Issue Spotlight: Truck Parking
A serious lack of commercial truck parking remains a grave challenge for the trucking industry. A recent study by the Federal Highway Administration found that 98 percent of drivers regularly experience difficulty finding truck parking. Drivers surrender on average 56 minutes of available drive time per day to secure parking, amounting to a loss of $4,600 in annual income. Drivers are often forced to park in unsafe locations without access to restrooms, food, and well-lit facilities.
The availability of safe and secure truck parking is not just a challenge for current drivers, it is a barrier our industry must overcome in attracting new drivers – particularly women. That is why Women in Motion is leading efforts to grow truck parking capacity by taking delivering that message directly to government officials. It is imperative that women truck drivers have ready access to safe parking options to rest as they deliver the nation’s goods, and we will not rest until federal and state policymakers provide the necessary resources to make that happen.
Last week, we sent a letter to leaders of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee urging greater federal investment toward this critical need.
Women in Motion Letter on Truck Parking by ATA Media on Scribd
In response, the committee wasted no time in passing the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act – which would authorize $755 million over the next four years to build out new parking infrastructure. The legislation will now be weighed by the full House and the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee.
From Transport Topics:
ATA’s Newly Formed Women In Motion Program Pursues Safer Truck Parking
Already backing safer truck parking in Congress, the new Women In Motion initiative is taking action within days of forming to improve the working environment for women in trucking.
Launched July 15 by American Trucking Associations, Women In Motion wrote a letter July 19 to Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Sam Graves (R-Mo.), leaders on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, in support of the bipartisan amendment Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act under consideration in Congress. The measure was approved by a House committee on July 20.
“In speaking with women truck drivers past and present, one of their chief concerns is their safety while on the road. No single issue encapsulates that worry more clearly than the severe lack of truck parking capacity nationwide,” noted the ATA Women In Motion Advisory Board, adding that the legislation can “open the doors” to historically shift trucking’s workforce to empower women nationally to pursue rewarding careers in an essential industry.
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