FMCSA study hunts for the missing math behind nation’s truck parking crisis

Date: December 01, 2025 | Author: Tyson Fisher | Category: Truck Parking, Federal, News

More than a decade after Jason’s Law was passed, the pursuit for more truck parking continues to be a battle at the local level. A new study could give hesitant stakeholders the nudge they need to address the issue.

Enacted in 2012, Jason’s Law thrust an industry problem into the public conversation. Since then, countless studies conducted by private and government stakeholders have highlighted the scope of the problem: a lack of truck parking is a safety issue affecting all motorists, not just truck drivers.

Unfortunately, many decision-makers at the local and county levels have not received that message.

At the state level, transportation departments have made significant moves to address their truck parking issues. However, public parking accounts for less than 10% of all available parking. Solving the crisis will require cooperation with the private sector.

A quick glance at any edition of Land Line’s “The Parking Zone” will reveal several instances of NIMBYs shooting down a proposal for a truck stop or some other kind of truck parking facility. Getting through city councils and county commissioners is an uphill battle for developers.

The problem with creating more parking spaces has less to do with contempt for truck drivers and more to do with ignorance of the benefits of truck parking. That’s where a new federal government study comes in.

On Nov. 28, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published an information collection request for a study titled “Quantifying the Benefits of Creating New Truck Parking Spaces.” Thousands of truckers will be surveyed about their experiences with finding parking. The study aims to calculate the monetary benefits of creating new parking spaces.

FMCSA notes that there is a lack of research on how more truck parking translates into dollars. Potential benefits include lowering truckers’ operational costs, increasing drivers’ well-being and reducing crashes.

That information could persuade local and county officials to approve truck parking projects. FMCSA states in the docket that the study could “help state and local policymakers make informed decisions about the construction of truck parking spaces” and that the results “could be beneficial to the many government and private organizations that decide where to build new truck parking spaces.”

To quantify the benefits of truck parking, the study will look into unauthorized parking, truckers stopping early to find a space, driving off-route for parking and driving past hours-of-service limits. The study will also answer the following questions:

What are the most cost-effective methods for increasing truck parking capacity?
Which parking information management systems are used most often and are most effective?
What percentage of drivers routinely make reservations, pay for parking or use various other truck parking services?

FMCSA is accepting comments on the information collection aspect of the study through Jan. 27. That includes ways the agency may enhance the quality, usefulness and clarity of the information and ways the burden could be minimized.

Comments can be submitted at Regulations.gov by entering the docket number FMCSA-2025-0787 or by clicking here. LL