Poor sanitary conditions, low levels of security and lack of parking places in rest areas for truck drivers
7.6.2023
Question for oral answer O-000029/2023
to the Commission
Rule 136
Kosma Złotowski (ECR), Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska (PPE), Marian-Jean Marinescu (PPE), Andrey Novakov (PPE), Angel Dzhambazki (ECR), Bogusław Liberadzki (S&D), Peter Lundgren (ECR), Eugen Tomac (PPE), Dan-Ştefan Motreanu (PPE), Anna Zalewska (ECR), Dominik Tarczyński (ECR), Loránt Vincze (PPE), Beata Mazurek (ECR), Vasile Blaga (PPE), Andris Ameriks (S&D), György Hölvényi (PPE), Ivan Vilibor Sinčić (NI), Katarína Roth Neveďalová (S&D), Peter Pollák (PPE), Juozas Olekas (S&D), Anna Fotyga (ECR), Vlad Gheorghe (Renew), Adam Jarubas (PPE), Jarosław Duda (PPE), Elżbieta Rafalska (ECR), Andor Deli (NI), Jarosław Kalinowski (PPE), Barbara Thaler (PPE), Roberts Zīle (ECR), Cristian Terheş (ECR), Andrey Slabakov (ECR), Ryszard Antoni Legutko (ECR), Tomasz Piotr Poręba (ECR), Jadwiga Wiśniewska (ECR), Krzysztof Hetman (PPE), Marianne Vind (S&D), Beata Kempa (ECR), Eugen Jurzyca (ECR), Tomasz Frankowski (PPE), Magdalena Adamowicz (PPE), Enikő Győri (NI), Elżbieta Kruk (ECR), Balázs Hidvéghi (NI), Lívia Járóka (NI), Ádám Kósa (NI), Zbigniew Kuźmiuk (ECR), Bronis Ropė (Verts/ALE), Marco Campomenosi (ID), Beata Szydło (ECR), Bogdan Rzońca (ECR), Jan Olbrycht (PPE), Daniel Buda (PPE), Ioan-Rareş Bogdan (PPE), Gheorghe Falcă (PPE), Mircea-Gheorghe Hava (PPE), Iuliu Winkler (PPE), Adam Bielan (ECR), Ernő Schaller-Baross (NI), Edina Tóth (NI), Ryszard Czarnecki (ECR), Joanna Kopcińska (ECR), Siegfried Mureşan (PPE), Izabela-Helena Kloc (ECR), Andżelika Anna Możdżanowska (ECR)
Road transport is a strategic sector in the European economy, responsible for the efficient functioning of the single market in the European Union. Unfortunately, due to the poor state of infrastructure and the low level of safety, especially in rest areas and parking areas, fewer and fewer people are willing to take up a job as a truck driver.
The obligation to take rest periods outside the cab forces drivers to spend the night in very poor standard hotels, often without access to clean toilets or showers and without adequate guarantees for their personal safety and that of the cargo being transported. Legislative measures taken in recent years have had no effect and in some Member States the situation for drivers has even worsened, increasing costs and leading to more overcrowded rest areas.
- 1)Is the Commission aware of the steadily deteriorating sanitary and safety conditions for truck drivers at rest areas in countries such as France, Belgium and Germany?
- 2)What action has the Commission taken since the adoption of the Mobility Package to encourage Member States to invest more in parking areas, hotels and rest areas with the necessary sanitary facilities on major transit routes?
- 3)Is the Commission aware of the problem of the shortage of drivers in the road freight transport sector and does it accept that the very low safety standards and the poor state of rest areas in Western Europe are discouraging people from taking up this profession?
Submitted:7.6.2023
Lapses:8.9.2023