ATA Warns Against Closing Va. Rest Areas

American Trucking Associations Monday warned against Virginia's proposal to close 25 of its 42 rest areas, saying that the move would be dangerous for all drivers.

Rest areas in Virginia "play a critical role in preventing driver fatigue," ATA said in a statement, adding that closing the rest areas would present a hazard not only to professional truck drivers, but to all motorists.

In order to close a budget gap, the Virginia Department of Transportation has proposed closing 25 rest areas along Interstate highways, including "nearly all of Virginia's rest areas in major truck corridors along I-81 and I-95."

Closing the rest areas would also make it difficult for truck drivers to meet the rest requirements of federal hours of service regulations, ATA said.

ATA President Bill Graves wrote a letter to Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine recently urging him to keep rest areas open, ATA said. Graves served as governor of Kansas for eight years and "can appreciate the difficult choices [Kaine has] to make during these tough economic times," he wrote in the letter.