It's Time For The DOT To Step In

I hear you, driver. There needs to be more state sanctioned high-capacity parking areas in certain areas where lack of parking is a serious issues as well as to address the need for "nearby staging areas" close to high-volume freight hubs.

But you have to admit that the major truck stop chains are building at phenomenal rates. Their biggest limitation is not being able to build where they would like to build (and where the trucking industry needs truck stop facilities) due to zoning and permit limits.

But the HOS rules as they currently stand are not as completely unworkable as you make them out to be. Furthermore, many will argue they don't want to work more than 9-10 hours a day. The major carrier players pretty much dictate what happens from a bureaucracy standpoint. No bureaucrat will see the need to deal with "drivers" when they're already dealing with the "trucking industry" (execs from Swift, Schneider, Hunt, CRST, Werner, England, etc)

 

There is no incentive for a PRIVATE corporation to build a truck stop in a large metropolitan area where demand for truck parking is high. Acreage is insane to purchase, then the property taxes are through the roof. Sales taxes and local fuel taxes price the merchandise and fuel above what most would be willing to pay. Without enough revenue coming in to be profitable, the truck stop closes. Then, you have the issue of idle restrictions and other local ordinances that become a nuisance to have to deal with. It just isn't worth it to build or maintain a large truck stop with ample parking.

A truck stop is a business, and like ALL businesses, it has to be profitable to run. If it isn't profitable, it closes...and no amount of federal regulations will make it any different.

 

Fine. Build a structure big enough to hold a thousand trucks in a heated and cooled situation. Park em inside.

 

That otta smell good lmao

 

They do need to step in, but not where parking is concerned. They need to step in where PAY and scheduling are concerned.

Many OTR drivers feel compelled to drive for their full 11 hours, because their paycheck will suffer if they don't. Many companies schedule delivery times down to the bare minimum needed with no wiggle room, and then penalize the driver if they don't make the delivery on time. Many receivers will hold a driver for 4+ hours (unpaid by the company), and then not allow on-site parking for a 10 hour break, nor provide adequate facilities to accommodate that break.

These things need to be addressed. Not parking.

 

They need in to thin the herd a bit, try getting rid of 30% of the marginal drivers and 20% of the marginal companies which will allow the rates to rise and parking be avialible again.

 

How is higher pay going to reduce the need for parking spaces to take breaks? Doesn't make any difference if drivers are paid 30 cents or 90 cents, they still have to honor the HOS rules because few can be home every night, regardless. Trucks/drivers working fewer hours will only require more trucks to be packed into the system because the US freight logistics demands require x number of loads be moved every day. I'd rather have fewer drivers making better money then more drivers making marginal money, and clogging the system that much more.

Make the American citizen eat less, use less toilet paper, and have fewer choices at the store might be a solution