Transport User Voice December 2024 – Roadside facilities rated

28 November 2024

Latest survey shows problems persist

Transport Focus’s Lorry Driver Facilities Survey launched earlier this month as we spoke to more than 7000 lorry drivers about their experience at a third of all motorway services, ‘A’ road services and truck stops in England.  

The remaining sites will be included in the next two years of the survey. 

A recognition of the need for better facilities for lorry drivers has driven investment and improvement over the last few years. But our new survey, taken alongside our recently published Logistics and Coach Survey, shows the scale of the problem that persists.  

Many drivers often don’t feel welcome, safe or able to get a decent meal or proper rest. While drivers in this survey were the ones who managed to find a space, less than four in 10 were satisfied with the number of stopping places available in the UK. Satisfaction among those who run logistics businesses is even lower.  

Nevertheless, there are reasons for optimism, as shown by the 17 sites with satisfaction scores of 95 per cent or above. 

Transport Focus is bringing together the public and private sector to develop long-term solutions that will improve the quality and availability of rest stops so that we can keep our lorries, and the people who drive them, moving safely. 

Transport Focus is calling for four key areas to be addressed: 

• Better and consistent quality of services – work must be done to drive up standards and ensure consistent quality of facilities across sites

• Parking capacity that meets demand – there should be a sustained focus on increasing parking capacity and lorry driver facilities in the right places to ensure that availability meets the growing demand

• Safety and security for drivers and vehicles – standards must be improved, particularly at sites where there are security concerns, so that drivers and loads are safe and feel safe

• Providing a welcoming environment – the approach of some services, which leaves lorry drivers feeling less valued than other customers, must be challenged. 

These results come ahead of a roundtable next year, hosted by Transport Focus, which will gather government, truck stop owners, motorway service operators, trade associations and the wider roads industry to develop a long-term solution to keep lorries, and the people who drive them, moving safely. 

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