AASHTO Journal, 28 August 2015
With a new highway industry survey showing most states have frequent shortages of parking for commercial trucks, the U.S. Department of Transportation and industry groups formed a “National Coalition on Truck Parking” to try to develop solutions.
“We know truck parking has been a longstanding problem in our nation,” said Deputy Transportation Secretary Victor Mendez. “We need new approaches to fix it,” he said, which will require “better planning, investment and involvement of all those who have a stake in safe truck parking.”
The coalition includes the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, American Trucking Associations, Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association, NATSO (formerly the National Association of Truck Stop Operators) and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.
The survey of state DOTs, truckers and truck stop operators, state safety officers and other stakeholders was required under the “Jason’s Law” provisions of the 2012 MAP-21 highway law.
Nadeau at parking safety event. (FHWA photo)AASHTO Executive Director Bud Wright was among those attending the study announcement, and joined others in signing a “Jason’s Law” proclamation about the coalition’s efforts.
“State departments of transportation recognize that the issue of adequate parking for commercial truck drivers is a serious safety concern,” said Wright. “AASHTO pledges its support through the signing of this proclamation to work with the USDOT, our partners in the trucking industry and law enforcement to find ways to keep both drivers and the general public safe. This issue is not going away, especially when considering that U.S. freight traffic is expected to double in just 15 years.”
The “Jason’s Law” survey and proclamation are named for Jason Rivenburg, a truck driver who was killed in 2009 during a robbery in South Carolina while parking overnight at an abandoned gas station he thought was safe, just 12 miles from his next delivery location that was not yet open for arrivals.
Since his murder, Rivenburg’s wife, Hope, has pursued driver safety measures including more designated parking to improve driver safety.
“Without truck drivers, America’s businesses would suffer and the economy would come to a halt,” said Federal Highway Administrator Greg Nadeau. “They deliver the goods and products we use every day, and are critical to freight movement in our country.”
While other studies have tried to assess the problem of parking availability for big rigs, there has been a lack of systematic data metrics to define the issues. So the USDOT, state DOTs and industry groups including trucking operations first worked to identify metrics that could be used to measure supply/demand, congestion and safety issues linked to truck parking.
“Truck parking shortages are a national safety concern,” the study says.
“An inadequate supply of truck parking spaces can result in two negative consequences: First, tired truck drivers may continue to drive because they have difficulty finding a place to park for rest and, second, truck drivers may choose to park at unsafe locations, such as on the shoulder of the road, exit ramp, or vacant lots, if they are unable to locate official, available parking.”
The USDOT said almost half the state departments of transportation that were surveyed reported that truckers were parking on freeway interchange ramps and shoulders of highways, which represents a safety issue. In all, 37 state DOTs said they see a problem with commercial vehicle truck parking in their states.
Over-the-road drivers – either for themselves or trucking or logistics firms – gave stark assessments.
“More than 75 percent of truck drivers and almost 66 percent of logistics personnel reported regularly experiencing problems with finding safe parking locations when rest was needed,” the report said. A full 90 percent “reported struggling to find safe and available parking during night hours.”
Nadeau said the Obama administration’s proposed multiyear surface transportation bill it calls the “Grow America Act” would provide $18 billion over six years for targeted investments in freight that could be used to build truck parking and deploy tools for truck drivers to find places to rest.
Over the coming months, the USDOT and National Coalition on Truck Parking will engage in a dialogue with state and local governments, law enforcement and the trucking and business communities to work together to advance truck parking solutions to meet the needs of the nation’s truck drivers.
