Report Studies Rest Area Truck Parking Across Country

Expanding truck parking could improve the industry overall, according to a recent American Transportation Research Institute report. 

The parking shortage, estimated in the April 8 report as one space for every 11 trucks, causes issues such as decreased productivity, delayed delivery and higher safety risks. Thus, the research aimed to figure out which states have the most parking capacity and what could be done to improve it. 

By number of rest area parking spaces, Florida leads the nation with 2,100 spots. The rest of the top five are Illinois (1,449 spaces), Texas (1,409), Ohio (1,403) and Indiana (1,402). 

Looked at as a ratio, Indiana leads the pack in rest area parking spaces per 100 miles of highway with 37.5. The other states in the top 5 are Vermont (32.9 spaces per 100 miles of highway), West Virginia (32), New Jersey (28.4) and Connecticut (24.8). 

Overall, the report concludes that state transportation departments should leverage public-private partnerships to expand parking, provide more capacity during storms and “generate funds that offset service and maintenance costs.”