Lack of Truck Parking Costs $100B a Year, Report Finds
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Insufficient truck parking is resulting in $100 billion yearly in lost productivity, issued by the .
Though there are 23.4 million suitable parking spaces throughout the country, 98% are private places lacking public access, according to the report by economist Noël Perry of.
The Truck Parking Club, based in Ringgold, Ga., provides information and booking services for drivers and carriers looking for parking spaces. The organization released the report recently, stating: “Truck Parking Club believes a comprehensive overview of the situation will improve the industry’s response to an increasingly important problem.”
“Although truckers are usually successful in finding a parking space, those spaces are seldom the ‘right’ spaces for the trip cycle at hand. Poor choices can lead to $200 or more in extra costs per load, totaling over $100 billion in increased costs and lost revenue for the industry annually,” the study stated.
There is no truck parking shortage.
That's our biggest takeaway from the comprehensive truck parking study we commissioned transportation economist Noël Perry to conduct.
Here's what everyone sees: 2.4 million trucks need parking daily, but only 697,000 official spaces are… — Truck Parking Club (@Trukparkingclub)
An extra hour spent seeking parking costs drivers $109, the report stated.
“Some observers believe that truckers lose two hours of productive time per parking event,” it stated. About half of drivers are able to rest near authorized truck parking facilities, while the remaining 50% are forced to find places to park that aren’t proper rest areas for truckers.
“While the marketplace is slowly creating solutions, more is possible if shippers and carriers are willing to make the necessary investments,” the report stated.
Nils Jaeger of Volvo Autonomous Solutions says self-driving trucks will complement the industry’s workforce as freight demand grows. Tune in above or by going to .
Parking shortages have a greater impact on small carriers, which move about 55% of national trucking volume, per the report, since these companies lack the resources of larger fleets.
Another point mentioned in the study is that 66% of all trucks are parked in areas having little or no security, making the trucks vulnerable to $733 million in cargo theft.
The report suggests shippers become involved with carriers in finding solutions to the truck parking problem that is mostly falling on state and local governments to tackle.
“They [shippers] provide the bulk of reserved spaces that could be made available to en route carriers. Those spaces, by their nature, have the lowest utilization. There should be ample incentive given the revenue potential and the potential savings that would benefit their carriers,” the report stated. “In the long run, the biggest gains should come from re-engineering trip circuits and loading dock practices to minimize wait times. That process will require close coordination between shippers and carriers, and should be helped by new artificial intelligence tools.”
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