Truck Park Information

Hello everyone, I am interested in opening a truck park in Chicago area, my son in law who has been doing OTR for about year he has his own truck and pays a lot for a dirt lot. I have no trucking experience at all in the industry, my years in the military coming back from the field I was always thinking how can I get my my Humvee parked and ready for next day as fast as I can so I can grab a beer! I wanted to get some feedback from you all on what is important about coming to a truck park? Are there anything can the park could provide to improve your experience, or what do you look for thank you for your time I am starting from square one so any information could help! Stay safe

Do you already have the land and the zoning approved for this?

Hello everyone, I am interested in opening a truck park in Chicago area, my son in law who has been doing OTR for about year he has his own truck and pays a lot for a dirt lot. I have no trucking experience at all in the industry, my years in the military coming back from the field I was always thinking how can I get my my Humvee parked and ready for next day as fast as I can so I can grab a beer! I wanted to get some feedback from you all on what is important about coming to a truck park? Are there anything can the park could provide to improve your experience, or what do you look for thank you for your time I am starting from square one so any information could help! Stay safe

I would be curious to know what insurance you would need for that type of operation and what it would cost. Have you looked into that issue?

How many local politicians do you know? IMO that’s your greatest obstacle.

Getting the land is the huge part. The property taxes and local.permits will be astronomical. Getting approved would be a chore as residents and businesses do not want the additional truck traffic and environmental issues

And what services will you offer?

"Truck park" meaning what? I can park my truck and go home for the weekend? That only helps locals. The OTR drivers need showers, restrooms, food, trailer washouts would be nice. And since the truck stops give us free showers for fuel.as well as shopping rewards points... You would get less income from a convenience store than you may expect. Truckers can be cheap. I pay for parking out of convenience. I know drivers who would rather sleep on a ramp.than pay for parking.

How would you advertise? You would have to pay for apps like Truckers Path for drivers to find you.

I live in Joliet, there are already a few places in the Chicago area offering what you want to do. Just from my observations having a clean well maintained facility will give you a leg up on most other facilities.

Now finding and being able to afford a location with east highway access is a different problem. Most residents do not want those lots in their area so finding city approval will be difficult.

As I drive around the country I see so many abandoned facilities that were originally located for trucks and designed for trucks. Many have fallen into various stages of disrepair. Maybe some have been foreclosed on and have banks wanting to unload them. Perhaps a commercial operation would be too expensive and complicated for you. But you might find a facility for your son to park and maybe a few others. If you need financing, the commercial banker will ask to upfront if you have any past or current experience with whatever you have in mind. If no experience, it would be tough to get a loan, especially in the current economic downturn, recession, etc.