I think it is a fairly well-known fact that I spend a lot of my time on the road in my RV. While on the road, I have noticed increasing instances when trucks are parked on the ramps leading to and from rest areas and truck stops or on the side of the road in close proximity to rest areas or even in parking lots at warehouses and other locations that are not designed for truck parking.
I also think it is a well-known fact that there is a shortage of safe and legal parking spots for the men and women who are delivering the goods we want and need. Often, drivers have no choice but to park in these illegal and unsafe parking spots because their Hours of Service are up, and they are not supposed to be driving any longer. Drivers should be aware that even when they make a paid reservation, there is no guarantee that the spot will be available when they arrive at the truck stop. Ask Henry Albert about his experience with reserved parking spots.
In addition to putting drivers in harm’s way, I wonder about the impact of the dearth of parking spaces on freight efficiency. According to the American Transportation Research Institute, 56 minutes of drive time per day are lost by drivers on average as they look for a safe, legal place to park.
See also: What do truck drivers want?
What this means is that in some cases, drivers are stopping with still an hour of legal drive time left in order to find a safe parking spot at the end of their shift. That has to impact efficiency. One interesting side note here is the slow trend toward a return to base, hub and spoke operations. The heavy-duty truck does not need to find overnight parking along the way if it is returning to a base, potentially improving its efficiency compared with traditional truckload, over-the-road trucking.
Those planning to install charging hubs for battery electric vehicles have mentioned their plans to support those sites with truck stop amenities, likely including parking for trucks. I hope they follow through with those plans.
The parking problem is a little outside of NACFE’s area of expertise, except for the impact it has on efficiency, which probably is not as pressing as the safety-related issues surrounding drivers who have to park their trucks in areas that are not designed or designated for truck parking.
According to a recent FleetOwner article, some states are taking steps to tackle the problem, and that is a good thing. Unfortunately, I do not have an answer as to how to fix the problem, but I am curious about what others in the industry think about the parking issue, its impact on efficiency, and possible solutions. Let me know what you think.
