According to a 2015 Federal Highway Administration Study, there are truck parking shortages in 36 states. It’s unknown how the ELD mandate and new personal conveyance rules will affect this shortage, but it’s not expected to improve without greatly increased parking capacity. An unfortunate side effect of this lack of capacity is illegal or questionable truck parking, which can have tragic results.
In late June 2018, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that a wrongful death lawsuit involving a private passenger car hitting a parked truck could move forward. The Court deemed that the act of parking temporarily in an emergency lane may have been the “proximate cause” for the accident. The insurance industry is keeping a careful eye on this case, as it could further expose trucking companies to lawsuits. Our own clients have numerous incidences of parking-related claims, and in our experience, they are becoming tougher to defend.
So what can trucking companies do to avoid issues related to truck parking?
- Develop a Personal Conveyance Policy That Focuses on Safe Parking Practices.
- Encourage Drivers to Use Smartphone Applications like Park My Truck, Trucker Path Pro, or others to find available parking.
- Formalize a Parking Policy in your safety manual and train drivers on the issues with parking on shoulders or on-ramps.
- Train dispatchers on the worst routes for truck parking and encourage them to work with drivers to best plan their trips to avoid being stuck with no safe parking.
- Consider covering the cost of parking reservations for your drivers with some of the large truck stops and educate drivers on this option.
As always, the trucking insurance professionals at The Daniel & Henry Company are here to help you understand what measures you can take to reduce risk and insurance costs. Please contact us today if you have any questions about parking related insurance claims or any other risk management matter.