The French safe and secure parking area was named runner-up for the ESPORG Excellence in Truck Parking Award for the second year in a row after winning the prestigious title in 2022.
Truck Etape Béziers is a secure and guarded truck parking area located in the town of Vendres, on the highway A9, exit 36. It has been certified at the GOLD Level of the EU-Parking Standard. The parking area offers 350 spots and all the facilities that drivers need for their comfort and security. Indeed, their priority is to make sure drivers enjoy their stay on their site. Therefore, the parking area offers maximum security, optimal customer assistance and many complimentary services and advantages.
The SSTPA was voted the runner-up based on several criteria: comfort & health, mobility & connectivity, environmental friendliness, and service quality & customer satisfaction. Read more below about their offer in those categories:
Comfort & Health
Béziers offers several amenities to their customers in terms of food, fitness, leisure and shopping:
The restaurant is open every day from 6am to 11pm on site, with non-stop service. Drivers can eat food cooked in the Béziers kitchen by the team at the restaurant or have some snacks at the bar. The menus change daily and the parking area offers special prices for customers of the site. Drivers have a 30% discount on food upon presenting their ticket. At any time of the day, if drivers want to have some food, they can purchase drinks and snacks at the security post in the parking area.
The team offers meals that are suited to different kinds of diet. For vegetarians they offer salads and vegetarian dishes such as veggie burgers or spinach and ricotta lasagna, for pescatarians, there are a variety of fish dishes (a different fish served every day) and the parking services also offer halal meat.
Drivers can also go to the shop next to the gas station from 6am to 9pm (May-Oct) or from
6am to 8pm (Oct-Apr) to find a variety of snacks (sandwiches, charcuterie, salads…).
In addition, a fitness room is accessible to customers of the parking area, free of charge and exclusively for their use with the following amenities:
- 3 treadmills,
- 1 fitness bike,
- 1 spinning bike,
- 1 elliptical bike,
- 1 leg press station,
- 1 weight bench,
- 2 rowers.
There is also a relaxing room with TV and all the sports channels. The parking area broadcasts Championship’s football games and main sports events.
There is a football pitch and a petanque ground (petanque balls provided) and 50 bikes are available to borrow, free of charge.
The extensive services don’t stop there. The parking area also offers laundry with 4 dryers and 4 washers and will be building a new facility with 5 washers and 5 dryers. In addition, they also offer
- a WIFI portal gives essential information for customers in the language set on their phone
- staff who have received first-aid and rescue training.
- a bucolic environment, surrounded by green areas
- ideal location, near the beach which can be easily reached by the bikes lent out for free to customers
- three different picnic areas with tables
- a strict protocol to clean showers; we make sure they are cleaned after every use. They are accessible 24/7
- a watering point is available for drivers to fill up plastic jugs or to wash their dishes
- he whole parking area is covered by photovoltaic panels so that our customers are protected from the rain and from the sun in summer
- all staff can speak several languages (English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Russian) and carry a translation tablet
- a free inflation station for tires is also available
- a truck wash is located right next to the parking, where drivers can go without appointment 5/7 days.
Mobility & Connectivity
The hotel Althéa ** is located 5km away from the parking area, and they offer a booking service for drivers so that they can respect the European regulation on weekly break taken out of the truck. To make the drivers’ lives easier, the parking area organises a shuttle to the hotel and back to the parking.
The site has its own fuel station specific for heavy trucks with 4 paths and 8 GO nozzles, 5 AD Blue nozzles, and 6 NRG nozzles. GO, NRG and AD Blue products are available on every path.
Besides credit card and cash, they accept the majority of petrol cards: IDS, DKV, UTA, Shell,
Andamur, E100, EDC, Eurowag, Global Star, On Turtle, Morgan Fuels, Tankpool and GO Tankpass and their own FAL Distri.. The driver can also pay with all the toll badges. They also have some agreements with companies allowing customers to pay monthly according to the actual frequency of their stays
The parking area is ready to offer HVO 100 in their conventional gas station. At the point of their application it was forbidden to sell in a gas station, but they have the necessary authorization and needed storage to offer it as soon as possible.
The whole parking area and the restaurant / bar / fitness room / realxing room have unlimited access to high speed free WIFI, with 20 Wi-Fi hotspots on the parking area and 6.5 ha covered.
Staying Up-to-Date
On their website, it is possible to check the number of spots available in real time. Drivers can also book their spot at the parking by filling a form online or by calling the parking area.
Drivers can now book their spots through Bosch, Otra and Travis apps and thanks to their WIFI Portal, customers can know about the latest news and events (football games, dishes of the day..).
Environmental Friendliness
Truck Etape Béziers is dedicated to sustainability and implements several green initiatives:
They have launched a project to implement electric charging units for trucks:
- 4 slow charging units inside the parking area itself, we are waiting to set the network to install units on all the aisles
- 2 fast charging units in front of the parking area (400 kwh)
At the parking area, 5 electric units (15 outlets) are available for drivers to charge their refrigerated trucks. In case customers do not have cables with them, they can get one from the staff on site.
They are currently working on another project to implement a CNG/ LNG station and another to implement a green hydrogen charging unit, both of which they plan to open by the end of 2024.
More Initiatives
The safe and secure parking area embodies environmental friendliness at its core with several initiatives:
- electric power allows 65% of energy savings and the electricity they use is completely eco-friendly thanks to the photovoltaic panels on site.
- the parking area is entirely covered by photovoltaic panels. 23 760 panels cover the parking
area and have a power of 4.5 GW. - Waste sorting is done at the restaurant
- all staff have an electric car for them to be able to cross the area
- a hydrocarbon dispatcher with knife gate valve
- an emergency area in order to store liquid wastes
Service Quality & Customer Satisfaction
Drivers are at the core of Truck Etape Bézier’s concerns. Indeed, in addition to the security offered at the parking, they try their best to take care of drivers wellbeing, especially knowing how hard their job can be.
Therefore the parking area offers:
- Free showers for customers: 25 showers and 20 WC open 24/24. They are currently adding 13 showers, due to be built by September 2024. 11 showers for men and 2 for women.
- Bikes available for free: 50 bikes fitted with bags, basket to be able to carry groceries in case drivers go to the supermarkets located near the site, LIDL and Carrefour at 10 km. Because safety is a priority, helmets and safety vests are available for customers using a bike
- Free fitness room for drivers so that they can do some sports during their stay
- High Speed Free Wifi available on the whole site
- Free electric charging outlets for frigorific trucks : on the parking we have 15 units(cables are also available)
- 30% off at the restaurant
- Customer service at the restaurant/bar/living area 365 days from 6am to 11pm
- Human presence 24/24 at the parking
- A team to greet drivers from 6pm to 9pm every day to have a direct exchange with them, explain the facilities and services of the site and to take in account their feedback. They also give them a flyer showing all the features on site.
Congratulations on being recognized as one of the top parking areas in Europe for the third year in a row, Truck Etape Béziers! For more information, visit their site at https://www.trucketape-beziers.com.
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