Villagers install roadside toilet for Amazon HGV drivers.
Discussion
Locals in Hoo install a loo.
“ Villagers have got so fed up of lorry drivers pooing on the roadside, they’ve set up a toilet and invited people to use it. Locals in Hoo, Kent, have been complaining for more than two years about the behaviour of HGV drivers visiting an Amazon warehouse nearby. They say the drivers park on grass verges alongside busy roads and defecate next to their vehicles – leaving the mess for villagers to clear up.”
Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2020/12/05/villagers-install-r...
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t happenscoppernorks said:
Could Amazon not supply toilet facilities at the depot that their own drivers could avail themselves of ?
It's not as if the b astard Amazon pay tax or anything.
They do. It's not as if the b astard Amazon pay tax or anything.
Amazon toilets are usually top-notch (in driving terms). Massively clean and you even have Dyson hand dryers. They are also one of the few companies that allow visiting drivers to have FREE decent quality hot drinks (they have bean style coffee machines). Free Wifi and comfortable waiting facilities (if a bit sterile).
The problem is that Amazon won't let you in early - either to collect or to deliver (they try and be flexible sometimes). So you have lorries parked up outside, with no facilities. Some of the bigger sites like Coventry have a biggish truck park outside.
Side note - Amazon don't have any HGV drivers on the road. All the Amazon trailers you see are subcontractors pulling for them. They don't employ a single one on the road in the UK (they do have some shunters on site but never driving on the road).
The issue isn't with Amazon but with the local councils. When the grant planning permission they should insist on parking and toilet facilities. They could even provide them... But they won't and they don't.
PS - that article has so many things wrong with it I cba to list them all. For a start ZERO drivers are knocking on doors asking if someone's house is the Amazon DC. But let's not let the truth get in the way of a good story. Amazon doesn't charge you for waiting with a trailer either... It's totally made up rubbish.
Edited by milkround on Sunday 6th December 00:50
It’s not the duty of councils to provide parking and toilet facilities for a development when granting planning permission, it’s for the developer to do so. Councils require parking provision by a developer in the interests of highway safety, but I’ve never seen any requirement in national or local planning policy for a developer to provide toilet facilities for a warehouse/distribution development such as Amazon operate.
Edited by Escort3500 on Sunday 6th December 08:23
We had similar issues round our way at Gatwick (pre lockdown) with private hire drivers fertilising the hedgerows free of charge.
One side effect of covid is this has all stopped, but many locals (including me) think the airport should have implemented a scheme in which private hire drivers (or companies) pay a fee in return for dedicated facilities.
But people want a cheap taxi to be available "now", and this is the social cost that the market doesn't deal well with.
Councils are busy closing public conveniences because people misuse them and they are incredibly expensive on a per piss basis.
I do recall seeing portaloos located in various lay-bys, which is perhaps a cheaper solution. Though I suspect one would need to gird one's loins before stepping inside one of those, and can only imagine the distress you'd need to be in before doing so. A quiet hedgerow seems infinity more inviting.
One side effect of covid is this has all stopped, but many locals (including me) think the airport should have implemented a scheme in which private hire drivers (or companies) pay a fee in return for dedicated facilities.
But people want a cheap taxi to be available "now", and this is the social cost that the market doesn't deal well with.
Councils are busy closing public conveniences because people misuse them and they are incredibly expensive on a per piss basis.
I do recall seeing portaloos located in various lay-bys, which is perhaps a cheaper solution. Though I suspect one would need to gird one's loins before stepping inside one of those, and can only imagine the distress you'd need to be in before doing so. A quiet hedgerow seems infinity more inviting.
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