Nevada wants better truck parking, and drivers hold the key

Nevada wants to improve its truck parking situation, but it can’t do it without the input from the men and women who know best.

Currently, the Nevada Department of Transportation is gathering information for its 2026 State Freight Plan Update. According to NDOT, that plan will inform the department’s future planning, funding, programming and design of truck parking facilities and information systems.

However, the output of that plan is only as good as the data input. That’s where truck drivers come in.

NDOT is asking professional drivers who drive in or through Nevada to take a quick survey detailing their parking experience in the state. Responses will be confidential, and no individual or company-specific information will be shared.

Drivers can take Nevada’s truck parking survey here.

The survey asks some basic questions about drivers’ operations and parking experiences. It also drills down into issues such as paid truck parking, the when and where of unavailable parking and what drivers look for in a parking facility.

Trucks account for more than 80% of the freight moving in Nevada. There are nearly 5,000 truck parking spaces across 56 facilities in the state to accommodate those drivers. However, parking is sparse in some areas.

Map of public, state-owned truck parking in Nevada

Earlier this year, a group of truck drivers threatened a $500 truck parking surcharge if Clark County officials did not address the parking shortage. The Nevada Hispanic Truckers Association claimed attempts to build parking facilities were “chased away by outdated rules and red tape.”

In 2019, NDOT published its Truck Parking Implementation Plan. At the time, Clark County had a parking gap of more than 550 parking spaces. Reno County was short about 250 spaces.

The private sector provided more than 90% of the nearly 5,000 parking spaces. That includes 20 truck stops in the state with at least 100 spaces each. About half of the parking spots were along Interstate 80.

NDOT has identified several truck parking challenges. Among those are parking issues when staging, for emergency purposes and for owner-operators in the state needing a spot when at home. Municipal restrictions have been a thorn in the side of parking developments in Nevada and across the country. LL