There are about 3.5 million truck drivers in the United States. Yet according to the American Trucking Associations, there are only 313,000 parking spots for those drivers — that means, on average, that there are 11 truckers fighting for any given space.
In fact, the truck parking situation could be described as a full-blown crisis. The growth of trucking has far outpaced the number of parking spaces available to truckers. Combine that with the growing not-in-my-backyard movement and you’ve got a recipe for a shortage.
As early as 2016, the American Transportation Research Institute found that because of shortages, the average truck driver spends nearly a full hour every day looking for a parking spot. And per the ATA, more than half of them are forced to park illegally three times a week, typically on shoulders or on- and off-ramps where they are at risk of being hit.
In September, the Biden administration highlighted funding initiatives that added 120 and 125 new truck parking spaces along the I-4 and I-40 corridors, respectively. But a couple hundred spots isn’t enough to move the needle — so how can we add more?
“The trucking business is a foundational part of American industry, and a critical component for our overall economic stability,” said Evan Shelley, founder and CEO of TruckParkingClub.com. “However, trucking throughout the United States faces a critical, simple problem: insufficient space to park all of these much-needed vehicles. TruckParkingClub.com aims to solve this issue through innovation, technology, and world-class customer support.”
Miami-based TruckParkingClub.com this month emerged from stealth and launched a nationwide marketplace to close the gap between the number of truck drivers and the number of places they can park.
The platform allows property owners to temporarily rent their unused graveled or paved property to truckers — and monetize their vacant space in the process.
Watch: What are the next steps for more truck parking?
Industrial and commercially zoned properties are common listings, but the company also works with extra space at gas stations or in empty or seldom used lots. It does not accept residential listings, so you won’t ever see a semi truck parked in your neighbor’s driveway. Brokers can even submit their clients’ properties and collect commissions.
According to the company, with a space as small as 75 feet by 14 feet, a property owner could generate $10 to $20 per day. And importantly, the platform features no leases, so there’s no worry that properties end up tied to contracts.
The website also handles all bookings and payments in one place, and owners are paid directly via Automated Clearing House transfers after each reservation. Truckers can reserve space a day at a time or book up to a week in advance.
According to a map on TruckParkingClub.com, listings are primarily concentrated in the Atlanta metro area. But others have popped up around Dallas-Fort Worth and the San Francisco Bay Area, and the platform is now available to property owners nationwide.
The company is entering a space with few competitors. One firm, SecurSpace, offers a similar marketplace service, allowing property owners with excess capacity to share their space with truckers in need of parking. Another, Trucker Path, functions more like a social media app, where truckers can post updates on parking availability as they return to the road.
Outside of those platforms and a smattering of smaller startups, there aren’t many companies focused on finding and reserving parking specifically for truckers. They’ll be hoping those firms and others can support the Biden administration’s proposed $755 million bill for truck parking, which was introduced in the Senate earlier this month, in alleviating the nation’s parking crisis.
Click for more FreightWaves articles by Jack Daleo.
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