Multiple forces are making life inconvenient and unsafe for truck drivers across the country. Fuel is cheap, making transport by tractor-trailer cheaper. Federal regulations meant to prevent accidents require them to spend more time resting than in the past. Yet there’s a shortage of safe, secure places for truckers to park, which is crucial when they sleep in their vehicles.

The risk to truckers’ safety is more urgent than many people realize: recently, one driver was found dead in his burned truck. Another was last seen in the parking lot of an abandoned Kmart near Kansas City, and found dead in a freezer months later. One female driver explained to the Wall Street Journal that drivers need to secure a parking place in a truck stop for the night by 4 P.M., or they’ll have to scramble to find parking elsewhere.

“Elsewhere” can include acceptable options, but often it means parking in very unsafe places like on the shoulders of highways or even on the side of an entrance or exit ramps.

Truck Drivers Face Parking Shortage [Wall Street Journal]

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