Lorry drivers across England will benefit from more parking spaces, better welfare facilities and safer rest areas thanks to £16.5 million in joint government and industry investment.

On 4 March 2024, the Roads Minister, Guy Opperman, confirmed that 38 truckstops across England will invest £6 million from the Department for Transport (DfT), with a further £10.5 million coming from industry, to significantly improve their facilities for lorry drivers.

The upgrades will include new showers and restaurants, as well as better lighting and secure fencing around rest areas so drivers can feel safer and sleep with greater peace of mind. The measures will also create around 430 new parking spaces for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) to free up local roads.

The government announcement said that it’s part of a plan to grow the economy by improving working conditions for lorry drivers, supporting new jobs in the haulage industry and attracting more people towards a brilliant career in logistics, to deliver a brighter future for all.

The crucial improvements will also help decarbonise the haulage sector by installing new chargepoints to power electric HGVs and solar panels on lorry driver facilities to make them as sustainable as possible.

Declan Pang, Director of Policy & Public Affairs at the Road Haulage Association (RHA) said: “We are delighted to see the government’s match funded grant scheme being awarded to projects which will make a tangible difference to the experiences of lorry drivers and provide much needed additional parking capacity to address the well-known shortage of spaces.”