“Safe Areas for Industrial Vehicles” is an initiative of the European Commission to ensure road safety for road users and drivers of industrial vehicles. These areas are designed to limit the risk of accidents and damage to vehicles and infrastructure by providing a protected area where trucks can park and rest during long driving days. The European Commission has been working for years with national governments and stakeholders to develop uniform standards for safe areas and to encourage their adoption throughout Europe.
What is meant by industrial vehicles: classification
Before delving into the topic of Safe Areas for Industrial Vehicles, let’s see how they are classified by the Highway Code.
Industrial vehicles are heavy vehicles used for transporting goods or for work. They can be classified as:
- Trucks: used to transport goods over long distances.
- Trucks: used to transport materials and equipment.
- Trailers: used to transport heavy loads.
- Buses: used to transport people.
- Light commercial vehicles: used to transport goods and materials over long distances.
- Special vehicles: used for specific tasks such as road rescue, transportation of construction equipment, etc.
Safe and Secure Truck Parking Areas (SSTPA): what is it?
This term refers to safe rest areas for drivers where they can rest before getting back behind the wheel. Although it appears to be a simple measure it took years for this to be regularized and for rest to be conceived as a fundamental part of ensuring the safety of drivers and all road users.
Dating back to August 2022 is the signing on the Convention between the Central Committee of the Roll of Road Haulers and Sogesid to build safe and secure rest areas.
The term protected areas is intended to protect the safety of truck drivers, emphasize the importance of rest and increased security in warding off cargo theft.
The commitment of the Ministry of Sustainable Infrastructure and Mobility (Mims) and Sogesid Spa.
A number of safety regulations will need to be taken into account when implementing these areas, calledSafe and Secure Truck Parking Areas (SSTPA) according to European EU-Parking standards.
A national call for trucking safe areas will be issued that will define participation requirements and administrative procedures. The call will use EU funds, and the Committee will also use Sogesid’s support to study the functional and technical requirements needed to implement SSTPAs and to analyze their financial needs.
Enrico Giovannini, then Minister of Infrastructure and Sustainable Mobility, made every effort before the handover to Minister Salvini to sign such a convention.
His intent from the start was not only to quickly implement the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRP), but also to speed up interventions that would increase the safety of transportation and workers in the sector, also to improve the competitiveness of Italian companies.
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