Finding safe, legal semi-truck parking services is a big issue, as any trucker will attest to. In fact, a recent American Trucking Association (ATA) poll found that 98% of truckers had trouble obtaining truck parking.
The problem is obvious. For truckers, there is simply not enough parking. According to the ATA, there are 11 truck drivers for every available truck parking space. With an increase in drivers on the road, infrastructure for the trucking business has not kept up.
Drivers struggle with legal challenges, safety issues, and missed wages as a result of inadequate parking. The sector has a difficult time keeping drivers, but easy access to truck parking makes them much happier. A $755 million truck parking measure was recently advanced by the US House of Representatives. The infrastructure for parking that is required to serve fleets and truckers should be built with the passage of this bill.
The Impact Of Semi-Truck Parking Shortage
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Lack of parking creates difficult choices for truckers
Lack of parking has forced many truckers to make a difficult decision. Frequently, an illegal parking space will be the best option. 58% of drivers admit to doing it three times per week.
Parking at a risky location, which has led to tragedies, is preferable to this. After losing her spouse, Hope Rivenburg became an advocate for Jason’s Law. While Jason was parked at a closed petrol station, he was attacked. Even though it was just 12 miles away, his destination was closed and had no parking available.
Drivers must simultaneously acquire a parking place within their work shift window or run the risk of breaking the rules regarding hours of service. Drivers experience stress from juggling these life-or-death problems, which forces them to make snap judgments rather than paying attention to the road.
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Lack of parking significantly impacts the bottom line
According to the ATA, drivers lose an average of $5,500 annually and 56 minutes of driving time each day searching for parking, which equates to a 12% wage decrease. This demonstrates how motorists manage the monetary costs associated with a parking shortage.
When drivers have to shorten the run in order to find a secure parking space, trucking businesses lose revenue-generating miles. When drivers have trouble parking, fleets run a higher risk of compliance violations. Building truck parking facilities would be a wise move that adds to a long-term solution as the industry already confronts issues with driver shortages and retention.
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Impact on physical and mental health
Truck drivers are compelled to travel out of their way to find parking when they are unable to find acceptable spots.
In the end, moving truck drivers to solitary parking areas cause their physical and mental health to worsen. Particularly, truck drivers typically have no choice but to look in an outlying region if they cannot find sufficient parking.
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Wastage of time
Experts in the field estimate that truck drivers waste 50 minutes as a result of the lack of truck parking.
This lost time has an impact on the entire supply chain in addition to the driver. Time lost because of insufficient parking costs a lot of money, from logistics planners to customers.
How To Improve Truck Parking Shortage
Fortunately, the US truck parking problem might be reduced with a few minor changes at the state and federal levels.
Any significant change in the lack of truck parking must start with funding. The initiative will fail without finance.
To assure more money for truck parking, state and federal lawmakers must cooperate. Truck drivers will quickly find parking without wasting much time if the truck parking capacity is increased.
Building more parking spaces won’t necessarily address every issue with the lack of truck parking. There will be a lot of new strategies for improving the trucking sector in the near future.
Prioritizing Trucker’s Needs Will Improve Retention
Truck drivers frequently join the sector because they want to drive and can make a good living doing it. People will move to other professions that provide income prospects without the stress if the working environment makes it impossible for them to keep the machine running.
For the past ten years, almost every fleet has struggled with driver retention. Driver turnover comes at a high cost. Trucking businesses spend a lot of time and money on driver recruitment, hiring, testing, screening, and training.
In order to increase driver retention, it will be important to provide priority to important needs such as semi-truck parking services. The Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act has not yet been passed by the House of Representatives, despite the fact that safe parking has been a top concern for more than ten years. New truck parking spaces can’t come soon enough for many drivers and fleets.