Rep. Mike Bost talks truck parking

Now that the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act is out of committee, what is next for Rep. Mike Bost’s bill? Land Line Now caught up with Rep. Bost to ask him just that.

On Wednesday, July 20, the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act, HR2187, cleared the markup process in the full House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. It now heads where few bills go: to the full House for consideration.

Although the Truck Parking Safety Improvement was expected to get through the markup process on Wednesday, nothing is certain from this point forward. It is important for truckers to encourage their representative to co-sponsor and move forward with HR2187.

Bost talks truck parking and safety

If anyone in Congress knows a thing or two about trucking, it is Bost.

Bost grew up in family trucking company and drove over the road for several years. He still has a CDL. However, anyone can see there is a truck parking crisis.

“The lack of truck parking spaces is well known,” Bost said. “Whether you’re in the trucking business or if you’re not, you can see every place we go the trucks are having to be parked on the off ramps, on ramps, on ramps into rest areas, off ramps out of rest areas.”

As Bost pointed out during the markup hearing, this is a safety issue that affects everyone, not just truckers.

“It’s not safe for our drivers, and it’s not safe for the (people) that are out there driving in regular four-wheel vehicles, because they don’t have hours of service,” Bost said. ‘They can maybe be driving too long, and the next thing they know they drive underneath one of these trucks that have been parked because they’re in a situation where they can’t find truck parking.”

Mitigating the truck parking crisis may ease the supply chain issue as well. Many truckers have to stop to park up to hours before their hours-of-service time is up, just to ensure they have a place for the night.

The U.S. Department of Transportation identified the problem in 2002 after Jason Rivenburg, a trucker, was killed in an unsafe, unsanctioned place to park his truck. At the time, there was nowhere else nearby for him to park. That sparked outrage, leading to a truck parking survey called Jason’s Law Survey.

OOIDA lends a helping hand

Bost worked with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association to introduce the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act.

When Land Line Now Host Mark Reddig asked Bost what sparked his interest in introducing the bill, he said OOIDA played a role.

“It was actually groups and organizations like (OOIDA) and others that came to us and said what’s the biggest problem, and they said one of the biggest problems is parking,” Bost said.

It’s not just truck parking. Bost has also been working on issues related to hours of service. ELDs are one of those issues.

“It takes the common sense out of the process and forces drivers to stay away from home more often,” Bost said.

Let elected officials know about your problems

Bost also highlighted the need to address concerns with elected officials.

Despite having a history in the trucking industry, Bost recognizes that new problems crop up all the time.

“The problems of hours of service, that’s changed over the years since I’ve quit driving,” Bost said. “How about the electronic logbooks? The electronic logbooks are something I guarantee you I didn’t use.”

Truckers can go to FightingForTruckers.com for an easy way to contact their members of Congress. LL