EC & TAPA EMEA become Parking Partners
The European Commission (EC) has approved TAPA EMEA as an official training centre for its Safe & Secure Truck Parking Areas (SSTPA) Standard to support the development of a network of safe and secure parking areas throughout the EU, improving resting conditions for drivers and protecting them from violence and cargo crime.
The Commission has previously identified a lack of 100,000 overnight parking spaces for heavy-duty vehicles, as well as a lack of safe and secure parking areas.
SSTPA supports the EU’s trans-European transport network policy, the TEN-T policy, to develop coherent, efficient, multimodal, and high-quality transport infrastructure across the EU. It comprises railways, inland waterways, short sea shipping routes and roads linking urban nodes, maritime and inland ports, airports and terminals, all regarded as core and comprehensive TENT-T networks.
Through its 2022 CEF Transport call, the Commission is also making available €5.12 billion in funding to projects targeting new upgraded and improved European transport infrastructure, with grants for parking locations of between 50% and 85%, depending on the location. A new round of funding is expected to be released later this year. A basic criterion for funding approval is the certification of parking locations according to the SSTPA Standard.
“The growth of safe and secure truck parking sites in Europe and across EMEA is one of TAPA EMEA’s strongest focus areas to help reduce the >60% of cargo crimes involving trucks parks in unsecured parking locations. The European Commission is equally committed to building improved parking infrastructure and, as an SSTPA approved training centre, TAPA EMEA will now be able to play an even bigger role in helping to protect drivers, vehicles, and cargoes across our region,” said Thorsten Neumann, President & CEO of TAPA EMEA.
TAPA EMEA has already confirmed the dates of its first two SSTPA training events; 16 May and 17 August 2023. These will be dedicated online SSTPA training courses designed for representatives of Parking Place Operators, Auditors whose supply chain resilience relies on safe and secure parking.
The EC SSTPA Standard was officially launched in 2022 and currently has seen certifications at 17 parking sites in Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Romania, and Spain, according to information available on the EC website.
Separately, the Association will also continue to grow its own Parking Security Requirements (PSR) Standard. It now covers 89 parking sites – up 14% year-on-year – in 15 countries across the EMEA region, providing over 9,500 individual truck parking spaces. TAPA EMEA’s PSR training courses will also explain both programmes, as Markus Prinz, the Association’s Senior Manager, Standards & Training, explained: “We see added value in knowledge transfer for the two Standards which, in many aspects, cover the same content and requirements. In the new PSR 2023 launched in January, we already provide a direct comparison between PSR and SSTPA to help Parking Place Operators and the buyers of parking places understand the benefits of both Standards. Ultimately, of course, individual operators will decide which Standard they wish to use or whether to go for both Standards, which will be possible through a single audit by Independent Audit Bodies (IABs) recognised by both TAPA EMEA and the Commission.”
To find out more about a single audit for both Standards, PPOs can contact TAPA EMEA IABs DQS & SGS. Contact information for both companies can be found on the EC website
LEARN MORE ABOUT EC SSTPA
Companies interested in finding out more about the EC Safe & Secure Truck Parking Areas (SSTPA) Standard should click the link to access information, which is available in multiple languages.
TAPA EMEA has also created a table of the SSTPA requirements per level, which is also included in its training materials.
SSTPA Standard FAQs
Is SSTPA only available for new parking locations or can existing parking places apply for certification?
SSTPA certification is intended for all safe and secure parking areas, whether they are new or existing parking locations. So long as the certification criteria are met and there is a successful certification audit from an IAB approved by the EC, the certification can be granted.
Must TAPA EMEA members pay for SSTPA training?
For TAPA EMEA members, registration and participation in the exclusive SSTPA training courses, or participation in PSR training which references SSTPA comparisons, is free of charge for the owners of the assigned annual training vouchers. Each additional participant of a member entity is required to pay a fee of €200.00 in line with the requirements of all TAPA EMEA trainings.
If a non-member uses TAPA EMEA for SSTPA training, what will the cost be?
The cost for non-members will be €399.00 for the SSTPA course. The costs are also 100% creditable towards a TAPA EMEA annual membership in the same year in which the course took place.
TAPA EMEA believes the synergies between both parking Standards, and the ability to achieve certifications for both through a single audit and at a lower overall cost, will appeal to both existing PPOs and investors looking to open new parking locations.
Thorsten Neumann added: “We are proud to have been awarded this training accreditation by the EC, which follows a thorough check of TAPA EMEA’s training structure, methodology and materials. It underlines the professionalism and quality of our supply chain security courses, which have delivered training courses to over 4,000 stakeholders in the last two years.
“The real winners, however, are companies moving high value, theft targeted goods, who need access to a far bigger network of secure parking places in Europe, and, of course, drivers who will be able to park and rest safely and comfortably. With the added financial support available through the EC CEF funding programme, the opportunities to upgrade the safety and security of truck parking areas, and to open new sites, are now greater than ever. Clearly, there is a long way to go to close the gap to the extra 100,000 or more parking places needed in Europe, but through joint partnerships between key stakeholders, we can add new parking spaces at a faster rate than before, which is very welcome news for all concerned.”
TAPA EMEA’s status as an SSTPA training centre is listed here: https://eu-parkings.eu/eu-parking-training/
