ESTA and the European parking organisation ESPORG have embarked on a new round of discussions with the European Commission in an attempt to expand the provision of safe and secure truck parking areas – with special emphasis on those for abnormal and heavy transports.
An ESTA Position Paper on the subject has been sent to the European Commission and will also be used by ESPORG both in its discission with Brussels and in its own policy documents.
It states: “In Europe we are still confronted with insufficient number of parking facilities and therefore drivers are forced to park in non-secured zones or unsafe locations.
“European truck drivers also struggle with access to decent sanitary facilities and appropriate information about location equipment and facilities of existing parking areas. This situation needs to be urgently improved.”
As a result, ESTA is calling for:
- the Commission to produce a report analysing parking capacity on European motorways accessible for abnormal road transport operators.
- the revision of the eligibility criteria for projects funded by EU funds via the Connecting Europe Facility, to ensure that safe and secure parking places are adapted to the specific needs of abnormal transport.
- parking infrastructure to be designed to accommodate abnormal transports
- a booking system to allow registration of abnormal transport and to optimise occupancy
- provision of abnormal transport parking facilities to be aligned with permitted routes.
ESTA argues that such measures will both help to boost Europe’s industrial efficiency, improve safety and aid the recruitment of drivers, especially among women.
In his closing remarks to the European Commission, ESTA Director Ton Klijn said:
“We trust our comments in this position paper will give a clearer picture of the typical hinderances the abnormal transport companies meet when using present parking facilities and the possible solutions to mitigate these problems.”
The full ESTA Position paper is in the Library of ESTA’s website here – https://estaeurope.eu/docs/library/transport/esta-positionpaper-sstpa/
ESTA became an associate member of ESPORG, the European Secure Parking Organisation, in late 2023. ESPORG represents all parties interested in safe and secure truck parking. Its members include parking area operators, transport and logistics companies, shippers and drivers’ representatives.