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WASHINGTON — Trucking industry representatives at the Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting Jan. 13 broke down some of the biggest challenges — and floated a few solutions — regarding truck parking.

ORLANDO, Fla. — The difficulty of finding truck parking is pushing drivers out of the business and contributing to the industry’s persistent driver shortage, according to experts who spoke at the Natso annual convention, held here Feb. 10-13.

Elected officials are becoming more aware of the truck parking problem, but many can’t seem to convince their constituents why they should care, according to panelists at a recent conference on truck parking.

While the growing presence of tractor-trailers has been a complaint of Lehigh Valley, Pa., residents in recent years, local planners are concerned with the one place they’re not seeing them — designated truck parking spots.

Truck drivers passing through Minnesota who need of a safe place to pull off the road will be getting help from the Minnesota Department of Transportation, which last week began installing new technology that will let them know in real time if rest areas still have parking spaces available.

A group of eight Midwestern states is working to inform truckers of parking availability along major routes.

Truckers in Washington state are meeting with lawmakers to discuss options for addressing the state’s shortage of truck parking, an issue which is expected to face added pressure once the federal requirement for use of electronic logs takes effect next week.

The state of Illinois is considering how to rehab, or possibly close, some state rest areas, and has even launched a public survey about travelers’ likes and dislikes of the interstate highway stops — drawing thousands of responses so far.

Keith Mullin felt lucky he found a space to park his truck Oct. 6 at an Interstate 4 rest area in Longwood, Fla., after a 20-hour trip from central Wisconsin.