Do You Think There Is A Truck Parking Shortage?

Truck stops make very little on fuel sales and actually lose money on parking. I would guess 75% of those that park at a truck stop spend no money there, and only use their facilities: the bathrooms, the shower (if a driver has a shower credit), and the parking lot.

Paying to park is a choice, not a requirement, at any truck stop. It's free enterprise, so I don't feel it's "a big corporate monopoly chain" forcing me to park. In five years I have used my money to park somewhere twice, and both times were not at a major chain.

We do need more parking options virtually nationwide, both public and private.

^^^^^^ This x 1000 ~!!!!!

Well said, PackRat . . . well said, as always~!

~ Anne ~

You talk like I’m not a trucker too. To be clear I am. I have as much to loose and gain from this problem as anyone else.

To be perfectly honest, you sound more like a politician than a driver. It's rare to have a driver or someone in the trucking industry to propose more taxation on themselves so surely you can see the confusion. I think you are too fresh in the industry to have a handle on the parking situation and what it would take to resolve it. I'm also guessing you are young as your naive views toward taxation and trust that the DOT and government would really use any new money collected toward more parking. What do you think a part of our current taxes are supposed to pay for? Infrastructure which includes parking at rest areas. It wouldn't help to try to pass a new parking bill or the like as very little if any money collected would go toward parking. It would go for salary for 14 board members to study the problem for 4 years and when the money collected is funneled away on other pet projects they would say they looked at hundreds of rest areas and truck stops at noon for years and see no shortage. I have paid for parking twice in two years, I pull in usually around the 9pm-3am mark and still manage to park without paying. There is indeed a shortage but taxing truckers is far from the answer. How about they propose a tax on everyone but truckers since they consume the goods we carry?

Definitely need more parking, I wish truck stops and rest areas had a few designated pull through spots for doubles to be able to park. I hate my 30 on a ramp because it's not worth the risk and time to try to squeeze into a rest area or truck stop.

I should mention truck drivers are our own worst enemy when it comes to parking, we complain places don't offer free parking but when a place does offer parking some drivers trash it. Why would a place want to take on the expense of building and maintaining parking when we thank them by tossing garbage and bodily fluids all over it??

The mall by my house use to let trucks park by the empty stores, until people ruined it by trashing the place, now they don't allow parking anymore.