To some this might seem a bit trivial,but I just have to get it of my chest
Are motorway services taking the ■■■■?I know that every year there seems to be an article in the news about services charging too much,Poor service e.t.c,but it seems to me that nothing gets done about it.
My first point that I have a problem with is the price of a coffee.A couple of years ago you could either buy a coffee from one of these ponsey /for executive idiots only/mondeo latte drinking ■■■■■ where you pay about £6 for a crap coffee and a stale cake ,OR you could buy a NORMAL coffee which is what I want (and im sure most other working class people want)for about a pound from the restaurant.
Now i feel that the element of choice has been taken away,you cant buy a NORMAL coffee from the restaurant as the restaurrant now has these so called trendy coffee bars in them so you have to pay £1.70 plus which I think is a rip off
I have my own facilities in my truck for making tea/coffee e.t.c but now and again early in the morning going down motorway I just want to stop get a coffee,and carry on,without having to park up put pot on gas and stop for longer than I would of had to.as now even the petrol stations dont have 60p coffees anymore ,they ve installed these COFFEE NATION machines,which charge £1.80 for rubbish
2nd point,meal vouchers
I park up at service stations most nights as I have to,I take my own food with me on a Monday for the week,as I have to eat something half decent,but usually once a week I get a meal voucher with my parking,cause if I ve done a 15 or 16 spread and I get in late the last thing I want to do is cook.
What choice do I have with my meal voucher?
Burger king,mmmmmmmmm healthy,but does nt even fill me for £6
KFC yet again mighty healthy and filling and full of grease
or the restaurant where everything is £6.99 so,more money than meal voucher
is worth and It looks as though it has been sitting there all week and if you want a drink with that its gonna cost you £9
Sorry to moan but I just think this limited amount of choice,poor service and stupid prices,has got to stop.I dont earn bad money but I try to keep my costs down as much as possible It would nt bother me if the coffee was the best id ever tasted and the food was lovely,but ITS NOT
These services dont seem to be bothered about truckers who spend a lot of time and money at these places what with parking and meals/petrol e.t.c
All they seem to be bothered about attracting is these bmw drivings idiot who dont have a problem paying for ■■■■ lattes all day and talking the latest mobile phone or laptop with their colleagues or buying a endangered tiger and avocado sandwich for a fiver from M&S(the latest stupid idea from MOTO)
bikemonkey:
To some this might seem a bit trivial,but I just have to get it of my chest
Are motorway services taking the [ZB]?I
These services dont seem to be bothered about truckers who spend a lot of time and money at these places what with parking and meals/petrol e.t.c
All they seem to be bothered about attracting is these bmw drivings idiot who dont have a problem paying for [zb] lattes all day and talking the latest mobile phone or laptop with their colleagues or buying a endangered tiger and avocado sandwich for a fiver from M&S(the latest stupid idea from MOTO)
Thanks for reading,I feel much better now
Correct on 2 counts, they are taking the ■■■■, and they don’t care about truckers.
Wrong on 1 count, A truck driver doesn’t spend much money, but coach full of OAP’s or a car full of a family on holiday that’s were the real money is, if they could get rid of trucks off the services they would and they only facility we would be able to use is to diesel up.
I only stop on the services when desperate for a place to park. There are some cafe’s just off the motorways were you get better food at lower prices and they want you to park.
muckles:
Correct on 2 counts, they are taking the [ZB], and they don’t care about truckers.
Wrong on 1 count, A truck driver doesn’t spend much money, but coach full of OAP’s or a car full of a family on holiday that’s were the real money is, if they could get rid of trucks off the services they would and they only facility we would be able to use is to diesel up.
You are spot on there muckles,but I was talking from my point of view as a Trucker,
My feelings about choice,service,■■■■ food and high prices also apply when I go to these places with my family
I think we should just donate our entire road network, including the service areas, to the French Government who seem to understand how to run a road network.
I’ll tell you what makes me laugh about motorway services
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TRUCKERS
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you whinge and whine about how much they charge for a meal or a coffee or whatever
WHEN as a so called PROFESSIONAL driver you should know when you need to stop (drivers hours and all that [zb]) and plan ahead so that when you do have to stop you dont have to pay the extortionate rates they charge
Good news the Government has given the go ahead tom the highways agency for rest ares to be built on the motorway network similar to the French Aire du’s .
Wonder how long it will take for them to get around to actually building them tho
SimonRS2k:
WHEN as a so called PROFESSIONAL driver you should know when you need to stop (drivers hours and all that [zb]) and plan ahead so that when you do have to stop you dont have to pay the extortionate rates they charge
Thats ok until you get held up at a tip or behind an accident and you are in an area of the country where you dont know where the layby’s are just off the motorway network.
Not all drivers know every part of the country.
SimonRS2K:
I’ll tell you what makes me laugh about motorway services
.
.
TRUCKERS
.
.you whinge and whine about how much they charge for a meal or a coffee or whatever
WHEN as a so called PROFESSIONAL driver you should know when you need to stop (drivers hours and all that [zb]) and plan ahead so that when you do have to stop you dont have to pay the extortionate rates they charge
simon
Thats ok if you are on a regular run Simon, some drivers will have a load for A and then deliver to B. Who knows where C might be.
You cant always plan when and where your break is due or when you will run out of time.
