Private solutions step up to plug the truck parking shortage

The trucking industry’s chronic parking shortage is driving drivers to waste an average of 56 minutes daily hunting for a spot, according to the American Transportation Research Institute’s 2025 report. ATRI ranked truck parking as drivers’ second-biggest concern last year, costing the sector an estimated $5,600 per driver annually in lost productivity. With freight volumes rising and public parking capacity failing to keep pace, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) is pushing for federal grants while acknowledging that private companies are rapidly adding new capacity. “This has been an issue for decades,” said Darrin Roth, ATA’s vice president of highway policy. “The miles keep growing, but the spaces aren’t. The private sector has stepped up, especially in the last few years.” Traditional truck stops remain a backbone of the network, but a wave of tech-driven startups is now connecting drivers to guaranteed spaces via apps. These services don’t always own the lots; instead, they aggregate underused properties such as warehouses, terminals, repair shops, and self-storage facilities, then vet them for suitability. Truck Parking Club, which launched in 2023, has built the largest U.S. network of reservable truck parking with more than 6,000 locations. CEO Evan Shelley estimates the industry needs over a million spaces nationwide and that inefficiencies cost the supply chain more than $100 billion per year. “In 3½ years, we’ve parked hundreds of thousands of trucks,” Shelley said. “We don’t just think we’re part of the solution—we have the drivers and carriers to prove it.” The company’s app lets fleet managers, dispatchers, and drivers reserve spots under a single account, integrating tools for finding, booking, and managing parking. Meanwhile, Trucker Path, which began crowdsourcing parking availability in 2013, added a reservation feature in June 2026. Its network now includes more than 100,000 reservable spots, with overnight and long-term paid bookings layered over its free maps. “Fifty-plus minutes a day is a massive chunk of a driver’s available hours,” said Trucker Path CMO Chris Oliver. “Good parking isn’t just a convenience—it’s a safety issue.” Both companies argue that while public funding is critical, the scale and speed required demand private-sector innovation. “The private sector isn’t funded by tax dollars,” Oliver noted. “Costs have to be covered somehow. Otherwise, the public sector can’t scratch that itch alone.”