About $20 million in federal highway money would be available to add parking spaces for truck drivers needing rest, under legislation introduced in the House Wednesday.
Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) introduced the measure, dubbed “Jason’s Law,” named for Jason Rivenburg, a New York driver who was robbed and murdered in March 2009 while parked at an abandoned South Carolina gas station.
There have been dozens of reported robberies since, Tonko said at a news conference Wednesday in Washington, Bloomberg reported.
Trucking industry representatives said this week at a National Transportation Safety Board forum in Washington said a lack of available parking for truck drivers is one of the most pressing problems facing the industry.
There are 261,208 parking spaces at truck stops and travel plazas in the U.S., according to the NATSO, an association that represents truck stops.
A 2003 Transportation Research Board report estimated there were 31,300 public rest-stop parking spaces along major freight highways, Bloomberg reported.
But about 2 million more trucks will be added in the U.S. to meet freight demands as the economy expands, according to Mary Phillips, American Trucking Associations’ senior vice president of legislative affairs.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association also backs the move for more parking spaces.
“The trucking industry faces a litany of issues, and the least we can do is to make sure drivers have a safe place to rest while delivering the nation’s goods,” Todd Spencer, OOIDA’s executive vice president, said in a statement.
Along with representatives of ATA and OOIDA, officials from the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and American Moving & Storage Association flanked Tonko as he introduced the measure.
