The IRU has reiterated the urgent need for more safe and secure parking areas at a conference in the European Parliament. The discussion was followed by a Truck Stop Excellence Awards Ceremony. The winners are in France and Spain.
At the annual conference organized by the European Safe Parking Organization (ESPORG), the IRU reiterated that there remains an acute shortage of safe and secure parking spaces.
“Despite some positive signs regarding the allocation of EU funding, there is still a lot to be done to establish a network of truck parking areas,” said Raluca Marian, EU Advocacy Director at IRU, who joined a panel of industry experts. Safe and secure across the EU Member States, regional and local authorities consider the working conditions, safety and security of our drivers a priority and we hope that additional funding will be made available in the next five years.
“The recently agreed TEN-T Regulation set binding targets for member states to ensure the development of safe truck parking areas every 150 kilometres, but the 2040 deadline is too late,” she added.
The lack of safe parking spaces also contributes to the increase in freight crimes. EU countries such as France, Germany and Sweden continue to appear on the list of countries facing grand theft and theft crimes, according to the Association for the Protection of Movable Assets. The theft of high-value goods results in millions in losses for transportation companies every year.
European Truck Parking Award
The conference concluded with the “Excellence in Truck Parking” awards ceremony in its third edition. The initiative aims to promote excellence and disseminate good practices to improve the safety, security and facilities of parking lots.
This year’s winner of the large parking space category (50+ spaces) is the DELTA PARK parking facility, located in northern France, near the Franco-Belgian border.
The jury also awarded the On Turtle La Jonquera car park, located in Spain, the best small parking area (up to 50 spaces), for the second year in a row.
“IRU is proud to be a member of the international judging panel for the third time and to contribute to this year’s Truck Parking Excellence Award,” said Raluca Marian.
She concluded: “We strongly support highlighting excellence in the land transportation sector, especially when it contributes to the well-being of drivers and helps attract new truck drivers by improving the image of the profession.”
