Washington – Today, the American Trucking Associations commended Representatives Mike Bost (R-Illinois) and Angie Craig (D-Minnesota) for introducing the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act. The bipartisan legislation would authorize $755 million in competitive grant funding to expand commercial truck parking capacity across the United States.
“One of the most meaningful ways Congress can show its support for America’s professional truck drivers is to ensure they have a safe place to park and sleep when they take their federally mandated rest break or finish their shift. The chronic lack of truck parking poses an unacceptable risk to both truckers and the nation’s motoring public. Congress must step in to provide a solution,” said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. “We thank Representatives Bost and Craig for their leadership on this vital piece of legislation, which will increase the efficiency of our supply chain and improve highway safety for all motorists.”
For every 11 truck drivers on the road today, there is one truck parking space. The severe shortage of truck parking is having a costly impact on supply chain efficiency, driver health and wellbeing, highway safety, and the environment. Additionally, the lack of safe parking options is often cited as a deterrent to more women joining the industry.
When truck drivers are unable to find safe, authorized parking, they're stuck in a no-win situation—forced to either park in unsafe or illegal locations, or to violate federal hours-of-service rules that regulate their daily drive-time to search for safer, legal alternatives.
- A U.S. Department of Transportation report found 98% of drivers regularly experience problems finding safe parking.
- The same report found the truck parking shortage exists in every state and region and is most acute along major freight corridors.
- 70% of drivers have been forced to violate federal hours-of-service rules because of this common scenario.
- To ensure they can find a safe and legal space, truck drivers often park prior to exhausting available drive time, surrendering an average of 56 minutes per day, according to the American Transportation Research Institute.
- The time spent looking for available truck parking costs the average driver about $6,800 in direct lost compensation — or a 12% cut in annual pay.
According to USDOT, there are 55 deadly accidents involving trucks near off ramps every year. In one high-profile incident in 2023, a passenger bus crashed into three semi-trucks parked on the shoulder of an entrance ramp to an Illinois rest area, killing three people and injuring 14 others.
Parking in remote areas off the highway carries its own risks. In 2009, the only parking place that truck driver Jason Rivenburg could find was an abandoned gas station in South Carolina. That night, a man broke into his truck, robbed him of $7, and killed him. The horrific tragedy sparked the passage of Jason’s Law, which set a national priority of addressing parking for commercial vehicles.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which ATA endorsed, has helped to address this issue by supporting the construction of roughly 2,000 new truck parking spaces, but much more progress is needed to make a measurable difference for truck drivers.