Truck parking in America costs hardworking long-haul drivers an average 12% of their annual income (around $5,500 annually) by forcing them to look for parking for 56 minutes each day, according to the most recent estimates from the American Transportation Research Institute.
It's a stain on the country's infrastructure, it's housing insecurity for people often working well over 40 hours a week, it's truck operators' top concern, and it's plainly a pain-in-the-neck, daily struggle for drivers who are at the present moment often struggling to make ends meet.
But trucking has always been tough, and truck drivers have always been just a little tougher.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association says there is only one parking spot available for every 11 trucks on the road, and a nationwide shortfall of more than 40,000 parking spaces. Yet somehow, trucks find parking.
[Related: New site to reserve truck parking something of an 'AirBnB' network for facilities]
Often enough it means a beg, borrow, steal or "all of the above" approach to finding a spot. Some drivers camp out at Walmart, risking a ticket or worse, a boot, depending on the location. Some know their pickup and drop-off spots and scout unmonitored stretches of road or back lots. Some use ramps with particularly wide (or not) shoulders.
Many drivers, more than a million on Trucker Path alone, use a phone app.
