RHA petition

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

The RHA has handed in a petition to 10 Downing Street this week, which has over 20,000 signatories calling for more safe and secure parking for truckers.

Dozens of MPs are also backing the campaign and have signed an open letter, co-ordinated by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Road Freight and Logistics, which calls for improved facilities and argues this should be central to the government’s plans to recruit, train and support commercial vehicle drivers.

The MPs have also signed the RHA’s petition which is calling for the government to do more to tackle the poor standards commercial vehicle drivers experience at service stations and truck stops.

The RHA is also pushing for more safe and secure parking and estimate a shortage of 11,000 spaces across the country.

Richard Smith, RHA MD said: “We’re delighted with the support we’re getting from parliamentarians, businesses, people in our industry and the public for our campaigning to secure better driver facilities on our roads.

Read more

RHA pushes for safer HGV parking facilities as cargo thefts rocket
Cut planning red tape to allow for more lorry parking, RHA urges ministers
Overnight HGV parking reaching crisis point, government survey finds
“Commercial vehicle drivers are vital to our economy so better food, toilets, showers, and somewhere safe and secure to sleep are the very least they deserve.

“We’d like to thank the APPG and thousands in our industry for backing our campaign as we press the Government to help us kick-start a new culture for drivers to feel safer and more respected.

Greg Smith MP, Chair of the APPG on Road Freight and Logistics, (pictured at 10 Downing Street) said: “A key element of the issues around driver recruitment and retention is the poor state of our roadside facilities. It is imperative the UK ups our game, ensuring drivers have safe, secure, comfortable, and affordable options that they know they can rely on.”

Firms including service station giants, Moto have also signed up to the campaign and endorsed the RHA petition to the Prime Minister which has the support of nearly 20,000.

Ken McMeikan, Moto Hospitality chief executive, said: “Moto are absolutely delighted to support this campaign. We have believed for a long time that the UK’s unsung heroes have been the HGV drivers and they deserve, given the challenges of their role, good, secure conditions where they can rest, eat, sleep and shower.

"That’s not too much to ask but sadly they are very wanting at the moment in many parts of the UK and we all have to do more.”

The RHA has also joined forces with road transport software specialist Mandata to launch a quest to find “The UK’s Kindest Town”.

They’re asking truckers and others in the industry to nominate their kindest town based on their experiences, including access to safe parking, food and showers

One question why have moto signed it why don’t they just get on with it and clean up there own act first.

2

Its a great idea,and I will sign it but if you look at Rugby truckstop,as an example,its got great facilities,showers,tv room ,even a barber,if you need a haircut.Great restaurant.I sometimes take my misses for a meal there when Im not working,but all around the area,all the laybys are full of trucks,including,as you go towards Crick and the m1,the laybys are full and loads of trucks parked ilegally,churning up the grass and hard standing.spilling out into the running lanes of the A5

3

You want MORE?!

Look what we were given a year ago:
gov.uk/government/news/20-m … gv-drivers

Dont tell me you havent noticed the vastly increased parking and facilities?

And look at the £100 million given to us last November.
Well…50m…well maybe, part of, 50m quid.
gov.uk/government/news/up-t … facilities

Surely the improvements and works recently started are obvious to us all?

And who can forget Grant Schapps? (We can try) in 2021:
"I wish to update the House on the joint initiative between the Department for Transport and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on planning reforms for lorry parking, and to emphasise the critical importance of the freight and logistics sector to shops, households, assembly lines, hospitals and other public services across the country.

The infrastructure that supports our hauliers is essential to the effective and resilient supply chains we need. This government is committed to addressing the strategic national need for more lorry parking and better services in lorry parks in England and we must act now.

To support our hauliers’ access to parking and services in the near term we are working with our partners to identify and deliver a number of temporary sites where short-term modular facilities can be installed to address some of our immediate need. We are encouraging National Highways to consider how their land holdings can be used to provide additional parking spaces nationwide, to give priority to the provision of lorry parking across the Strategic Road Network and assist local authorities in identifying areas of lorry parking need.

This government is also determined that the planning system should play its part in meeting the needs of hauliers and addressing current deficiencies. Planning plays a critical part in the allocation of land for lorry parking.

The National planning policy framework sets out that local planning policies and decisions should recognise the importance of providing adequate overnight lorry parking facilities, taking into account any local shortages, to reduce the risk of parking in locations that lack proper facilities or could cause a nuisance. Proposals for new or expanded distribution centres should make provision for sufficient lorry parking to cater for their anticipated use.

In addition, the government’s policy is clear that development proposals for new or expanded goods distribution centres should make provision for sufficient lorry parking to cater for their anticipated use. In preparing local plans and deciding planning applications, the specific locational requirements of different industrial sectors should be recognised and addressed. This should include making provision for storage and distribution operations at a variety of scales, and in suitably accessible locations.

