Parked up tonight in the new services on the south side of the M25 and the parking area is a joke. There is far too little room to be able to park safely the room to manoeuvre is way to small, In the 3 hours I have been here so far have seen 3 near misses only averted due to people jumping out and shouting to the driver, The area of the services is plenty big enough to allow an extra 2 feet between the lanes which would be enough to alleviate the problem. Is anyone ever consulted when these sites are designed, at the granting of planning permission for a new MSA surely the RHA should be in with both feet advising on how to lay it out or is it because this affects the drivers and not the bosses the RHA is not interested. They manage it ok on the continent so why can’t the UK?
You answered your own question correctly re the RHA Mazzer. We’re the bottom of the food chain to them, a necessary evil useful only to keep them in cigars and plush surroundings.
From the point of view of the MSA operator we’re only allowed on site because the Government insists upon it as part of their licence to operate. I can kind of see their point though; an artic has a parking footprint of x square feet, contains (usually) one body that (parking aside) spends little or no money there, a car has a much smaller footprint, has one or more bodies and has only parked there to spend money.
Then we get to The Holy Grail- a coach! Same footprint as an artic but may contain as many as 50 blue haired old people who’ll happily shuffle along spending their pensions on overpriced lukewarm tea, silly hats, camping chairs and million candle power flashlights (you never know dear). It’s a no brainer really.
I can’t wait till we’re ALL pulling these longer/ rear wheel steer trailers as the norm! 
crash, bang and wallop! 
many abandoned in M40 north Warwick tonight/ early this morning 
hilarious. 
then Johnny Foreigner blocks you in ( with side lights on I may add ) so ooooppppps I’ve had another 45 mins on top of my legal 45 mins! 
they take our money to park then the showers aren’t working or " sorry sir, but you can’t spend your food voucher worth ten pound here! " 
joke 
I have been past but not into these services so I am guessing when I say are drivers not guilty of that good old British thing in sticking to the allocated area, a sort of LGV version of people queuing at bus stops?
Surely it’s just white paint on an otherwise wide open area allocated for parking. So why not just park with a safe gap between yours and the next vehicle just as you would in 3 years time when all the nice fresh white lines have long since gone ?
been there and I agree, it is an absolute nightmare. And £25 per night for parking.!!!
iDriver:
I have been past but not into these services so I am guessing when I say are drivers not guilty of that good old British thing in sticking to the allocated area, a sort of LGV version of people queuing at bus stops?Surely it’s just white paint on an otherwise wide open area allocated for parking. So why not just park with a safe gap between yours and the next vehicle just as you would in 3 years time when all the nice fresh white lines have long since gone ?
it’s not the width of the bays that is the problem it is the gap between the rows of bays i.e. the one’s opposite to where you are trying to get into. Just to add place was looking fairly clean except where one English lorry had been parked and he decided to dump his empty ■■■ packets and Greggs wrappers out of the window,and does not have the usual smell of pi55 altho give it time!!!
I hate MSAs #grumpysmurf
I went in today for first time. Crap parking. And I reckon a taxi business would do well in there. You need a taxi to get to the building.
I guess it’s just like another poster said. We are just an inconvenience. So put us as far away as legally allowed.
mazzer:
Just to add place was looking fairly clean except where one English lorry had been parked and he decided to dump his empty ■■■ packets and Greggs wrappers out of the window,and does not have the usual smell of pi55 altho give it time!!!
It’s a shame you didn’t post them back in his window or post his reg & details on here so he is known as ‘The scruffy barsteward’ 
You have to ask do truck drivers get the facilities and reputation they deserve because of the actions of a few and the rest do nothing about it 
It’s becoming almost trendy to have angled parking bays for HGVs. Sure it looks nice on Google Earth…but for practicality■■?
dar1976:
I went in today for first time. Crap parking. And I reckon a taxi business would do well in there. You need a taxi to get to the building.
Aw bless, the fresh air will do you good. You could go to the petrol station for the toilet, it’s closer 
Born Idle:
It’s becoming almost trendy to have angled parking bays for HGVs. Sure it looks nice on Google Earth…but for practicality■■?
When the bays are tight it does mean theres one door that can swing open properly so you can get out of the cab in some sort of elegant fashion without bashing your neighbors mirrors but also the length of parking bays does make one wonder if nobody has told the architects and planners that most of us drag round 45’ trailers, and not old 40’ tandems from the 70’s
Big Joe:
but also the length of parking bays does make one wonder if nobody has told the architects and planners that most of us drag round 45’ trailers, and not old 40’ tandems from the 70’s
Or 18.75m wagon and drags