasti:
One that I have is legislation that states that ALL industrial estates MUST provide a number of parking spaces, with minimum facilities for our use.Now that, my friend, is an EXCELLENT idea.
Companies on said estate should ALL contribute to provide at least basic style food and shower facilities.
Ask for proper clean facilities that they would expect to get changed and washed in , asking for less than that would only encourage them to look down on you more , Little miss pretty pants receptionist would pee her pants if she actually found out you earned nearly twice what she doesWe don’t ask for cordon-bleur cooking - a few rounds of beans on toast is all we ask.
Ask for food that they would expect to eat , for the same reasons I stated above .
Drivers already get looked down on by some people , some people that barely have a pot to ■■■■ in will think they are better than you because they heard the rumours …These people want the stuff, they should accomodate the needs of the people that have to supply it
Well thats just not good buisness …For the shareholders .
I gave up stopping out a long time ago , you could still park somewhere then …
Night trunking now and parking for a break is horrendous , If I can’t get a break at one of our depots etc then I end up dumping it wherever I can .
Looking at some of the prices 
…
I always notice oakamoor cafe on the A38 Barton under Needood is always pretty sparse overnight .Last time I was in that cafe it was good and they charge £6 for overnighting .There is a pub a 10 minute walk doen the canal if you don’t fancy cafe food .
Everyone seems to end up on MFI car park in Burton on Trent !!!
I know what I would do …£6 park up , £1 shower , than a 10 minute walk doen the canal to the pub for a meal and a pint .
I go home everyday now , and it will be staying that way .
There are some excellent little places still out there, paul but you need to know them. That one on the A38 is a favourite of mine but to be honest, I don’t advertise which ones are good cos they get busy enough as it is. As a tramper with a fridge I rely on the more out the way places.
To be fair, I slate Nightowl but only because they have just gone downhill so badly. Alconbury did do decent food and it was reasonably clean when it was opened but places like Carlisle and Birtley should have had a health warning on them. The only one I will use is Rugby for the bar, I hardly ever eat there but I have a few giggles with the regulars who seem to be in every night.
Trevor Potts can make a living and the parking is a lot less than most.
I avoid the services like the plague for the same reason and do as Paul suggests, there are lots of little parking places where you can get a pub meal and a quiet nights sleep off the beaten track. Most pubs welcome trucks and bikers now but I remember when bikers were not allowed in many pubs.
TheBear:
There are some excellent little places still out there, paul but you need to know them. That one on the A38 is a favourite of mine but to be honest, I don’t advertise which ones are good cos they get busy enough as it is. As a tramper with a fridge I rely on the more out the way places.
I know exactly what you mean Bear.
Start telling everyone where these good little places are. Sooner or later, usually sooner, the ones who we all love to hate turn up and turn that nice little place into a sewage plant.
No, I don’t mean the latest influx of foreigners.
I mean the ‘people’ who were making these places into sewage plants long before they arrived.
Agreed again. It’s very rare I pay to park these days, even though I can claim all my expenses back.
Now, I’ve always been an “industrial estate/layby rat”, but with parking costs going up elsewhere, more and more of the “truckstop boys” are coming onto my “patch”, with no idea how to treat these places. A regular will check what time others are leaving and make sure we can all get out. A regular will park so as to leave as much room for others as possible. A regular will take all their rubbish with them, and leave as quietly as possible so as not to disturb others who are still sleeping. The new arrivals, generally, do none of those things, so I tend not to let on where the good spots are, just in case.
all sounds good but can you really all these firms putting even a little bit over to truck parking, sure they want the goods but not you.
Seems the same with the stockrooms very small, nice thought though
Trouble is the firms that are building the estates are the same ones that are closing truckstops. Nightowl are having no choice but to close as their landlords are pulling the rug from under them by not renewing their lease.
Yes, they have partly made a rod for their own backs by selling the land in the first place, but the landlords are only after the profit, and theres more from a warehouse than a truckpark.
The only way to combat it would be some form of legislation, as has been said above, but can anyone really see this ever happening. Unfortunatly it may take a fatality for them to even take notice.
It will take lorries parked up on the hard shoulder and residential streets to make anyone notice .
Thats the trouble here, ask any driver and they have their regular parking secrets.
I tell all my mates if i find a new place to park safe, maybe with a chippy, pub, shower etc nearby.
However, would i tell the whole internet on here… maybe not!
We shouldnt have to rely on finding secrets, we need official places to park, and not to be made to feel unwanted wherever we park.
I aint holding my breath however…
the rot set in when councils started selling off there coach and lorry parks i remember most big towns having one, tamworth had a big park in the town by the jolly sailor pub a garage opposite and 5 mins walk into the town but as soon as they opened the services on the m42 the put height barriers up to stop trucks gettin in.councils should be made to provide parking.they want the town centre and retail park shops full but noon wants to know how it got there.im sure they think paul daniels walks round with his magic wand refilling the shelves at night.
paul@midway:
It will take lorries parked up on the hard shoulder and residential streets to make anyone notice .
Well there you go. Its already happening.
Ashford Truckstop, opened up to be the new inland clearance depot and overspill for the new fangled channel tunnel because Dover Harbour Board closed their parking to get more ferry berths and therefore more lorries.
Then Ashford Truckstop is sold off and is still under threat of closure. The new owner, GSE Construction wins a contract to build a new service area which is sadly lacking in parking spaces. Brown Packages spring to mind.
I notice the new sign says Services and Port Overspill Parking.
All around Ashford , residents are complaining about trucks parked for days on paths and residential streets in Kent
Retired as i am now,all the closures of the big companys truckstops brings back similarities of little chef taking over most of the main transport cafes yrs ago.In other words make your money out of the truckers then sell out and stuff the truckers.The whole idea stinks and i feel really sorry for you lads still out there.