‘Provide facilities at heavy vehicle parking zones’

Asri appreciates having the Pulau Indah Food Station in Port Klang because of facilities like a food court,surau and washrooms.

FOR the past eight years, Pulau Indah Food Station (PIFS) located along the Pulau Indah Highway in Port Klang, Selangor, has been a regular stop for lorry drivers to rest, perform their prayers and have a meal.

Most of the food shops here are open by 7am and closed after lunch except for one restaurant, which is open until 7pm.

Lorry driver Asri Mukhlis, a Sabahan who has been working with a logistics company in Port Klang for the past four years, often stops there when he has a consignment at Westport.

“After 14 years as a driver, I really appreciate rest areas with clean toilets.

“The surau is clean and comfortable and the food is not bad. When we have a nice place to rest, it reduces our tiredness. This makes us more alert on the road,” said Asri.

But it is not always guaranteed that Asri can take his breaks here as parking is limited. There are only six bays available for lorries at this rest area.

Most drivers, weary from their long journeys often park by the roadside and risk getting fined. During peak hours, as many as 11 lorries can be found there.

More parking bays

Long-haul drivers like Asri can now heave a sigh of relief as Klang Municipal Council (MPK) has planned to gazette more parking lots for heavy vehicles in Port Klang, which has the busiest port in the country.

One of the proposed lots is at Jalan Perigi Nanas 8/4, just 2km from PIFS.

To the trucking community, this is an ideal location. Opposite it is the Customs Department where they can get their consignment documents processed.

Surrounding the area are a number of restaurants and if the PIFS rest area is full, the Jalan Perigi Nanas 8/4 parking lot would be a good next option.

MPK Property Valuation and Management Department deputy director Afizah Ahmad said seven other locations, including Jalan Perigi Nanas 8/4, have been listed for consideration by the municipality’s Town and Country Planning Department.

They are at Jalan Kem and Lingkaran Sultan Mohamed 1 in Bandar Sultan Sulaiman Industrial Park; Lorong Seri Gambut 1, Jalan Sungai Pinang 5/3, and Jalan Sungai Pinang 4/10 in Pulau Indah Industrial Park and Jalan Bestari 2A and Jalan SKI 4/KU7 in Taman Sungai Kapar Indah.

She said the council’s decision to allocate more designated parking area for heavy vehicles was based on the growing number of lorries on the roads and at the request of those in the industry.

“The locations for the parking lots for heavy vehicles are either in industrial zones or near housing areas where there are recurring issues of heavy vehicles parked by the roadside.

“Their locations were determined at the council’s management and technical development meeting,” said Afizah.

With the exception of Jalan Kem, which has been allocated by MPK as a depot for towed vehicles, applications for the rest of the sites have been submitted to the Klang District and Land Office.

Currently, MPK has three heavy vehicle parking lots – two in Bandar Sultan Sulaiman and one at Jalan Seruling 59 in Taman Klang Jaya.

The two in Bandar Sultan Sulaiman, measuring 4.77ha with a capacity to hold 170 container trucks and 5.98ha to accommodate 255 respectively, have been rented out to operators for between 22sen and 25sen per 0.093sq m.

The rental agreement is renewable for a tenure of between one and two years.

The 1.8ha lot in Taman Klang Jaya with a capacity for 30 heavy vehicles to park is under MPK’s purview and is open to public.

MPK councillor Lee Fu Haw said the many public complaints he received convinced him that the allocation of parking lots for heavy vehicles was necessary.

“We are the biggest port in Malaysia. There are many heavy vehicles on our roads and with it, many complaints about drivers parking by the roadside in housing areas causing traffic congestion and raising safety concerns,” said Lee.

MPK statistics showed there were 377 complaints on indiscriminate parking of heavy vehicles in 2021. Last year, the number of complaints increased to 553. A majority of them were in housing areas and road shoulders.

Points to consider

The Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Trucking Association (Seklta) and Association of Malaysian Hauliers (AMH) welcomed MPK’s move to have more parking spaces for heavy vehicles.

