The European association of carriers UETR, which is currently chaired by the Spanish company Fenadismer, together with other organizations representing the sector, have demanded that the European Union (EU) build at least 100,000 secure parking spaces for trucks in the region by 2030.
As reported this Sunday by Fenadismer in a press release, in the letter, sent to the European Commissioner for Transport, Adina Valean, and to the Transport Committee of the European Parliament, the signatories propose increasing the financing lines to promote these safe and protected areas in order to guarantee minimum conditions of safety and well-being for drivers.
In this sense, they regret that in the last European call for Connecting Europe aid “there were only four” truck parking projects selected for financing, for an import of about 12 million euros. For this reason, trust that in the next call for aid, scheduled for September of this year, “greater quality and quantity” will be provided.
In his opinion, building a “genuine European network of safe car parks and reaching this milestone of availability of 100,000 spaces should become a political priority”. Also in a business and social objective, for both investors and manufacturers, to stop a “devastating shortage of drivers, and ensure that road transport remains a strong pillar of European resilience.”
REQUESTS
To this end, the UETR and the rest of the entities appeal to the European institutions to recognize professional drivers as essential workers who need decent rest conditions, particularly in safe truck parking areas.
Likewise, it urges the promotion of safe and protected parking areas, certified with the community standard, as strategic infrastructure centers of the European Union, to guarantee that drivers carry out their work in minimum welfare conditions and promote alternative fuel infrastructure.
Thirdly, they ask that the financing of these areas be maintained in a prominent place in community policy, and that they be included in the next financial period as a strategic area for the European Union, with a budget equal to or greater than that foreseen in the current period. Finally, the signatories call on the promoters of new parking areas to intensify their efforts to improve “even more” the quality of their applications.
