TRUCK PARKING
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Why is this important?
More than half of the nation’s freight moves via trucks and there are more trucks on the road
than ever before
Not so long ago, truck stops were ubiquitous—every few miles there were places where trucks
could park and truckers could get a meal
The closure of truck stops has led to numerous issues
Jason’s Law was passed following the tragic death of a trucker who was parked in an
unauthorized truck parking area. It has led to future funding opportunities for truck parking
areas.
Hours of service requirements for truckers continue to be changed in the face of on-time
delivery demands
As more and more of the goods that we consume and use everyday are transported by truck, the
question exists of where those trucks can park. Recent accidents due to tired drivers have continued to
reinforce the need for drivers to safely park their trucks and get their mandatory amount of rest. But
these accidents come at a time where more and more truck parking options are being closed without
new ones being opened to replace them. This paper will examine not only the history of truck stops and
their role in the history of trucking, as well as the modernization and continuing need for them to be an
option for long-haul drivers to get much needed rest and continue to haul goods across this country
safely and efficiently.
Truck Stops in History
I’m sure that you remember many of those scenes from movies of yesteryear which depict the truck
stop diner filled with road-weary truckers swapping stories about their treks over coffee, cigarettes and
some food slathered in gravy. These truck stops dotted the landscape, especially along the fabled Route
66 corridor. Though these were ubiquitous throughout much of the early part of the twentieth century,
as highway systems began to grow, the traditional truck stop began to fade. Bypasses made the ambling
corridors which once crisscrossed our country began to fade into obscurity. At the same time, state-run
rest stops began to close due to budget cutbacks. Both of these circumstances led to many questions
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www.centerlinesupply.com
and concerns about where trucks will park during mandatory rest periods and in holding prior to
delivery.
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Jason’s Law
Jason’s Law honors a truck driver killed in South Carolina while
sleeping in his parked truck. Jason Rivenburg was murdered during
a robbery attempt in 2009. Although only 12 miles from his final
destination, he parked in an abandoned gas station to rest because
there was no formal truck parking locations where he needed to
stop before making a delivery the next morning.
Though Jason’s Law was not formally passed on its own,
components of it were included in MAP-21 which was passed in
2012 which allows for truck parking programs to be included in
NHPP, STP, and HSIP funding.3 More discussion of this funding
availability is included in “The Future of Truck Parking” section of
this paper.
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Trucks are everywhere
As in most countries, one of the constant problems facing trucking operations is simply where to park.
There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is the physical size of the truck, and others, such
as: restrictions on hours of service, shippers wanting products to arrive at a certain time (more
appointment scheduling), limited space for temporary or long term parking, etc. But truck parking
remains complicated. Many public rest areas have been closed from state budget cuts, and there remain
questions about the amount and capacity of private rest areas to provide parking areas. Truckers also
tend to want to rest close to the roadway to ensure they can maximize their driving time to meet the
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http://hamptonroads.com/2009/07/crews-close-18-virginia-rest-stops-save-9-million
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/map21/docs/09oct_freight_provisions.pdf
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www.thetruckersreport.com
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new hours of service requirements. National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis
report 317, ‘Dealing with Truck Parking Demands’ provides a good overview, and discusses how truck
parking is a national problem that is only growing as freight volumes increase. For planners, truck
parking remains a different issue. If a section of a roadway has large “through traffic” flows, drivers
compete for spaces fairly quickly, while other drivers will park where they can. This would require
trucks parking on frontage roads, interchanges, etc., or in areas where the infrastructure is not capable
of handling large trucks or places the driver/truck at risk. Furthermore, planners also must consider
trucks that may be waiting to make an urban delivery or a scheduled pickup around an intermodal
facility. As more intermodal terminals are scheduling pickup and delivery schedules, this means that
truckers generally have to wait somewhere near a terminal to meet the appointment time, especially in
very congested areas.
The Future of Truck Parking
With the continued closures of private and state-funded stops, the question remains: where will trucks
be able to park? Under the current Surface Transportation Bill, MAP-21, there exists no national truck
parking program. However these projects remain eligible under the Highway Safety Improvement
Program, Surface Transportation Program, and National Highway Performance Program. This is a step in
the right direction, as increasing the eligible projects increases the importance of considering the safe
parking of commercial vehicles. (While there exists the potential for more funds to be available for truck
parking, however, these funds must compete against other eligible projects.)
Eligible projects under section 1401 are those that: (1) serve the National Highway System; and (2) may
include the following: (A) Constructing safe rest areas (as defined in section 120(c) of title 23, United
States Code) that include parking for commercial motor vehicles; (B) Constructing commercial motor
vehicle parking facilities adjacent to commercial truck stops and travel plazas; (C) Opening existing
facilities to commercial motor vehicle parking, including inspection and weigh stations and park-and-ride
facilities; (D) Promoting the availability of publicly or privately provided commercial motor vehicle
parking on the National Highway System using intelligent transportation systems and other means; (E)
Constructing turnouts along the National Highway System for commercial motor vehicles; (F) Making
capital improvements to public commercial motor vehicle parking facilities currently closed on a
seasonal basis to allow the facilities to remain open year-round; and (G) Improving the geometric design
of interchanges on the National Highway System to improve access to commercial motor vehicle parking
facilities.
The Department of Transportation is also required to conduct a survey of parking facilities, with some
emphasis on developing metrics to determine parking adequacy for each state. (Under SAFETEA-LU,
FHWA funded several grant programs through the ITS program to improve truck parking.)
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Hours of Service Changes—Will It Kill On-Time Delivery
It used to be that drivers would just drive until they got tired, stop, grab some coffee and keep on going
to make their delivery times. But that has had numerous negative impacts on the safety of everyone on
the roadway, including the deaths of many people. Therefore for the safety of all concerned, the
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) institutes hours of service requirements that
drivers must abide by. Hours of service were originally instituted by the now defunct Interstate
Commerce Commission in 1938. These rules have been revised numerous times over the years, most
recently in 2011 with the development of the Hours of Service of Drivers Final Rule whose regulations
went into effect July 2013.
The following chart summarizes the current hours of service regulations6:
11-Hour Driving Limit
May drive a maximum of 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty.
14-Hour Limit
May not drive beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty, following 10 consecutive hours
off duty. Off-duty time does not extend the 14-hour period.
Rest Breaks
May drive only if 8 hours or less have passed since end of driver’s last off-duty or sleeper berth period of
at least 30 minutes. Does not apply to drivers using either of the short-haul exceptions in 395.1(e). [49
CFR 397.5 mandatory “in attendance” time may be included in break if no other duties performed]
60/70-Hour Limit
May not drive after 60/70 hours on duty in 7/8 consecutive days. A driver may restart a 7/8 consecutive
day period after taking 34 or more consecutive hours off duty. Must include two periods from 1 a.m. to
5 a.m. home terminal time, and may only be used once per week, or 168 hours, measured from the
beginning of the previous restart.
Sleeper Berth Provision
Drivers using the sleeper berth provision must take at least 8 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth,
plus a separate 2 consecutive hours either in the sleeper berth, off duty, or any combination of the two.
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www.truckstopinfo.com
https://cms.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/hours-service/summary-hours-service-regulations
Additional Resources
NCHRP Synthesis 317-“Dealing with Truck Parking Demands”:
http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_syn_317.pdf