Trucking Groups Oppose D.C. Parking Permit Plan

Five trucking industry associations filed comments recently opposing a plan to require motor carriers to buy permits to park in Washington, D.C.

American Trucking Associations, the American Moving & Storage Association, the Maryland Motor Truck Association, the Truck Renting and Leasing Association and the Virginia Trucking Association argued that the regulation would create “significant practical difficulties for motor carriers, for businesses and individual residents within the District,” in a joint letter Wednesday.

The regulation would require carriers to buy annual or daily permits to park in the city. It would also restrict the time and place of parking and require vehicles to display evidence that the carrier has purchased the permit.

The cost of the permit would be based on a fleet’s total size, not just trucks the park in the city. It would cost large fleets “upwards of $20,000,” ATA said in its Truckline newsletter to members.

“The plan would be unworkable, costly for the city to enforce, and in certain respects violated federal law,” ATA said.