New Mexico Unveils Electronic Truck Parking Signs Along I-10
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Truckers can now locate available parking at six rest areas on a 164-mile stretch of Interstate 10 in New Mexico using advanced technology and electronic road signs from a newly completed $2.7 million state project.
The New Mexico Department of Transportation revealed Jan. 26 completion of its first Truck Parking Availability System (TPAS) using groundbreaking technology to improve safety for commercial vehicle drivers.
“NMDOT is excited to implement this first-of-its-kind system in New Mexico, and is committed to finding and implementing technology to support safety on our highways,” NMDOT Cabinet Secretary Ricky Serna said.
Electronic road signs and the state’s 511 Travel Information system now enable truck drivers to find available parking places at all six of the state’s rest areas along I-10, which include east/westbound Lordsburg welcome centers, westbound Anthony and Gage rest areas, and the eastbound Yucca and Las Cruces rest areas.
NMDOT stated that it next plans to work with software application developers to integrate its truck parking information into various trucking apps.
Truck drivers will have access to information on more than 550 parking spots at 37 public rest areas along Interstate 10 among the four states in the coalition. (New Mexico Department of Transportation)
The truck parking information project is part of a multistate I-10 TPAS initiative partially funded by a $6.85 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant. The state transportation departments from New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and California are working together in an I-10 coalition to provide drivers and dispatchers with real-time truck parking information along that interstate. TPAS deployments are being rolled out and deployed among the states this year and in 2025.
The project will provide truck drivers with information about more than 550 parking spots at 37 public rest areas along I-10 in all four states.
The coalition identified the reasons truckers were having parking needs was due to a lack of supply and a lack of information about available parking spots.
A 2020 poll conducted by the I-10 coalition found that truck drivers were concerned about finding safe parking along that important freight route. It traverses through the four Western states from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles to the Port of Beaumont in Texas.
The I-10 route in those states handles more than 26,000 large commercial trucks each day, with statewide averages ranging from 5,300 combination trucks in New Mexico to nearly 10,400 trucks in California. An I-10 freight corridor study estimated that the economic impact of freight moving along I-10 in the four-state area was valued at $1.38 trillion annually.
The coalition found that most truckers traveling the western I-10 route typically drive at least 30 minutes every day searching for safe parking. A lack of available spaces causes drivers to park on roadway shoulders, ramps or other dangerous places.
Having a better way to detect available parking with TPAS in a convenient information dissemination system is seen as one way to alleviate truck parking problems and improve driver safety.
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