It’s pretty rare for the American Trucking Association and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association to agree on policy issues in the trucking industry. In fact, in a panel at the CCJ Spring Symposium last week co-hosted by an ATA rep and an OOIDA rep, they stood on opposites sides on almost every issue except one: truck parking is a problem, and shippers need to do more to help.
Speaking on behalf of their organizations were Todd Spencer, Head of Regulatory Affairs for OOIDA, and Ted Scott, Chief of Engineering at the ATA. Both agreed that more needs to be done to create safe truck parking along our nation’s roads.
Scott pointed out that though the FMCSA and the Federal Highway Administration burned through $40 million on experimental systems to help with truck parking, no additional parking has been added.
“I challenge a state DOT to show me one new parking space they’ve built since 1996,” he said. “You can’t do it. You can find DOTs that close rest areas, but nobody’s building new rest areas.”
So if the government agencies in charge of fixing the parking issue won’t create safe parking, who will?
“Every shipper or receiver facility that accepts and receives trucks needs to bear some kind of responsibility,” said Spencer. If the government can mandate handicap parking spaces at every facility, says Spencer, they can do the same with truck parking.
To hammer home his point, he recounted two stories that are far too common. In both stories, a driver was turned away from a shipper or receiver and had to go find parking at an unlit location. Because of the unsafe parking, his truck was broken in to and he was murdered. One of the stories was of Jason Rivenburg, the trucker whose name is on Jason’s Law, a provision included in the 2012 MAP-21 highway funding bill which was supposed to help put an end to unsafe parking.
But unfortunately, having safe, plentiful parking for truckers isn’t as simple as just agreeing that it’s necessary.
“How do we get there?” asked Spencer. “We’re raising the issue now.”
john says
When the shippers kick you off their property once they receive or load their product & if that driver gets in an accident they should be liable as well.
David McKinley says
I’ve been doing this for some time now. Parking has become so bad since the HOS rule change from 8/10 to 11/14 it’s almost impossible to find parking after 5 to 6pm in most any truck stop…and rest areas are jammed full by 8 to 9pm.
Twice in the couple of years VA DOT has got me out of my sleeper because they claim I was not legally parked. I was not blocking any access to any part of the rest area not was I on the ramp.
The shippers and receivers agreed to expedite the loading and unloading of freight to appease government regs when the HOS were changed. That was SUPPOSE to be part of the deal. But they never complied…and they NEVER WILL unless pressure is brought to bear.
The larger carriers just keep replacing the people that come in under the real DREAM LIE…these fly by night schools and recruiters that tell people they will have the ability to earn X number of dollars a year to start is a DREAM LIE. The young people coming in get caught up in the hype and fail to put pen to paper to see if it adds up…it doesn’t of course…
So…its at 100% plus turnover rate. No one stays long enough to learn anything…Except they’ve been lied to.
Young punks in…equal what all punks do. There’s ZERO respect on the roads today (most weren’t taught it at home…so…) the places we USED to be able to safely park (WallyWorld, most shopping centers and larger grocery stores etc) are closing those doors now.
I’m an old hand and I knew when I asked what the answer was going to be. But…I ask a few managers anyway…just to confirm.
Why the change now? We USED to be welcome here. What happened?
Answer: “These people today have no respect. They leave trash outside where they parked and shopping carts all over the lot. They park in places where customers need close to the store…just know respect.”
That is the response from over 90% across the country.
Their insurance rates jumped because of the liability caused by DISRESPECTFUL truck drivers causing damage.
These NEW SAFER technologies that the government has FORCED onto the industry is one major reason the old hands left. (I personally wasn’t financially able to)
Elogs…as they’re referred to are garbage! I intend to sue over a HOS violation noted on a level 3 inspection, where I had gone ON DUTY NOT DRIVING to comply with pre trip inspection requirements and then pulled out of the lot to start my day. (Elogs are suppose to AUTOMATICALLY click over to the DRIVE LINE. And it may have. But I was pulled into a road side inspection before I had gone a half mile.
