Lack of Safe Truck Parking Remains an Issue for 2021

Author PhotoBlueGrace Logistics - January 22, 2021

2021 is still carrying over problems from 2020. Hours of Service regulations have been amended as of June 1st, 2020, to provide greater flexibility without compromising the original intent, which is safer driving practices for truckers. While keeping over-tired truck drivers off the road is certainly a worthwhile goal, providing an adequate amount of safe truck parking spaces still presents a problem.

 

Nationwide, the shortage of safe spaces for truck parking is on the rise.

Nationwide, the shortage of safe spaces for truck parking is on the rise. Despite ongoing concerns, including the tragic murder of one exhausted and sleeping Jason Rivenburg at an abandoned gas station on March 5, 2009, drivers remain wanting safe truck parking spaces. Jason’s Law Truck Parking Survey and Assessment was developed and implemented to identify driver safety problems and avoid further tragedy.

The US Department of Transportation explains: Jason’s Law requires the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to conduct a survey and comparative assessment in consultation with relevant State motor carrier representatives to:

 

  1. Evaluate the capability of each State to provide adequate parking and rest facilities for commercial motor vehicles engaged in interstate transportation.
  2. Assess the volume of commercial motor vehicle traffic in each State.
  3. Develop a system of metrics to measure the adequacy of commercial motor vehicle parking facilities in each State.

 

Evaluating Capability and Assessing Volume

During a meeting revealing the latest survey results, Jeff Purdy, a transportation planner with the FHWA’s Office of Freight Management & Operations, said, “Major freight corridors and large metro areas have the most acute shortages.” The problem spans the nation, with shortages peaking overnight and on weekdays. There is still no time of day where parking is consistently available.”

Despite increases in public parking spaces (6%) and private parking (11%) in the five year period preceding the 2019 survey, there were new shortages found along the entire Interstate 95 corridor, Pacific-region corridors and the entire Chicago area.  These reports included a 15% hike in miles traveled between 2012 and 2017 in addition to locations that were identified as problematic in a separate survey from 2014.

 

Identifying Metrics and Contributing Factors to Parking Adequacy

The 2019 survey by Jason’s Law was considered more statistically valid by the measure of compliance. More drivers responded to the survey increasing the data pool by 43% (11,696 participants). Even more impressive was the response from trucking managers (increasing 205% to 760). Truckstop operators responded at a 34% increase, including 524 additional data points.

The 2019 survey grew comprehensively to include truck drayage at ports, a growing issue and gathered data from 18 port authorities.

 

This has an especially negative impact on scheduling pick up and delivery times.

During this briefing, U.S. Maritime Administrator Mark Buzby voiced, “ports have their own challenges on congestion due to the scope and scale of vessels discharging 10,000 to 15,000 containers at a time. The last month or two with the great flood of inbound containers has exacerbated the problem”. He said this has an especially negative impact on scheduling pick up and delivery times. State transportation departments responded that the development of new public facilities and parking are few and far between, citing ongoing challenges with funding, planning and accommodations for trucks. Despite these obstacles to improvement, truck stop operations reported:

 

  • 79% do not plan to add more truck parking.
  • 73% do not monitor parking.
  • 78% do not offer reservations.
  • 75% do not charge for parking.

Further identifying systematic barriers to safe parking, president of REAL Women in Trucking, Desiree Wood shared her observations during the meeting in an email to FHWA.  She revealed that Rivenburg “would not have been able to pay $12, $15, $20 a night to park his truck safely. What are we doing to address the issue that most company truck drivers are not reimbursed for paid reservation truck parking? Who is paying for it?

 

Legislation and Projected Industry Effects

Efforts made by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) came up short.  Although they got bipartisan truck parking legislation introduced in March incorporated into a huge infrastructure package, passed by the House of Representatives in July, neither bill will see any movement by the end of the year. Congress has awarded “$231 million in project requests were submitted to FHWA, and approximately $34 million in funds were made available to support awards made to 20 projects.”

At the end of the meeting, a voice of reason comes from Darrin Roth.  As the Vice President of Highway Policy for the American Trucking Associations, he offers insight that “Billions of dollars have been added to the national freight bill due to lost productivity.” Data on congestion and highways safety provides context, “Congested conditions reduce travel speeds and increase travel times throughout the highway network, yet the physical limitations of drivers (i.e., their need for rest facilities and supporting amenities) and HOS regulations that govern their work environment are time-based, not distance-based. “

 

Safe parking will be necessary to keep pace with supply demands.

Safe parking will be necessary to keep pace with supply demands. As Roth suggests, these changes will benefit the industry from the bottom up resulting in more desirable work conditions for existing and prospective drivers, shorter transit times for deliveries and increased profits for trucking companies.

 

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