Ohio looks to boost the number of parking spaces for commercial trucks

Truckers spending six days on the road may not have to worry whether they’ll make it home tonight, at least if they’re in Ohio.

Buckeye State officials announced a plan to add at least 1,400 new parking spaces statewide for commercial trucks. Lawmakers included $150 million in the state’s two-year transportation budget, which they approved earlier this year.

Following a review of the property owned by the Ohio Department of Transportation, state officials said they have identified 33 sites in 19 counties where they plan to create or expand long-term truck parking lots. If the plan comes to fruition, that would more than double the amount of truck parking capacity currently available at ODOT-maintained sites.

“As Ohio’s economy continues to grow, so do the number of trucks traveling on Ohio’s network of interstates and state routes,” Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said in a release. “By expanding safe, accessible places for drivers to rest, we’re supporting the people who keep our economy moving and making it safer for everyone on our roads.”

Transportation officials said that construction is expected to kick off next year and that work should wrap up by the end of 2027. The new truck parking areas, located in Allen, Ashland, Ashtabula, Auglaize, Belmont, Clermont, Fayette, Franklin, Gallia, Guernsey, Henry, Lake, Mahoning, Medina, Ross, Summit, Warren, and Wyandot counties, will have lighting and restroom facilities.

Ohio has roughly 14,200 truck parking spaces statewide. Most of the spaces are located at privately owned businesses, including private truck stops.

“Ohio’s new truck parking plan is a major step forward in improving safety for truck drivers and everyone on the road,” ODOT Director Pamela Boratyn said in a release. “These projects will make our state a national leader in total truck parking capacity—setting the standard for safety and service.”

In a release, Ohio officials, citing the American Transportation Research Institute, said that once the projects are complete, Ohio will have the most long-term truck parking spaces on state-owned property available for truckers to use.

According to state officials, trucks reported 27.5 million miles on Buckeye State roads in 2023, and ODOT predicts that freight volume on the state’s roads will increase 26% by 2045. Ohio officials said that 689 crashes were blamed on drowsy semi-truck drivers in Ohio since 2015, leading to 345 injuries and two deaths.

The problem is hardly unique to Ohio. Officials in many, if not all, states are grappling with how to address the problem in some capacity.

The American Trucking Associations has said that nationwide, for every 11 trucks on the road, there is one truck parking space available. Trucking officials said that because of the shortage, commercial truck drivers who are unable to find parking must either drive drowsy or pull over to sleep in unsafe areas such as highway shoulders and entrance or exit ramps.

The most recent announcement is just the latest effort by Ohio officials to address truck parking.

In 2019, Ohio was among eight states — a group that also included Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin — to launch the Truck Parking Information Management System. The system provides real-time information about parking availability, displaying details on digital signs and in-cab systems.

In 2022, the state announced the creation of 144 new spaces by reworking at least a dozen weigh stations that were not in use, converting them into parking areas for trucks. The following year, officials announced a statewide initiative to rethink and update three dozen rest areas, including the addition of 401 new parking spots for trucks.

Last year, Ohio officials announced that the transformation of rest areas in Preble and Trumbull counties, which had been abandoned, into dedicated truck parking facilities added 138 spaces.