When you stop your truck and turn it off (which is required when you’re stopped…and I did that immediately) so the DOT officer finished his level 3 and ask for the QualComm. I handed it to him…he said I had a violation where there was NO DRIVE LINE. I explained I had just completed my pre trip inspection and pulled out of the WalMart just around the corner. (It was noted so on my inspection report) …But he still listed it as a violation. No citation…but still a violation that causes points on my otherwise clean CSA (which is just MORE governmental garbage for control)
Bottom line is…the industry that used to be good career has gone down the tubes due to government control.
You see…I don’t much care about being politically correct. Being CORRECT period is what we ALL need to be about.
David McKinley says
Sorry…that should read NO respect…not “know” respect. But I hope you caught the idea…
Matthew Grills says
I caught it and honestly thought you were playing on the wording…. Good read, thanks for you input.
Jon says
Most elogs flip from line 4 to line 3 after a short distance. This allows you to stay on line 4 from the office check-in to the dock while manoeuvering in the yard.
You did not travel far enough for that status change and we’re given a “Failure to change status” violation.
The cop was going to look until he found something and you handed your Qualcomm to him !
You should have checked/ changed your status when stopped. The cop treated it as if you had a paper log and did not draw your line.
The Qualcomm Elogs work for you, You do not work for it !
Don says
It’s not just the new drivers that throw trash and urine bottles on the parking lots. I’ve seen lots of older guys in old trucks doing the same thing. This, in large part, is why we continue to lose parking space. No one wants to clean up after pigs like that.
Infosaur says
Four wheelers too. I was just at a rest area in CT a few weeks ago and the car lot was trashed. But of course they blame the rigs,,,
Intlmeatpckle says
What this man is saying is exactly why I haven’t went back to driving. To much BS!
Kathleen says
Well said
JJ says
About time, but 40 million and still no parking, man do you realize how much just plain open lots with even solar lighting you could have with bare bones facility with that much money. Another note is that no one wants to mix some night driving into their schedules, I call them solar trucks. In most cases you can find parking in the morning early afternoon hours, but dam everyone runs to nearly every parking spot at night. Glad I drive a mix of days and nights…lol
Jonathan E. Wilhelm Sr says
Sorry, but my eyes have a hard time with the New headlights. Too much glare and my eyeglasses anti-glare wears off too fast. I leave the nite driving to the younger nite owl crowd.
I am a morning person !
John says
Yes sir, I’m a night rider just because of parking issues. Also it eliminates those pesky 9-5 scales and some entertaining traffic zones. If you roll thru Dallas/ Fort Worth area I-20 after 6:00 am you are guaranteed to see a accident visual of some sort. Arizona for some reason on I-10 can’t seem to offer any rest area parking because they enjoy coneing off their rest area entrances for “repairs”. Stay safe , keep the wheels right side up and turning. 10-4 out
JJ says
10-4, that’s how I run to, and yes add the pesky scales and sum entertai ing traffic zones. Yep..funny when I run Canada, their is one scale there that the officer many times leaves the light on green, you can see him with his head down sleeping…you can breeze thru or park for a quick sandwich…lol
Bill Johnson says
Yes, the all-night driving is great, pull into the t/s everyone leaving, truckstop to yourself. Wish that would happen, only problem was that I had a delivery sometime in the morning and with the Quallcomm complaining that I was over my hours, that never worked either.
The parking situation only will get worse. The legislatures that write the laws go home promptly at 5. As do the dispatchers that assign the loads. When you inform them that you can not deliver as you will be out of hours, they give a sigh, and then ask well why not? If you put them unfer the same work load that drivers have, most will quit in the first week. Can’t take a break, no lunch, but I guarantee that they take their lunch break. Night driving way to go, but it doesn’t work for 90% of real world drivers.
TWG says
Agreed but the problem is most shippers keep bankers hours making it difficult to run nights.
George Wilson says
Man, you stole my remark “solar power trucks”. When I would talk to my wife I said if I didn’t get into the truck stop before the sun went down I wouldn’t find parking.
Jeremy says
I have left more than one shipper or consignee because I got there at the scheduled time and was informed the delay in getting me loaded/unloaded would put me over my hours and their policy was no overnight parking. On the other side are the ones that I could have made it with on-time with time to spare but they don’t want drivers arriving early. Hey, it’s their rules, so if they don’t learn to stick to their own schedule or accommodate drivers’ HOS then they should start finding it harder to book freight.
