Truck Parking Shortage Emerges as Cross-Modal Freight Priority for DOT
The nationwide shortage of safe and accessible commercial truck parking has surfaced as one of the more concrete and actionable freight challenges facing the U.S. transportation system, drawing attention from the Department of Transportation’s Multimodal Freight Office as a problem that crosses modal boundaries and resists single-agency resolution. A recent GAO review of the Multimodal Freight Office found that representatives from three of five transportation associations interviewed specifically identified truck parking as an area where the office could drive meaningful progress through improved coordination.
The Federal Highway Administration has characterized the parking shortage as a national safety concern. Commercial truck drivers are required by federal hours-of-service regulations to take mandatory rest periods, but the supply of public and private parking facilities has not kept pace with freight volumes. With e-commerce growth continuing to push truck traffic upward, the gap between parking demand and available capacity is expected to widen. Regions that already experience chronic shortfalls will face compounding pressure.
The multimodal dimension of the problem is what places it squarely within the Multimodal Freight Office’s mandate. Maritime Administration officials noted that inadequate truck parking creates cascading effects for U.S. ports, where limited staging space makes reliable cargo delivery difficult and raises concerns about both freight security and driver security when trucks are forced to park in unsecured locations. Representatives from at least one transportation association pointed to airport cargo facilities as another pressure point, where insufficient roadway connections and parking or staging areas for trucks generate congestion that delays the movement of time-sensitive goods.
DOT has acknowledged that addressing truck parking effectively requires coordinated action among federal, state, and local entities — a type of cross-jurisdictional problem the Multimodal Freight Office is specifically positioned to help manage. The office’s role as a single point of contact within DOT, capable of convening operating administrations and industry stakeholders around shared freight challenges, makes it the natural institutional home for this effort. Whether the office, currently operating with fewer than ten staff and carrying a substantial backlog of statutory obligations, can give the parking shortage the sustained attention it demands will depend heavily on the staffing trajectory DOT has now committed to report to Congress.