Bipartisan Truck Parking Safety Bill Introduced

On March 5, 2020, Congressman Mike Bost (R-12th/IL) and Congresswoman Angie Craig (D-2nd/MN) introduced the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act (H.R. 6104). The Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act addresses the problem of limited safe truck parking by establishing a set-aside of existing federal highway transportation program dollars for a competitive grant program that states and other public entities may use to fund new truck parking projects. The set-aside amounts are calculated based on the relative shares of the four core highway programs.

Since at least 2002, the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) has identified the growing shortage of truck parking spaces as an issue of national concern that jeopardizes the safety of truck drivers and the motoring public. Congress took its first step in addressing the crisis by ordering DOT to conduct a truck parking study in MAP-21 of 2012, though no progress has been made in reducing the shortage. Every major trucking organization agrees Congress must act now to address, the shortage. H.R. 6104 is the next major step in solving this problem.

Among the myriad causes for the shortage is the inability of truck parking to compete with other federal highway system and freight infrastructure priorities, despite well-established driver and motorist safety concerns. Currently, states may use federal dollars from four of the five core federal highway-aid programs to construct truck parking facilities, though these compete with other initiatives.

The TIA Highway Logistics Conference committee spoke about H.R. 6104 recently and decided that TIA should support the legislation. “The new hours-of-service program has made it difficult for drivers to find parking. We are finding traditional parking locations to have limited capacity or none at all. Drivers in our industry need acceptable and safe rest areas and parking whether they be government or privately funded. The Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act takes a huge step towards achieving that goal,” stated John Miller, Chairman of the TIA Highway Logistics Conference and Owner of Plains Dedicated.