26
FROM THE SHARP END
August 2019 Truck & DriverT
here is a severe lack of truck parking
capacity in Denmark. When passing
the motorway service areas at 10pm,
long lines of trucks are parked outside
the marked spaces or on the hard
shoulder along the access and exit slip roads.
It is free for drivers to park their truck at the
state-owned service areas in Denmark but the
space is limited and the number of trucks in the
country is increasing. The latest figures show,
over the past 10 years, a drop in trucks driving
on Danish plates but a tripling of foreign trucks.
About 5000 trucks on Eastern European plates
cross the German-Danish border every day.
Increasing numbers of foreign trucks parking
in the service areas leave no space for Danish
drivers in need of a place to take their daily rest.Limited alternatives
Alternative parking options are as limited as
the parking capacity. If there is no free parking
at the service areas, the only other option is to
find a free spot at some secluded layby or in
industrial areas. That leaves the driver with no
access to a shower or a toilet and often in a
vulnerable situation when it comes to security.
Danish drivers are obviously not pleased
with the situation. They emphasise that all they
want is access to
a toilet, a shower
and a bit of
safety when they
are on the road.
But there simply
are not enough
parking spaces
in this small
Scandinavian
country.
Danish
minister oftransport Ole Birk Olesen presented a bill to
the Danish parliament suggesting that it should
be illegal for truck drivers to park for more
than 25 hours at the 90 state-owned Danish
service areas. ”Basically, I do not think it is a
government task to provide free parking
facilities to solve the truck industry's need for
long-term stays. I do see a task that the industry
has to handle together, as it is not fair
conditions for truck drivers to live and stay for
days at Danish motorway laybys.”
To free up the necessary space for Danish
drivers who need to take their daily rest, as well
as to prevent foreign drivers from spending the
weekend – and sometimes longer periods – in
the cab in a service area, the bill was adopted
and became a reality on 1 January 2019. A
violation of the 25-hour restriction costs 2040
kroner (£236). From 1 January to 1 April, the
authorities handed out 1398 fines to foreign
drivers and 171 fines to Danish drivers.
Despite the new restricted-parking rule, the
problem hasn’t magically vanished. Drivers still
fail to find free parking spaces when they need
them. It’s pointless discussing the matter with
the present minister of transport as he insists it
is not a government task to provide more
parking spaces to the road transport industry.
The two biggest Danish transport
associations, ITD and DTL, have pointed out
over and over again, after giving the 25-hour
restriction a fair chance, that the problem is not
solved. Hauliers have recently suggested a
solution – to charge drivers for parking in the
state-owned service areas. The first two to three
hours should be free of charge so that drivers
can have their short 45-minute rest or simply go
to the toilet without having to pay.Willing to pay
When looking to our neighbouring country of
Germany, it makes perfect sense to charge
drivers a small fee. And, it seems, the mood
among Danish drivers is that they are willing to
pay. Per Rasmussen, the owner of a small
Danish haulage company and chairman of local
haulage organisation Sydøstjyllands
Vognmandsforening, says: “As it is being used
in other countries, it could be a part of the
solution to make the conditions better when it
comes to parking. And if Eastern European
drivers will not or cannot pay, I suggest they
use the laybys away from the motorway. That is
only fair in my opinion.”
What the future brings regarding this issue is
uncertain. The only thing we know is that the
problem is not going to solve itself and the
government must take more responsibility.“If Eastern European drivers
will not or cannot pay, I
suggest they use the laybys
away from the motorway”
A lack of truck parking
isn’t exclusive to the UK.
Denmark has problems
too, with no easy solutions
DITTE TOFT JUSTE
Journalist at Danish
trucking magazine
Lastbil MagasinetShot in the park