The passage of the new Transportation Bill that included the Jason’s Law bill allocated funds for safer and more plentiful truck parking.
On Tuesday, OOIDA sent a letter to the DOT and Ray LaHood urging the agency to make truck parking a priority project.
According to Land Line, “The enactment of ‘Jason’s Law’ represents a clear signal by Congress that ensuring adequate and safe commercial motor vehicle parking along the National Highway System is a highway safety priority, equal with adding rumble strips, installing guard rails and improving signage,” Todd Spencer, executive vice president for OOIDA, wrote.
Land Line reported, “The need to increase true investment in truck parking, and not simply add electronic signs directing truckers to rest areas that are already full for the evening, is well known to our nation’s truckers,” Spencer added. “Every night, they face the prospect of getting to their planned truck stop or rest area only to find it filled to capacity, something that only adding more parking capacity can fix.”
HOS regulations require drivers to take rest periods, but drivers are often left looking for a safe place to park but don’t have many options, forcing drivers to either stop in an unsafe area or risk breaking HOS laws and keep driving, in order to find safe, available parking.
To read more about this, follow this link to Land Line Magazine.