ATA, OOIDA urge Buttigieg to commit funds to truck parking

From Transport Topics.

American Trucking Associations and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association on Feb. 18 called on Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to prioritize infrastructure funds to boost the nation’s truck parking capacity.

In a letter to the secretary, the two trade groups said that a truck parking shortage has “plagued America’s truckers for decades, with a wide range of consequences for highway safety, driver health and well-being, supply chain efficiency, and the environment.”

“Washington needs to listen to our nation’s truck drivers and respect their most serious needs,” the letter said. “They are the heartbeat of our economy and directly support the frontlines in the fight against COVID — a battle that will only be won with the help of the trucking industry.”

The letter said it’s critical that the Department of Transportation coordinate with the White House, state departments of transportation, Congress and other stakeholders.

“Year after year, surveys show the severe lack of truck parking ranks amongst drivers’ top concerns,” ATA President Chris Spear said in a statement. “More than 98% of drivers report problems finding safe parking, burning more than 56 minutes of available drive time every day to find it. That wasted time amounts to a $5,500 loss in annual compensation — or a 12% pay cut.”

The nationwide shortage of truck parking capacity has been well-documented for decades, and the most recent iteration of USDOT’s Jason’s Law Report demonstrates that the problem is worsening over time, the letter said. “The 2019 Jason’s Law Report found that 98% of drivers regularly experience problems finding safe parking — a sharp uptick from the 75% figure reported just four years earlier in the 2015 report.”

See the complete article online at Transport Topics.