To keep the profession of driving attractive to both current and future professionals, it is imperative that companies invest in quality rest areas. The German company Park Your Truck has therefore concluded affordable contracts for entrepreneurs that allow them to provide their drivers with nearby rest areas free of charge. In the Netherlands, the company has created the first opportunity at its Truckstop Venlo location. Here, drivers will find a modern parking facility with all amenities, including 24/7 surveillance.

Park Your Truck is Europe's largest operator of truck parking facilities and offers them close to its customers' depots or production sites. Denise Schuster (DE), Managing Director of Park Your Truck, explains: "We not only create truck parking spaces throughout Europe, but also support existing truck stops in filling empty parking spaces. At night, of course, these are fully booked, but during the day there are often plenty of empty spaces."

According to Schuster, however, there are many drivers who have to wait during the day before they can get to a loading bay because they cannot keep to their allocated time slot due to traffic situations. "When drivers arrive too early or too late, they often have to wait for hours before they can still deliver or pick up their goods. This gives them the feeling of being 'punished' when in reality they have no control over the situation that has arisen. In many European cities, including Venlo, this creates the problem of 'wild parking' along streets and in residential areas. According to Schuster, this leads to unsafe situations and nuisances, both for the surrounding area and for the drivers themselves. "Drivers often don't have the financial means to use existing rest areas, which means they don't have access to sanitary facilities and restaurants." That's why Park Your Truck approaches businesses in the area and offers them contracts that allow their drivers to use the rest stops for free during the day. Businesses rent a certain number of parking spaces for a fixed monthly fee, regardless of how long drivers stay between 7am and 6pm. The cost per month is 1,500 euros for 10 spaces, 2,900 euros for 20 spaces and 4,300 euros for 30 spaces. "For these modest amounts, entrepreneurs cannot set up their own truck car park with all the facilities," Schuster said.

She stressed that it is the responsibility of entrepreneurs to offer these facilities to drivers. "However, it is not a government obligation for entrepreneurs to provide waiting rooms on their own premises. This is understandable because building a bigger warehouse on their property is often more profitable. However, as a business, you contribute to the problem of 'wild parking' by ordering and shipping goods. Therefore, we believe that business owners should take responsibility and bear the costs.

CHANGE IS NECESSARY

According to Schuster, a change in thinking is needed among entrepreneurs who want to retain drivers. "A few years ago, entrepreneurs got away scot-free without finding solutions to the driver shortage. Now, however, the driver shortage is huge: 50,000 additional drivers are currently needed in Europe, and in 10 years this number will rise to 200,000. This is mainly due to the large number of drivers retiring, leaving a relatively small group of young drivers to do all the work. Eastern Europe has already largely exhausted its driver pool, as there are already a large number of people working in this profession there. In the meantime, they are even considering recruiting people from the Philippines and India for this purpose. If entrepreneurs want to continue using drivers in the future, it is essential to offer them a comfortable rest area with facilities. In Germany, our concept is already a success, and we hope that this will soon be the case in Venlo as well."

FULL SERVICE

Freek Kusters (advisor industrial estates municipality of Venlo) is positive about the role of Park Your Truck in filling the parking spaces at the recently expanded truckstop Venlo. "Thanks to the intensive cooperation between owner Ton de Lang, Park Your Truck and the municipality of Venlo, the Venlo Truckstop has been developed into a Truckstop 2.0 where truck drivers can reserve a space at any time of the day for a 'full service' and a safe overnight stay. This is good for truck drivers and good for the Greenport Venlo logistics location, where just-in-time transport plays a central role."