The Transport Focus survey on lorry driver facilities was updated on 15 June 2025, revealing over 5,000 freight-crime incidents and losses exceeding £68 million at rest stops since 2020. <LINK>
A stark example: on 14 December 2024, West Yorkshire’s Roads Policing Unit forced a chase on the M606 near Bradford, seizing £70,000 of stolen whisky from a cloned lorry. “West Yorkshire Police regularly carry out proactive commercial vehicle operations to combat this and other offending on our roads,” they stated. <LINK>
Organised gangs exploit poor security, targeting major routes like the M1, M6 and A14. With nearly two-thirds of drivers left to park in unlit lay-bys—where basic fences and CCTV are absent—the risk to cargo, drivers and wider supply chains spirals.
And these gangs are not scared to come on-site.
- Mandate ANPR, lighting and secure fencing at all truck-stops.
- Fast-track legislation to treat freight crime as a high-penalty offence.
- Allocate government funding to double secure HGV parking capacity by 2027.
Half-measures won’t cut it. Protecting these critical rest facilities is essential to safeguard drivers, goods and the resilience of UK logistics.
We’re Not Just a Truck Stop – We’re One of You
At Felixstowe Truck Stop, we know first-hand what it’s like to operate a haulage business. We run trucks ourselves. We understand the risks, the tight margins, the fatigue, the vulnerability on the road – because we live it too.
That’s why we built our truck stop differently – over a year ago, with walking routes, and more.
Too many parking providers are nothing more than cash machines in disguise – all about revenue, bare-minimum services, and zero accountability. When theft, damage or abuse happens on their patch, their first instinct is to protect their business, not yours. They write it off as someone else’s problem, leaving your driver stranded, your freight exposed, and your operation out of pocket.
That is not how we work.
We’ve deliberately stayed small so we can stay connected. We know the drivers who stay here. Lou will talk to them, listen and give them some time to connect and share anything they need to. We check in with our ‘customers’. We’re not just a facility – we’re a safeguard. Because the people coming through our gates aren’t “traffic” – they’re colleagues, they become mates, they’re human beings doing a tough job that rarely gets the respect it deserves.
We built Felixstowe Truck Stop because we drivers pushed into unsafe lay-bys, or forced to choose overpriced, understaffed, indifferent motorway services. The system is broken – and it’s costing the industry good drivers and good businesses. Sure we are in it to make money, but we know the industry and we are in it for the long game.
The government keeps promising investment, but what’s needed is a smarter model. Ours works. Independent, fair-priced, no rip-offs – just safe, respectful spaces that actually look out for the drivers. If more truck stops were run this way, retention across the industry would improve, new drivers would see a future in this trade, and the human cost of transport would finally get the attention it deserves.
We’re not chasing corporate margins here. We’re protecting the people who keep Britain moving. Simple as that and we are proud of how we do it.
For media contact, andy@andyproctor.co.uk – marketing and online communications for Felixstowe Truckstop.