Senators Promote Truck Parking Entry

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Two members of the Senate committee on freeway coverage raised issues about insufficient parking for the nation’s truckers throughout a latest listening to about provide chain connectivity.

Republican Sens. John Boozman of Arkansas and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming just lately pressed President Joe Biden’s nominee to steer the Federal Freeway Administration on the industrial parking subject. For years, transportation policymakers and trade stakeholders have sounded the alarm about inadequate entry to parking areas for the ladies and men working industrial automobiles.

“I’m instructed that it’s not unusual in any respect for truck drivers, actually, to drive round two to a few hours on the lookout for a parking area. Within the sense that, you recognize, they’re getting dinged in the event that they don’t discover it. And it’s that large of a problem,” Boozman instructed Shailen Bhatt on Sept. 14. Bhatt is nominated to steer FHWA. A vote earlier than the Setting and Public Works Committee on his nomination has not been scheduled.

“We’ve studied this factor with this and that. However it’s low-hanging fruit. It’s one thing that we actually might make, I believe, an enormous distinction for the provision chain,” Boozman continued. Lummis pointed to the wants of the trucking workforce, which travels in excessive volumes alongside most freight corridors. “The truck site visitors on Interstate 80 via Wyoming is phenomenal,” she noticed.

“You’ll drive for miles and see no passenger automobiles. It’s simply truck after truck after truck. It’s actually a ribbon of freeway uniting east and west for industrial trucking functions,” she instructed Bhatt. “The shortage of truck parking is a serious concern.” The nominee mentioned he acknowledged the senators’ issues, whereas pledging to undertake an all-of-the-above method to facilitate freight mobility and enhance freeway security.

On the Home facet, the transportation coverage committee simply authorized laws that goals to reinforce entry for truck parking nationwide. The Truck Parking Security Enchancment Act, sponsored by Rep. Mike Bost (R-Unwell.), would offer transportation companies funding for constructing or increasing parking areas for industrial motor automobiles. Selling security is a key provision of the laws.

“I’ve championed the necessity for expanded truck parking for a very long time as a result of it impacts the protection of everybody on the highway,” Bost, a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, mentioned in a press release in July.

The invoice, which awaits consideration within the Home chamber, would incrementally present companies almost $800 million via fiscal 2026 to “present parking for industrial motor automobiles and enhance the protection of economic motorized vehicle operators.” Moreover, the secretary of transportation could be tasked with prioritizing companies that “display a scarcity of economic motorized vehicle parking capability within the hall by which the challenge is situated.”

“This invoice will assist make our roads and interstates safer by making certain that truckers now not must danger pushing themselves too far to make it a couple of further miles to the subsequent relaxation cease,” the congressman added.

Within the American Transportation Analysis Institute’s “Important Points within the Trucking Business,” truck parking issues ranked fifth in 2021. ATRI affords an annual chronicle of trade issues.

American Trucking Associations is among the many stakeholders championing the Home panel’s approval of the truck parking invoice.

“The shortage of protected and accessible truck parking is a matter that causes severe concern for our trade,” mentioned ATA President Chris Spear. “With out it, drivers waste hours on the lookout for safe locations to park for an hour or for the evening, hurting their skill to relaxation and including undo stress to their days. Transferring this laws ahead is an amazing step towards addressing what has been a major problem to our trade’s skill to securely and effectively transfer the nation’s items.”

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