Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/818577
VOICES 4 | Overdrive | May 2017 Fourteen states have the ability to commercialize rest areas along toll roads or to continue to operate state-controlled travel plazas that were grandfathered in after federal law in the 1950s prevented direct state competition with privately op- erated businesses along interstates. A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in April, however, would allow states to add convenience stores and restau- rants to public rest areas. The bill, introduced by Congressman Jim Banks (R-Ind.), along with Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), remained in very early stages at press time. Early this year, the Federal Highway Administration requested public input on whether the rules on rest areas ought to be relaxed to allow for more commercial services as a means to help states keep the facilities open. The responses from owner-operators and drivers were overwhelming to the affi rmative, particularly if such a move might preserve most of today's rest areas as a parking option — or result in more available spaces. NATSO, the trade group repre- senting truck stop operators, oppos- es relaxing the rules as unfair state competition. Some commenters stressed the organization's concern was misplaced, particularly if ser- vices allowed at state-facilitated rest areas are limited to an extent they aren't at truck stops. One commenter, posting as Bossychell, said, "A truck driver is not going to pass up a decent sit-down meal at a truck stop for a vending-machine snack. The fact remains that there are not enough places for the trucks to park, and anything that off ers more parking spaces is something I and all the drivers I know would be in favor of." Rest areas, however, are certainly a favored spot for the hours-man- dated 30-minute break. Many read- ers expect them to assume greater importance as more of the industry transitions to electronic logging devices. Owner-operator and frequent commenter Pat "JoJo" Hock- aday urged drivers to use their intimate knowledge of the parking situation along their routes to infl u- ence Metropolitan Planning Orga- nizations to the positive. This could benefi t commercial truck stops and public rest areas dedicated to trucks, where the need is greatest. NATSO CEO Lisa Mullings says she's sympathetic to truckers' concerns over rest-area closures, cit- ing safety concerns. In many state budget fi ghts, she says, offi cials say they can't aff ord to keep rest areas open, "but if it's a safety concern, you need to prioritize that." As for potentially increased com- mercialization, though, she points to a 2010 study that looked at parking along stretches of highway — toll roads, mostly — that had the kind of fully commercialized travel plazas in the interstate right-of-way that compete with truck stop oper- ators. That study found in general fewer truck parking spaces per mile accessible on roads with commer- cialized rest areas under state con- trol than on stretches where such didn't exist. Mullings also shared an anecdote that illustrated the eff ect a big com- mercial state-owned plaza can have on a private business downstream. Hear views from the Overdrive Radio podcast line on the subject of added com- mercial services at state rest areas by searching "commercialization and parking preservation" at OverdriveOnline.com. Alternately, subscribe to the Overdrive Radio podcast series via iTunes, TuneIn or other podcast services. Growing debate over rest area commerce