Potential truck parking funding avenues discussed at hearing

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., witnessed the truck parking crisis firsthand during a recent trip along Interstate 80 in Wyoming.

The road was closed because of inclement weather and with no nearby truck parking available, Lummis said trucks were forced to park along both sides of the interstate.

“So you’ve got trucks idling for miles during the hours that it took to reopen Interstate 80,” Lummis said.

The senator shared her experience during a committee hearing about infrastructure to illustrate the truck parking problem.

Lummis went on to ask Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who was testifying at the Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on Wednesday, March 2, how concerned the U.S. Department of Transportation is about the lack of truck parking.

“Very concerned, and I appreciate you raising this,” Buttigieg said. “This is a very important issue, and if you talk to any truck driver, it’s not only an issue of convenience but an issue of safety. And as you pointed out with the idling that goes on, it’s also an issue of emissions.”

A significant problem

The 2019 Jason’s Law Report found that 98% of truck drivers regularly experience problems finding safe parking, which marked a 23% increase from the 2015 report. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and American Trucking Associations point out that there are about 3.5 million truck drivers and only 313,000 truck parking spaces nationally.

OOIDA and ATA, as well as individual truck drivers, have not been shy about letting Buttigieg and DOT know about the problem.

“We’re hearing this everywhere from truck drivers,” Buttigieg told Lummis.

He mentioned several programs that state DOTs could use to secure funding for truck parking.

Among those programs:

• Surface Transportation Block Grant program
• National Highway Freight Program
• Highway Safety Improvement Program
• National Highway Performance Program
• Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement program

Buttigieg also mentioned the Carbon Reduction Program as being a possibility in certain areas.

“I welcome the opportunity to work with you to make sure the funding and authorities available in the law are actually being used to mitigate that problem,” Buttigieg told Lummis.

The Infrastructure and Jobs Act did not dedicate specific funding to the truck parking problem. However, the bill provided increases in accounts where truck parking is an eligible expenditure.

In a recent letter, OOIDA and ATA asked Buttigieg to educate state and local partners about this eligibility and to prioritize funding for grants that would increase capacity. The groups also requested support for the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act, HR2187, which would dedicate $755 million over five years to expanding truck parking capacity.

The crisis can lead to various safety hazards. Without enough parking available, truck drivers are often forced to decide between driving tired or parking along the shoulder of a highway when they run out of hours.

“There is a national shortage of truck parking, which makes it difficult for drivers to find a place to take a break when they need rest or are required to do so by federal law,” OOIDA wrote to a House committee in February.

“This parking shortage is a national safety crisis, which leads to delays and perpetuates inefficiencies in the supply chain.”

Although no direct funding was included, the U.S. Department of Transportation released a supply chain report on Feb. 24 that includes parking expansion as one of the recommendations.

The U.S. DOT report made the recommendation to “support state DOTs and the private sector to develop and implement strategies that expand truck parking availability consistent with local land use considerations and address safety of rest areas.” LL