We have also published planning practice guidance setting out how local planning authorities can assess the need for and allocate land to logistics site uses and are accelerating work recommended by the National Infrastructure Commission to consider the appropriateness of current planning practice guidance. This includes taking forward a review of how the freight sector is currently represented in guidance.

To ensure future decision-making supports the needs of the sector, we are updating Highways Circular 02/2013 The Strategic Road Network and the delivery of sustainable development fully to reflect the importance of providing logistics and freight, and are updating the National lorry parking survey to ensure strong evidence is available on the national picture in future. A programme of longer-term measures is under development supported by the £32.5 million in roadside facilities for hauliers announced in last week’s budget and we will publish a future of freight plan, a long-term strategic plan for the sector, in coming months.

The need for a reliable and efficient supply chain has recently come into sharp focus. It is therefore essential that we put in place mechanisms that deliver a supply chain network that is secure, reliable, efficient, and resilient, with no link in the chain overlooked.

Taken together our planning policies and wider measures will support our logistics and freight sectors and the people that work in them. Working with industry and local authorities we will continue to monitor the situation closely and take further action when it is needed.

From: Department for Transport, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities , and The Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP

Published 8 November 2021"

There you are-----
£32 million. £100 million. £20 million.
All in the past few years.
Don`t be so greedy.

4

Sploom:
Its a great idea,and I will sign it but if you look at Rugby truckstop,as an example,its got great facilities,showers,tv room ,even a barber,if you need a haircut.Great restaurant.I sometimes take my misses for a meal there when Im not working,but all around the area,all the laybys are full of trucks,including,as you go towards Crick and the m1,the laybys are full and loads of trucks parked ilegally,churning up the grass and hard standing.spilling out into the running lanes of the A5

Very simple, if your employer doesn’t paying for parking are you going to fork out £140 ish a week out of your own pocket to park their truck in Rugby services in case you fancy a trim up?

5

Its one of the first questions I ask at the interview.If he doesnt pay any parking then I would want that reflected in the salary.I wouldnt sleep in laybys,not for me

6

We were…

Promised a plan during lockdown cos we’re heroes. I don’t see much evidence of that.

Moto could really show they care by getting their own ■■■■ stinking, rat infested, pot-hole cratered crap holes in better order and dropping their rip off prices. They’ve only put their name to it for the publicity. They, like all the other service areas never even implemented the ‘give way to lorries’ idea to change the priorities at exits and entrances to favour us.

Petitions are great aren’t they. Everyone collects a pile of signatures, then delivers them to Downing Street for a cringey photo-op. Then a Downing Street lackey takes all the bundles of paper and dumps them in the wheelybins out back.

7

Sploom:
Its one of the first questions I ask at the interview.If he doesnt pay any parking then I would want that reflected in the salary.I wouldnt sleep in laybys,not for me

Horses for courses, I wouldnt sleep in a MSA, too much banging and clanking around. Was always industrial estates or a nice quiet corner of the farmyard for me.

8

There was also a 132 page report in June 2022 which addressed parking for HGVs:
assets.publishing.service.gov.u … t-plan.pdf

. The call for evidence
will enable us to understand what
changes to the planning system will
mean for the freight sector and will
give us the opportunity to consider
appropriate interventions to support the
land use needs of the sector are needed,
including:
• How the requirement for HGV parking
can be better facilitated within the
planning system, particularly at
freight sites such as distribution and
logistics centres along with the better
utilisation of existing infrastructure
to accommodate HGV parking.
• The role our Sub-National Transport
Bodies, Highways and Transport
Authorities can play in better aligning
transport and spatial planning, sharing
data and foster greater collaboration
and cooperation across local authority
boundaries (including between upper
tier and lower tier authorities) to
reflect the needs of the freight sector
and identify improvements to the
local transport networks can play in
supporting the seamless movement
of goods.
pp78/79

The gov has started looking for evidence to align the different tiers of government in a seamless cross boundary spatial planning exercise.
We can all rest easy in our beds.

9

Fuzrat:

Sploom:
Its one of the first questions I ask at the interview.If he doesnt pay any parking then I would want that reflected in the salary.I wouldnt sleep in laybys,not for me

Horses for courses, I wouldnt sleep in a MSA, too much banging and clanking around. Was always industrial estates or a nice quiet corner of the farmyard for me.

Yes,thats true

10

including service station giants, Moto have also signed up to the campaign and endorsed the RHA petition to the Prime Minister which has the support of nearly 20,000.

Ken McMeikan, Moto Hospitality chief executive, said: “Moto are absolutely delighted to support this campaign. We have believed for a long time that the UK’s unsung heroes have been the HGV drivers and they deserve, given the challenges of their role, good, secure conditions where they can rest, eat, sleep and shower.

"That’s not too much to ask but sadly they are very wanting at the moment in many parts of the UK and we all have to do more.”

Talk about brass neck…

I’ll leave it now, as the rest of my post won’t make it past the censor.