Both associations hoped the proposed lots would be better planned and located near washrooms with shower facilities and food options.

Seklta treasurer Darren Tan said the three proposed locations at Pulau Indah Industrial Park were less than 20 minutes from Westport.

“The proposed parking lots in Jalan Sungai Pinang 5/3 and Jalan Sungai Pinang 4/10 for example, are located near major factories like Kawan Food, Mewah Oils and Ikea distribution centre.

“A transport company that has long-term contracts with any of the factories in this area will find these lots useful while waiting to load or unload their consignments,” said Tan.

On the suitability of the other five proposed parking lots, Tan said from the logistics point of view, the ones being considered opposite Taman Kem, off Leboh Raja Lumu at Jalan Beringin and Lorong Seri Gambut 1 in Bandar Putera were strategic.

“There are many lorries parked along Leboh Raja Lumu, which is a safety concern to other motorists. Lorong Seri Gambut 1 is very near a village and many residents there are lorry drivers,” he said.

Tan said having parking lots for heavy vehicles near drivers’ neighbourhoods would be ideal in terms of saving travelling time to and from work.

“It would be very tiring for a driver to have to ride back on his motorbike from a depot that is far away from his home after his shift. Also during rainy weather, there will be delays. Travelling on motorbikes is not very safe due to the many heavy vehicles on the roads there,” he added.

To ensure the implementation of these lots are managed well, AHM president Soo Chee Yeong said engagement between stakeholders and the council was vital.

“AMH is ready to work with the authorities to assist in the planning process by sharing traffic data like the number of lorries frequenting an area where a heavy vehicle parking lot is being proposed, for example.

“This is to enable the council to determine how much space should be given to a particular lot in a given area,” he said.

Due to the weight of heavy vehicles that can go up to a maximum of 38 tonnes, Soo said allocating parking lots for this class of transportation was not simply about the availability of space.

“There are certain specifications that must be considered. At my own yard, our roads are filled with crusher runs that can accommodate up to 100 tonnes of load,” he said, adding that normal roads like the ones in housing estates were not built to that type of specification.

“As such, consideration must be given to entrance and exit roads leading to and from these proposed parking lots to withstand the weight of these vehicles,” he said, adding that on such roads, good drainage would be another consideration.

On the allocation of such lots to be near housing areas for drivers’ convenience, Soo said due to the weight and size factor, he would not recommend it.

“It will damage these roads. It will also be hard to justify the investment needed to upgrade the surrounding infrastructure for the small number of lorry drivers residing in an area,” he said, adding that it was not safe for heavy vehicles to use residential roads.

Call for more publicity

Industry players are calling for MPK to publicise its existing heavy vehicle parking facilities.

Klang-based transport company owner and Seklta member Charles Ewe said he had heard about such facilities but there were no details, such as their whereabouts, information on the parking operator and the conditions a user needed to fulfil to qualify for a parking spot.

“It would help if MPK could start by making such information available on its website and social media pages. A signboard to indicate their presence would also be of help to truckers,” he said.

Ewe also said once the new lots start operating, MPK’s enforcement team should carry out periodic checks to ensure they would not be misused by unscrupulous heavy vehicle companies as permanent parking spaces or dumping ground for engine parts or abandoned vehicles.

Kuala Selangor Municipal Council (MPKS) has also allocated lots for the parking of heavy vehicles.

Council secretary Mohamad Yusli Askandar said three could be found at Eco Business Park V in Bandar Puncak Alam.

“Paving has been completed for one of these lots measuring 0.4ha. One measuring 0.2ha is under construction while work has yet to start on the third lot, also measuring 0.4ha,” he said, adding that these lots would be managed by EcoWorld.

The condition for every new industrial development proposal, he said, was that it must come with provisions for the parking of heavy vehicles.

He added that this was despite the Land Public Transport Agency stipulating that it was the responsibility of the heavy vehicle permit owners to have their own parking sites.