Truck & Driver has been granted an interview with Simon Turl - the boss of Roadchef. And rather than me ask the questions, I thought you might like to. So, please, tell me what you want you want to ask.
Just to give you a bit of background, last week they announced that every Roadchef will be getting a MacDonalds, which will charge ‘high street prices’.
They also announced they’ll be spending £12 million on overhauling the catering facilities at 10 key sites, with further upgrades at the remaining nine thereafter. The traditional free-flow restaurant will be replaced by ‘modern hot food counters’, which, according to Turl, means ‘quicker service and better food quality’.
And I quote: ‘The free-flow restaurant is something of an institution on the motorway. However, once seen as cutting edge, it has over recent years witnessed a huge decline in popularity, welcoming less than 10% of overall site visitor numbers.
‘The Hot Food Company is a concept designed by Roadchef’s team, a modern brand that improves food quality, speed of service and continues to deliver value to customers through promotions such as the two meals for £10 deal but in a more contemporary setting. Our aim is to drive sales at this outlet by highlighting to customers that we are providing the complete package — choice, quality, speed and value.’
There was no mention of trucks in the press release!
More parking and sensible parking. Not these where your all in a line, you need to be away at 5am but the two trucks infront of you are showing no signs of moving.
Security - goes without saying
Better shower facilities
Better quality food - I stopped at a services on the M5 the other day, forget which one and had pie, mash, peas and a cup of tea within the free meal with the parking voucher and it was spot on, if the only option was a mac scuddy burger i wouldn’t be so keen
Cynic-al:
More parking and sensible parking. Not these where your all in a line, you need to be away at 5am but the two trucks infront of you are showing no signs of moving.
Security - goes without saying
Better shower facilities
Better quality food - I stopped at a services on the M5 the other day, forget which one and had pie, mash, peas and a cup of tea within the free meal with the parking voucher and it was spot on, if the only option was a mac scuddy burger i wouldn’t be so keen
Somewhere to sit and relax
exactly the same, especially the showers, i’d be happy to pay for showers every day, provided they were correctly maintained.
Better and more shower facilities, parking not 25 miles from the building, wifi repeaters in the truck park if it must be 25 miles away from the building.
It really is mad that truck drivers, who are likely to have a shower and spend money, have to park so far away and walk to and from their vehicles carrying their cleaning gear when their hair (those of us that still have some) is still wet.
Sensible parking prices. Does it really cost roadchef £25 for a truck to park?
Separate pricing on food for truckers. Cars have a choice where to stop and eat, we don’t.
As already said clean, well maintained showers. I am sure with the charges for parking they could employ proper cleaners that could clean the showers 5 or 6 times a day. I am already happy to pay 1-2 euros to use a clean shower In Europe everyday.
PROPER security. Gated parks with security guards.
Separate parking for caravans. Nightmare in the summer trying to get parked.
Use of the coach bays between 8pm-5am. Really how many coaches turn up between these times.
As already said. Wifi in the truck park
Toilets in the truck park might stop lazy drivers ■■■■■■■ on the floor because the toilets are a twenty minute walk away.
Charges for lazy drivers the urinate on the floor.
I’d ask where it all went wrong. They are still far from ideal but Welcome Break & Moto are miles ahead of Roadchef. I’m surprised they haven’t been taken over yet. In my opinion they need to do everything they can to get Tesco Express stores in there.
Also you need an image overhaul, your image is terrible, it’s like walking into a services that’s been in a time warp for 15 years.
I suppose the point I’m making is there is no reason I’d choose to stop in a Roadchef, in fact I can’t remember the last time I did.
daleyboy:
Use of the coach bays between 8pm-5am. Really how many coaches turn up between these times.
