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"We need more parking spots. So how do you limp along until we can get more parking spots?" Gildea said. (photovs/Getty Images)

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A Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration advisory committee met for five hours Dec. 17 to recommend best practices to increase safe parking for truck drivers seeking rest.

But after struggling to identify the best solutions, the group concluded it would need another meeting to complete its work by engaging state officials, trade groups and the private sector to determine what the best practices are — beyond simply allocating more money for more parking spaces.

“Some states are doing it and doing it successfully, but without bringing those stakeholders in, it’s hard for me to identify what those best practices are,” said Adrienne Gildea, deputy executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and vice chair of MCSAC. “Until we do that, I don’t know what those best practices are.

“In the short term, there’s got to be some infrastructure out there that we can be leveraging while we wait on legislation that will fund the creation and maintenance of more truck parking.

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“Which is at the end of the day what we need. We need more parking spots. So how do you limp along until we can get more parking spots? We really need to figure out who’s doing it right and well, and then leverage that.”

The committee did conclude that truck parking plays an important role in safety, and that drivers need a degree of flexibility that reflects the realities of their jobs and their routes.

“Undoubtedly there are states that do it better than others,” said Todd Spencer, president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and a committee member. “I can generally tell you that the worst corridor in the country is I-95. That’s going to be where the greatest need is going to be. There are just no places for trucks to park.

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“Currently, many drivers face the prospect of being unsure where to park. They find someplace that they think is safe, and some hours later they wake up to a tow truck or a cop giving them a ticket.”

Spencer said perhaps the best way to create more parking spaces is for existing parking areas to add spaces. “And from my perspective, there really shouldn’t be any excuse for a state that operates weigh stations not making certain that those facilities are opened up for drivers,” Spencer said.

The committee had some suggestions, including:

• Solutions should be long term, considering safety investments such as lighting that particularly affect female drivers.
• Drivers need a degree of flexibility that reflects the realities of their job and routes.
• It would be useful to have a “heat map” that shows where CMV freight traffic is heaviest and target solutions to the heaviest-trafficked areas.
• Keep weigh stations open for parking.
• Find a way to utilize parking for drivers at sports stadiums.

In a second day of meetings, MCSAC members deliberated for several hours on Dec. 18 on potential ways to persuade truck drivers to wear seat belts. FMCSA asked the committee to examine the crash data and information on seat belt usage.

Not only is it a regulatory violation to not buckle up, but a large number of fatal crashes are the result of drivers not wearing their seat belts, according to available data.

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“I can tell you over the years I’ve heard drivers don’t want to wear seat belts because they don’t want someone telling them what they can and cannot do,” said Dan Horvath, senior vice president of regulatory affairs and safety policy for American Trucking Associations and a committee member. “I’ve even seen in TikTok and social media that we even have truck drivers who are trending on these sites building videos without wearing seat belts. What is the target audience for those that don’t wear seat belts? How do we intervene?”

#2 Truck Parking

The parking crisis lands at the No.2 spot for the second year in a row. — American Trucking (@TRUCKINGdotORG)

There were 914 driver fatalities in accidents in 2022, the most recent number, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Fatality Analysis Report System. Of that total, 635, or 69% were not wearing their seat belts.

Spencer said that writing a driver a ticket for not wearing a seat belt is “nothing more than harassment” but expressed dismay for drivers who refuse to use seat belts.

“We need to do something that really has to do with safety,” Spencer said. “When it comes to seat belts, the most likely casualty of not wearing it is going to be the drivers themselves. If you want your safety efforts to be fruitful, drivers have to buy in.”

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