Truckers Get Real-Time Parking Info on Arizona’s I-10
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A new $2.8 million notification system by the Arizona Department of Transportation now uses electronic signs to show truckers whether four rest areas have available parking along the busy Interstate 10 freight corridor.
“The real-time information provided through the Truck Parking Availability System helps truckers get the rest they need without having to use places that aren’t designated for truck parking,” ADOT stated.
Arizona announced the dynamic truck parking messaging availability Jan. 27 at four rest areas: Ehrenberg, Bouse Wash, Texas Canyon and San Simon.
The signs with real-time truck parking information have been installed at the eastbound and westbound Ehrenberg and Bouse Wash rest areas close to Arizona’s western border with California.
With 53 truck parking spaces, the Ehrenberg Rest Area is located 4 miles from Blythe, Calif., and is closest to Arizona’s desert community of Quartzsite, just over 10 miles to the east.
(Arizona Department of Transportation)
The Bouse Wash Rest Area has 55 truck parking slots and is located 7 miles from Vicksburg. Phoenix is 100 miles in the opposite direction.
Electronic signage at the Texas Canyon Rest Area, which has 44 truck parking spaces, provides parking availability information for truckers traveling in both directions on I-10 about 70 miles east of Tucson. This rest area is located between Benson and Willcox.
Closer to New Mexico on I-10 is ADOT’s San Simon Rest Area with 80 truck parking spaces. This southeastern rest area is 9 miles from San Simon and 20 miles west of Lordsburg, N.M.
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The system features dynamic parking availability signs installed ahead of rest areas. Truck drivers can learn with real-time advanced information if approaching truck parking areas have available slots. If lots are full, truckers have advance warning to seek another area to rest.
In 2020, an I-10 Corridor Coalition survey of truckers revealed 78% of the driver respondents spent more than 30 minutes daily seeking safe parking places. Insufficient safe parking areas force many truckers to park their vehicles on highway shoulders and ramps or other undesignated places.
The TPAS is part of a $13.7 million initiative by the I-10 Corridor Coalition to improve travel and freight transportation between California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, which have a combined 550 truck parking spaces.
(Arizona Department of Transportation)
The U.S. Department of Transportation infused a seed grant of $6.85 million in 2019 to the coalition. Each of the four states matched the federal award, adding a total of $6.85 million to implement the truck parking notification system along I-10. The project’s goals are to:
- Improve safety
- Reduce infrastructure damage and diesel emissions
- Prevent lost time, earnings and productivity incurred by truckers searching for suitable parking places
The entire project calls for real-time truck parking signs to be installed at 37 sites over a 1,680-mile stretch of I-10. Texas will have the most locations for the signs (18), followed by Arizona (8), California (6) and New Mexico (5).
“Monitoring systems track available parking and share that information to electronic signs and third-party sources used by truck drivers. The information also will be added to the Arizona Traveler Information website at az511.gov,” ADOT stated.
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