Just starting to notice at night a increase in wagons pulling into the hard shoulder on entrance slip roads for there or to complete there 45minute rest, just wondering what the law said about this, as I know they should only be used in an emergancy but nothing seems to get said to them and it’s not as if they can move the wagon legally if something does, just courious really so that I don’t have to drive around for 30min looking for somewhere before joining the motorway when I do long night trucks, usually in places where the services are to far to reach in the time I have left
Wouldn’t recommend it myself on legal or personal safety grounds…
It’s illegal and you can get booked for it.
Once I was running out of driving time on a motorway (can’t remember which one) so reluctantly decided to stop on the hard shoulder at the top of an entrance slip road, it wasn’t too long before a couple of HATOs turned up and informed me that I couldn’t stay there, I informed them that I couldn’t legally move as I’d run out of driving time, they were all right about it but told me that if the police turned up I’d probably be booked, they also told me of a nearby place where I could have stopped 
Fortunately the police never turned up and I left as soon as I legally could.
To be honest I can’t imagine why anyone would want to stop on a motorway hard shoulder out of choice, even at the top of a slip road is a crap place to have a break 
lot of it goes on now when the motorways are closed because of accidents and drivers are simply running out of time. now with the digi holding a years worth of info its not worth the hassel of printouts and writing on the back of printouts. beofre you could scribble on the back of a chart = 28 days later gone into office forgotten about. now you will be racking your brains when stopped by vosa with what happened 364 days ago.
The answer is for the Government to get its finger out and copy the
way the EUROPEANS have LAID out their Motorways , with parking areas
every 20-30kms ;I n Italy you will see trucks parked up under the bridges
and on the motorways, in little parking places on the side as well as the
many parking areas they have, and to stop the travellers pass a law, to stop
them abusing the system, you do not get any problems in Europe so the
UK needs to rectify the lack of PARKING;;
The govt already are. There’s only really a couple of stretches of the M1, for example, where there’s more than 20 miles or so between services.
as when i used to do trade plating the motorway starts were the first blue sign is , usually on the top of the slip , legally we could stand to hitch just b4 it , not sure about parking up though
you see a lot of NON uk trucks parked up along the M25 doing the same.
brit pete:
The answer is for the Government to get its finger out and copy the
way the EUROPEANS have LAID out their Motorways , with parking areas
every 20-30kms ;
Yup, they generally are but also over full 
, speak to the operator’s and ask them to upgrade/upsize the facilities, they are private enterprises usually and are not going to turn an opportunity down, problem may be truckers want facilities provided but don’t even want to pay for someone to empty the toilets, if they can be arsed to walk that far, bottle out of the window seems preferable 
brit pete:
I n Italy you will see trucks parked up under the bridges
and on the motorways,
Yeah right in today’s climate , didn’t our “oirish” conterparts threaten that one in the 80’s on the M/way network to cause chaos
as well as
youtube.com/watch?v=W8rDB-1kE5o
brit pete:
so the UK needs to rectify the lack of PARKING;;
Ok agreed as above, but who’s paying Taxpayers, Moto, Stobarts/Tesco, or the haulage companies sticking the rates up. Your choice.
opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20082095_en_1
A vehicle illegally at rest could be construed as a reason for Statutory removal 
Anyway as pointed out before and mentioned before 40T knocking on your doors at speed would soon wake you up 
100 yds past Knutsford south look at the 2nd bridge i should have took piccy’s of the truck stuffed up the N/s of the armco and bridge parapet at the end of the slip, would you take that chance
i used to see this a lot, albeit it was the foreign trucks that used to do it
nothing used to get said to em, but you do it on uk plates and the old bill will be straight on to you.
as said, it is illegal and i would not do it.
brit pete:
In Italy you will see trucks parked up under the bridges
and on the motorways,
I’ve had a night out on the shoulder of Italian motorways underneath a bridge on more than one occasion. Like you say, common practice over there.
mickyblue:
you see a lot of NON uk trucks parked up along the M25 doing the same.
They aren’t parked up, they are stuck in a traffic jam 
dinosteveus1:
mickyblue:
you see a lot of NON uk trucks parked up along the M25 doing the same.They aren’t parked up, they are stuck in a traffic jam
true and there watching ■■■■ on the laptop whilst they wait lol
mickyblue:
dinosteveus1:
mickyblue:
you see a lot of NON uk trucks parked up along the M25 doing the same.They aren’t parked up, they are stuck in a traffic jam
true and there watching ■■■■ on the laptop whilst they wait lol
'Spose they were having a drink whilst cooking their Dinner as well
speedyguy:
Yup, they generally are but also over full
eh? What opportunity is there for an MSA operator upgrading so more trucks can pull in for a 45 break? Probably none, there’s already extensive market research that shows who their main customers are in the services and thats one of the reasons the likes of Knutsford can afford to get rid of truck parking almost completeley.
