Superior Homes Kenya has started construction works for a Sh. 350 million modern roadside truck stop complex at Sultan Hamud town along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway.
The mega truck stop is expected to provide all-in-one safe and secure resting points for long-distance truck drivers.
Dubbed Supastop, the truck stop will feature modern amenities for long-distance transit drivers, including safe and secure parking, fuel station, decent and affordable accommodation, a variety of cheap eateries, convenience stores, clean restrooms, clean showers, prayer rooms, and a health facility, all in one development.
Supastop will also offer other services, including truck and other vehicle maintenance and repair, driver training, and logistics services.
Superior Homes intends to tap into the market gap of inadequate and informal truck stop facilities in Kenya by providing self-contained service and rest point areas to truck drivers along the various transit routes within the country, with the development at Sultan Hamud being the pilot for a further 30 proposed locations along the Northern Corridor.
Sultan Hamud is identified as a significant parking spot for long-distance trucks, with an estimated 300 trucks parking along the roadside every night.
It is the centre of a 145 km stretch between Mtito Andei and Salama but lacks decent accommodation facilities for long-distance transit drivers.
Also speaking during the launch event, Superior Homes Kenya CEO Shiv Arora noted that their primary drive to put up a modern stopover complex facility was driven by the gap in the Kenyan market where long-distance transit drivers lack decent and affordable resting places.
“With the demand for goods and services increasing and the growing concern to promote road safety for road users, the need for safe rest stops has never been greater. The implementation of this project also provides direct and indirect employment opportunities to communities around Sultan Hamud and its environs, contributing to the people’s well-being,” says Superior Homes Kenya CEO Shiv Arora.
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Completion of this project is scheduled for the end of 2023. It will reduce road accidents attributed to long-distance heavy commercial vehicles and passenger buses that lead to the loss of lives and properties estimated at millions of dollars annually.
The International Labour Organization Hours of Work and Rest Periods (Road Transport) Convention, 1979, stipulates that truck drivers should not exceed nine hours per day or 48 hours per week without rest.
Supastop is a pilot project in partnership with the Northern Corridor Transit and Transit Corridor (NCTTCA), which is mandated to guarantee free passage of transit traffic along the member states of the Northern Corridor.