Lack of Truck Parking a National Safety Concern

The Federal Highway Administration (FHA) recently released a study calling the current shortage of “safe and available” truck parking throughout the northeastern shore board a national safety concern. The lack of parking has already proven to be a major safety issue for truck drivers and anyone else on the road. Without enough regulation parking spaces, truck drivers have been forced to park illegally, drive for unsafe periods of time and park on the shoulders of highways or exit ramps.

Two recent high-profile deaths of truck drivers, as well as an increase in problems related to parking for the trucking industry, led the Federal Highway Administration to conduct the study.

Truckers Face Serious Shortage of Available Parking

Many of the statistics provided in the FHA study regarding truck parking are quite concerning. Over 75 percent of truck drivers who participated in the study admitted that they regularly had difficulty finding safe and available parking when they were in need of rest, while 66 percent of logistics personnel answered the same. Of the members of the trucking industry who were surveyed in the study, 90 percent acknowledged that they had struggled to find safe and available parking during the night time.

New Jersey Truck accident lawyers state that as a result of these difficulties, truck drivers all too regularly park illegally or at unofficial truck parking areas. When truck drivers have no other option but to park illegally, 50 percent of the time they park on freeway shoulders or parking lots, endangering themselves and others.

Why Has Truck Parking Become Such a Problem

The lack of safe and available truck parking is multi-faceted and can at times be complicated. Truck and freight volumes have been steadily increasing since the economy has been performing well recently. Moreover, according to a new report from the American Trucking Associations and IHS Insight, freight volumes are predicted to increase by just under 30 percent in the next 11 years.

In addition, for two years now, truck drivers have been required to take longer and more frequent rests. Finally, there is no governmental entity at any level of government who is responsible for creating truck parking facilities.