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As of recent, there’s been much excitement regarding the idea of truck parking expanding as an effort committed by lawmakers in each house of Congress. This is evident in the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act. This is something that had just been introduced in the House and Senate alike just earlier today. It authorizes about $755 million through the course of four years via a competitive grant program, as the money itself is devoted to bringing about better and safer parking for trucking.

It’s essentially going to generate new facilities that can handle that many truckers parking there at once or even a better idea.

That being the idea that existing and still-standing weigh stations and rest areas alike are going to be converted as best as they can be turned. There had been a bill that was brought about in the past Congress in 2021, while it had traversed throughout the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as it has been passed without any declination of votes in July 2022.

According to the co-sponsors of the current House legislations, Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minnesota and Rep. Mike Bost, R-Illinois, the whole situation is a matter of public safety, while there’s commitment to have the legislation passed as a bill. Of course, the likelihood of it occurring has improved with stand-alone legislation to take command of the truck parking issue in specific to a shift between the broad legislation that had been brought in January.

And as you might have guessed the SHIP IT Act has involved a truck parking section that had been similar to the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act, all according to the government affairs director of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, George O’Connor.

Yet, there are so many bells and whistles to the SHIP IT Act that also comes across the bill of the “comprehensive” stylings. All as the path is made clearly paved.

They had introduced the original version of the Bill in December, thanks to the original co-sponsors of Senator Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming and Senator Mike Kelly, D-Arizona. Of course, the American Trucking Associations are as cooperative with the bills, just as the OOIDA are complying. ATA had cited a government report finding about 98% of drivers experiencing problems that found safe parking. Then again the report had discovered how the truck parking shortages in almost every state and while staying acute along the huge freight corridors.

The ATA has shifted the lack of trucking capacity has made around 70% of drivers that would violate the hours-of-service rules on a federal level. Even then, the ATA has taken note of the Senate’s version that establishes all new funding eligibility criteria, such as other considerations of safe driving. The scarcity of safe parking can even turn away women who year to join the industry.