Parcel booking expert ParcelCompare has warned that parking fines could push delivery costs up this Christmas if parking attendants don’t show the industry a little more leniency.
New figures show UK councils have made a record £819million from parking operations: 10% higher than last year – and the company claims many of these will have been for delivery drivers.
“Parking charges and penalty fines accounted for an eye-watering £1.582billion across the 353 local authorities,” said ParcelCompare’s head of consumer research David Jinks. He said Westminster scooped the most, up 31% on the previous year, bringing in a total of £73.2million. “That’s because lorry and van drivers are five times more likely to get a parking fine in London than elsewhere in the country,” he said.
But Jinks warned that the implications for the delivery market could prove expensive. “The sad thing is Scrooge-like council’s actions will result in missed or delayed deliveries as drivers rush to leave a space – and increased delivery costs for everyone as companies struggle to cover the cost of ever-increasing fines,” he said.
A recent survey of 85 freight companies revealed they were issued with a total of 16,043 tickets in just one year. Of these, more than four-fifths were issued in London – where total fines were almost eight times higher than other areas of the UK.
“UK delivery companies have to meet the cost of record fines imposed by overzealous parking attendants, especially in London; and that ultimately means increased delivery prices. Vans are allowed to unload on double yellows where there are no other restrictions. But the unloading must be ‘visible and continuous’ and take no longer than 20 minutes. It’s the “visible and continuous” part that causes problems. In many cases attendants will watch a vehicle for no more than 5 minutes before sticking on a parking ticket if no sign of the activity is seen,” said Jinks. “Drivers delivering into homes and stores are being penalised, particularly at Christmas,” he said.
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