New tech aims to address US truck parking shortage

Financial services company Finloc 2000, which specializes in freight transportation equipment, is working on a new mobile app aimed at solving the challenges of truck parking in the United States. The growth of the number of truckers on the roads over the past two decades, in addition to hours-of-service regulations, has created a struggle for drivers seeking overnight parking.

In March, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said one of the top issues he hears about from truck drivers is the difficulty of finding overnight parking.

“And it’s not just a matter of convenience. It’s really a matter of safety,” he said. “It means as a driver is on their route, they see they’re getting to the limit of their hours of service. They’re faced with either having to stop short [of their work limit] and lose income — if there’s even a space nearby — or park in an unsafe place.”

In May of this year, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved $755M to expand truck parking. 

According to Finloc, there are approximately 3.7 million truck drivers in the United States and Canada, and 78% are searching for parking daily. The app, named FinPark, is currently in beta but is available on digital marketplaces the Apple App Store and Google Play, as well as web browser portals. So far carriers and drivers have tested the platform, and freight brokerages will be added to the next rollout.

The app is built on predictive route guidance, but Finloc also hired Anthony Petitte as chief operating officer to lead all secure parking efforts. Petitte established a similar application, TruckPark, in 2016. He and his co-founding partner secured 22% of U.S. parking market share before the app was acquired in fall 2021.

Finloc boasts that the app is mutually beneficial, as it acts as a marketplace, allowing parking property owners to see greater returns by allocating space for long- and short-term truck parking. While currently 10% of parking spaces go unused, many drivers are forced to park in unsafe or sometimes even illegal spaces because they cannot find legitimate places to park for the night. FinPark may be able to provide greater visibility for property owners to share their open capacity.

“FinPark’s mission is to optimize the use of the millions of truck drivers on the road searching for secure parking,” Petitte said in the press release. “FinPark is designed for long-distance journeys, but we are seeing a steady increase in short-haul drivers and fleets looking to store their equipment for 30 days or more. It was, therefore, natural to create a solution that meets those needs specifically, to overcome the current hurdles to secure truck parking in areas where parking is difficult to find, and to develop its usage at scale.”

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Source: freightwaves - New tech aims to address US truck parking shortage
Editor: Brielle Jaekel