Parking Zone – December 2023/January 2024
The nationwide truck parking crisis is not a problem exclusive to the trucking industry. Rather, it is a problem that affects all motorists. And unfortunately, communities are finding that out the hard way.
One of the latest examples of this happened near Frankfort, Ky. Two people were injured in a crash involving not one but four tractor-trailers. According to local news source WKYT, a driver of one semi fell asleep, causing that truck to crash into another parked tractor-trailer. Consequently, that caused the collision of two other sitting tractor-trailers.
In this case, all involved parties were truckers. However, there have been numerous incidents involving passenger vehicles striking a truck parked on the shoulder or ramp of a highway. Oftentimes, those crashes result in a fatality.
CBS News recently published a story highlighting the fatal consequences of the national truck parking crisis. The issue gaining mainstream attention like this may bode well for efforts in Congress to address it.
Rather than simply blaming truckers for breaking truck parking laws regarding highway shoulders and ramps, WKYT wanted to find out why this is happening. The news outlet interviewed Kentucky Trucking Association CEO and President Rick Taylor for answers.
Taylor told WKYT what the trucking industry has known for decades: The combination of hours-of-service regulations and limited truck parking spaces has forced drivers to either park where they are or start looking for parking an hour before their hours of service expire. In the latter case, truckers can lose thousands of dollars a year in production time.
Congress can help solve this problem. But until federal lawmakers finally do something about the truck parking crisis, we can expect more crashes like the abovementioned.
Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act update
Congress already has a solution teed up with HR2367 and S1034, better known as the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act.
Since the last Parking Zone, HR2367 has picked up several co-sponsors, including:
- Rep. Zachary Nunn, R-Iowa
- Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine
- Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo.-At Large
On the Senate side, Sen. Angus King Jr., I-Maine, has joined S1034.
As of early November, HR2367 had 41 co-sponsors, while S1034 had 12 co-sponsors.
If signed into law, the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act would allocate $755 million over three years to the construction of parking spots. According to the bill text, any project funded by the bill cannot include paid parking. All parking under the bill must be publicly accessible and free of charge.
Are your representatives not on the co-sponsor list? Go to FightingForTruckers.com and click on the “Tell your Lawmakers to Support the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act” link. Fill out the form and have it automatically sent to your federal lawmakers.
Locals win battle against Illinois truck stop
Plans to build a QuikTrip in Burr Ridge, Ill., have been thwarted after residents voiced their disapproval to the local government.
QuikTrip suffered a huge setback back in June when the Burr Ridge Village Board adopted a resolution against the truck stop, according to Patch.com. In a letter to the DuPage County Building and Zoning Department, Mayor Gary Grasso pointed out that the proposed use of a “truck travel center” is not appropriate for that area.
Located off state Route 83, the proposed “truck travel center” is not much of a truck stop. To appease the locals’ typical concerns about a truck stop, QuikTrip’s initial plans included no showers, no lounges or “other facilities that would attract long-term or overnight truck parking,” according to Patch.com.
Still not pleased with the plans, opponents launched a petition in August that had received more than 2,500 signatures as of early November.
In late October, QuikTrip jumped ship and withdrew its proposal. With no overnight truck parking in the original plan, the message was clear: Burr Ridge residents do not want trucks in their town at all, even to fuel up.
New Indiana welcome center adds more truck parking
A new welcome center recently opened in Jasper County, Ind., that includes truck parking.
Located on Interstate 65 near mile marker 231, the Kankakee Welcome Center includes 150 truck parking spots on the southbound side and 75 truck parking spots on the northbound side. Travelers will have access to new amenities such as a dog park, children’s play area, adult recreation area, walking trails and a pond.
“Indiana lives up to our destination as the Crossroads of America through our top-rated infrastructure and our commitment to getting Hoosiers and visitors to where they need to go,” Gov. Eric Holcomb said in a statement. “Visitors passing through on I-65 will have a clean, safe and interactive experience.”
Real estate developer sues city over truck parking proposal
As municipalities deny permits for truck parking projects, developers are ditching their plans. But one commercial real estate developer is not taking “no” for an answer.
Cone Commercial has filed a lawsuit against the City of Graham in North Carolina after the city council denied a special use permit for a tractor-trailer storage facility along Interstate Service Road near Interstate 85/40, according to The Almanac News.
The proposed facility includes 122 truck parking spaces on a vacant, 5.5-acre lot. Cone Commercial argues that the permit denial violates state laws dealing with the issuance of conditional-use permits. The case is still pending as of early November.
New location from the Big Three
Listed below are the newest locations of the Big Three truck stops (Love’s, Pilot and TravelCenters of America):
- Love’s at 739 E. Frontage Road (off Interstate 19, Exit 12/East Ruby Road) in Nogales, Ariz. (113 truck parking spaces)
- Love’s at 5430 N. Market St. (off Interstate 49, Exit 215) in Shreveport, La. (109 spaces)
- Love’s at 1199 McNutt St. (off Interstate 55, Exit 178) in Herculaneum, Mo. (80 spaces) LL