Trucks parked at Polk County Rest Area along Florida’s I-4. The state’s transport department is installing a Truck Parking Availability System along I-4, I-10, I-75 and I-95, consisting of at welcome centers, weigh stations, and rest areas to help truckers find available truck parking space for rent.
Truck Parking Availability System will be set up along I-4, I-10, I-75 and I-95, consisting of welcome centers, weigh stations, and rest areas.
Truck parking is a capability, geographical, and even political problem in Florida, according to Tisha Keller, vice president of Florida’s Trucking Association. And as a outcome, truck chauffeurs are having a tough time finding a safe, legal location to park.
Keller cited one particular problem spot along the I-4 passage, where many of the neighborhoods oppose truck parking. “Because the rest area on I-4 is the only rest stop in that location, all trucks park there,” she described, including that as the area starts to overflow, highway patrolmen press truckers out.
“The motorist says: ‘Where am I supposed to go? I’m out of hours; I’m expected to stop,'” Keller continued.
Truck Parking Space For Rent: Badly Needed
Since of these kinds of situations, several truck motorists turn to the hazardous and prohibited approaches of parking on the interstate mainline, ramp shoulders, or in vacant lots. Keller added that security has actually always been a issue in Florida as the state regularly ranks high for cargo theft.
After conducting a research study with Florida International University to assess parking lot utilization and technology usage, Florida Dept. of Transportation (FDOT) discovered the most significant issue statewide is an imbalance of truck parking capacity due to a absence of parking information management. FDOT discovered an overflow of parking at some places while others remain underutilized.
To assist resolve that problem, FDOT remains in the procedure of installing a Truck Parking Availability System (TPAS) along I-4, I-10, I-75 and I-95, including at welcome centers, weigh stations, and rest areas.
Jeff Frost of FDOT’s Commercial Vehicle Operations/Traffic Incident Management, Office of Traffic Engineering & Operations, informed Fleet Owner that the study included collecting parking information at all of the public rest areas along I-10, I-75 and I-95. Based upon the outcomes of the research study, FDOT submitted and was awarded an Accelerated Innovation Deployment grant to deploy a real-time information system about commercial vehicle parking schedule.
“TPAS will help truck drivers maximize their HOS requirements by lowering the quantity of time spent to find parking spaces, permitting them to focus on the movement of products,” Frost stated. “Initially TPAS will allow drivers to see the number of spaces are currently available at a common location. After we have gathered enough historic data, we intend to establish prediction designs to forecast future schedule estimates.”
Map of the Regional Traffic Management Centers (RTMC) that will receive the electronic data from the sensors, process and after that distribute the details to the roadside signs in addition to the FL 511 and 3rd celebration information feeds. (FDOT Map).
TPAS will use in-ground sensors in the truck areas at interstate rest areas/welcome centers, and entryway and exit counts at weigh stations to keep an eye on the number of readily available truck parking areas. Task specialist Craig Toth, West Florida’s operations supervisor for HNTB Corp., stated the information will then be shown on the state’s FL511 site and app for chauffeurs to access. FDOT said it will also make all the information readily available for 3rd-party applications.
“It’s in real time, so it will not do predictive analysis yet,” Toth explained. “But over time, as the system stabilizes, we’ll be able to do predictive-type analyses.”
The Ultimate Truck Parking Solution
“Overall, it ought to really assist from a safety and functional perspective,” Toth included. “It’s a national concern, and we’re seeking to get in front of it. It would be good to broaden along the whole I-75 and I-95 corridor systems.”
Keller said the system is the first action towards linking trucks with open and available spaces, but more has to be done to address the bigger issue.
“We are delighted by it, but in the end, we need the state to buy realty for truck parking,” she said. “From our point of view, DOT requires to really prioritize the needs of the industry as much as they do other markets. We move 75-80% of the freight in Florida, and I often think that truck parking and our needs aren’t prioritized.”
“We have a fantastic collaboration with DOT,” Keller added.
“This is simply among those issues that’s really politically delicate, and it’s getting even worse.”
The TPAS remains in its initial form and will be released as a series of design jobs led by each FDOT district. FDOT expects the job will be done in phases through 2017.
Inadequate truck parking constantly turns up as a leading issue among truck chauffeurs and carriers nationwide. In reality, it simply ranked number 4 on the annual leading 10 list of trucking market concerns compiled by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI)– that’s up a area from 2015, inning accordance with ATRI president and COO Rebecca Brewster.
“As the absence of available safe parking continues to challenge the market as a top concern, it’s clear that numerous services will be required,” Brewster said. “Providing real-time info to drivers about truck parking accessibility is a excellent start so that important drive time isn’t really squandered as motorists look for a safe place to stop.”
