AASHTO Journal - ATRI, AASHTO Issue National Truck Parking Report

The American Transportation Research Institute and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials recently released a report that highlights insights and strategies for expanding truck parking at public rest areas across the country.

[Above photo by New Mexico DOT]

That report included the results of a joint ATRI-AASHTO survey of 50 state departments of transportation to understand the costs and components of public truck parking spaces.

In addition to creating an inventory of truck parking spaces, ATRI and AASHTO’s joint research collected data on issues and costs associated with land acquisition, parking space construction, maintenance budgets and amenities offered to truck drivers.

Nationally, the report found the average rest area has 19 truck parking spaces. States in the South have an average of 25 truck parking spaces per rest area, while states in the Northeast have an average of 15 per rest area.

The lack of available truck parking is a perennial industry issue and one that is receiving increased attention at the state and federal levels, ATRI noted – estimating that there is just one truck parking space nationally for every 11 truck drivers.

“ATRI’s research underscores the importance of public sector truck parking and provides multiple tools for states to evaluate their progress in meeting this critical industry need,” noted Alix Miller, Florida Trucking Association president and CEO, in a statement.

She noted that ATRI used findings from the joint state DOT survey to generate a public truck parking dashboard that features each state’s public truck parking capacity and breadth of amenities and safety features at rest areas.

The metrics evaluated in the dashboard consider differences in state size, road mileage and proximity to major freight routes, with parking data from 47 state DOTS provided through an online dashboard on ATRI’s website.

“State DOTs strive to deliver the most safe, effective, and efficient transportation network possible; as a result, they continue to pursue a wide range of investments that enhance the nation’s multimodal freight system,” said Shayne Gill, AASHTO’s program director for multimodal transportation.

“Addressing truck parking needs across the country is one of those investments crucial to ensuring we maximize the benefits our highway system provides,” Gill added. “American quality of life and economic mobility depend in large part on the quality and vibrancy of our transportation infrastructure to connect people as well as goods to their destinations safely. And adequate truck parking is key to ensuring we achieve those goals.”

State DOTs are also working individually and collectively to improve truck parking availability on highways within their respective regions.

For example, in February, the Arizona Department of Transportation installed a new $2.8 million real-time Truck Parking Availability System or “TPAS” at the eastbound and westbound Ehrenberg and Bouse Wash rest areas serving both directions of I-10 in southeastern Arizona.

That effort is part of a $13.7 million initiative – which includes a $6.85 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation – spearheaded by the I-10 Corridor Coalition, through which Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas are providing truck drivers with information on more than 550 parking spots across their respective states on that stretch of highway.