City officials in a North Carolina town recently voted to ban trucks from parking on residential roads overnight — a move that could cost one local truck driver his job.
On November 14, council members in the town of Murfreesboro, North Carolina, approved an ordinance that bans truck from parking overnight on residential streets, according to a report in the Roanoke-Chowan News Herald.
The ordinance reads:
“No truck, defined as a motor vehicle with dual wheels and three or more axles, and/or any trailer pulled by such motor vehicle, shall be parked in the streets controlled by the Town in any neighborhood zoned residential, except for the purpose of loading and unloading and in any event not overnight. Each day shall constitute a separate offense.”
Citations for violating the parking ban will be $50 per day.
At the council meeting, only one person stood up to oppose the overnight truck parking ban — truck driver Miguel Turner. Turner told the council members that he has parked his truck on the street in front of his home for the past five years without any complaints.
“I’m a truck driver. That is how I make my living. That’s how I take care of my family,” Turner told the council. He explained that because he lives an hour away from where his company is headquartered, he would likely lose his job if he was no longer able to park his truck at his home.
Turner admitted that there were some “irresponsible drivers” out there, but urged the council not to punish all truck drivers within the city.
Soon after Turner spoke, the council voted to approve the ordinance. They say that they’ll give truck drivers 30 days before they start enforcing the overnight truck parking ban.
This summer, the nearby North Carolina town of Rocky Mount passed a similar ordinance forbidding truck parking on any residential property within the town, meaning that truck drivers are banned from parking their trucks at their own homes.