Realities of logistics conditions inside Korea

“Most of the time, there is no parking space in rest-stop”, “ Oftentimes, I drive into rest-stop and just come out. Even if I am tired, I have no choice but to drive” word of Mr. Park, a 56-year-old truck driver route Incheon – Gyeonggi-do, somehow described the difficult reality that drivers are having to endure.

Lacking sleep can make drivers less alert and affect drivers’ coordination, judgment, and reaction time while driving. Accordingly,  a professor at Korea Transportation Safety Authority - Jeong Gwan-Mik, said “Incheon does not have enough space to park trucks. It is necessary to secure parking and rest spaces for trucks and drivers as much as possible”. He advised that “we need to support drivers so that they can get enough rest”.

Despite the fact that the number of trucks and goods distribution amount is increasing, facilities infrastructure to support the logistics systems such as parking spaces, rest-stops is insufficient. As a result, illegal overnight parking (parking for more than an hour from midnight to 4 PM the next day) has been increasing. According to the Incheon branch of Cargo Solidarity (화물연대), the number of illegal overnight parking cases in Incheon increased 130% from 2,500 cases in 2016 to 5,700 cases last year. In accordance with the “Garage Certificate System”, heavy cargo commercial trucks have to secure and report their parking spaces yearly. However, due to the lack of parking lots in the city center, most of the cars have their registered parking places but cannot be used as garages or the registered addresses are not actually operated as garages. There are many drivers who only rent the address to register and pay fees to the brokers. Therefore, there is no real place to put the vehicle, consequently, they are parked in residential areas.

While cognitive impairment due to lack of sleep and rest can likely cause traffic accidents, the insufficient logistics infrastructure and facilities can turn into a serious economic problem in Korean society in the future. Therefore, it is urged to create an effective and safe logistics condition with sufficient parking facilities, pick-up and set-down points as well as resting areas for drivers.

Reference:  Yoo jin-Ju, “불법 밤샘주차에 휴식.끼니 車에서 다 해결합니다”, 경인일보 (p.13)