Motorway service areas listen to drivers' needs
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TRUCK SECURITY took centre stage when Truckersworld vvebsite founder Barrie Tozer met motorway service area providers (MSAs) Moto and Welcome Break to discuss ways to improve drivers experiences. Tozer, who attended the
meetings with a group of drivers, says both MSAs were "very keen" to look at security at their sites. 'Truck security is a big issue," he adds. "I have pictures of ripped curtainsiders coming out of my ears at the moment. We'd like CCTV cameras at all sites in
the long term, but in the short term we're pushing for 24-hour video cameras, which can be unmanned but which can record what happens at the entrances and exits." Otherissuesdiscussed at the meetings included drivers' meals, the
provision of showers and the design of service areas. Both firms are looking at Tozer's suggestion of having an all-inane voucher which includes a meal and drinks without the need for additional spending.
And Welcome Break has started a programme of building new showers. "We'd like to see a minimum of one female and two male showers at every service area," says Tozer. Moto, which is understood to be considering a new service area near Wetherby, West Yorks, has asked Tozer's group to have some input in the design of the
site, such as giving priority to trucks at entrances and exits.
Tozer's next target is Roadchef; he believes that all three MSAs need to be involved to drive through improvements. "We were reassured that Welcome Break and Moto do want our business and want to build a long-term relationship with us," he concludes. stressed that we are customers and they have to start treating us as such."
UThe BBCTV programme Real Story featuring Tozer discussing truck drivers' problems has been postponed from 18 October until 25 October.