Transport Canada Releases Truck Parking Survey Analysis

Transport Canada has released its analysis of the results of a national survey of truck drivers on Canada's truck parking shortage. To almost nobody's surprise, a vast majority of drivers say there are too few places to park trucks in Canada, and of those, services such as telephones, washrooms and security are noticeably lacking.

The report, called "Analysis of the Commercial Vehicle Driver Survey Results", was prepared for Transport Canada by Polytechnique Montreal. The results are based on driver responses to a national survey conducted by the Owner-Operator's Business Association of Canada (OBAC) in 2010.

The survey's objective was to better understand the habits and preferences of truck drivers traveling in Canada, and to gain some insight into drivers' concerns over the availability of truck parking, and how they cope with the shortage. The survey results helped to identify locations where parking is lacking and how this shortage influences the work of drivers throughout the country.

The study found, for example, that a majority of drivers had trouble finding parking at different phases of their journey. At the destination, 48 percent experienced difficulty in finding parking, while the rate en route is 60.4 percent. Urban areas represent the most difficult place to park, with 80.8 percent of drivers reporting trouble finding suitable parking. Southern British Columbia, most parts of Alberta, northern Ontario and large urban areas are the most problematic, the survey revealed.

Of the parking that is available, most drivers reported that telephones, washrooms and drinking water are lacking from the public rest areas in Canada.

From a compliance perspective, nearly half of the drivers surveyed reported driving beyond their daily Hours of Service limits to find parking on long trips. The analysis shows a clear relationship between the difficulty of finding parking and exceeding the HOS regulation. As well, in the year before the survey, 42.8 percent were told by an enforcement officer to move away from a non-designated parking space. In 37.6 percent of these cases, the drivers were out of their hours of service when told to move their vehicle.

The survey respondents were also critical of the services offered at card locks and other privately operated facilities. More than 40 percent found that the operability of their card lock outlets was unacceptable. When they fuel their truck, drivers expect to have free access to showers (96 percent), parking (99 percent) and the Internet (72 percent). The results indicate those amenities in short supply at most card lock locations.

Overall, a very high percentage drivers, 88.4, stated that there are not enough rest areas, roadside pull-outs and turn-outs, or safe havens for them to safely perform vehicle inspections.

Strategies and Solutions
A supplementary report released by Transport Canada at the same time, called "Environmental Scan for Truck Parking Needs at Rest Areas", looked at available research into truck parking and how other jurisdictions around the world handle the challenge. It also offers several short-term and long-term strategies to address truck parking issues. Best practices include:

~ the development of national-level guidelines for the spacing and design of public truck parking facilities, with appropriate consideration of private sector accommodation of truck parking needs;
~ the use of ITS technologies to provide real-time information about the location and availability of truck parking spaces;
~ the development of public-private partnerships to share or reduce facility construction and maintenance costs and enable appropriate developments to meet truckers’ needs;
~ ensuring that driver security concerns at truck parking facilities are addressed;
~ seeking cost-effective options to redesign and rehabilitate existing facilities to address truck parking shortages; and
~ providing additional truck parking spaces, where needed and financially and/or commercially feasible, through the construction of new facilities.

And perhaps one of the more important conclusions was the recognition of the difficulties drivers have parking in urban areas. Although this is a different matter from that involving inter-urban rest areas, truck parking in urban centres appears to be equally deserving of attention as truck parking between urban centres. It appears that there is a lack of knowledge in this area, which warrants further investigation.

Download the full reports using the links below:

Analysis of the Commercial Vehicle Driver Survey Results

Environmental Scan for Truck Parking Needs at Rest Areas