Conference on freight security in the migrant crisis

In April 2016 ESPORG held a presentation on freight security in the wake of the migrant crisis in London. IRU & ESPORG called for more secure truck parking areas on European core road network as one way to help mitigate the negative impact of the migration crisis on the road freight transport industry.

IRU and ESPORG called on EU Member States to fulfil their obligations to ensure more secure parking areas for trucks on the Trans-European Road Network (TEN-T). More secure parking areas, including around multimodal transport hubs and terminals, would provide better security for trucks, their drivers and loads and mitigate the negative impact of the migration crisis.

Michael Nielsen who leads IRU’s work in the EU said, “The lack of secure parking areas for trucks in the EU is a continuing challenge for operators and drivers. The migration crisis has highlighted this once again. The more unsecured parking areas, the higher the potential boarding places for stowaways. Truck drivers have the right to spend their rest periods in a place where they, their vehicle and their load are safe.”

EU legislation requires Member States to install secure truck parking areas every 100 km on the Core TEN-T network. Despite available EU co-funding, the very slow implementation of this requirement is an important concern of the IRU and ESPORG.

IRU and ESPORG call once again on the European Commission and Member States to urgently take measures to facilitate the building of secure parking areas for trucks. More transparency in procedures to apply for EU funding and in the decision-making process leading to grants is essential. The private sector must also be encouraged to invest in secure truck parking areas by facilitating access to EU funding

Dirk Penasse, ESPORG Chairman said, “Private investors are clearly interested in investing in secure truck parking. Member States should take up this opportunity, look for different financing instruments and start building safe and secure truck parking areas.”