Trucking interests support DOT’s call for more safe trucking parking

Trucking interests are applauding the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) call for more safe parking places for heavy trucks.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg recently pledged the Biden administration’s support for increasing the availability of safe parking options for America’s professional truck drivers through its Trucking Action Plan. That grants funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and increases coordination with state departments of transportation and the trucking industry.

“We thank Secretary Buttigieg and the Administration for their ongoing commitment to America’s professional truck drivers,” American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear said in a statement.

“The Secretary has stated how important the issue of truck parking is to him and his department, and we are extremely grateful that he is delivering on that intention,” Spear added.

Spear said the issue of adequate truck parking is important for both highway safety, supply chain efficiency and driver take-home pay.

Studies by the American Transportation Research Institute have found that drivers surrender an average of 56 minutes of valuable drive time per day to find parking. Because most truck drivers are paid by the mile, that loss of productive time costs them about $5,500 annually in lost compensation—or a 12% cut in annual pay.

ATA’s Spear recently wrote to Buttigieg urging the DOT to prioritize this issue. A recent DOT report found 98% of drivers regularly experience problems finding safe parking.

DOT has responded. In recent days, Florida and Tennessee were awarded a combined $3.76 million in INFRA grant funding by DOT to expand truck parking capacity. (INFRA is known statutorily as the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects.) It awards competitive grants for multimodal freight and highway projects of national or regional significance to improve the safety, efficiency and reliability of the movement of freight and people in and across rural and urban areas.

“I’ve heard from countless truckers across the country about how the shortage of truck parking costs them time and money—not to mention making our roads less safe and weakening our supply chains,” Buttigieg said in a statement.

“We’re using funds from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help address truck parking shortages, and we’re working with state and industry leaders to develop more parking that will improve safety and quality of life for our nation’s truck drivers,” the Transportation Secretary added.

Finding safe parking can also be expensive. Delaware recently raised fines for illegal truck parking by 300%. First offenses in the First State are now between $100 and $500. Subsequent violations cost from $400 to $2,000.

ATA’s Spear said the truck parking issue is “of particular importance” for women drivers, who repeatedly cite the lack of safe parking options as a deterrent to more women entering the truck driver field.

“Investing in these projects and ensuring all drivers have ready access to safe and well-lit parking facilities is an important step in shifting our industry’s workforce demographics and empowering more women across the country to pursue the rewarding career opportunities that trucking has to offer,” Spear added.

One of the leading causes of truck crashes is driver fatigue. Fatigue has been cited in about one-third of all heavy truck fatalities, and lack of rest is a perennial issue for many in the industry.

“It is clear that adequate rest for drivers is foundational for safe operations,” Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Administrator Robin Hutcheson said in a statement after holding scores of meetings around the nation with drivers and their representatives.

“We have heard loud and clear from drivers – they need more places to rest and they need to be safe and secure while doing so,” Hutcheson said “We are proactively working at the local and regional level to point to the numerous resources across DOT for truck parking construction, expansion and technology solutions. We will continue to work collaboratively with agencies within DOT and with all of our partners in the industry.”

California is an example of the dilemma in which states find themselves. While the state is pushing for more zero-emission commercial vehicles, it also is dealing with challenges of how to create more truck parking while building charging infrastructure accessible to tractor-trailers.

California officials say the issue is particularly acute near major container ports such as Long Beach and Los Angeles where space is limited. The California Air Resources Board is developing regulations to achieve a zero-emission truck and bus California fleet by 2045 where feasible.