PARKING, Continued from page 23
NEW PARKING SITES IN SIGHT? The law of supply and demand
would say that eventually more stops will be built. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Dorian said ample land area must be found—the Jonesboro site is 14 acres with a 10,000 square foot build- ing—in a prime interstate spot with convenient exit and entrance ramps and utilities to the site. Those requirements narrow the possibilities considerably. If the private sector is unable
completely to meet the need, could the public sector help? Under MAP-21, the federal law that funds highway needs, construction projects eligible for funding include rest areas with truck parking, and parking areas adjacent to commercial truck stops. Known as “Jason’s law,” that provision was written in honor of Jason Rivenburg, a driver murdered in 2009 in South Carolina. He died after parking at an abandoned gas station, the only place available, 13 days before his wife, Hope, gave birth to twins. His murderer stole $7. Straessle said the Arkansas Highway
Department “tries to maintain a bal- ance between eliminating illegal park- ing on highway rights of way and not competing with commercial busi- nesses.” It recently converted a replaced welcome center in West Memphis into a truck parking facility with no ame- nities. Closed inspection pads have been converted to truck parking, as has the Bardstown rest area on I-55 in Mississippi County. Additional rest areas will be converted “where we can do it and when the opportunity presents itself,” he said. Robertson and Collado say they
avoid the state’s rest stops, citing the one at the 200 mile marker on Interstate 40 as an example of one that is insufficient. At some rest areas, the spots are not long enough for the 53-foot trailers that are now an indus- try standard—not to park, and certainly not for the extra turning radius that is needed. It’s easy to have a collision or to
ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT | Issue 1 2015 BUT ULTIMATELY, THERE PROBABLY NEVER WILL BE
ENOUGH PARKING SPOTS AVAILABLE, WHICH MEANS THAT IT COMES DOWN TO THE SKILL OF DRIVERS.
get blocked in, and often fellow drivers won’t respond to a knock on their door for fear of losing their spot if they move their truck. Robertson has been forced to back out onto an exit ramp and then pull forward onto the interstate in order to leave. “When they get in there in the
middle of the night, 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning, they’re in there all kinds of ways,” Robertson said.
PARKING STRATEGIES Because there aren’t enough truck
stops or rest stops, drivers and fleets sometimes must be creative when finding a place to park. Southern Refrigerated Transport provides a pocket truck stop guide for its drivers that lists stops and places to park along with a brief description of amenities. The com- pany is also producing a training video with tips on time management and trip planning. Because CalArk is centrally located in Little Rock, many of its driv- ers park at its headquarters. Jeff Loggins, president of Loggins Logistics out of Jonesboro, said his drivers park at retail- ers such as Walmart when necessary. He said home furnishing retailers such as Lowe’s and Home Depot tend to be open to parking because his drivers are deliv- ering goods to their stores. But retailers are not always the best option. On more than one occasion, CalArk’s drivers have parked at a Texas Walmart to shop and then returned to their truck to find it had been towed, Hilton said.
To address the parking issue, ATRI
offered three proposed strategies in its annual survey. By far the most popu- lar, supported by almost 80 percent of respondents, was encouraging invest- ment in new parking facilities and opening closed public rest facilities. Other strategies—educating the public about the safety consequences of closed public parking facilities, and research- ing real-time truck parking information availability and parking reservation sys- tems—drew much less support. But ultimately, there probably never
will be enough parking spots available, which means that it comes down to the skill of drivers. Years of experience have taught Robertson and Collado where the best spots in Arkansas are. Robertson said there are a surpris- ing number of good spots on the back roads, where stops aren’t always the best maintained but do offer a place to rest. Drivers learn the art of diplomacy—ask- ing fellow drivers when they are leaving, and asking store managers if they can park for the night. Most important, they learn to
plan for more than one spot to park, including “a third one I know I can get to,” Robertson said. They do this because they know they will face the consequences if they don’t. “By the time you get to some place, and you’re out of hours, you’re done,” Collado said. “You’re done. You’ve hanged yourself out to dry.” ATR
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