I totally object to the prices charged too, even cigarettes are more than everywhere else. Crisps have to be bought in big bags and the Tiger and Avocado sandwiches are always past the sell by date
The French do seem to have the motorway system sorted, They have decent service areas with all facilities at about 40km intervals and there is normally a large parking area with toilets and picnic areas between the fuel stops
Wheel Nut:
The French do seem to have the motorway system sorted, They have decent service areas with all facilities at about 40km intervals and there is normally a large parking area with toilets and picnic areas between the fuel stops
SimonRS2K:
I’ll tell you what makes me laugh about motorway services
.
.
TRUCKERS
.
.you whinge and whine about how much they charge for a meal or a coffee or whatever
WHEN as a so called PROFESSIONAL driver you should know when you need to stop (drivers hours and all that [zb]) and plan ahead so that when you do have to stop you dont have to pay the extortionate rates they charge
simon
Thats ok if you are on a regular run Simon, some drivers will have a load for A and then deliver to B. Who knows where C might be.
You cant always plan when and where your break is due or when you will run out of time.
I totally object to the prices charged too, even cigarettes are more than everywhere else. Crisps have to be bought in big bags and the Tiger and Avocado sandwiches are always past the sell by date
The French do seem to have the motorway system sorted, They have decent service areas with all facilities at about 40km intervals and there is normally a large parking area with toilets and picnic areas between the fuel stops
But thats the whole point wheel nut YOU know that you never know where you’re going to be at a certain time so stock up and be prepared
WHEN as a so called PROFESSIONAL driver you should know when you need to stop (drivers hours and all that [zb]) and plan ahead so that when you do have to stop you dont have to pay the extortionate rates they charge
I’ll have some of what your drinking Simon. It seems to make you able to see into the future so you can miss the traffic jams ahead.
Also, If you are on a long drive then you don’t want to come off of the motorway. as well as the fact many companies prefer you to overnight at the MSA, I have worked for a few that insisted I overnight in them. Another reason is if you have a high value load on, you only want to stop in places that have lots of people around. These are just a few reasons, more avaliable if you need them.
So why shouldnt we expect decent food and service? We expect it everywhere else. Personally I refuse to buy from them unless it is absolutly vital.
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it’s okay stocking up and cooking in the cab, but you still have to stop somewhere and taking an excusion onto unkown roads in the hope that you’ll find a layby and then someway of getting back on the motorway without going miles out of your way is not always possible especially when you are running short of hours because of delays in tipping or accidents.
I avoid MSA’s but sometimes there is no other option.
The point im trying to make is you know that eventually you will have to stop somewhere be it a layby or truckstop or wherever why not be prepared with your own gear bought from somewhere else so that when you get to said truckstop you dont have to pay the riddiculous prices they charge
muckles:
I avoid MSA’s but sometimes there is no other option.
Muckles theres nothing wrong with using msa’s its when they use you thats the problem why not use them for the essential things like showers/toilets/parking and get your own food from elsewhere before you need to park on the msa
SimonRS2K:
The point im trying to make is you know that eventually you will have to stop somewhere be it a layby or truckstop or wherever why not be prepared with your own gear bought from somewhere else so that when you get to said truckstop you dont have to pay the riddiculous prices they charge
simon
The trouble with that theory is you still have to pay ridiculous prices just to park there even without buying food
SimonRS2K:
The point im trying to make is you know that eventually you will have to stop somewhere be it a layby or truckstop or wherever why not be prepared with your own gear bought from somewhere else so that when you get to said truckstop you dont have to pay the riddiculous prices they charge
simon
The trouble with that theory is you still have to pay ridiculous prices just to park there even without buying food
Well i’ll admit theres nothing you can do about that thats the price you have to pay for secure “ish” parking with toilets and showers, but the food and drink thing you can do something about
My company insists that I park overnight at a services,I now on principle stop and put my kettle on,I wont anymore buy expensive drinks,which means me stopping for longer than I want to but thats just the way it has to be ,but the point im making is that I park 3/4 nights a week at the services it costs £10-£15 pound to park there overnight,which fair enough I get the money back but I and im sure many other people would agree you expect better food and service for the prices they charge.
Im dont usually WHINGE simon,but many dont have the choice and have to put up with shoddy service,If you have a problem with something in this world you should stand up and be counted,not be part of the silent majority who are not happy with things,but cant be bothered to complain,letting big companies make more even money out of them.
Bikemonkey (sorry i dont know your name) im not having a dig at you what im trying to say is if nobody bought from these places perhaps they would do something about it meaning the strongest voice to these companies would be the silence of cash registers
living in a fantasy world how much would it cost the msa’s to put a couple of porta cabins in the lorry parks
use one as a toilet and wash/shower area and rent one out to some clver little caterer who could whip up a decent meal at a reasonable price
the rent they recieved from the cafe would more than cover the cost of the upkeep of the shower area
and if they kept standards up food good and prices down the cafes would make a mint
I have never used my truck as a restaurant in 30 years. I want somewhere to park where I can get reasonable food at reasonable prices.
So my choice is: I dont carry lots of food and cooking equipment in my truck. After 15 hours plus I am not going to start cooking and washing up in a tin box.
I just want to be treated like I am treated in other countries
When I tip in West Brom tomorrow, I dont know my next destination, so a cab full of food would go to waste if I am booked on the night ferry
how much would it cost the msa’s to put a couple of porta cabins in the lorry parks
