FHWA seeks comments for third Jason’s Law truck parking survey

Preparing for its third nationwide truck parking survey, the Federal Highway Administration is seeking comments on how it will collect information for the upcoming report.

On May 27, FHWA published a notice of request for information collection in the Federal Register to update its truck parking survey. The agency will be surveying a variety of stakeholders in order to assess the current state of truck parking.

FHWA will be targeting groups that are responsible for providing or overseeing the operation of truck parking facilities and stakeholders that depend on such facilities to safely conduct their business, including state transportation and enforcement officials, port authorities, private sector facility owners, trucking company owners and truck drivers.

Truck drivers will be asked about the location and frequency of insufficient truck parking and capacity at rest facilities, future parking needs and locations, availability of information on parking capacity, and other impediments to identification, access and use of parking.

To comment, go to Regulations.gov and enter Docket No. FHWA-2024-0041-0001 in the search bar or click here. Comments can also be faxed to 202-493-2251 or mailed to: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, D.C. 20590-0001.

All comments are due by June 27.

A national truck parking survey was established by Jason’s Law in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act in 2012.

Named after Jason Rivenburg, a trucker from Fultonham, N.Y., who was killed while parked at an unsafe location, Jason’s Law addresses the truck parking issue. The issue was highlighted when Rivenburg arrived early for his delivery and was turned away by the receiver. He was fatally shot and robbed for $7 after parking at an abandoned gas station about 12 miles from his destination.

Results of the first truck parking survey were released in 2015 and included a wealth of data. At nearly 200 pages, the survey results broke down which states and regions truckers were having difficulty finding a parking space. In 2020, FHWA released an updated version of Jason’s Law survey. The 32-page PowerPoint presentation was less comprehensive than the initial report and revealed that not much had changed in five years. One key difference with the second survey is the inclusion of drayage drivers and port authorities.

Since then, several states have taken the initiative to address truck parking. Most recently, the New Jersey Department of Transportation has been seeking input from truckers for its parking survey. Indiana has plans to nearly double the number of parking spaces at rest areas. In Georgia, the governor recently signed a bill into law that creates a long-term freight and logistics implementation plan, which includes recommendations to expand truck parking. LL