DEKRA collaborates with consortium to develop new standard
New Standard for Safe and Secure Truck Parks
Europe will be implementing a new standard for safe and secure truck parks. On November 6, 2018, EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc presented the new standard and accompanying study to the EU Parliament. With their transport and certification knowhow, DEKRA experts helped to compile the list of requirements and have made a huge contribution to ensuring the high level of safety and security offered by the new standard.
- EU commissioner Violeta Bulc presents new standard and accompanying study to the EU Parliament
- Europe-wide protection for drivers, goods and vehicles
- Independent audits ensure high standards across Europe
The “Safe and Secure Truck Park Area (SSTPA)” standard is designed to ensure that truck drivers all over Europe will in the future be able to spend their weekly rest periods in an environment that is safe and secure. The standard ensures not only that goods and vehicles are protected, but also that drivers are not in any physical danger. A consortium of transport associations, transport experts and DEKRA – in its capacity as a certification company – joined forces to develop this standard on behalf of the EU.
“This standard represents an important step toward improving working conditions for drivers and ensuring that their cargo is safe and secure,” said Lothar Weihofen, who heads the DEKRA Business Assurance service unit, at the presentation of the new standard in Brussels. “An important factor for ensuring its successful implementation is the neutral auditing and certification of rest facilities by an independent third party in order to establish a consistently high degree of safety and security throughout Europe.”
DEKRA had already gathered some experience in this field after conducting a pilot and research project some years ago on behalf of the EU and helping to draft the old “EU Label” criteria catalog for safe and secure truck parks. The standard with its different provision levels underwent ongoing revision and refinement thanks to the regular evaluation of the overall results by DEKRA and the sharing of knowledge among the members of the European Secure Parking Organisation (ESPORG).
The SSTPA standard has already been implemented at various pilot truck parks including Béziers in the south of France, Barcelona in Spain and Lugoj in Romania. The truck parks offer a defined, minimum provision level regarding catering facilities, sanitary systems, lighting, video surveillance and security.