Group pushes cities to let truckers park in unused lots

A group representing city leaders from across the U.S. is seeking to provide truck drivers with more safe parking opportunities.

On April 7, the National League of Cities shared an article on their website entitled “Have Excess Parking? Consider Truck Parking Partnerships.”

The article points to the trouble that truckers face in locating safe parking and calls on cities to act to provide more commercial vehicle parking by opening up underutilized parking areas for trucks.

The group suggests that cities consider the following areas for CMV parking:

• Excess airport parking
• City-owned staging areas, properties or parking lots near highway exits or trucking destinations including ports, rail yards, or major businesses
• Stadium parking
• Government building parking lots
• Transit or maintenance yards
• Major shopping malls
• Government-owned sites waiting for development
• Warehouses and other major shipping/receiving pressure points

The group also points to states and transportation corridors where truck parking is most needed:

• New York
• New Jersey
• Pennsylvania
• Illinois
• Georgia
• I-95
• I-5
• Chicago region

The National League of Cities also asks city leaders to consider the amenities that truck drivers need when they park: “Truckers are business owners who are trying to move goods efficiently, and so parking really needs to be ideally located where they are coming and going. Truckers are just like other travelers – they need a place to rest, to use bathroom facilities, to get a meal, and to do it all safely. Some truck parking facilities offer fencing, restricted access, security personnel patrolling periodically, and more.”

The group also advises that cities look into grant funding for truck parking through the upcoming passage of the FAST Act reauthorization legislation.

The National League of Cities is made up of city, town and village leaders in more than 2,000 cities across the nation.