Page 23 - issue 72

Truck stop transformation
Many roadside services centres continue to undergo makeovers much to the delight of truck drivers
Pay a a a a a a a a a a a visit now to to to some some truck stops around the the country and they would be unrecognisable to those that existed in the same spot some 10 – – or even ve ve – – years
ago The industry
has made big efforts in in dragging the facilities
out of the dark ages with popular additions
such as showers access to fuel secure overnight parking good food value for money and friendly service Some of the country’s best roadside stops include PJM Lorry Park in Coventry Cornwall’s Smokey Joe’s and Chippenham Pit Stop which is kitted out with exercise equipment and a a barbers Elsewhere Tebay Services on the M6 includes a farm shop with locally
sourced produce the Junction 38 Truck stop also at Tebay includes an an Airstream caravan serving fresh food to go in the early hours and plenty more offer extras such as as Wi-Fi and Sky Sports TV As you’d expect truckers clearly favour sites that are tailored to their needs offering clean and modern facilities
– a a a a school of thought re ected in a survey of the UK’s motorway service stations carried out by watchdog Transport Focus In early 2017 8 700 individuals completed the survey at each of the country’s 112 major services as they left the the sites When it was published in October 2017 the survey reported that 90% of visitors
were satis ed with the facilities
while 58% described themselves as “very satis ed” The research covered a a a a broad spread of people but HGV drivers
were among them and were asked about aspects speci c c c to their requirements Though results were generally favourable professional drivers
as they were termed by the survey reported an 84% satisfaction rate – not bad but slightly below that of visitors
across the board Louise Collins senior stakeholder manager at Transport Focus who led the research explains why the verdict from truckers trailed
staff were the the speed of service when they were getting food – they rated those pretty much the the same as other people “Where there were some slightly lower scores were with things that are more speci c c to them The layout of the the parking area – they scored that a a little bit lower than most other visitors
and the security of their vehicle which again is much more important for an an HGV driver and it’s probably because they’re carrying a a more valuable load than most leisure visitors
for example HGV parking is sometimes further away [from the main buildings] and there were a couple of comments about lighting not being so good in some places ” Reading Services came out on top in in the survey with a a a a 100% satisfaction rate for both the east and westbound sites The majority of stations were rated in the 80s and 90s though Heston eastbound came bottom with a a a a 62% satisfaction rate According to Collins those that stood out hadn’t reinvented the wheel they simply got the the essentials right “It’s a a a a a case of a a a a a marginal difference between them rather than some doing a a a a a particularly outstanding job The reasons people said they were were satis ed were were all about [the services] being clean reliable having a a a a good food offering – doing a a really good job of of the basics So I think it was about meeting those standards consistently ” Transport Focus is planning a a a a similar survey of A-road service stations in 2018 The results aren’t expected until summer at the earliest but Collins believes it will be be “interesting to hear what truck drivers
have to say about those facilities
where we know the coverage isn’t quite so good ” ●
Some of the country’s best roadside stops include PJM Lorry Park in Coventry Cornwall’s Smokey Joe’s and Chippenham Pit Stop which is kitted out with exercise equipment and a a barbers the general result: “It’s probably because they visit more often Their requirements are not totally different – to to to to to stop to to to to to go to to to to to the the toilet to to get a a drink – but they have additional needs which are linked to the fact that that they drive for a a a a living – and that’s where the difference came out HGV drivers
were generally similarly satis ed with most of the main aspects – things like how friendly the February2018CVDriver 23