Tunbridge Wells, UK: Kent County Council’s ban on lorry parking in laybys in parts of Kent contravenes the working rights of logistics workers, says Logistics UK.
In a letter to Rachel Maclean MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at Department for Transport, Logistics UK objected to the plan preventing lorry parking for more than 45 minutes at a time in some Kent laybyt.
Heidi Skinner, policy manager for south, Logistics UK, said: “Lorry drivers were deemed “essential” workers during the pandemic, but it seems that this has been forgotten in this latest directive.
“Lorry drivers need access to parking spaces to rest – for both their welfare and to meet legally mandated rest periods from driving – but with a shortage of between 1,000 and 1,200 HGV parking spaces in Kent, it is unacceptable to prohibit the use of laybys for drivers without providing facilities elsewhere.
“The ban was a temporary measure principally to ensure that HGVs were not parking in laybys while awaiting the correct paperwork to enter the EU. Now, following the removal of the Kent Access Permit – which was successful in deterring hauliers entering Kent without the correct paperwork – there is no reason to keep the ban in place. Following the removal of the KAP [Kent Access Permit] and taking into consideration the lack of lorry parking facilities in Kent, it is unacceptable for KCC and DfT to continue this traffic order.”
