Lorry park selection criteria and drivers’ preferences : a study from the UK

Increasing urbanization and economic activities has intensified the need for logistical processes in cities. This leads to higher levels of urban freight transport, which is associated with negative social and environmental impacts. Advances in urban logistics can help to alleviate these problems; the recent literature suggests that the creation of appropriate lorry park facilities can represent one of the possible solutions to the social and environmental issues connected to freight transport in urban areas. However, in order to be effective, such facilities need to be properly designed; studies which identify critical success factors for lorry park operations are currently lacking. As such, the purpose of this research is to identify the main criteria which lorry drivers consider when selecting a lorry park facility. In order to achieve these aims, a questionnaire survey was designed; responses from 99 lorry drivers operating in the United Kingdom were collected. Through descriptive statistics, followed by the usage of a conjoint analysis, the main results show that attributes related to food, price, and security are the most important to lorry drivers and are likely to determine the success of such initiatives. These results can provide information to policy and decision-makers related to the design of lorry park facilities in order to achieve the desired results in urban areas.