Ask any truck driver, and finding parking is often one of their top grievances. Without safe parking, truckers can be forced to park in dangerous areas like abandoned parking lots or on the side o the road. And if they are forced to run over their regulated time in order to find safe parking, truck drivers can be held accountable for violating their Hours of Service.

Let’s take a look at how a new website from the Arizona Department of Transportation, or ADOT, helps truck drivers find parking.

How a New ADOT Website Helps Truckers

At the start of June, ADOT launched a website designed to help truckers navigate the roads in Arizona. Most importantly, this website will tell truck drivers how many parking spaces are available in any given rest area.

Although the data does not state how many spots are actively available in real-time, plans are in the works to provide this useful information. Rest areas along I-10 will be among the first locations to be equipped with censors able to relay whether or not are the rest areas along I-10.

The website will also give truck drivers access to the following free information.

• Road closure updates
• Crashes
• Construction areas
• Weather related data
• Camera feeds
• Border wait times
• Message boards
• Rest areas

All states should follow their lead.

This new website development also comes on the heels of Arizona dedicating an additional $4 million for safe parking for truck drivers.

Why is Safe Parking So Important and What is Jason’s Law?

Jason’s Law was established after a tragic incident spurred by a lack of parking. Jason Rivenburg, long-haul trucker, was running ahead of schedule when he pulled into the Food Lion supermarket in South Carolina.

Unfortunately, the store refused to accept the delivery early. Food Lion also denied Jason permission to park on the property to wait out the excess time. As a result, Jason was forced to park in the closest available area; a non-operating gas station.

While waiting in this unsafe environment, a thief took advantage of Jason’s vulnerable situation.

The criminal killed the 35-year-old trucker and escaped with a mere $7.

After the tragedy, Jason’s wife, Hope Rivenburg lobbied for change. She wasn’t going to let other truck drivers suffer the fate of her husband. Her goal was to ensure all truckers were able to have access to safe parking.

Although it took three years, Hope was able to convince Congress to create and pass Jason’s Law. In this new legislation, guidelines were established to allocate funds for the following types of projects:

• Additional safe parking areas for commercial motor vehicles, such as semi-trucks.
• Safe rest areas near truck stops as well as plazas designated for travel.
• Establish safe locations for truckers close to park-and-ride, inspection, and weigh station spots.
• Advocate for public and private parking along the National Highway System, or NHS.
• Construct turnouts along the NHS.
• Make parking facilities open year-round.
• Update interchange designs on NHS to make it easier for truckers to access parking areas.

As of 2018, roughly $100 million was distributed to projects mentioned above. That said, given how important it is for truckers to be able to rest in a safe location, local state officials have started to address the issue in other ways.