The U.S. Department of Transportation recently released their findings from a “Jason’s Law” truck parking survey.
Jason’s Law was established in 2012 after truck driver Jason Rivenburg was murdered and robbed for $7 dollars after parking in an abandoned gas station because there was no other available truck parking in the area.
The law requires the U.S. DOT to evaluate the current truck parking shortages and develop a system to establish adequate parking facilities in each state, in cooperation with state transportation departments.
In their report, the US DOT indicated that a lack of adequate parking is a national safety concern. The report states the following:
An inadequate supply of truck parking spaces can result in two negative consequences: first, tired truck drivers may continue to drive because they have difficulty finding a place to park for rest and, second, truck drivers may choose to park at unsafe locations, such as on the shoulder of the road, exit ramps, or vacant lots, if they are unable to locate official, available parking.
They also mention several key findings such as: 88% of truck drivers felt unsafe while parked for their federally mandated break at least once in the last 12 months, and 39% of truck drivers say it takes them at least 1 hour to find parking.
In order to address the problem, $18 billion dollars from the Grow America act will be used to “construct or expand truck parking facilities” over the next six years, according to a recent DOT announcement.
You can view the full findings from the Jason’s Law survey here.