Dive Brief:
- The states of Colorado and Florida together will add hundreds of new truck parking spaces by the end of 2028.
- Florida is adding 917 parking spots, spread across four counties along the state’s Interstate 4 highway. While Colorado’s 50 new truck parking spaces are part of a new public rest area development on Interstate 25 near Pueblo.
- Addressing the Florida projects, Derek Barrs, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, said the additional spaces will reduce “dangerous roadside parking.” He added that the “investment addresses one of the most persistent challenges facing truck drivers today while strengthening the safe and efficient movement of freight across Central Florida.”
Dive Insight:
Colorado and Florida are among many states, including Minnesota, Washington and Wisconsin, seeking to provide more truck parking spaces and improve technology to help commercial drivers find places to park.
Construction is underway for three of Florida’s projects in Seminole and Volusia counties with completion expected in mid-2027, according to the announcement. Two other Florida projects in Osceola and Orange counties will begin sometime next year.
Florida is receiving $180 million in Infrastructure for Rebuilding America grant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation for its truck parking projects. It’s estimated that 95% of Florida’s consumer goods are transported along I-4, per the announcement.
Construction on Colorado’s public rest area project will begin next fall and is expected to be completed in fall 2028, Amber Shipley, a spokesperson for the state’s department of transportation told Trucking Dive in an email.
While state and federal agencies are working to address the nation’s truck parking shortage, private businesses have also been expanding services for commercial drivers and providing more places for truckers to park.
Love’s Travel Stops, for example, is in the midst of a $700 million facility expansion and update plan. Through July 1, Love’s has opened 10 new locations and completed updates to 18 of its existing locations, Caitlin Jensen, a spokesperson for Love’s, told Trucking Dive in an email. The company’s plan calls for opening seven more locations this year and remodeling 30 additional sites.
Love’s has added 991 truck parking spaces to its national network so far this year, bringing its total of available free truck parking spaces to 51,556, Jensen said. The company’s expansion and updating initiative called for adding 1,500 trucking parking spaces to its network in 2026.
