Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/989498
32 | Overdrive | June 2018 ELDS UP THE ANTE ON PARKING TA/Petro locations are reservation-only. Pilot Flying J's combined parking space footprint "is nearly double the next nearest competitor," says Tanaka. Of the company's total 70,000 spaces, about 5 percent are reservation-only. Of its roughly 750 locations nationwide, more than 400 offer reserved spaces, each with about five to 10. Tanaka says all the reserved spaces were established separately and were not converted from existing free spaces. Love's Travel Stops, meanwhile, is the largest truck stop chain that doesn't have a reservation program. "Love's approach to the parking shortage has been to focus on adding parking spaces," says John Archibald, vice president of sales. Since the ELD mandate took effect, Love's officials have noticed drivers start- ing their parking searches earlier in the day, Archibald says. They've also seen more drivers "parking their trucks in clearly marked 'no parking' areas," such as fuel islands. In recent years, the demand for truck parking has led to facilities other than truck stops and rest areas. Owner- operator Muhammad is considering becoming another of the alternative providers. Given the sizable expansion of reserved spaces at truck stops along his most frequent lane, he says, "I've been kind of looking around Atlanta to see if I can find some decent land not too far off I-285," an often-congested ring around the metro area. "Low overhead, throw some porta-potties out there and some good lighting. Might be a little cot- tage industry going on right there. I'm serious as a heart attack." Truck Specialized Parking Services currently operates a one-way-in one-way-out secured parking facil- ity and reservation system in Detroit. Scott Grenerth, now working for the company following a stint with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association as regulatory affairs director, says providing ample secure parking isn't the low-cost affair Muhammad imagines. "Truck parking spaces are expensive," he says. "A tractor-trailer takes up a lot of room." TSPS is hoping to develop a network of private spaces in what might be oth- erwise nontraditional locations, with res- ervation options via a smartphone app and/or website. "We're looking to do that with truck stop operators and other entities," he says. "We'd like to work with state and local governments and private industry, too — to have parking available as close as possible to where the trucker needs to be." The three major truck stop chains are developing systems that allow drivers to check smartphone apps or web portals to see where parking is available. Love's Travel Stops is testing sensors at a handful of locations, says John Ar- chibald, vice president of sales. "As soon as we find a technology that performs the way we need it to, it can be installed at the 400-plus locations," he says. The goal is to allow drivers to see parking availability with the MyLove's app or on a website. Pilot Flying J has deployed ground- based radar sensors that can determine space availability. "We then collect all of those vacant or occupied signals from those locations and communicate that through the app," says Tyler Tanaka, director of digital and innovation. "You can search for parking and then search for live parking inventory." The technology is being tested at 31 locations. The company plans to expand the system this year, particularly at high- traffic locations, says Tanaka. TA/Petro has taken a somewhat "low- tech approach" on gathering parking information, says spokesperson Tom Liut- kus. "Our staff walks the lot and counts the open spots and sends the data in, and we'll update the app" with the number of open spots, he says. "It's pretty darn accurate." Third-party providers such as Trucker Path, however, have their eye on a universal availability system that would allow drivers to search across all truck stop chains. The company also is trying to partner with Roady's, an alliance of independent truck stops, to implement Trucker Path's parking availability system, says Sam Bokher, business operations director for Trucker Path. Trucker Path's platform, part of the Trucker Path app, relies on crowd-sourc- ing to gauge available spaces at truck stops. But "the big chains are interested" in integrating their systems with Trucker Path, Bokher says. "There are a lot of ef- forts to put some more accurate systems in place that show the actual number of truck parking spots" instead of Trucker Path's "proxy" info. Though reservation systems are expanding, "it's not something that helps resolve the issue" of capacity, Bokher contends. "It helps deal with stress, because drivers know they will have a parking space, but the [underlying] issue is the number of spots available." PROVIDING REAL-TIME COUNTS OF PARKING SPACES BY JAMES JAILLET North Carolina recently closed four outdated rest areas along I-77 to facilitate the opening of a new rest area in the median of I-77 just north of Statesville. The new rest area is the first in the state to be built in the median and accessible by both sides of the interstate. The closings and the one opening resulted in a net loss of just one truck parking space.