Washington — The National Transportation Safety Board is joining the call for increasing truck drivers’ access to parking.
In a forthcoming report on a fatal July 2023 crash, NTSB says a bus driver was awake for more than 17 hours and dealing with other fatigue-related issues when his vehicle struck three semitrucks parked overnight along Interstate 70 near Highland, IL. Three bus passengers were killed and 12 others were injured, including the driver.
In addition to citing driver fatigue among the leading causes, NTSB’s investigation found that a lack of safe places to park and rest – which is a federal requirement – was a contributing factor.
In the abstract of the report – which NTSB said on May 20 it expects to publish online “in several weeks” – the board issues 11 new recommendations and two reiterated recommendations to organizations including the Department of Transportation, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Coalition on Truck Parking.
NTSB urges DOT to:
- Expand efforts to use the Truck Parking Information Management System to identify rest areas in critical need of additional truck parking.
- Pursue available options to increase commercial vehicle parking capacity on highways, such as establishing a grant program for states, local governments and other eligible entities to increase truck parking.
It also reiterates to FMCSA a recommendation to:
- Incorporate scientifically based fatigue mitigation strategies into the hours-of-service regulations for drivers of passenger-carrying vehicles who operate during the nighttime window of circadian low.
“This crash was as tragic as it was preventable,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said in a press release. “Our investigation brought to light a critical shortage of safe truck parking and made clear a painful lesson: Until we address this important safety issue, lives are at risk on our nation’s roads.”
In a separate release, Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL), a former truck driver, said he’s optimistic that the report will raise awareness for a long-standing industry issue.
“I grew up in a family trucking business and have been shouting from the rooftops for years about America’s dangerous shortage of truck parking spaces,” Bost said. “When exhausted truckers are forced to choose between pushing that extra mile to find safe parking or pull over on the shoulder of busy interstates and off-ramps, you’ve got a recipe for disaster.”
Bost added that he hopes the report “will help provide additional momentum in Congress to pass” legislation intended to ease the nationwide shortage of safe parking spaces for truckers.
In February, Bost reintroduced the bipartisan Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act (H.R. 1659), which would authorize the transportation secretary to issue $755 million in grants for projects that create truck parking.
Four months earlier, a lack of safe places for truck drivers to stop and rest ranked second on the American Transportation Research Institute’s annual list of top trucking industry concerns.
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Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication