Buttigieg ‘Very Concerned’ About Truck Parking

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg voiced concern about truck parking constraints recently, saying it’s a matter of safety for drivers.

Buttigieg spoke March 2 during a Senate committee hearing on DOT’s implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law in November 2021.

During the two-hour hearing of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) pressed the secretary on truck parking. Buttigieg responded that he is “very concerned” about the issue, adding: “it’s not only an issue of convenience, but an issue of safety.”

By federal law, truckers must take a 30-minute break after eight hours of driving and a 10-hour break after 14 hours of driving. However, it’s become increasingly hard for truckers to locate safe places to park. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the American Trucking Association sent a letter Feb. 18 to USDOT outlining the scope of the issue, noting “98 percent of drivers regularly experience problems finding safe parking.” The associations estimate there is currently one parking space for every 11 truckers.

The secretary outlined a few state-level programs that could be employed to solve the issue, including the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program, the National Highway Freight Program, the Highway Safety Improvement Program, the National Highway Performance Program and the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program. Those programs were all expanded in the November 2021 infrastructure bill.