The Park My Truck app is being developed by the Truck Parking Leadership Initiative, which is comprised of the American Transportation Research Institute, the American Trucking Associations and the National Association of Truck Stop Operators Foundation.
The app will allow any parking provider – public or private – to report their parking availability.
“ATRI’s latest research has revealed that ‘managing critical truck parking’ ranks as one of the industry’s Top 5 most pressing concerns,” said ATRI Vice President Dan Murray. “Through this technology, we will dramatically expand the scope of truck parking information available to drivers in an efficient, easily accessible format. It is gratifying to be part of a collaborative team that is generating real-world parking solutions for truck drivers and motor carriers alike.”
NATSO President Lisa Mullings said the industry is still a ways off from having an electronic system that can count parking spaces nationwide, but this app will help get the information to drivers until such a system is in place.
“Federal and state governments have spent decades and millions of dollars researching truck parking issues, and testing technology-based approaches to counting available spaces, but not one of these efforts has yielded nationwide data about parking availability,” Mullings said. “We are still many millions of dollars and years away from implementing an electronic system that can count parking nationwide. The problem is that drivers need information now. We don’t want to allow our pursuit of a perfect solution to prevent us from implementing a good solution today.”
The groups involved in the project are encouraging all parking providers, from truck stops and travel centers to state DOT rest areas and more, to participate in the initiative by providing parking information and reporting the number of spaces available in their lots.
Administered by the NATSO Foundation, Park My Truck will be accessible online and through the app.
