For many years, the trucking community has lamented the unavailability of safe and cheap parking spots for truckers to rest after their Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration-allotted hours of service (HoS) are up. In fact, 19.9% of the truckers surveyed in an American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) study placed the issue among their top three concerns.
“The reason they are frustrated is because parking is not always available when they need it, so they need to make a decision in advance to start looking for a parking spot,” said Ellen Voie, president and CEO of Women in Trucking.
Drivers essentially have two equally unappealing options. First, they can try to find a parking spot quickly at the risk of cutting their workday short — sometimes by well over an hour, as ATRI results show 40% of drivers spend an hour or more searching for a parking spot.
“This means they cut their productive driving time short [to ensure] they are in compliance,” Voie said.
Alternatively, drivers may spend excessive time searching for a spot and end up extending their day beyond the legal hour limit. Despite their best efforts, they may still have to park on a ramp or at an unauthorized location — which may or may not be safe. And even permissible parking at a rest area is no guarantee of safety, given the transient nature of other motorists and drivers using the stop.
For female drivers especially, these and other safety concerns compound the many challenges related to trucking. Voie pointed to a survey conducted by Women in Trucking, in which female drivers ranked their safety on a scale of one to 10 at 4.4.
“Safety includes more than the maintenance of the equipment; it includes the company’s culture in how they compel drivers to operate in inclement weather conditions — but more importantly, in where they are expected to load and unload. For instance, is the customer in a part of town that has violent activity, or is the docking area well lit and secure?” Voie said. “If you consider female drivers, they have a heightened awareness of their own security, both inside and outside of the truck.”
That greater awareness extends to the significant issue of harassment. Voie mentioned that some female drivers fuel and eat at one location then drive to another to sleep — in order not to get out of the truck at the place they plan to sleep and reveal to anyone nearby that they are driving solo.
With digitalization and the development of a handful of truck parking applications like TruckPark, drivers can now reserve their parking spots well ahead of time.
“The driver can reserve a space up to a year in advance or as quickly as the need arises,” Voie said. “When surveyed, many drivers, both male and female, appreciate the opportunity to secure a parking spot, even if there is a cost associated with it. However, the sentiment is often related to whether or not their carrier reimburses them for the fees,” Voie added.
But on balance, that upfront cost pays off. Voie said that if drivers can proactively confirm their parking spaces for the night (or day), they can continue to work because they know they will have an open space to park when they are nearing the time to shut the truck down.
“This actually increases their productivity and income, so it’s more of an investment than a cost. Once drivers understand the savings they can experience in knowing there is a place available for downtime, they will better understand the impact it can have on the bottom line,” Voie said.
In the context of technology adoption, Voie contends that drivers typically embrace it very early, as they are eager to stay connected to their families, their companies and each other while on the road. For startups in the niche, the sticking point can be getting drivers to use a specific application.
“But once they start adopting the technology and spreading the word to their peers, the product will start its momentum. The initial reaction will be the cost associated with the reserved parking, but education in understanding the benefits will be the key,” Voie said.
Canyon
I agree with Jess who commented above re: this sounds more like an advertisement for pay parking apps; I don’t have any experience with mega carrier fleets but yes, rape culture exists and #metoo has helped bring this to even a wider discourse–also, the backlash from men(and some women)is more proof
Instead of using the tired trope of ‘females as victims constantly scurrying for cover'(I’m a chain throwing, bar wielding flat bed woman driver btw so bring it), how about tackle the fact that too many companies will not re-imburse the driver for pay parking, or will ‘have a talk’ with the driver if there are too many paid parkings–how is this even legal? Tackle that… and then perhaps discuss that the current HOS could use extension to help with finding fast filling truck stops(Canada has a 16 hr on duty day)or just general delays that happen at loading/unloading.
I suspect, Ellen, that the pay parking people didn’t pay you enough to be able to suggest other methods of securing relatively safe parking spots. I mean, why didn’t you name more apps? Allstays. Truckers Path, Roadbreakers, Park My Truck, Truck Spot….or why would you not have mentioned that shippers and receivers oftentimes have parking or can recommend in the area? That Walmarts will still allow parking with a call?
The idea that you think paying for a parking spot is any safer than an unpaid parking spot is ridiculous. The idea that we will only be able to pick up/drop off in brightly lit, secure locations sounds almost like it’s coming from someone who hasn’t done all that many deliveries/pickups. So weird.
Kim Quinton-Massa
True thought the same thing !
Rico
What a load of bullshit this article is. Women don’t have any special needs for parking that are unique from those of men.
Jess Graham
This article sounds like an advertisement for pay parking. While parking is an industry wide problem due to the lack of adequate amounts available especially in larger cities it’s just another excuse for WIT to shift focus off of the real safety issue for womenin this industry and that is the rape culture present at the mega training fleets.