Working for our members: lorry facilities and freight crime roundtables

Drivers are at the heart of delivering goods in the UK and while there are some excellent facilities available, drivers often encounter rest areas which fall short of where they need to be and fail to provide the protection needed to safeguard them. Addressing driver facilities and the growing issue of freight crime are priorities for Logistics UK. 

We have been pressing government to address the shortage of lorry parking and driver facilities for many years. HGV drivers need to take legally mandated rest breaks in the same way that office workers need and expect access to clean and safe hygiene facilities during their working days. Drivers, who are essential to economic growth and deliver all that our economy replies upon, deserve the same basic rights. Alongside this right to clean facilities, safety is paramount.

This month, Logistics UK hosted two roundtables on these critical issues for the sector, bringing key stakeholders together to discuss driver facilities and freight crime.

At the first roundtable, Logistics UK was joined by Rachel Taylor MP, Member of Parliament for Warwickshire and Bedworth, and Mike Dawber, Field Intelligence Officer at the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS), along with members, to discuss working together to tackle this issue.

Freight crime is a serious and escalating issue, and as well as having severe economic impacts, it also harms workforce welfare and creates infrastructure challenges. Addressing it requires a coordinated approach that includes legislative reform, infrastructure investment, and a renewed focus on the health and safety of the logistics workforce.

In PC Mike Dawber's address, the NaVCIS officer outlined that the true cost of freight crime is around £700 million a year and is largely carried out by organised criminal gangs. He stated that there is a difference between safe parking and secure parking. 

Also in September, Logistics UK held a Scottish Parliament round table on driver facilities, chaired by Sue Webber MSP, Scottish Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Transport. Other attendees included Dr Claire Baker MSP, Scottish Labour Transport Spokesperson, a representative from Transport Scotland, and Scottish logistics operators.

Attendees heard from Matthew Radburn from Transport Focus, which surveyed more than 7,000 lorry drivers across 75 sites. The report identified that capacity is the top priority for lorry drivers, and that drivers want the basics to be right – clean, safe facilities with reasonably priced, quality food, more and better wash facilities and a quiet place to sleep. They also want to feel welcome and have sites designed with their needs in mind. In light of these findings, Transport Focus developed a 12-month action plan launched earlier this year.

The British Parking Association was also in attendance and spoke about its Park Mark Freight Scheme, a comprehensive assessment specifically for lorry parks and truck stops, developed in response to the rise in cargo theft in recent years and the Department for Transport's policies for improving roadside facilities for drivers.  

Logistics UK is calling for a national review of lorry parking in Scotland, integration of lorry parking into planning policy, a freight crime code so we can better understand the nature and scale of freight crime, and working with members to develop mutual operator networks for drivers to take their rest breaks.  

We know there are some brilliant facilities available to drivers, but we need more of them and in the right places. We need safe and secure facilities and a crime code for freight crime, to prevent organised crime and to protect drivers.  

It is also critical to have clean, fit for purpose facilities, because that is what drivers deserve.

Logistics UK will continue to work with key stakeholders and members to tackle the issue of improving driver facilities and put an end to freight crime.