KC says
I have always thought, why don’t shipper and receivers bear some responsibility for parking? Someone should enforce some kind of rules on them, receive so many trucks a day, then provide a minimum number of parking spaces for trucks, maybe it is time for the transportation companies to man up…they preach about how they care about their drivers, well prove it by getting on your customers about parking and how it equates too safety….oh and teach truckers that trash cans are for trash and parking in the fuel isle for breaks is pretty much third world behavior….disgusting….
T Wade says
There should be a tax on every product sold in this country to pay for highways and for safe parking. And any driver caught littering in these parking area serve a weekend in jail.
Steve Bell says
I remember one time back when I was a rookie we arrived at a customer in Connecticut and they were not going to unload us until some time later …..The Uniformed Guard informed us the we were welcome to park on their facility and wait…A nice secure fenced large compound….BUT They Did NOT Allow Any Sleeping In Your Trucks….
All that I could think was..Why should they even care what you did inside your own truck?…
JJ says
Yeah I had a shipper like that 2 yrs ago…said no sleeping in your truck, but you can park there. Lol. I’m guessing their jealous because they cant sleep either…just saying..lol
Steve Bell says
On the other side of the coin …just yesterday there is a Dollar General Distribution Center in Mariana and a Walmart very nearby and convenient to it…
I watched two drivers of bobtails..(Pretty Red Tractors too)… parked sided by side with their doors open evidently cleaning out their trucks and trowing trash out on the ground in the parking lot…
I expect to very soon now see enforced no truck parking there…And Walmart has security cameras filming 24/7 there…so if you ask perhaps they will send you a picture of the guys who cost you that rest spot?
Rick Lesoine says
That is part of the problem, unsanitary truckers, I drove for 30 years before retiring. How many truck stops have ya’ll been in and cant walk through the parking lot without stepping in someone’s pee, and the smell, especially in the summer. If I was manager of a food processing plant or distributer, I wouldn’t let these nasty self centered ” God’s gift to the motoring public” park on my lot either
Case in point, there is a company in Park Rapids MN, that lets drivers park at there facility, the doors are unlocked so the rest rooms, coffee etc are available 24 hours, some drivers are to lazy to walk 100 yards to the building, and take a dump behind their trailer, through trash out the window, etc. Some of the blame should be put on these people ( notice I didn’t say drivers) who ruin things for all of us. Just saying
JJ says
Doesn’t that just piss you off, yeah I know they ruin parking privileges for the rest of us. Had a rookie do that recently, I said if you don’t pick that crap pizza box up and your other ssshhiittt you just dumped out, it’s on my dash cam all of it, I will email it to your company, he got out and picked it up. My Dad beat my azzzz when I was a teen for doing that, never did it again…
Robin J says
I was parked at a Walmart in Plainview, TX. A TransAm “driver” parked next to me and went into the store. He returned with his lunch, some chicken wings. He proceeded to eat them and throw the bones out his window, on the ground. l couldn’t believe it! I rolled down my window and asked him why he thought it was OK to do that. He told me he was leaving them for the birds!? Really!? I told him it was because of slobs like him that we all were losing the privilege of parking in places like this. He asked me if it would make me happy if he picked them up. My answer: “Yes”. He did so, grudgingly. We all need to speak up and call these jerks on their bad behavior.
James says
They won’t do a damn thing other than make parking we have to pay for. We are unpaid as it is we lost 38 billion a year at the Shipper and receiveer, they charge us for being late or even to rework the load when we tell them how to load it right the first time. We have to pay them as well to Unload their own freight. We spend hours to be loaded or unloaded. There are the problems and all you drivers are so scared to stand up to them. Nothing amazies me more than the stupidity of the American truck driver. I mean the gays were smart enough to get organized. It pretty simple we all work away from home they tell us when we can work when we can go home we deal with a lot of stress and bullshit that is just not right. So who is in control of your life? DOT the Shipper, receiveer, and the trucking companies. They need us we don’t need them!
Douglas Kirk says
You guys should know that trucks were only invented to be a pita for society in general, so there’s no need for courtesy or respect….
