NTSB makes recommendations on truck parking in the U.S.
9/13/2000 — After the National Transportation Safety Board held its series of truck and bus safety hearings last year, it decided to look further into the issue of truck parking. The board last week issued several recommendations to help address the parking shortage, which is a key issue in the debate about truck driver fatigue. The NTSB recommends that the Federal Highway Administration include the National Industrial Transportation League as a stakeholder in the ongoing truck parking study that is being conducted as called for in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century. "Shippers, brokers and consignees frequently influence truck schedules and, therefore, the Safety Board concludes that they should be an integral part of any solution to the truck parking dilemma," reads a letter from NTSB Chairman Jim Hall to the FHWA. As part of that report, the board also recommends that FHWA evaluate the benefits of eliminating the prohibition against private development of rest area facilities on interstates. Although the board notes that the federal law was enacted to prevent unfair advantages for private companies that are directly accessible from the interstate over companies having to operate at an exit, it notes that a FHWA study found that commercialized rest areas could reduce costs and increase services and safety. Source: www.truckinginfo.com