Government and councils should ‘stop passing the buck’ on truck stops,

[Barry]

I think the French Aires a great idea and wish we had them here.

They are great, but they are really just spread out service stations. France has a lot more space and used it to make these facilities.
Usually the toilets are disgusting in France, nonetheless.

On the motorways, (UK) there are reasonable facilities, but away from them there don't seem to be the very long parking spaces available, but then, I've not actually looked for them in my Ioniq.

[Thomas]

Well the other point is what happens when they end up driverless as presumably they will who wants to commit to an industry when they will be surplus to requirements.

And that's the other elephant in the room AI and the impact on jobs,will the state just pay people to do nowt.

I dont think that is something we will have to worry about cromwell.

The uk hasnt caught up with the french high speed rail system thats been about for feckin decades , so i think it will be a while yet before robots are doing all our jobs for us dont you?

[cromwell]

Dont forget though cromwell , major french motorwys are tolled , and from memory lorry drivers arent allowed on the roads at weekends , same as in places like germany for example. A lot of the cash from tolling is ploughed back into the system to subsidise much of the infrastructure , and when foreigners drive on their roads , they pay french tolls but dont pay our road tax when they drive over here.

One thing i have noticed on French roads in the last decade or so is similar to the yookay , the ever growing amount of eastern european drivers ( going by number plates) driving on their roads. So perhaps france has a shortage too due to lorry drivers wages and conditions being undermined by the cheap influx of people from eastern europe?

Well the other point is what happens when they end up driverless as presumably they will who wants to commit to an industry when they will be surplus to requirements.

And that's the other elephant in the room AI and the impact on jobs,will the state just pay people to do nowt.

[Thomas]

That is just Sundays and essential transport, (milk collection from farms being an example,) and travelling to and from ferry terminals is exempted from the regulation.

The point is we arent comparing like for like .

So the french have better facilities , but are using the roads less with lorries at the weekends.?

[Thomas]

It is not a Tory bad story the number of dedicated truck stops has been falling for decades.

No one is disputing this . However trying to insinuate everywhere else is better than the uk is nonsense , with the implication that because the tories are in power they are running things down.

When I was a long distance lorry driver in the 1970s there was an adequate number of secure lorry parks for overnight parking, and transport "digs" to sleep in and have and evening meal and breakfast

Who cares? Are you seriously trying to compare life on the yookays roads today with 50 years ago?

Those facilities have practically disappeared over the years.

so in your opinion , what is the reason for this?

....and how does it relate to lorry driver shortages across europe when you tell us everywhere else is far better than the yookay for truck stops?

[papasmurf]

from memory lorry drivers arent allowed on the roads at weekends

That is just Sundays and essential transport, (milk collection from farms being an example,) and travelling to and from ferry terminals is exempted from the regulation.

[Thomas]

FWIW (look it up on google) I think the French Aires a great idea and wish we had them here.

Dont forget though cromwell , major french motorwys are tolled , and from memory lorry drivers arent allowed on the roads at weekends , same as in places like germany for example. A lot of the cash from tolling is ploughed back into the system to subsidise much of the infrastructure , and when foreigners drive on their roads , they pay french tolls but dont pay our road tax when they drive over here.

One thing i have noticed on French roads in the last decade or so is similar to the yookay , the ever growing amount of eastern european drivers ( going by number plates) driving on their roads. So perhaps france has a shortage too due to lorry drivers wages and conditions being undermined by the cheap influx of people from eastern europe?

[papasmurf]

Im not sure thats quite true pappy. Some countries are better than the uk others are worse. You have a tendency to portray the grass as being greener on the other side when it suits a tory bad story.

It is not a Tory bad story the number of dedicated truck stops has been falling for decades. When I was a long distance lorry driver in the 1970s there was an adequate number of secure lorry parks for overnight parking, and transport "digs" to sleep in and have and evening meal and breakfast.
Those facilities have practically disappeared over the years.

[Thomas]

There appears to be no problem in Europe with providing truck stops.

Im not sure thats quite true pappy. Some countries are better than the uk others are worse. You have a tendency to portray the grass as being greener on the other side when it suits a tory bad story.

I agree that in countries like France , there is plenty of truck stops and motorway facilities. You arent comparing like for like though.

Despite the  French for example having far better facilities than scotland or england , they too have 40 000 plus shortage of lorry drivers. So clearly truck stops arent a major issue for why people arent interested in the job.

Simplistic arguments to complex issues arent the way forward.

How France plans to tackle its lorry driver shortage

Like many European countries, France is facing a shortage of skilled professions including lorry drivers, so the Prime Minister has announced a new funding package to address the problem.

The French transport sector says it has around 40,000 unfilled vaccancies, including for lorry drivers – a shortage of whom is being felt across Europe

https://www.thelocal.fr/20210929/how-france-plans-to-tackle-its-lorry-driver-shortage/

[papasmurf]

Hello Smurf,nobody called you a liar

Nick did, I asked him what I had lied about and he came back with there are plenty of truck stops, even after I had posted references stated there were not.

Mod edit C

[cromwell]

I don't care what you posted the reality is, as someone else on the forum commented over the years large numbers truck stops have either closed or are no longer truck stops.
The lack of truck stops and the bad facilities in many of those that are left, has been a subject discussed and reported on since the shortage of HGV drivers became apparent. Frankly you are wildly out of touch with the reality which has been widely reported and I ask you to apologise for calling me a liar.

Hello Smurf,nobody called you a liar but they disputed your version.....it's called having an opinion and what this place is all about.

FWIW (look it up on google) I think the French Aires a great idea and wish we had them here.

[papasmurf]

Remember this I posted 10 days ago, they haven't all closed since then.

I don't care what you posted the reality is, as someone else on the forum commented over the years large numbers truck stops have either closed or are no longer truck stops.
The lack of truck stops and the bad facilities in many of those that are left, has been a subject discussed and reported on since the shortage of HGV drivers became apparent. Frankly you are wildly out of touch with the reality which has been widely reported and I ask you to apologise for calling me a liar.

[Nick]

One of the reasons so many HGV drivers have left the job and also recruitment is difficult is the lack of trucks stops and the not very good conditions in far too many that do exist.
(This has been mentioned on current affairs programs and new for weeks now, despite some people denying it an calling me a liar.)
Some comment on the subject, more at link:-

https://www.truckanddriver.co.uk/latest-stories/government-councils-stop-passing-buck-truck-stops-says-unite/

The government should provide funding and require local councils to provide adequate truck stops to address the problem of drivers parking in non-truck stop locations, trade union Unite has said.

A lack of adequate truck stops is resulting in lorry drivers being forced to park in industrial estates, lay-bys and even in residential roads, where they have no welfare facilities, which damages their health and results in wider environmental implications, say Unite.

What has the government got to do with truck stops? If they ran the haulage industry then there may be justification for state sponsored truck stops, until then it's up to private enterprises to open and run them,  it the government.

Remember this I posted 10 days ago, they haven't all closed since then. 

[papasmurf]

Thats all well and good but who is going to pay for them ?

The nearest truck stop to me, (facilities not brilliant, but the food excellent charges between £9 and £18 a night, not  including food.)
There appears to be no problem in Europe with providing truck stops.

[Streetwalker]

Thats all well and good but who is going to pay for them ?

The old transport cafes that were the truck stops of the past found it that difficult to make them pay they sold out to Little Chef ,happy eater and the like and the truck drivers were left to their own devices . Which means they will have to be subsidised by someone and that someone normally ends up being you and me .