A security plan procedure for Heavy Goods Vehicles parking areas: An application to the Lazio Region (Italy)

•A methodology to plan actions for security in parking areas is defined.•The willingness to pay of drivers is compared to the costs of improving security.•The lack of HGVs parking slots is quantified and new locations are proposed.•The willingness to pay does not meet the cost of increased security.•Public subsidies are required. The growth of Europe’s road freight transport and the existing regulations on driving time call for a parking provision review in the European road network while ensuring the utmost security for drivers and trucks. Despite the efforts of the European community on this issue, the design, construction and operation of Heavy Good Vehicles (HGVs) parking areas are yet not well defined, with a lot of differences from country to country. The result is that the number of existing and planned infrastructures is far from being capable of satisfying the driver demand for secure and comfortable parking spaces. This paper focuses on a security HGVs parking plan for the Lazio Region in Italy. The study outlines a methodology to plan future actions to improve security in parking areas. Several steps of the methodology are based on data collected by a detailed survey to Public and Private Administrations, Italian haulage companies and truck drivers; the survey covers a large section of the study. Based on the defined methodology the lack of secure parking areas for HGVs in Lazio Region is proved and measures to provide more secure parking areas are planned. Moreover the costs of improving security in parking areas are quantified and compared with the willingness to pay of truck drivers to ensure the parking areas will be financially sustainable.