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 Post subject: Truck Theft
PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 17:46 
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Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2006 14:48
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Location: Warrington ex Sandgrounder[Southport]
Did anyone hear the statement on radio 2 on xmas eve morning in the news about the theft of goods and trucks amounting to £207m this year to date and here we have the FTA representative :bunker: :bunker: :roll: :roll: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: saying what drivers have been saying for years we need secure overnight parking and washing facilities.

I seem to remember another site representive (Barrie from Truckersworld) asking to meet the FTA / RHA / Police and others including the govnmt. DFT etc. to discuss the problem of secure parking etc. and he also wanted to discuss the "Truck Theft Text" system and unbelievably the response from the police was "It is Illegal to Text while Driving" :loco: :loco: :loco: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: !

They (the Police and RHA / FTA) simply don,t want to now about the idea of secure parking areas for vehicles / drivers etc. but lo & behold when there is a chance for some free publicity the FTA jump on the bandwagon as they are the ones who weren,t interested in discussing the idea with just a mere mortal from a truckers website nor are they interested in talikng to the govnmt. about their members goods / vehicles being stolen not to mention the trauma to the drivers who are hi-jacked and presumably assaulted to boot!

It just shows how complacent this govnmt. are to the hardworking truck drivers of this country by totally ignoring a request from someone who wants to speak to the govnmt. about this type of crime and lack of facilities as the DFT would not even agree to a meeting with anyone about the sheer lack of facilities for secure and safe overnight parking for vehicles and drivers.

Thankfully the opposition agreed to meet with "Barrie" the representative from "Truckersworld" and were horrified to say the least to find that drivers in this so-called civilised country were expected to park in lay-bys and on industrial estates for their overnight rest periods and have promosed to look in to the matter at a later date and at least to come back with a response as well obviously this govnmt. treat the drivers of this country like they treat the electorate with utter contempt and arrogance (until time for re-election) when they then come up with all kinds of promises that they never keep (remember the Euro-Treaty referendum)which never happened :!: :!: :!:

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 Post subject: Re: Truck Theft
PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 18:52 
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Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2004 00:08
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Location: Grimsby
The usual suspects are not interested unless there is some free advertising for themselves involved.
Remember Jeremy Clarksons "incident" on Top Gear, they were all out of the woodwork then making complaints about how they had been inundated with calls of complaint, then urtu said they had had more than ten calls out of 18000 members.
The sad thing is, most of these organisations are more interested in representing themselves rather than the people who pay their wages through subscriptions.
Where are they during the present financial problems, no where to be seen.
Where were they when 3 major truckstops closed down, no where to be seen.
Where are they when British Hauliers are being screwed over, but foriegn hauliers are not, no where to be seen.
And finally, where are the British Hauliers standing shoulder to shoulder in the present crisis, and in the past, no where to be seen.

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 Post subject: Re: Truck Theft
PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 07:07 
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Location: Highlands
So just how many areas are there for trucks and how frequently are they placed ?
Do truckers ever have a 2 hr (supposed) limit on parking ?
Where are the best and worst places ?
Are all cabs 'pretty' self contained - I assume not! ?

One I stopped at fairly recently seemed very small for trucks, but did have a moderate cafe.

RIP - Dratsabasti :(

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 Post subject: Re: Truck Theft
PostPosted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 14:48 
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as i am not a tramper i dont know much about transport cafes but i do know about service stations on the motorway network Claire and you will be able to relate to them too hence i will use them to emphasise my point.
we are allowed to park for 2 hours free BUT they do fill up quickly for overnight parking. coach bays are normally empty overnight but even stopping in them to nip to the toilet can easily turn into a £250 (the smallest fine i have heard of) fine to release a clamp. the clampers seen to use unmarked vans and target drivers who are either asleep or absent, never a fully alert driver sat in his seat (what does that suggest?) so what do we do? once you are out of time you must stop but if you stop you will face a huge fine. overnight parking (which is where the main concern is) is paid for but provides little value for money. £15 upwards for a meal and a shower and neither seem to be of very good quality from what i have heard. plus the parking is largely insecure, certainly in motorway service areas but evidentally in proper truckstops too. take lymm, cars running through the HGV park, clampers are known to operate there and the facilities arent exactly 5 star either.
i personally do not have to suffer these places for more than a trailer swap or a break (depending on the job) but when i do park up overnight i choose somewhere urban with no parking restrictions and plenty of light. its free and providing i stop for supplies beforehand, i need not leave the truck. councils are increasingly restricting overnight parking in the towns and cities though so i would imagine my colleagues here use different tactics. this does not take anything away from the original point though. why are we having to find somewhere to park up instead of having proper facilities at our disposal?

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 Post subject: Re: Truck Theft
PostPosted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 20:51 
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scanny77 wrote:
as i am not a tramper i dont know much about transport cafes but i do know about service stations on the motorway network Claire and you will be able to relate to them too hence i will use them to emphasise my point.
we are allowed to park for 2 hours free BUT they do fill up quickly for overnight parking. coach bays are normally empty overnight but even stopping in them to nip to the toilet can easily turn into a £250 (the smallest fine i have heard of) fine to release a clamp. the clampers seen to use unmarked vans and target drivers who are either asleep or absent, never a fully alert driver sat in his seat (what does that suggest?) so what do we do? once you are out of time you must stop but if you stop you will face a huge fine. overnight parking (which is where the main concern is) is paid for but provides little value for money. £15 upwards for a meal and a shower and neither seem to be of very good quality from what i have heard. plus the parking is largely insecure, certainly in motorway service areas but evidentally in proper truckstops too. take lymm, cars running through the HGV park, clampers are known to operate there and the facilities arent exactly 5 star either.
i personally do not have to suffer these places for more than a trailer swap or a break (depending on the job) but when i do park up overnight i choose somewhere urban with no parking restrictions and plenty of light. its free and providing i stop for supplies beforehand, i need not leave the truck. councils are increasingly restricting overnight parking in the towns and cities though so i would imagine my colleagues here use different tactics. this does not take anything away from the original point though. why are we having to find somewhere to park up instead of having proper facilities at our disposal?


I am a "Roamer" not a tramper that "scannny" refers to in his statement but as I am away for up to 3 nights a week, I understand what he says about the distinct lack of safe and secure parking facilities for lorry drivers and their cargos.

There are very little facilities for drivers to park up in a safe environment as how would you feel if you had to sleep in your property with little or no security (try sleeping with your doors unlocked at home!) or in the middle of nowhere in a layby or on an industrial estate with something like £50,000 or £100,00 of goods on board with no toilets or washing facilities let alone somewhere to get something to eat at the end of your working day?

We have to put up with the "Nimby" culture of we don,t want dirty smelly trucks on out doorstep but we want the goods delivered in a "Just in Time" fashion, and then go away because we don,t want you when you have done your days work so go and find somewhere else to park your vehicle away from here (preferably in the middle of nowhere)!

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 Post subject: Re: Truck Theft
PostPosted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 13:19 
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Here in my home town of Pottyboro they have even banned parking on Westwood Industrial Estate !!

So.. just to confirm...

They sold Westwood & Woodston Lorry Parks and then banned parking on the Industrial estates!!

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