In response to the announcement from the Department for Transport and Kent Country Council to ban lorry drivers from taking all rest periods other than the 45mins break in seven Kent boroughs temporarily, Heidi Skinner, Policy Manager for the South at Logistics UK comments:

“Logistics UK is very frustrated the Department for Transport (DfT) and Kent Country Council (KCC) have failed to consider the welfare of lorry drivers in this decision. Access to places to rest is of paramount importance to the workers responsible for keeping goods moving across the UK and further afield; it is also required to meet their legally required rest periods under the drivers’ hours regulation. Giving only 12 working days’ notice – the ban is enforceable by £150 fine from 1 January 2021 – is also unacceptable. The ban is applicable to all lorry drivers – those traveling nationally and internationally – and almost all lorry parks in the surrounding area are at critical levels of utilisation. DfT and KCC have not provided any solution to the lack of space; we are urging them to withdraw the upcoming ban immediately.”

Logistics UK (formerly FTA) is one of the UK’s leading business groups, representing logistics businesses which are vital to keeping the UK trading, and more than seven million people directly employed in the making, selling and moving of goods. With COVID-19, Brexit, new technology and other disruptive forces driving change in the way goods move across borders and through the supply chain, logistics has never been more important to UK plc. Logistics UK supports, shapes and stands up for safe and efficient logistics, and is the only business group which represents the whole industry, with members from the road, rail, sea and air industries, as well as the buyers of freight services such as retailers and manufacturers whose businesses depend on the efficient movement of goods.