Dive Brief:
- The American Trucking Associations and Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association want $755 million in federal funding to increase the number of truck parking spots for commercial drivers. Trucking leaders stressed the ongoing need before a Senate subcommittee meeting Tuesday.
- The calls come as Congress works on the next surface transportation reauthorization bill, with the current one set to expire on Sept. 30, 2026. The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which passed in 2021, included allocating $643 billion over five years toward surface transportation, according to the nonprofit Transportation for America.
- “As we look towards the next surface transportation reauthorization, it is vitally important that we find ways to make investments and set policies that will empower trucking companies of all sizes to put skilled, well-trained drivers in newer, safer trucks on our freight corridors,” ATA President and CEO Chris Spear said in prepared remarks.
Dive Insight:
Trucking groups, including OOIDA, are calling on Congress to pass a House bill that would establish a competitive grant program to allocate $755 million over five years toward truck parking.
“Alleviating the truck parking shortage has been the top safety concern for American truckers for decades,” OOIDA’s EVP Lewie Pugh said in prepared remarks.
“With research indicating there is a single parking spot available for every 11 trucks on the road, the lack of available spaces is forcing truckers to choose between parking in a potentially unsafe location, such as a highway shoulder, or continuing to drive while they feel fatigued or are out of available driving hours under federally-mandated HOS regulations,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation has recently been highlighting previous federal funding slated to expand truck parking in areas including I-4 in Florida and interstates 81, 64 and 79 in West Virginia.
The Florida funding, which comes from the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America grant program, covers $180 million to add parking in the state. The $24.8 million designated for West Virginia is part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and intended to upgrade three existing facilities, according to Sen. Shelley Moore Capito.
