“Weeds are more important than drivers”: new parking bill could fail

The new highway bill does not satisfy industry experts, as it does not solve the problem of the parking lack.

The bipartisan bill, unveiled on May 22 by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), does not include funding for truck parking.

The proposed bill allocates billions of dollars for new initiatives: for alternative fueling and charging infrastructure, for projects to reduce emissions for trucks at port facilities, as well as several hundred million dollars for removing invasive plants from highways.

“Washington has again missed an easy and obvious opportunity to address the truck parking crisis,” said Todd Spencer, President & CEO of OOIDA. ”Apparently, the EPW Committee considers weeds a bigger priority than truckers in the next highway bill.”

“It’s incredibly frustrating to see the Committee has authorized billions of dollars for new programs. But they couldn’t set aside a single penny to fix a well-documented and worsening safety concern that affects millions of truckers on a daily basis, WTF?” Spencer added. 

A hearing of the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021 will take place on Wednesday, May 26.