H G V Overnight Parking In Lay-Bys

[sunny-dave]

A series of questions for you ...

1. Do all the lay-bys in which we see HGVs parked overnight have toilet facilities?

if not

2. Are all HGV cabs fitted with chemical toilets?

if not

3. Do HGV drivers have iron control of their bladders and bowels, beyond that of most members of the population?

if not

4. Where do they relieve themselves when parked overnight?

5. If the answer is as I suspect, then why is this revolting public health hazard allowed to continue?


Presumably it is to save the firms/drivers from paying to use proper truck-stop facilities - but that hardly seems an adequate excuse.

[Baldric]

1. yes, in this area they're known as Bushes
2. No.
3. No.
4. See 1.
5. Apathy on the part of those who could do something.

[boxtops]

Dave, if OH were here I am sure he would agree with you 100% - but the facilities for truckers to park up - even to go to the loo - are appalling in the UK when compared with the facilities available at regular intervals on the roads in Europe.

Some of it certainly is down to finance - the Eastern bloc drivers work on a shoestring so can't afford any truckstop fees, more than £20 a night for parking is too much for them - so the old calor gas cooker comes out, etc. It's not just them, though - in order to park, you have to have the FACILITIES for them to park. There is only a tiny truckstop in this immediate area - drivers who are running out of hours when they get off the ferry have to stop ..where? anywhere they can.

OH despairs of driving facilities in this country - the country subsists on the goods carried in those trucks, but the powers that be don't give a fig for the welfare of the drivers.

Don't get me started....

[TWR]

No, No, No, outside the cab, it also concerns pizz heads on a Sat Night in every town in the Country Dave, Regards the Truck Stops / Motorway Service Areas, check out the Prices just for Parking up a HGV that the driver is only trying to make a living to keep his family in a house with a Mortage while MPs get upon pounds in expences for doing sod all, I have also seen caravan uses crp in lay-bys.

[Dizmo]

1. No
2. No
3. No
4. Some use bottles and some use a bush if shielded

It isn't just about the firms/drivers not willing to pay. A lot of the time it is because the driver is at the end of his 'driving time' before a required minimum break.

My step dad is a HGV driver and he would answer exactly the same. You're paid to drive so you can't stop 20 minutes before you're due to just so you can stay in a designated HGV stop with toilets and other facilities. He drives his lorry until his time runs out. There is no luxury to the driver. I feel sorry for the unlucky sods who have to pull up off the side of the road without facilities because they have run out of driving hours.

[boxtops]

.... and dizmo, just where are all these facilities in the UK? answer: few and far between.

[TWR]

Dave, if you knew the crp HGV Drivers gets from all sorts of companies , the public, the police, MOTs inspectors, the Customs, there are many many more to be named for a pittance of wages, i can assure you of that, been there and seen the video, I was once told by an idiot in our office that a journey from our local town COULD BE DONE to Stranraer and back in your hours, I challenged the clown to try it!!!!!!

[Dizmo]

boxtops unfortunately they are only at motorway services. I don't think I've ever seen a lay-by with toilets in it. When we drove all the way to Romania every country we went through after France had toilets on the lay-by's but the condition of them was horrendous. I have a feeling that this country would have similar issues if they were to build WC on the side of the road.

[baza]

why do you see some parked empty trucks with a back door open, is it so that other truckers can use it as a toilet?

[Dizmo]

I'm assuming that's a joke baza. It's so that general public and criminals can see that the tailer is empty and therefore nothing inside is worth stealing. There is nothing worse than having the back door broken open or the sides of the tarp being cut to steal 'nothing'.

[TWR]

The answer to your q Baz, its to stop criminals ripping their curtain to see what they could steal.

[Dizmo]

ah curtain that is the word I was looking for! I think 'tarp' as in tarpaulin was close enough.

[Dizmo]

The curtains are not cheap but the cost of not being able to pick up an order due to the fact you need a curtain for said goods outweighs the replacement of the curtain.

Someone slashed my step dads trailer with a Stanley knife only to find that he was transporting cardboard. It took him an hour to safely repair the curtain side. The hour it took him then caused him to miss the drop off and was forced to sleep in his cab till the next morning. I'm glad I wasn't with him, he must of been furious.

[baza]

I travelled along the A12 yesterday evening and saw some trucks and this thread just reminded me, I did think there must be a reason for it, now I know.

[Dizmo]

baza: you do realise that any lorry drivers who need to use the toilet might now consider dropping a 'strutter' in any mans, or womans, lorry trailer lol.

[boxtops]

Bleah, not funny, chaps, not if you are the driver who has to deep clean his truck afterwards!

[Dizmo]

I did actually once see some lads in the back of a trailer but you could tell they were just in there to get out of the weather. They were waving to traffic as it went by.

[mikey4444]

I am not a lorry driver but I drive lots of miles each year. Being a 60 year old chap, with diabetes, I say...thank God for lay-bys !

Number twos are altogether different of course. There has been a lot of controversy about the amount of Tesco's there are in Britain these days. I say...build some more please !

[boxtops]

mikey, I sympathise, but your average HGV driver (or smaller) can't drive into a Tesco car park to use the facilities. What we need is more truck stops, as they do on the continent, with decent facilities and reasonable overnight charges. Does everyone realise that a truck has to pay to park up overnight at a truckstop?

[mikey4444]

You are right boxy. I am familiar with Truck Stops in the States, having driven coast-to-coast a couple of times over the years. Their Truck Stops are marvelous....good food, showers, lounges...even Barbers in some of them. All open 24 hours a day.

I can taste those eggs over easy, pancakes and Maple syrup now !

[baza]

boxtops, I think most people do not consider how stuff gets about as long as it is available in the shops etc. when we want it.