Ed says
A lot of times shippers, recievers, and even stores have their hands tied on the issue by local beaurocrats. There are local ordinances that a property owner has no control over. I was once ticketed for parking on private property with written permission from the owner of the apt complex I lived in. It was even on a truck route. While the parking issue is certainly an issue within our industry, it is seen as a issue for federal govt to ponder. Local govt fights additional truck parking initiatives at every turn. Ask any exec in the truck stop industry how hard it is to get approval for a new truck stop. It is absolutely impossible in many locations. Local govt won’t even make a pretense of considering the idea.
Infosaur says
Don’t know why no one has ever sued for discrimination yet.
Shannon says
I’ve been saying this for years. The DOT needs to address it and make it law. Many of these shippers and receivers are rude assholes not that it has anything to do with it but I thought I’d add that. Make them accountable. After all its their damn freight, we just haul it.
Scott Swigart says
There would be no ‘unsafe parking’ issue if truckers were allowed to carry guns in EVERY state. The problem would be SOLVED!!
Glenn says
…what David McKinley said at the top. Exactly. Well said, it’s just BS all the way around out here now, from shippers/consignees to carriers to uneducated drivers with attitudes who don’t care one bit except for themselves, it’s turned into an industry of bottom-feeders now run by clueless bean counters and the Gov’t.
I’ll be exiting stage left by the time Sept rolls around.
MIKE says
It would be nice that in the freightbill there was a provision for every time a driver was detained for any reason they would be responsible for the drivers safety. How many times did that 1 extra hour mean everything in terms of making it to a safe parking spot.. We are always told that the ultimate resposibility for safe delivery or operation falls on the driver.. So then why are we so over regulated that a stupid law Trumps common sense.
Larry says
Their would be parking for every truck in the US if truck drivers would just stop pooping and peeing in the parking lots. Company’s and truck stops are paying $100.000s a year to have this picked up. And truck drivers just keep doing it over and over. Be a man, not a Dog.
Robin J says
I am glad that this is finally starting to be addressed. I believe it should include receivers too.
The fact that there is so little parking at/around shippers and receivers makes it difficult to make HOS work. In my opinion, the FMCSA needs to stop making more regulations and work toward helping us have safe parking so we CAN get our required rest.
Rick Mitchell says
My hometown of Bloomington, In, is getting I-69, up and running. There has been a truck stop trying to get approval for about 3 years now. Not only the local government, but the community is fighting to stop it. I own my truck and trailer, and have to leave my trailer several miles away from me, and from town.
Steve D says
The article is wrong on one point. WV has created new spaces in one rest area and created a whole new truck parking rest area in another spot on SB I-81! But the main point is spot on. Receivers must be required to allow drivers who are out of hours to park on their property.
Scottye Here says
I agree, companies we load and deliver to should have some type of parking for drivers. However, as a strictly, East Coast driver again, I’m reminded of why we can’t park at a customer. There just isn’t room. As for, creating new rest stop/parking area for drivers. What about that farce of new rest stop in, Long Island that the local, bureaucratic jag-offs passed a law stopping us from parking there. Hell, after 10 years of parking in my own driveway, the city I live in (west of, Pittsburgh) , recently passed a law that forbids me to drive 3 blocks to my house now. I came home this weekend, and there are restrictions signs all around. Lastly, drivers should have some respect for where they park and not consistently throw garbage out and screw it for the rest of us. A, Walmart in Jersey allowed us to stay in their lot, which was only 5 minutes from my delivery, until a month ago because of the litter. If you want to live like a pig, stay home and live in your pigsty. Allow us, “clean and respectful drivers” the ability to park. I truly believe a large part of the stress of driving is, finding somewhere to park anymore. Drive long, and prosper my fellow drivers.
ewww says
Good luck won’t happen!!! More heavy truck parking. Means fewer out of service tickets get issued. Which means less revenue for the county/city/state. Soon enough. They are going to have bigger problem on where to park platooning trucks at the same time.
Infosaur says
I thought the whole point was platooning trucks don’t stop?
sudon't says
“…FMCSA and the Federal Highway Administration burned through $40 million on experimental systems to help with truck parking…”
Experimental systems? Like what, parking lots? Telling drivers where the parking lot is? Perhaps a “shrink ray” that makes trucks small enough to fit into a four-wheeler-sized parking spot?