The American Transportation Research Institute’s (ATRI) Critical Issues in the Trucking Industry 2018 survey found that 48.7% of respondents said the parking shortage leads them to park on ramps or the side of the highway between three and five times a week. About 40% spend an hour or more looking for a place to park. TruckPark was founded to change this.
Now, InMotion Global’s AscendTMS transportation management system has incorporated TruckPark’s reservation system into its TMS, giving drivers, carriers, dispatchers and even brokers the opportunity to make a parking reservation without leaving the TMS.
“The key to making driver parking reservations is saving the spaces well before someone else does. This agreement with TruckPark is a first for any TMS provider in that it allows the dispatcher to make the reservation for the driver while he or she is driving, hours before it even crosses the driver’s mind,” Bert Goo, executive vice president of partnerships and channel marketing at AscendTMS, explained. “This partnership allows the dispatcher to help their drivers out by seeing all the forward-looking parking spaces available based on the driver’s current location, their hours of service available, and their average speed.”
The option was formally announced on Wednesday. Since then, several brokers have told Tim Higham, CEO of AscendTMS, it will help them secure capacity, he relayed to FreightWaves.
Most parking rates are less than $20, with the average cost $15 per night, according to TruckPark.
Users of the AscendTMS will be offered several parking suggestions when booking loads, allowing the dispatcher or broker to make a reservation with a single click.
“The driver is then notified automatically of their reservation by SMS text message or by ELD text message. No other TMS platform has ever done this before,” Goo said.
“As a company, TruckPark is focused on solving parking challenges in today’s trucking industry, and we’re proud that we’re able to help simplify the lives of truckers for thousands of AscendTMS carriers and drivers with this integration,” said Anthony Petitte, CEO of TruckPark. “Fleet managers, brokers and digital freight markets can leverage our technology to reduce costs, improve operational efficiency and boost safety. We’re excited to make this new integration available today to any AscendTMS customer.”
TruckPark has been busy creating collaborations and adding locations to expand its services. In December, the company announced an integration to allow Dock411 users to reserve one of TruckPark’s thousands of available spaces through a link in the Dock411 app. That link takes the user to TruckPark’s system, allowing drivers to see and reserve available parking. Shippers will also be able to see the location of these trucks through the Dock411 web portal, providing insight into the vehicle’s location.
In addition, the company is working with insurer Reliance Partners to explore how truck parking reservation systems might improve the quality of a driver’s rest. Reliance said it believes that drivers who are more rested return to duty fresher and as a result operate more safely. Fatalities involving trucks are up nearly 5% from 2018, the firm said, adding that improving quality rest for drivers could potentially improve their performance.
“This partnership exemplifies our commitment to safety and innovation by looking at how technology can be used to improve driver well-being and operational safety of commercial trucks,” said Chad Eichelberger, president of Reliance Partners. “We’re confident that providing our members with solutions like TruckPark’s app-based parking reservation platform will help our members improve safety on the roadways by improving the quality of driver rest standards within their fleets.”
TruckPark launched in 2017 in the Chicago area and has been slowly expanding ever since. In August 2019, the company announced a partnership with Storemytruck.com that Petitte said will ultimately result in over 10,000 new truck parking systems becoming available in the TruckPark network.
Storemytruck.com is a parking lot owner located primarily in the Southeast as of now, with a large presence in the Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, areas. It also has a substantial presence in other parts of North Carolina and in South Carolina, Alabama and Florida. The agreement with TruckPark opens up locations in Atlanta, as well as in the Carolinas, to drivers.