A national economy is only as strong as its trucking industry. Improving driver safety by increasing the safe parking capacity and access to truck parking are key to sustainability. Adequate truck parking has the potential to improve driver safety during federally mandated rest breaks as well as attract new drivers to the industry and insulate our supply chain.

Unsafe Truck Parking: A Brief Overview

Major Safety Issues

If there are not enough available truck parking spots along the highways, the safety of both truck drivers and the public are at risk. The reasons for this are twofold:

1. Limited capacity of parking encourages driving past the limits—drivers must stop no matter where they are when they reach eight hours. While operations do their best to plan routes with safe parking, unexpected slowdowns can disrupt parking location planning. If the driver can’t reach the next stop without surpassing the eight-hour limit, they may feel compelled to continue driving.

2. Truck drivers might be forced to park at unsafe locations—if drivers are unable to find safe and available parking, they are often forced to stop at unsafe locations, such as the shoulder of the road, vacant lots, illegal spots and more. This puts their safety and that of the general public at risk, and drivers following the eight-hour restrictions could be subject to fines for illegal parking.

Legislative Updates

To address the scarcity of truck parking and its associated safety hazards, the government has taken—and is planning to continue taking— various steps.

• Jason’s Law— Jason’s Law was adopted in 2012 due to a lack of parking. Its namesake, Jason Rivenburg, could not find adequate parking and was murdered as a result. Consequently, Jason’s Law required the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration to conduct a survey on the issue. The survey found that 98% of truck drivers report being unable to find adequate parking. This survey provided the raw data necessary to inform future legislation and advocacy concerning this issue.

• Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act (H.R. 6104)—the U.S. House of Representatives introduced this bill to directly address this issue by allocating $755 million to assist with the funding necessary to build more truck parking. The bill has bipartisan support in addition to the approval of several major trucking associations. The bill is set to be further marked up by House leaders in time for consideration and integration with the major infrastructure bill, whatever its potential future iteration.

• The Infrastructure Bill (American Jobs Plan)—Although President Biden’s American Jobs Plan offers trillions of dollars towards traditional infrastructure improvements and more, the plan does not explicitly allocate funds toward truck parking. Opponents of the plan offered an alternative multibillion-dollar infrastructure bill that, according to Chris Spear, President and CEO of the American Trucking Association, is “…more in line with the trucking industry’s critical priorities.” Meanwhile, Todd Spencer, President of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, has recently asked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to include truck parking in the final infrastructure bill, using the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act as a guide.

The Economic Impacts of Unsafe or Unavailable Truck Parking

The pandemic shook the supply chain to its core. There has been a surge in trucking needs, but unfortunately, there is a shortage of drivers. The truck driver lifestyle is already a demanding one, and the safety hazards and overall frustrations with driver safety don’t help.

To compensate for the lack of new drivers entering the field, companies are reportedly offering higher wages to retain current drivers or attract drivers from other companies. Ultimately, the cost of increased wages will be passed onto the consumer, impacting nearly every consumable good at grocery stores and gas stations as well as furniture, apparel, electronics, appliances and cars.

The problem is that not all companies can pass costs as easily onto consumers. The vast majority of transportation companies are small- or medium-sized businesses who cannot offer competitive wages like larger companies. Nor can they stay competitive with increased transport prices.

The Takeaway: Keep the Roads Safe, Strengthen the Economy

Safe parking for truck drivers is about keeping drivers safe and making their jobs less dangerous. If the new infrastructure bill can sufficiently address driver safety problems by increasing access and availability of safe parking, the overall national economy and supply chain will benefit.

IAM Postscript

Just prior to publication, some of the truck parking and safety initiatives highlighted by Montway Auto Transport saw Congressional action. On June 10, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced out of Committee the INVEST In America Act.

This legislation is the primary vehicle that would reauthorize highway funding, and if it passes the House, would authorize project funding for additional commercial truck parking locations, improvement of existing spaces and facilities, and other projects that would enhance truck and driver safety.

The House is expected to consider the legislation before the July 4 recess. The Senate Commerce Transportation and Highway Committee passed their version of the legislation on June 16. It has moved to the Senate floor for further consideration.