The lack of commercial truck parking for semi-trucks, tractor-trailers, big rigs, and 18-wheelers on the roads of Indiana, Illinois, and the rest of the country has been a recognized, serious problem for many years now. Back in 2015, the Federal Highway Administration published truck parking findings confirming this as a “longstanding problem” where truckers simply do not have enough options for safely parking their rigs, so “… truckers were forced to park on freeway interchange ramps and shoulders of highways, which represents a safety issue.”
Read, Jason’s Law Truck Parking Survey Results and Comparative Analysis, published by the United States Department of Transportation in August 2015.
From then-Deputy Secretary for the Department of Transportation Victor Mendez:
“We know truck parking has been a longstanding problem in our nation and we need new approaches to fix it. Now more than ever, this country needs better planning, investment, and innovation from those who have a stake in safe truck parking and transportation.”
In 2019, this Truck Parking Survey was updated with the final release in December 2020. The 2019 Jason’s Law Survey results revealed that little had been done to resolve the problem of a lack of commercial truck parking in this country in that four-year time span. According to the Federal Highway Administration, there was a small increase in private truck parking spaces of eleven percent (11%) and a mere six percent (6%) increase in public parking spaces since the initial Jason’s Law Survey was published. Read, “FHWA Unveils Preliminary Findings of Jason’s Law Truck Parking Survey,” written by Tiffany Wlazlowski Neuman and published by NATSO on December 7, 2020.
Lack of Available Truck Parking Endangers Lives
Parking large commercial motor vehicles as they detour from their routes on the roadways of Indiana and Illinois is very different from pulling over other types of transportation. These large and heavy machines need more physical space, of course. Parking spots have to be longer. However, truckers also need adequate room to maneuver these rigs into a parking spot, and to exit with enough space to turn and accelerate without incident.
Parking a rig in an improper location can be the cause of a serious semi-truck crash. Likewise, truckers who keep moving in an effort to find adequate truck parking may drive while fatigued and unable to rest when needed. This can result in a deadly truck accident.
Truckers simply do not have the parking options of a 4-wheeler on the road, and the failure to provide them with adequate truck parking is a growing danger for everyone driving the Crossroads of America.
As the 2015 Jason’s Law Survey explained:
Truck parking shortages are a national safety concern. 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.
- For more on the dangers of accidents caused by the lack of commercial truck parking, read Truck Parking and Fatal Semi Truck Crashes.
ATA and OOIDA Urge Federal Government to Help With Truck Parking Crisis in This Country
Earlier this week, a joint letter was sent by the President and CEO of the American Trucking Associations (ATA), and the President and CEO of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), to Secretary of the Department of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, urging that something be accomplished by the federal government to resolve the growing crisis of inadequate commercial truck parking.
The Trucker’s Catch-22: HOS Rules Without Adequate Truck Parking
On behalf of commercial truck drivers in this country, ATA and OOIDA reiterate how Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) hours-of-service (HOS) regulations demand that truckers pull over and park for legally-mandated rest brakes (30 minutes) once they have been behind the wheel for eight (8) straight hours, and to take a ten (10) hour break after driving their truck for fourteen (14) hours.
It is illegal not to comply with the federal HOS rest rules. Nevertheless, truckers may well find themselves watching the clock and scanning the roads for a proper parking space for their rig. The Catch22: violate the HOS regulation or violate parking laws – if they can find any place to pull over at all.
All too often, as the letter points out:
“[W]hen drivers are unable to find safe, authorized parking, they are stuck in a no-win situation, forced to either park in unsafe or illegal locations, or violate federal HOS regulations by continuing to search for safer, legal alternatives. A staggering 70% of drivers have been forced to violate federal HOS rules because of this common scenario. As a last resort, drivers reluctantly park in unsafe locations such as highway shoulders, interstate entry and exit ramps, and abandoned properties.
Truck Parking Fatal Crash Injury Claims in Indiana and Illinois
Everyone driving the roads of Indiana and Illinois, particularly our interstates and notorious commercial truck routes like the Borman Expressway, recognizes the tremendous volume of big rigs, semis, and tractor-trailer trucks who rumble through our part of the country. Sadly, these commercial truck drivers must face the same Truck Parking Catch 22 in Indiana and Illinois as they encounter elsewhere.
When a tired, exhausted, frustrated truck driver is unable to find proper truck parking, the risk of a serious or deadly truck accident increases, jeopardizing not only the trucker but those who share the roads with that heavy rig.
For those who fall victim to a severe or fatal semi-truck crash, state laws provide opportunities to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident to determine if there is legal liability established for those who have failed in their duty of care to help the truck driver find safe truck parking as part of his route planning. This may include the shipper, the receiver, and other responsible parties.
Accident investigation may also reveal that a fatal truck crash caused by a truck improperly parked on the roadside or highway embankment has been proximately caused by fleet management failing to provide safety equipment such as flashers, cones, or triangles that would help identify the truck’s location and prevent the collision.
For more on semi-truck crash injuries, see:
- Winter Weather Accidents Caused by Negligent Fleet Management
- Trucking Companies Liable for Semi-Truck Crashes in Indiana and Illinois
- Truck Safety Coalition Releases 50-Page Report Denouncing Trucking Industry’s Position on Nuclear Verdicts
- Danger of Fatal Semi-Truck Crashes in Indiana and Illinois and the 2021 Infrastructure Bill
- Trial Tactics for Plaintiff Semi-Truck Accident Claims: a Practical Guide from Investigation to Trial.
The lack of proper commercial truck parking in Indiana and Illinois endangers all who drive through Illinois and Indiana as the “Crossroads of America.” Please be careful out there!
