Lack of available truck parking is a daily struggle for truck drivers and ranks among their top concerns while out on the road.
One company, TruckPark, recently launched an app designed to help alleviate this worry by allowing drivers to reserve a parking space using their smartphones.
The TruckPark app is free to download. Users are then prompted to enter their credit card information. Reserved spaces can run as high as $20 per night, depending on the area of the country, Anthony Petitte, chief executive of TruckPark, told FreightWaves.
TruckPark currently partners with 13 lot owners in eight states, but plans to add another 48 lots by May 2020, Petitte said.
The company previously offered its reservation system through its website before launching its mobile app.
“We want to make sure that every driver focuses on their job, not worrying about searching for parking,” Joshua Walls, chief operation officer of TruckPark, told FreightWaves.
According to the American Transportation Research Institute, or ATRI, truck drivers spend nearly an hour each day searching for a place to stop for the night. Lack of available truck parking ranks fifth on ATRI’s list of industry concerns.
There is a crucial shortage of parking for big rigs, according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
The agency estimates there are more than 3 million truckers on the road, but parking for only approximately 300,000 trucks. Many states are reporting acute parking needs, primarily along major transit corridors and in dense metropolitan areas.
Walls said the company’s long-term goal is to eventually partner with locations that offer other services, like maintenance shops, that truckers could utilize while parked.
“We want to make sure the driver experience is unmatched from the point of reservation to the time they arrive at our location and throughout their stay,” Walls said.