11

fingermissing:
Ken McMeikan, Moto Hospitality chief executive, said: “Moto are absolutely delighted to support this campaign. We have believed for a long time that the UK’s unsung heroes have been the HGV drivers and they deserve, given the challenges of their role, good, secure conditions where they can rest, eat, sleep and shower.

Ah yes, you’ve long believed they’re unsung heroes? Really? Many of the most disgusting facilities I’ve ever seen have been at Moto sites. And secure? Don’t make me laugh……paying obscene amounts for unpatrolled parking areas is basically theft. But oh no it’s great you get a meal voucher to spend on fast food, fast food, a salad from a coffe shop or a salad from the shop. Moto frankly are one of the ‘challenges of their role’

http://www.driversunited.co.uk

12

Sploom:
Its one of the first questions I ask at the interview.If he doesnt pay any parking then I would want that reflected in the salary.I wouldnt sleep in laybys,not for me

You’re generally safer and get a better nights sleep in a layby.

13

Sploom:
Its one of the first questions I ask at the interview.If he doesnt pay any parking then I would want that reflected in the salary.I wouldnt sleep in laybys,not for me

I’m the opposite, if I went to an interview where they insisted on parking in the services I’d politely decline. They are too noisy for me and make nights out miserable. No wonder some people try tramping and say it’s not for them if they find themselves sleeping in those places every night, sole destroying to say the least.
I’ve got quiet, safe places to park all over the country. One I use regular is near a leisure centre so it’s a swim as well as a shower. Beats sitting in a stinking msa car park eating a KFC, I wouldn’t park in those places even if they were free. The way forward is to open the town centre car parks back up for hgv’s at night, like many towns in Scotland still have, Elgin being a good one. That will never happen though due to the amount of tramps that seem to drive hgv’s these days and ruin it for others

14

Night-and-day:

Sploom:
Its one of the first questions I ask at the interview.If he doesnt pay any parking then I would want that reflected in the salary.I wouldnt sleep in laybys,not for me

I’m the opposite, if I went to an interview where they insisted on parking in the services I’d politely decline. They are too noisy for me and make nights out miserable. No wonder some people try tramping and say it’s not for them if they find themselves sleeping in those places every night, sole destroying to say the least.
I’ve got quiet, safe places to park all over the country. One I use regular is near a leisure centre so it’s a swim as well as a shower. Beats sitting in a stinking msa car park eating a KFC, I wouldn’t park in those places even if they were free. The way forward is to open the town centre car parks back up for hgv’s at night, like many towns in Scotland still have, Elgin being a good one. That will never happen though due to the amount of tramps that seem to drive hgv’s these days and ruin it for others

This. I take pride in the fact I’ve only ever paid to park in services 3 or 4 times in my whole career.

15

Might have got a bit angry about this :smiley:

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGJueE43Q/

16

luke, you could make it more understandable if you spoke as yourself instead of a alter ego,i switched off after 20 seconds… :bulb:

17

m.a.n rules:
luke, you could make it more understandable if you spoke as yourself instead of a alter ego,i switched off after 20 seconds… :bulb:

Your point falls down somewhat in that the first 20 seconds is me and my voice so I think you probably watched it all. Thanks for the advice but this is my personality and I’m not gonna change it to get more likes.

18

ahh bless ya, or whoever replied av a good night love kisses and all that… :smiley:

19

Thanks for watching, all helps

20

Night-and-day:

Sploom:
Its one of the first questions I ask at the interview.If he doesnt pay any parking then I would want that reflected in the salary.I wouldnt sleep in laybys,not for me

I’m the opposite, if I went to an interview where they insisted on parking in the services I’d politely decline. They are too noisy for me and make nights out miserable. No wonder some people try tramping and say it’s not for them if they find themselves sleeping in those places every night, sole destroying to say the least.
I’ve got quiet, safe places to park all over the country. One I use regular is near a leisure centre so it’s a swim as well as a shower. Beats sitting in a stinking msa car park eating a KFC, I wouldn’t park in those places even if they were free. The way forward is to open the town centre car parks back up for hgv’s at night, like many towns in Scotland still have, Elgin being a good one. That will never happen though due to the amount of tramps that seem to drive hgv’s these days and ruin it for others

Well.said,.I agree with all of that.
It was mentioned in passing from my lot, that if ever we get fuel nicked and THEY decide we have parked ‘irresponsibly’, drivers could get a bill for nicked diesel. :open_mouth:

So.I now park in a truckstop whenever I can, charging anything around 20 to 30 quid, so it now costs them around 90.quid a week for me to park, when it used to cost them nothing…and this has been the way now for last 12 months or so.
A lot more than the cost of a tank of diesel I reckon. :bulb:

As for thread subject,.agree with Luke,.RHA bunch of tossers who care nothing for drivers,.and MSAs complete ■■■■ mega rip off.

Don’t know how tik tok works Luke, but you should send that to those ■■■■ s at MOTO. :smiley: