Truck parking projects among $80M in highway safety grants

This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback.

Dive Brief:

Truck parking projects received some of the $80 million in highway safety grants awarded by the Biden administration from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law this week.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration grants to states, local governments, non-profit organizations and academic institutions contributed to a 65% increase YoY in truck parking funding, according to the agency.
“We depend on truck drivers every day, and we have a national responsibility to support their safety and job quality,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “We are proud to deliver new funding that will improve safety on our nation’s roads.”

By the numbers

$22.9 million - Caldwell County, Texas

A federal RAISE grant to design and construct a truck parking plaza that improves safety and convenience for truck drivers. The plaza will include short- and long-term spaces with lighting, fencing, restroom and shower facilities, as well as 24-hour monitored security.

$10.5 million - Caldwell Parish, Louisiana

A RAISE grant will buy land and build a truck parking facility near the port and a highway for 50 commercial trucks and 100 cars. It will also pay for EV charging stations to provide auxiliary power units for truck cabs’ heating and cooling, allowing drivers to turn off the engine while recharging trucks. A real-time system will link drivers to parking spaces.

$15 million - Interstate 4 in Florida

An INFRA grant will create a truck parking facility between Tampa and Orlando with approximately 120 spaces, electric charging stations and pedestrian access near commercial amenities.

$22 million - Interstate 40 in Tennessee

An INFRA grant will add 125 truck parking spaces at a spot along I-40, a critical freight corridor near Memphis, and upgrade adjacent bridge structures.

SOURCE: FMCSA

Dive Insight:

The federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is part of a multi-year push to help close a national shortage of available truck parking that is estimated to have grown to one spot for every 11 drivers.

The grants also include funding for real-time message signs along highways in Kentucky, Delaware and Indiana to direct truck drivers to available rest area parking spaces. Other funds pay for research into automated, location-based driver alerts about upcoming work zones via the drivers’ ELDs.

The awards went to projects that will help improve commercial motor vehicle safety at the local and national levels, FMCSA chief Robin Hutcheson said in a statement.

“Our grantees will dedicate these investments to innovative technology, research, and other projects that will positively impact [commercial motor vehicle] safety and move us towards the National Roadway Safety Strategy’s goal of zero deaths on our nation’s roadways,” Hutcheson said.

Bipartisan legislation reintroduced in the House and Senate this year seeks to put hundreds of millions of dollars into truck parking. While U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, a co-sponsor, was optimistic about the Truck Parking Improvement Act’s chances this year, it’s unclear whether the legislation will become law.