OOIDA: DOT needs to take action on truck parking safety

Grain Valley, MO – Truck parking along highways needs to become a higher priority for the federal government, Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, said in a recent letter to Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.

Spencer encouraged the Department of Transportation to use funding from a provision known as Jason’s Law in the recently enacted surface transportation funding bill (.pdf file) to conduct a national survey of each state’s commercial motor vehicle parking opportunities and add additional parking where it is most needed. He also recommended professional truck drivers be included in the surveys because they are “the best sources of information available” on parking shortages.

Jason’s Law is named after a New York-based truck driver who was shot and killed in 2009 at an abandoned gas station after he was not able to find appropriate parking at his delivery site. The law aims to help reduce the need for truck drivers to park alongside highways or forgo sleep and violate hours-of-service regulations to find appropriate parking.