You’ve got 11 trucks competing for one parking spot. Your drivers circle highway exits until their eyes glaze over, burning fuel and patience. All while valuable delivery time slips away.
That’s the truck parking shortage in a nutshell for you, as it forces your team into impossible choices every shift. Park somewhere unsafe where cargo might disappear overnight or keep driving past legal hours in the face of surging cargo theft and exhausted drivers turning highways into hazard zones.
Many drivers eventually quit because the constant stress wears them down. Who wants to deal with that?
Hopeless as it seems, though, there’s good news. Look under the hood, and you’ll find emerging technologies and digital integrations out there offering scalable, real-time solutions to turn the tide and stay one step ahead.
America’s freight network depends on trucks, but the infrastructure to support drivers hasn’t kept pace. And the more things lag, the worse it gets — and let’s just say it’s gotten even worse than you likely realize.
Only 313,000 designated parking spots exist for 3.5 million trucks on American roads — roughly one space for every 11 trucks. You don’t need an MBA to see those numbers spell trouble. Nearly 98% of truckers report difficulty finding safe parking, proving this crisis affects virtually everyone hauling freight.
Your drivers lose an average of 56 minutes daily searching for parking — that’s more than 300 lost driving hours per driver annually. Think about what that costs you: wasted fuel, missed delivery windows, and drivers who spend their valuable time circling lots instead of moving loads.
When proper spots run out, your drivers face ugly choices. Many resort to parking on highway shoulders, vacant lots, or dark industrial areas — places without security, lighting, or basic amenities. These improvised solutions expose your team to accidents, tickets, and personal safety threats.
The consequences extend beyond inconvenience. Inadequate rest options lead to driver fatigue, directly linked to 13% of all large truck crashes, according to the FMCSA. Whenever drivers can’t find proper parking, they have no choice but to pick between legal compliance and basic safety. It’s a lose-lose proposition that puts lives and livelihoods at risk.
Cargo theft has reached record highs, with 3,625 reported incidents in 2024 — a 27% increase from 2023. Total losses hit $455 million, with average losses per incident climbing to $202,364.
The parking connection? Brutal. Recent data from Overhaul tells the story. In 2024, 23% of cargo thefts occurred at unsecured parking locations (the second-highest rate for two consecutive years), while another 13% happened at truck stops and fuel stations. Combined with warehouse/distribution center thefts (33%), these three locations accounted for 69% of all cargo theft events in 2024. The problem is worsening through pilferage — thieves stealing goods from unattended trailers — which increased 38% from 2023 to 2024 and now represents nearly half of all U.S. cargo thefts.
2025 is shaping up to be another brutal year too. Analysts project another 22-25% increase in cargo thefts, potentially exceeding $35 billion across the supply chain. And in March alone, more than half of all U.S. cargo theft incidents happened in just three states: California, Florida, and Texas.
In this environment, your drivers deserve better than circling highway exits at 2 a.m., hunting for safe places to rest. Thankfully, tech innovators are finally addressing the truck parking shortage head-on. From startups creating “Airbnbs for trucks” to established chains implementing reservation systems to solutions like EKA’s Omni-TMS™ to help your drivers find parking before their HOS clock runs out, help is on the way.
The truck parking crisis punches your operation right in the wallet. Your drivers waste hours daily circling for spots — burning fuel, missing delivery windows, and eventually quitting altogether. With cargo theft hitting record highs and driver fatigue causing 13% of truck crashes, this parking shortage puts your freight, drivers, and insurance premiums at serious risk. You feel it every time dispatch tells a driver, “Just figure it out,” when there’s nowhere safe to stop.
EKA Solutions cuts through this mess with its Omni-TMS™ platform and transportation solutions. The system connects with Trucker Tools and telematics partners like Samsara so your team sees exactly where trucks are and where they need to rest — no more last-minute scrambling. Your dispatchers spot potential parking problems days ahead using predictive planning tools. Your drivers follow optimized routes built around available parking, not just the fastest miles. The whole system learns from your fleet’s actual parking patterns through smart business intelligence tools.
Plenty of companies talk about solving the parking headache — EKA actually can do something about it. Contact us today and turn this industrywide problem into your competitive advantage.
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