Parking Searches Can Cost Drivers $4,600 Annually
Truck parking availability is a top concern of the trucking industry and ATRI highlighted the anxiety that truckers feel through its Truck Parking Diary research findings.
The truck parking diary collected detailed data from commercial truck drivers who agreed to provide documentation of their challenges in looking for safe, available truck parking. Over the course of 14 days, these truckers recorded their parking experiences and issues, representing over 4,700 parking stops.
By breaking down these instances over the course of two weeks, ATRI found that several trends were common to many of the participants in the study.
Weekends and mid-day were often the easiest times to find available parking, according to the study. The most difficult times were during the week after 7 p.m., when most of the available parking had already been taken up. Parking stayed full and difficult to find until 5 a.m. when truckers begin their next driving period.
There were interesting exceptions to this, including a higher instance of non-commercial vehicles taking up commercial vehicle parking spaces on the weekends, adding to the difficulties even during non-peak hours. ATRI concluded that more flexible shipper/receiver appointment times would allow drivers to shift when they operate to less busy times so they could take advantage of off-peak parking times.
Drivers typically dedicated an average of 56 minutes of available drive time to parking, rather than risking not being able to find parking down the road. Since time is money for drivers, the unused drive time effectively reduced a driver’s productivity by 9,300 minutes annually, equal to a lost wage of $4,600.
For 10-hour required hours of service breaks, drivers tended to devote more time to finding parking to ensure that basic amenities were available. Factors drivers considered when searching for parking were practical with proximity to a route being the number one concern, followed …Read the rest of this story
