NATSO President and CEO Lisa Mullings discussed the issue of truck parking with Land Line Now radio on Sirius XM Channel 146. Mullings appeared on the radio program after LandLine, an online publication for truck drivers published by OOIDA, attacked comments made by Mullings during a NATSO Connect panel discussion with fleet representatives.
During an interview with Mark Reddig, Land Line Now’s Program Director, Mullings said that the issue of truck parking must be looked at from a holistic view and that all possible solutions need to be considered to address truck parking concerns.
Specifically, Mullings discussed the need for fleet executives to bring truck parking into their contract negotiations with truckstops and travel plazas.
“If [fleets] say, ‘We want more parking...the market responds with more parking,” Mullings said.
Mullings also underscored the importance of truck drivers purchasing fuel or other goods at the same location where they park, saying that retail sales are a key driver of the economic equation that allows truckstops and travel centers to build or expand truck parking capacity. Providing truck parking comes at considerable cost to the industry.
Mullings further addressed the need for state and local governments to explore ways to lower the private sector’s costs in creating or expanding truck parking capacity and to consider truck parking in their planning and zoning regulations. Truckstops and travel plazas also frequently encounter citizen opposition when they seek to build a location.
NATSO is a member of the National Coalition on Truck Parking, which is working to address truck parking concerns nationwide and also is working with many State Departments of Transportation to help find solutions to these state and local challenges.
[NATSO President and CEO Lisa Mullings' statement to LandLine]
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