OOIDA asks members to push truck parking bills across the finish line

There are now bipartisan bills in the House and Senate aimed at tackling the nation’s truck parking crisis. To help get the measures across the finish line, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is asking its more than 150,000 members to encourage their lawmakers to become co-sponsors.

On Dec. 1, Sens. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., introduced the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act or S5169. The bipartisan bill is similar to one introduced in the House by Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., with the same title.

OOIDA helped craft the bills, which would allocate $755 million over four years to the expansion of truck parking across the nation. Grants awarded through the bill cannot go toward any project that charges for parking.

The funds would be used to construct new parking facilities and convert existing weigh stations and rest areas into functional parking spaces.

“Contact your senators today and ask them to co-sponsor S5169, the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act,” OOIDA wrote in a Call to Action earlier this week. “Tell them that finding a safe place to park is a daily struggle for truckers because there is only one parking spot for every 11 trucks on the road today. Explain that drivers need to rest in safe places to best operate across America’s roadways and that the truck parking crisis is an urgent highway safety concern.”

Truck drivers can use OOIDA’s Fighting for Truckers website to contact their specific lawmakers.

“OOIDA and the 150,000 small business truckers we represent applaud the leadership of Sen. Lummis and Sen. Kelly in addressing the truck parking crisis that has been building for decades,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said. “Seventy percent of American freight is transported by truck, yet there is only one parking spot for every 11 trucks on the road. When truck drivers don’t have a designated place to park, they end up parking on the side of the road, near exit ramps, or elsewhere. This isn’t safe for the driver, and it’s not safe for others on the road. Sen. Lummis and Sen. Kelly have heard from small-business truckers and are taking meaningful steps to increase truck parking capacity.” LL

Land Line’s Tyson Fisher contributed to this report.