Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Quantifying the Benefits of Creating New Truck Parking Spaces

Agency Information Collection Activities; Approval of a New Information Collection Request: Quantifying the Benefits of Creating New Truck Parking Spaces

DATES:

Comments on this notice must be received on or before May 6, 2026.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Quantifying the Benefits of Creating New Truck Parking Spaces.

OMB Control Number: 2126-TBD.

Type of Request: New ICR.

Respondents: Commercial truck drivers.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,000.

Estimated Time per Response: 25 minutes.

Expiration Date: N/A. This is a new ICR.

Frequency of Response: Each survey participant will provide only one survey response.

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 416 hours (0.416 hours per response × 1,000 respondents).

Background

The nationwide shortage of truck parking spaces is a significant source of frustration for truck drivers, increasing expenses for the trucking industry and decreasing t safety for all road users. The American Transportation Research Institute conducts an annual survey of trucking industry stakeholders ( Critical Issues in the Trucking Industry ), and the 2024 survey found that, for the second year in a row, the lack of available truck parking was the second highest industry concern overall, and the number one concern among truck drivers. The lack of truck parking often forces truck drivers to choose between violating federal hours-of-service laws and using unsafe, illegal parking spaces.

Many government, safety, and industry organizations are working to create more truck parking spaces, but there is a lack of research on the actual precise monetary benefits of new truck parking spaces. These benefits include decreasing carriers' costs, increasing drivers' well-being, and reducing the number of crashes. To help State and local policymakers make informed decisions about the construction of truck parking spaces, FMCSA is conducting a research study, titled Quantifying the Benefits of Creating New Truck Parking Spaces, which will survey truck drivers about their parking habits and experiences, gaining the exact information needed to quantify the benefits of new truck parking spaces.

Although researchers have conducted many other surveys on truck parking, none have reliably estimated the statistics needed, including how often and how long truck drivers (a) park in unauthorized spaces, (b) stop driving early to obtain a parking space, (c) drive off their routes to find parking, and (d) drive past hours-of-service limits to find parking. The results of this survey will be combined with related research to produce estimates of the benefits of creating new truck parking spaces in different areas, which could be beneficial to the many government and private organizations that decide where to build new truck parking spaces.

The main objective of this project is to estimate the benefits of new truck parking spaces, but the project will also answer four related research questions:

1. How many trucks are parked in authorized and unauthorized areas per day, on average? In other words, how large is the nationwide shortage of truck parking spaces?

2. What are the most cost-effective methods for increasing truck parking capacity?

3. Which truck parking information management systems are used most often and are most effective?

4. What percentage of drivers routinely make reservations, pay for parking, or use various other truck parking services?

Several thousand truck drivers, from a wide range of sectors, will be asked to complete the 25-minute online survey, with a goal of obtaining approximately 1,000 complete responses.

Title 23, United States Code (U.S.C.), Chapter 4, Section 403 authorizes the Secretary to use funds appropriated to carry out this section to conduct research and development activities, including demonstration projects and the collection and analysis of highway and motor vehicle safety data and related information with respect to all aspects of highway and traffic safety systems and conditions relating to vehicle, highway, driver, passenger, motorcyclist, bicyclist, and pedestrian characteristics; accident causation and investigations; and human behavioral factors and their effect on highway and traffic safety, including driver education, impaired driving and distracted driving; and research on, evaluations of, and identification of best practices related to driver education programs (including driver education curricula, instructor training and certification, program administration, and delivery mechanisms) and make recommendations for harmonizing driver education and multistage graduated licensing systems; and the effect of State laws on any aspects, activities, or programs described in subparagraphs (A) through (E) (see 23 U.S.C. 403(b)(1)(A)(i)-(ii), 23 U.S.C. 403(b)(1)(B)(i)-(iii), 23 U.S.C. 403(b)(1)(E), 23 U.S.C. 403(b)(1)(F)).

FMCSA published a notice in the Federal Register with a 60-day public comment period to announce this proposed information collection on November 28, 2025 (90 FR 54850). A total of eight comments were received from the public. Five of the comments were from truck drivers (one of whom created a truck parking business), two were from industry organizations (American Trucking Associations and Truckload Carriers Association), and one was from a private company (Samsara). Each commenter agreed that truck parking is a significant issue for the commercial trucking industry. Seven of the eight commenters were supportive of the study, while one commenter (an anonymous truck driver) was skeptical of government involvement in truck parking and preferred to let private truck stop companies solve the truck parking shortage entirely.

Anthony Peetz and an anonymous commenter mentioned how the truck parking situation has changed over the past several decades and provided examples of how the trucking industry's needs have surpassed what infrastructure and the private sector are currently able to provide. Anthony Peetz and the American Trucking Associations mentioned the growth in paid parking spaces and the frustration truck drivers often feel when their only options are paid spaces and unauthorized spaces. FMCSA's study will focus on the benefits of truck parking spaces in general and does not intend to assess the advantages and disadvantages of paid and free spaces.

The American Trucking Associations, Samsara, and an anonymous commenter mentioned costs associated with the lack of truck parking spaces, including carrier operating costs, crashes involving trucks parked in unauthorized spaces, and driver well-being. FMCSA is including all of the costs mentioned by commenters in the study, as well as others not mentioned in the comments (such as the costs of travel that occurs when a driver goes off his/her main route to search for parking).

Samsara mentioned the potential for telematics data to be helpful. FMCSA agrees and is indeed considering utilizing telematics data for the study.

The American Trucking Associations and Gary D. Terhune mentioned the facilities that are sometimes available at truck parking locations (restrooms, trash cans, vending machines, etc.). FMCSA agrees that those amenities are important, but estimating their benefits would be beyond the scope of this study.

Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of this information collection, including: (1) whether the proposed collection is necessary for the performance of FMCSA's functions; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways for FMCSA to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the collected information; and (4) ways that the burden could be minimized without reducing the quality of the collected information.