National League of Cities suggests giving unused parking spots to truckers

A new player has entered the arena to help solve the truck parking crisis: the National League of Cities.

On April 7, the National League of Cities published a post on its website titled “Have Excess Parking? Consider Truck Parking Partnerships.” The organization of more than 2,000 city, town and village leaders across the nation has some ideas that could benefit both truckers and cities.

According to the National League of Cities, several cities across the country have a problem that the trucking industry may be envious of: unused, excess parking. The organization is asking cities to consider allowing truckers to park at these empty spots whenever possible.

A lot of thought went into the idea.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association worked with the National League of Cities to help find solutions that are most appropriate for truckers.

“OOIDA has been working in more ways than one to address the trucking parking crisis,” Collin Long, OOIDA’s government affairs director, said. “That includes conversations with other organizations that are interested in and capable of helping, like the National League of Cities. We commend NLC for not only recognizing the truck parking shortage is a safety concern that affects cities across the country, but working with us to make sure local communities have the knowledge, tools and resources to provide truckers safe places to rest. We’re not only working on legislation.”

So what are the possible solutions? The National League of Cities suggested the following parking areas:

• Excess airport parking.
• City-owned staging areas, properties or parking lots near highway exits or trucking destinations including ports, rail yards, or major businesses.
• Stadium parking.
• Government building parking lots.
• Transit or maintenance yards.
• Major shopping malls.
• Government-owned sites waiting for development.
• Warehouses and other major shipping/receiving pressure points.

The National League of Cities is recognizing that local governments have the power to lend a big helping hand when it comes to truck parking.

Several cities, including Elmira, N.Y., and Weed, Calif., have been offering truckers a place to park with dedicated truck parking provided by the city. With some cities not using all of their parking spots, there is an opportunity to help mitigate the truck parking crisis while not letting good parking spots paid for by taxpayers go to waste. LL