WINNER of the 2023 ESPORG Excellence in Truck Parking Award: mowiz TRUCK Astigarraga and OnTurtle La Jonquera

Brussels, 1 March 2023

MOWIZ TRUCK ASTIGARRAGA AND ON TURTLE LA JONQUERA TRUCK PARKING AREAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED EUROPEAN TRUCK PARKINGS OF THE YEAR 2023.

mowiz TRUCK Astigarraga and On Turtle La Jonquera truck parking areas were voted European Truck Parkings of the Year 2023, respectively, in the category large parking areas (above 50 places) and small parking areas (up to 50 places) by ESPORG’s international jury[1], composed of representatives of leading road transport stakeholders and governmental and non-governmental institutions and bodies.

In particular, the jury commended the high quality of services offered to truck drivers by the two winners, the facility to book places, and their ambition to anticipate with alternative charging systems.

Representative of mowiz TRUCK, Miguel Ángel Poza, Chief Commercial and Institutional Relationships Officer of EYSA Group, said, “This prestigious award is a great recognition for our company Group EYSA, and the team that builds mowiz TRUCK. We want to apply the experience carried out in Astigarragato the whole mowiz TRUCK network of truck parkings we are building up in Spain with the aim of increasing the security of transport and logistics while caring for and improving the life of truck drivers. We thank BIDEGI for their seed project idea and its continuous support and collaboration in the successful experience of mowiz TRUCK Astigarraga. We will continue working hard to make mowiz TRUCK parking’s network the excellence and benchmark reference for truck parkings at a European level”.

Representative of On Turtle Pablo Combalía, Business Develop Manager, said, “It is an honour to be recognized as the European Truck Parking of the Year 2023 by ESPORG. We were the first ESPORG member and authorized parking in Spain. This award is a recognition of our purpose of maintaining the highest quality and ensure the highest level of security for our customers. We are continuously looking for excellence, setting the customer at the core of our business. We would like to express our gratitude to ESPORG, for setting standards to ensure secure parking locations throughout Europe and constantly looking to connect members and affiliates for the common goal of making our Industry more secure”.

Kristian Schmidt, Director for Land Transport at the European Commission said: “With their high level of services, safety and security for drivers, vehicles and cargo, these two parking areas are real improvements to the working conditions of drivers, who spend so much time far from their homes. So we need many more of this quality in the EU to make the profession more attractive, and we need them to roll-out alternative fuels in Europe. This award shows how it is done! Rest assured that the European Commission will continue its support for sustainability and safe and secure truck parking areas.”

The jury commended in particular the 2022 winner, Truck Etape Béziers, who came second in the ranking, for maintaining the exceptionally high quality of service and customer care, and awarded them with the European Excellence in Truck Parking 2023 runner-up certificate.

The jury also decided to award a certificate of excellence to La Londonienne, Smart Autohof, Truck Arena 31and Truck Park Brescia Est.

Vlad Gheorghe, Member of the European Parliament, said: “EU needs to do the maximum to make the work of truck drivers safer and more attractive. Today, cargo crime reaches € 8 billion a year. This alarming figure is a direct call to improve truck parking areas and equip the drivers with all possible safety tools! Economy and business  in the EU largely  depend on truck cargo, yet we lack 400 000 truck drivers!  Here again, the solution lies with more safety guarantees. The commitment to the security of truck drivers is an important part of my mandate as MEP and I am glad that we are on the way of achieving mandatory certification and common security standards across the EU.”

At today’s Award Ceremony, Michael Nielsen, President of ESPORG, commented: “We want to congratulate our winners and runner-up, and indeed all our candidates, for their outstanding achievement and quality of services to professional drivers. We commit to contribute further to excellence in offering services to our drivers in Europe and beyond, whilst at the same time rewarding the abundance of excellence, which already exist in our business.”

The aim of the ESPORG Excellence in Truck Parking Award is to promote excellence and to help spread good practices in view of improving safety, security and quality of services offered by truck parking operators to professional truck drivers across Europe and beyond, and, by doing so, to enhance the attractiveness and appeal of the driver profession to an increasingly diverse and wider public, including young people and women.

• For more information, please contact:
  • ESPORG CEO, Dirk Penasse, at penasse@esporg.eu, phone: +32 487 48 74 87.
  • Winners:
    • mowiz TRUCK: Jorge Bernet Fernandez (Business Development Manager) at jbernetf@mowiztruck.com, phone +34 606 896 829
    • OnTurtle: Pablo Combalía (Business Development Manager), at pcombalia@onturtle.eu , phone: +34628522578
  • The winners’ dossiers can be downloaded here for OnTurtle La Jonquera and mowiz TRUCK Astigarraga.

[1] The jury members are: Inès MAILLART, DG MOVE of the European Commission, Elene SHATBERASHVILI, International Transport Forum (ITF), Thomas FABIAN (ACEA), Nicolette van der JAGT, CLECAT, Mike STURGEON, ECG, Carlo GIRO, IRU, Marco DIGIOIA, UETR, Peter Paul RUSCHIN, DEKRA, Anna KUZYNIN, KRAVAG TRUCK PARKING, Godfried SMIT, European Shippers Council, Marc van GROOTEL, TVM, and Agnieszka PILNIAK & Paulina RUDNICKA, TruckersLife