------------------
Content:
Coach and Truckers
MSO Home - Misc MSAs - Coach and Truckers
Driving a lorry or LGV in the UK is very different to driving a car. For a start, they are much bigger and have completley different rules. This page does not aim to focus on that - rather to look at service areas for truckers.
On the motorway
Almost all motorway services allow lorries and coaches, and those that don't will have it clearly signposted. You'll find that motorway services offer many facilities (such as showers, but they're not at some of the older services), but the quality of them is often questioned.
The larger service area operators offer many deals for registered coach and truck drivers, such as coach drivers who stop at a Moto or Welcome Break being eligible to eat for 1p. There's more information on them in the 'Further Reading' section below, but be aware that people have been exploiting the Coach Driver's Clubs and RoadChef have withdrawn many of the advantages. Be warned, you might not get what you expected. Moto have recently replaced theirs with something more modern and shrunk down.
Coach and truck drivers should also be aware that they face higher parking charges.
Off the motorway
Britain has a growing amount of roads which are almost as good as motorways but they're not officially one. They are often lined with small services which lorries and coaches can't use. Things are even more complex on local roads, where you are faced with not only a lack of places to stop but a lack of roads to use. This means you should know where the truckstops are - see below.
Sometimes a non-motorway road will meet a motorway at a junction with a full-blow motorway service area. Unless it's signed otherwise, trucks and lorries are allowed at these and they are announced using blue-backed signs, as pictured on the right.
Truckstops
Truckstops are like motorway services but they focus their facilities on lorries and sometimes, coaches. They can be located anywhere - from the centre of a small village to a busy motorway junction. The quality and size of them varies, but most of them are owned by a small group or family. The amount of them appears to be slowly shrinking, but there are quite a few websites which give information on the ones which are left (see below).
Further Reading
- Highways Agency Truckstop Guide
. An official guide to approved truckstops close to motorways in England. - Moto Trucker. Information for lorry drivers on Moto services and their offers.
- Moto Coach. As above, but for coach drivers.
- Welcome Break - Truck Drivers. Information for truck drivers on Welcome Break services.
- Welcome Break - Coach Drivers. The Welcome Break Coach Drivers club.
- RoadChef - Truck Drivers. Information for HGV drivers on RoadChef services.
- RoadChef - Coach Drivers. Information for coach drivers on RoadChef services.
- Extra - Truck Drivers. Information for truck drivers on Extra services.
- Extra - Coach Drivers. Information for coach drivers on Extra services.
- The Stop 24 Coach Club. Offers for coach drivers using Folkestone services.
- Transport Cafe. Information on transport cafes and truckstops for lorry drivers.
- Coach Driver Forum. A society for coach drivers with a variety of information.
With thanks to 'Nik the Elf' for the RoadChef warning.