ESTA has said that the current plans for Safe and Secure Truck Parking Areas (SSTPAs) are a “missed opportunity”.
ESTA has sent a formal response to the European Commission supporting its plans to establish standards for Safe and Secure Truck Parking areas – but has criticised the lack of any specific provisions for abnormal transport
ESTA’s detailed response is contained is a special position paper sent to the European Commission and also lodged in the library of ESTA’s website.
The ESTA paper says: “In all documents related to SSTPA’s the word ‘abnormal’ or ‘exceptional’ transport does not even appear, which we regard as a missed opportunity.
As we have stipulated before, the possibilities to use a safe parking area are of great importance to vehicles executing abnormal transport.”
ESTA is urging to Commission to adopt a series of design features and service standards aimed at abnormal transports, including the request that parking areas should each have at least three designated abnormal transport parking bays that can accommodate vehicle combinations that are 7m wide and up to 50m in length.
There are currently only 300,000 truck parking spaces available in the EU – an estimated significant shortfall of 100,000 spaces to meet demand. What is more only 7,000 spaces, or less the 3 per cent, are in certified safe and secure areas.
ESTA and many EU road transport organisations have long called for additional support to improve conditions in the sector. ESTA believes that increasing the number of safe and secure parking areas is essential both to increase efficiency and to make the sector more attractive to young people.