Bill Aims to Increase Truck Parking Spaces

[OntarioVanMan]

William B. Cassidy | May 10, 2011 8:21PM GMT
The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story

‘Jason’s Law’ would create new grant program for truck parking projects

Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., will re-introduce a bill Wednesday aimed at creating safer and more secure parking spaces for long-haul truck drivers.

Tonko sponsored the bill, known as “Jason’s Law” in the last Congress. The legislation would create a grant program to alleviate truck parking shortages.

The bill is named after Jason Rivenburg, a 35-year-old truck driver from Fultonham, N.Y., who was killed in March 2009 while parked at a gas station in South Carolina.

Rivenburg’s murder called attention to a nationwide shortage of safe, accessible rest stops for long-distance truckers, the American Trucking Associations said.

The lack of parking for trucks is a long-term problem truckers and shippers fear the situation will get worse as the economic recovery gets stronger and freight demand picks up.

Many drivers say they are forced to park illegally when they run out of hours because they cannot park at shipper facilities or in a legal space at a truck stop or rest area.

The 2005 highway bill created a grant program for truck parking projects.

The U.S. Department of Transportation last week awarded $6.5 million in grants to Michigan and Minnesota to help those states find parking spots for tractor-trailers.

Michigan will get about $4.5 million and Minnesota about $2 million to develop systems that can deliver real-time information on parking to truck drivers.

Both states are developing systems that make use of intelligent transportation systems, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in his Fast Lane blog.

“Finding a safe and secure place to park a big rig overnight, so a driver can get the proper rest, is not as easy as it should be,” LaHood said.

“While state-operated rest stops and welcome centers can ease truckers’ security concerns, there simply aren’t enough of those available,” he said.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Tn Welcome centre...I 65 south...has a security guard now....A panther straight pulled into the CAR parking and was ushered right back out.....good to see....

 

[Turtle]

Michigan will get about $4.5 million and Minnesota about $2 million to develop systems that can deliver real-time information on parking to truck drivers.

That's a lot of money. The TA has a smartphone app right now, for free, that tells you the same thing, sort of. Click a location and it tells you how many parking spots there are (and showers) and how many of them are open. In real time.

 

[greg334]

I thought that bill was passed last year or something like that but if it hasn't been passed, it shouldn't be.

The basis that the bill was created on, a lack of parking may be a problem in some places but the incident that triggered the bill's name from what I have read wasn't because of a lack of parking.

“Finding a safe and secure place to park a big rig overnight, so a driver can get the proper rest, is not as easy as it should be,” LaHood said.

Well I guess Mr. LaHood, if people would plan out their trip, this wouldn't be an issue, would it?

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I thought that bill was passed last year or something like that but if it hasn't been passed, it shouldn't be.

The basis that the bill was created on, a lack of parking may be a problem in some places but the incident that triggered the bill's name from what I have read wasn't because of a lack of parking.

“Finding a safe and secure place to park a big rig overnight, so a driver can get the proper rest, is not as easy as it should be,” LaHood said.

Well I guess Mr. LaHood, if people would plan out their trip, this wouldn't be an issue, would it?

That was my thinking too Greg...they drive up to the last minute and "expect" to find a spot...

 

[Turtle]

Well, even with proper planning, there are still far too few parking places for big trucks. Every truck parked on an exit or on ramp should make that clear enough. But the problem with the bill is that it doesn't create more parking spots. Most of the money is for developing communications systems to let truckers know where any parking spots might be, to help truckers find those spots. The money could be much better spent in building a parking lot. If you build it, they'll find it. They don't need an Amber Alert type of system to let trucks know where they can park.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Indiana has all them rest areas they closed last year...re-open them with no services....like out west....

Michigan has old rest areas that have been grassed over when they built the new ones....the land is there...the cost would be minimal....

 

[bobwg]

I thought that bill was passed last year or something like that but if it hasn't been passed, it shouldn't be.

The basis that the bill was created on, a lack of parking may be a problem in some places but the incident that triggered the bill's name from what I have read wasn't because of a lack of parking.

“Finding a safe and secure place to park a big rig overnight, so a driver can get the proper rest, is not as easy as it should be,” LaHood said.

Well I guess Mr. LaHood, if people would plan out their trip, this wouldn't be an issue, would it?

Planning is nice but things happen you get delayed at the shipper/reciever or traffic or what ever. Even with planning there are times and places you wont find parking most times it seems if your not parked before dark your screwed

 

[moose]

and Minnesota about $2 million to develop systems that can deliver real-time information on parking to truck drivers..

all they needed to do, in the case of Minnesota, is to lift the state mandated ban .
as it is right now, the 5 county's making up the big metro area are prohibited from allowing truck parking in city's streets.
we can all understand snow routs emergency's, but if you drive something larger then an SUV, city's and county's have very little they can do to help their own residents.

Jason's law is a welcome breeze out of WDC, but it will simply won't be enough .
what needs to be done is addressing truck parking shortage on the national level.
making everyone's hoe dose business with trucks responsible for providing safe heavens .
it use to be that Interstates needed a rest area every X millage, that's the fed level.
if a state have X amount of truck traffic going through or doing business with, that state needs to provide X amount of parking.
same goe's for county's and city's.
if a business, any business, take delivery from trucks, that business needs to pay taxes to local jurestrictions, or be accountable for provide safe heaven's for trucks.

 

[greg334]

Planning is nice but things happen you get delayed at the shipper/reciever or traffic or what ever. Even with planning there are times and places you wont find parking most times it seems if your not parked before dark your screwed

I would agree that there are times where planning doesn't work but for most of the time, it does work.

I don't think the government needs to be involved as much as the truckers need to be involved. using more tax money to study a problem that we know how to solve is somewhat stupid, but as I have said, this industry seems to be moving more into the "I'm a victim" mentality than moving towards unity for even a simple issue like this.

If they actually wanted to do something positive, then congress should address the HOS issue where it allows us who run under HOS to be able to travel to find a place to park ... oh and include those bad vans to be covered by HOS

I think that it is not the responsibility of the shipper or the consignee to provide a place for a truck to sit, it is the trucker who needs to act as this is a business. You don't allow plumbers to camp out in your front yard when they need to be at your house in the morning, right?