In that case, between 20:00 and 05:00 will coaches be able to park in the truck park because the coach bays are all full of trucks
they already do, but all through the day and night
and to answer the OP’s question (not specifically Roadchef, but all MSA operators)
why is the price for parking so extortionate?
why is the price of food so extortionate?
why is the quality of food very poor?
how can they charge for ‘secure’ parking, and yet, if the truck/trailer gets broken into, they have a notice stating that they are not liable, surely, this is a contradiction in terms?
currently, i am doing day work, and as such, avoid the misfortune of having to stop in these places, but, before that, i was tramping, and will more than likely at some point, return to tramping, but these places do not offer any incentive for me to stop and either eat or park for the night
Why would they lower the prices? If people are dull enough to pay £20+ to stay in a pot hole ridden, ■■■■■■ ■■■■■ infested lorry park then they have no reason to lower the prices.
greggy:
i agree with everything about whats been said so far,
here is something to think about, roadchef charges about 18 sqid per truck. mmmm
£18 x 500 trucks = £9000 per night x 350 nights =£3,150,000 per year.
thats a nice little earner and all we get in return is one friggin shower.
thats goes for all msa’s disgusting.
500 trucks in 19 locations = 26.3 per site per night, that sounds about right, due to the crap facilities on offer.
I think Medway Svcs on the M2 is one of theirs, they had a captive market the last time I was on there, they only had a “Burger King” + ONE shower, IIRC there was nothing else on there, it looked like it had been abandoned, VERY 70s !!!
Not been there since, for that very reason
FREE parking would bring in the punters, and charge for the CLEAN showers IMHO.
These consultants/designers just don`t get the truck driving community anyway, I can remember when M+S opened their place on the M40 @ Cherwell Valley, I put a visit in the first week of it opening, it was full of Truck drivers of all nationalities, all buying the food to go, all pretty nutrious stuff, all very healthy, and all these consultant types and M+S HQ bods were standing around mouth open, thinking “these are NOT the people we designed this place for”. PMSL
The fact that they are putting a fast food joint in at high street prices is a good start, but their competitors are now having M&S and Waitrose on their premises, and the prices are not that bad, so get a mini supermarket on site as a start.
Showers…yes.
Toilets that don’t stink constantly…yes. (The Yanks can make a toilet smell sweet.)
Better toilet maintenance.
Driver only areas with cheaper food and relaxation areas. Lets face it, if you have them, then drivers are more likely to use them, spend cash, and less time in their trucks. SECURE truck parking.
Stop people smoking at the entrance and exit’s. I hate having to walk through the stench of ■■■■ and the mess some leave behind.
Oh one thing you can tell the boss of roadchef and all other services youve treated us like ■■■■ for years now As soon as clamping is banned I for one will park on your services and you can swivel for your parking charges. Feel free to invoice me, as that will save me money on toilet paper. Ha ■■■■■■■ ha
Can you hold your hand on your heart and say that Roadchef have held the best interests of your HGV holding customers at heart in the past
Given that almost every truck driver knows the truthful answer to that question either
a) your not telling the truth so why should we trust anything you say
b) if you do tell the truth what are you going to do to change it in the future
i cant ever see the MSA changing, there has been some instance that i tried to get a shower and the worker said its out of order, why i asked, as someone has pinched the shower head, and its not the 1st time, so why should they. when drivers start to respect and look after the premesise then maybe things will change,
also i agree on the toilet block in parking area as we always get a good hike, i enjoy the walk and god lol some of you need it but not nice in your pants lol in cold and rain when you just want a leak.
reduse parking charge, seperate drivers area, and a beer lol but weve got to look after them too as well as the workers there.
i say look at truckstops abroad 1st, some not all for ideas.
Ask him he’s wasting your time, with what amounts to a PR exercise and a chance to get out for a lunch on expenses?
He’ll come out with a load of bollox about how his dad/uncle/grandad was a lorry driver and he’s aware of the problems we face blah blah blah, then he’ll shoot off for his next interview with Coach and Driver magazine and tell them that he’s doing his best to ban lorries from MSAs and that he values the coach business as his dad/uncle/grandad was a coach driver
Every year the MSAs make millions of pounds by charging for overnight parking, even though all they provide is a ■■■■ soaked piece of tarmac, will they eat into those profits to make lorry driver’s lives a little better by offering decent facilities that will cost them money? No, I don’t think so
why dont they look at the european way of service stations,
ok parking wont ever be free in the uk but make it cheaper…the autohofs in germany generally charge 5 euros a night to park.
also toilet facilites look at the sanifair toilets, self cleaning toilets after every use, their is a small charge usually to use them, 50 cents or so but they are clean.
but not nice in your pants lol in cold and rain when you just want a leak.