The Truck Parking Zone – July 2023

Two years ago, Minneapolis installed a citywide truck parking ban, one of the largest cities to do so. Its twin city, St. Paul, is the latest city to establish a truck parking ban.

Recently, the St. Paul, Minn., City Council voted 7-0 to pass an ordinance that bans truck parking in the city. The ordinance mirrors the ordinance passed by the Minneapolis City Council.

Specifically, vehicles weighing 26,000 pounds or more are prohibited from parking on any St. Paul city street unless the vehicle is engaged in loading or unloading or providing a service. Commercial vehicles and vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds are prohibited from parking in residential zoning districts.

Fines for illegal parking also will go up. The existing ordinance had a standard parking citation fine of $40. With the passage of Ordinance 23-25, fines will be increased to $150 starting January 2024. Beginning July 2024, that fine increases to $250.

St. Paul’s truck parking ban will not go into effect immediately. Enforcement of the new ordinance will begin in January 2024, allowing local truckers to find alternative parking solutions for their trucks.

The Minnesota Trucking Association “strongly opposes” the ordinance:

“The proposed ordinance will reduce overall efficiency and cut into precious available driving hours for truck drivers forced to park outside of St. Paul,” Minnesota Trucking Association President John Hausladen said in a statement. “It is a simple fact that, to meet narrow pick-up and delivery windows, trucks need to park close to their St. Paul customers. When Minneapolis passed a similar ordinance, some drivers were forced to park in remote fee-based lots as far away as St. Cloud.

“Many of the trucks parked overnight are owned by independent contractors who live within St. Paul. These small businesses, many of which are owned by people of color, have no viable overnight parking alternative. This ban could effectively force these residents to cease operations and lose their livelihood.”

Colorado town residents start petition against truck stop

TravelCenters of America wants to build a new location in Larkspur, Colo., but locals are putting up a fight. That’s according to a Change.org petition that had nearly 1,800 signatures as of press time.

“Larkspur, Colo., is a beautiful small mountain community known for its breathtaking scenery, abundant wildlife, and being the site of the annual Colorado Renaissance Festival,” the petition starts off. “Residents enjoy the feeling of being ‘away’ from everything, but enjoy the benefits of being centrally located between Denver and Colorado Springs, with the added benefit of only being minutes away from Castle Rock. Unfortunately, a planned development of a TravelCenters of America truck stop is underway … the completion of which will have catastrophic effects on our abundant local wildlife, residents, and town as a whole.”

If TravelCenters of America has its way, the new location will have nearly 60 truck parking spots off Interstate 25.

Ohio has truck parking in mind

Closed rest areas or rest areas undergoing renovations oftentimes eliminate truck parking spots from the infrastructure. Even if it’s temporary, a closure can affect a truck driver’s plan to rest.

Ohio lawmakers kept that in mind when drafting the state’s $13.5 billion transportation budget. According to News 5 Cleveland, that budget includes an amendment requiring that closed or under renovation rest areas keep their parking lots open for trucks to park.

The Ohio Department of Transportation is also hard at work getting more truck parking spaces. To start, ODOT applied for federal grant money to help find 10 new truck parking locations. Additionally, ODOT is converting closed weigh stations into truck parking lots.

Furthermore, Gov. Mike DeWine announced plans to replace 33 rest area buildings over the next four years.

Tip of the cap to Ohio!

Nebraska town bans truck parking on private property

Prohibiting trucks from parking on public roadways is one thing, but not allowing truckers to park their tractor at their own home is quite another.

The city council of Kimball, Neb., approved of Ordinance 814, the Semi-Truck Parking Ordinance, with a 4-0 vote. Essentially, no one can park a truck in residential zoning districts, i.e., residents’ homes. According to the Western Nebraska Observer, several people spoke out against the ordinance, calling it an overreach of government. Not persuaded, at least one council member said residents cannot run a business in a residential area. Referring to parking as conducting business might be a bit of an overreach.

Indiana breaks ground on welcome center renovations

The Indiana Department of Transportation broke ground on a $53.5 million project that will reconstruct the Clear Creek Welcome Center off Interstate 70 eastbound near Terre Haute. Included in the package is additional truck parking and trucker restroom facilities. Other improvements include a children’s play area, an adult recreation area, a walking path and a dog park.

According to WBIW, INDOT has a 10-year plan to improve rest areas and welcome centers in the state. Once everything is done, INDOT will have created more than 1,100 additional truck parking spaces as part of the plan.

New Big Three locations

The below list is the newest locations of the Big Three truck stops (Love’s, Pilot and TravelCenters of America).

• TravelCenters of America at 1501 East Mount Vernon Blvd. (Interstate 44, Exit 46) in Mount Vernon, Mo. (200 spaces).
• TravelCenters of America at 20 Gills Station Road (off U.S. Highway 395) in Olancha, Calif. (60 spaces). LL