Every once in awhile, an untapped market rears its head. According to ozarksfirst.com, Arkansas truckers are complaining that they don’t have enough parking. The truckers are required to rest for 10 hours to every 11 they drive, but some say they have to stop driving before their 11-hour limit is up or they will end up with nowhere to park. This puts them in a difficult position: do they follow regulations, or make their delivery on time?
Truckers make their money when they’re rolling on the road, so many would like to be able to run until their hours actually expire. But that comes with a risk.
“Truck stops are filled up by 6:30 or 7 o’clock at night,” Ralph Puckett said. “If you aren’t there by then, you’re going to find yourself out of luck. I’m not going to stop at 7:00 to go to sleep,” he said.
What I’m wondering is, where are the high-service truck stops? I’m not talking about 5-star accommodations, just something with more amenities than a snack bar and a shower. Maybe I’m wrong and there’s no money in catering to truckers, but if they are looking for parking, food and a break, that’s a lot of business somebody could profit from.
“They’re required to take mandatory breaks. They need to get to a safe spot off the roadway,” said Arkansas Trucking Association President Shannon Newton. “They need to be able to get off the roads and get the rest they need, to keep themselves and other drivers safe.”
So, a safe spot with decent food, showers and a massage chair? Maybe a place to play cards or read a book? A ping pong table? This is definitely an under-served demographic.
Read the rest of the article here.
3 Responses
Our company in Argentina has developed in collaboration with oil companies, a place for trucks to park and access to typical services that a driver needs to rest and be safe.
They are known as “hostels en route” and is located next to gas stations selling fuel, along the routes of the country.
Each hostel has a parking area and restrooms and showers, in a second stage is installed hosting and which will offer light mechanical.
To collect parking service, each truck has installed a tag, which is attached to the service of “hostels en route”.
Then debited from your account the hours and days that has been parked or used the services of the hostel.
Each parking of “hostels en route” has barriers, cameras RFID readers to identify the truck and / or LPR.
Our company in Argentina has been developing since 2000 solutions to use the same Tag (www.sictranscore.com) to pay toll, parking or access to private parking.
This allows adding new services every day to Tag, since they are paid from the same member account.
Some more projects are: Auto Mac, activate turn traffic lights for buses, access control for vehicles in economically-financial zone and banks.
I am sorry, in the last comment posted about “Truckers Need Parking,” I wronged my email addres.
The correct email is: canus@sictranscore.com.ar
Thanks
Carlos, it sounds like a great system. Good work.