The European Safe Parking Organization (ESPORG) has awarded the first European Truck Parking Award to France’s Truck Etape Béziers. The IRU participated in the jury alongside other key road transport stakeholders, including governmental and non-governmental organizations.
The Excellence in Truck parking Award initiative aims to promote excellence and recognizes good practices related to improving the quality of safety, security and service provided by truck parking operators to professional truck drivers. We will help you spread it across Europe. The winner of this year’s European Truck Parking Award is Truck Etape Béziers Parking in the south of France, close to the French-Spanish border. France’s La Londonnienne and Romania’s Smart Autothof were awarded the European Excellence in Truck Parking runner-up award. The jury emphasized that all candidates demonstrated excellent quality of service to professional drivers.
Lack of truck parking continues to be a problem for the road transport sector. Currently, there are only 300,000 truck parking spaces available within the European Union (EU), a significant shortfall of 100,000 to meet total demand. Only 7,000 (less than 3%) of existing car parks in the EU are located in areas certified as safe. The IRU will advocate for policy makers to invest EU funds in the construction of new safe and secure parking spaces and the improvement of existing ones, and will provide additional support to improve the situation in this sector. I requested that.
The IRU appreciates that the EU has responded by making funding available through the European Connectivity Facility (CEF) scheme, but more needs to be done to ensure sufficient facilities for professional drivers. is necessary. Investment priorities should include developing new safe and secure parking areas and improving the safety, security and services of existing rest areas. This is in line with the recommendations of an EU-funded study on EU parking standards in which the IRU participated.
Larka Marian, EU Advocacy Director at IRU, said: “Good parking is a fundamental condition for decent working conditions for drivers. As an industry, we cannot imagine a solution to the large-scale driver shortage across the European Union without addressing these conditions. The European Truck Parking of the Year award represents a concrete tool to promote the serious efforts being made by the industry to provide suitable rest facilities for professional drivers. We hope the award will stimulate further investment and ultimately help improve the profession’s image and attract new drivers.”
IRU will continue to work closely with all partners and stakeholders to drive the creation of new, upgraded and safe car parks across Europe.
