Transport User Voice – September 2022 – What do lorry drivers want improved?

25 August 2022

We asked for their views

We all depend on lorry drivers to transport various everyday essentials. As part of this they need to be able to safely stop and rest. Unfortunately, lorry drivers say getting what they need on the road is harder than it should be.

Earlier this year Transport Focus spoke to just under 2000 lorry drivers as part of our work in developing a new survey to measure the experience of lorry drivers using roadside facilities on England’s motorways and major ‘A’ roads. This insight will help ensure investment in new and improved facilities delivers the right results.

This was a pilot survey where we visited a sample of sites and was not intended to be representative of all facilities. However, there were some useful key findings, which we intend to explore further as we develop our plans to launch a full-scale survey.

Drivers told us their needs are fairly straightforward – they stop because it’s a legal requirement, to rest, eat and use the toilet. We found only one in five lorry drivers interviewed were satisfied with the number and quality of facilities available to them in the UK.

Something that’s important to lorry drivers and core part of feeling satisfied with facilities is feeling valued. This has been eroded over time, especially during the height of the pandemic. They would like to see improvements to factors that particularly affect them such as food security and parking.

Read the report here.

 

Back to newsletter.