speedyguy:
problem may be truckers want facilities provided but don’t even want to pay for someone to empty the toilets,
Its Government policy that there is sufficient free rest/toilet facilities at sufficient intervals for all motorists , for safety reasons.So yeah, i wouldn’t want to pay for someone to empty the toilets.Do you want to pay someone? Its a condition of the MSA operating that they provide this. And if ripping off motorists with sky high prices is the price for toilets then so be it !!!
speedyguy:
if they can be arsed to walk that far, bottle out of the window seems preferable
I never bother with the bottle,just go on the wheel, its easier than negotiating the sales touts and all the merchandising to get to the toilets.
dinosteveus1:
mickyblue:
dinosteveus1:
mickyblue:
you see a lot of NON uk trucks parked up along the M25 doing the same.They aren’t parked up, they are stuck in a traffic jam
true and there watching ■■■■ on the laptop whilst they wait lol
'Spose they were having a drink whilst cooking their Dinner as well
the list can go on
Mike-C:
speedyguy:
Yup, they generally are but also over fulleh? What opportunity is there for an MSA operator upgrading so more trucks can pull in for a 45 break? Probably none, there’s already extensive market research that shows who their main customers are in the services and thats one of the reasons the likes of Knutsford can afford to get rid of truck parking almost completeley.
And maybe bacause the same operator owns what must be one of the biggest truck parks in the country 6 Miles away if you are going north or south
If there was an opportunity to make it pay they would do it.
Mike-C:
speedyguy:
problem may be truckers want facilities provided but don’t even want to pay for someone to empty the toilets,Its Government policy that there is sufficient free rest/toilet facilities at sufficient intervals for all motorists , for safety reasons.So yeah, i wouldn’t want to pay for someone to empty the toilets.Do you want to pay someone? Its a condition of the MSA operating that they provide this. And if ripping off motorists with sky high prices is the price for toilets then so be it !!!
So people are paying for the toliets as part of the service, otherwise they will shut down. Even the layby butty vans have it as a condition of permit to provide a toilet in some counties (not that you’d want to use it )
As asked do you want the Gov’t to pay for truckers/general parking facilities as a state run enterprise ?
With just massive area’s of flat parking, big litter bins, cleaned every day and fully cctved up toilets to stop some of the “activities” going on
That way there is no way to make a profit so it won’t be sold off, it will be a cost so may/will be shut down pretty quick 
Do other countries have state run truckstops/MSAs or are they privately run
I was sorting through some old pictures and found one of me a few years ago taking a rest period under a bridge on teh hard shoulder of an Italian motorway. How’s that for on topic. 
speedyguy:
Mike-C:
speedyguy:
Yup, they generally are but also over fulleh? What opportunity is there for an MSA operator upgrading so more trucks can pull in for a 45 break? Probably none, there’s already extensive market research that shows who their main customers are in the services and thats one of the reasons the likes of Knutsford can afford to get rid of truck parking almost completeley.
And maybe bacause the same operator owns what must be one of the biggest truck parks in the country 6 Miles away if you are going north or south
If there was an opportunity to make it pay they would do it.
You’ll know Knutsford so well, there is no room for trucks since the HA allowed them to remove the lorry park and build a ‘modest motel’. The same HA who advise drivers that its dangerous to stop on the hard shoulder seem to turn a blind eye to the comings and goings at knutsford. So no, there is no opportunity, there’s no space, they’ve used it on something else. So now HGV’s have to go off motorway to access the services. They get clamped in knutsford for going for a wee. Thats how good at helping the motorist the HA is in this case.
speedyguy:
Mike-C:
speedyguy:
problem may be truckers want facilities provided but don’t even want to pay for someone to empty the toilets,Its Government policy that there is sufficient free rest/toilet facilities at sufficient intervals for all motorists , for safety reasons.So yeah, i wouldn’t want to pay for someone to empty the toilets.Do you want to pay someone? Its a condition of the MSA operating that they provide this. And if ripping off motorists with sky high prices is the price for toilets then so be it !!!
So people are paying for the toliets as part of the service, otherwise they will shut down. Even the layby butty vans have it as a condition of permit to provide a toilet in some counties (not that you’d want to use it
As asked do you want the Gov’t to pay for truckers/general parking facilities as a state run enterprise ?
With just massive area’s of flat parking, big litter bins, cleaned every day and fully cctved up toilets to stop some of the “activities” going on
That way there is no way to make a profit so it won’t be sold off, it will be a cost so may/will be shut down pretty quick
You don’t appear to have a good grasp of the way the organisation you work for operates, nor of current government policies and their implementation in your field of work. I don’t need to pay for toilets. The government policy is that anyone who wants to set up an MSA must provide them free before being allowed to trade.