ST. LOUIS – A triple fatal Greyhound bus crash in Highland, Illinois, is now under federal investigation. The passenger bus crashed into three parked big rigs on an exit ramp heading to the area.
Patrick Kennedy, a 35-year veteran trucker, who says he passed the crash, believes investigators will find a lack of truck parking partly to blame.
“I’ve seen it before,” he said. “People park crazy. They’re out of hours.”
Federal regulations mandate how long truckers can drive.
“So, they just stop and they’ll park anywhere,” Kennedy said. “They’ll be sticking out in a lane and trucks come by and they’re overtired and driving all night. They slam into them.”
Another driver said he often finds nowhere to rest.
“Chucky” of Nash Transport said, “Sometimes, truck stops be too overcrowded to where we kind of making up parking spots, because we really need our rest, and we can’t drive.”
A 2019 U.S. Department of Transportation survey found 98% of truck drivers reported regularly experiencing difficulty finding parking – up from 75% just four years earlier.
The American Trucking Association told FOX 2, “There is a severe shortage of accessible truck parking in the country, which puts drivers in an impossible position of choosing between two bad options: violating federal hours-of-service rules, which mandate rest periods (while risking driving fatigued), or park in an undesignated location risking the type of incident that happened in Illinois.”
Missouri recently studied the truck parking shortage as part of Governor Mike Parson’s Supply Chain Task Force, which was co-chaired by MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna.
“We know we have a problem – over 60% of the locations are not enough to suit the capacity,” McKenna said. “So, what happens is you have truckers that, you know, they do what they can.”
The head of MoDOT said they’re taking public input as they plan the upcoming I-70 widening project.
“Particularly in terms of advance warnings, where are the open spaces, so truckers can plan for that,” he said. “They can count on the space when they get there.”
Such as a parking reservation system, with possible live updates on availability. FOX 2 found two truck stop franchises that currently offer the service for a fee. McKenna said the solution is not as simple as just building more rest stops.
“There’s a balance here, because there’s a commercial industry that services the trucking industry as well,” he said. “We have to recognize that part of the solution is not all on the public dime.”
Truckers are also asking passenger car drivers to be more aware of the big rig challenges.
“When we get on the road, other people don’t like to show us the respect that we need,” one trucker said.