11,000 spaces short: Why lack of secure parking is a gift to thieves

Freight crime is one of the biggest issues in our industry, with a lack of safe and secure lorry parking a significant part of the equation.

Police estimate it’s cost the UK economy more than £1bn since 2020 with thieves seeing it as a low-risk/high-reward endeavour.

And the ongoing volatility in the Middle East is raising fears that fuel will be increasingly targeted as prices soar.

For context – diesel prices on the forecourts have gone up on average by nearly 30 percent since the start of the conflict, with the cost of filling up a 44t HGV up more than 35 percent in a month, so it stands to reason that fuel becomes even more attractive a commodity to organised crime gangs.

We need 11,000 more safe and secure lorry parking spaces across the country as trucks parked in laybys, industrial estates and other remote locations remain magnets to criminals. And if it’s not the fuel they’re after then it will be the lucrative goods sat in their trailers.

Drivers deserve to be – and feel – safe when they’re parked up overnight. This is why ensuring there are sufficient spaces for truckers remains a key RHA priority.

We’ve been clear in our calls for a coordinated national approach to tackling freight crime, including more targeted funding for police to tackle the gangs.

Improving facilities must be part of the solution as it’s fundamental to protecting drivers, vehicles and the goods that keep the country moving.

We’ll continue to work with government, industry and others to make those aspirations a reality.