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{"text":"This is the revised letter I’m sending to my state representative to intrude a bill to solve the truck parking shortage. Do you have any suggestions to improve this? Would you support this?Keep in mind this is not the final letter that will be sent there are still some grammatical errors. \n\nThe Letter:\n\nI’m a man from a small town in West Virginia. I’ve lived in this great state all my life and are proud to call myself an American. I’ve known for quite some time that this nation has faced a truck parking shortage. More recently, having became a trucker, I’ve seen it’s much worst than I thought. I have asked over a hundred truckers if they think there is a shortage and the answer is always the same. This isn’t just a shortage it is a crisis for the industry and our country. \n\nWith nearly 3.5 million truckers there are only 300 thousand truck parking spaces across the United States according to the Department of Transportation. To stay in accordance with our hours of service we have to cut our days short or risk not having anywhere to park and being in violation of the DOT. The American Transportation Research Institute says that this in turn creates a yearly loss of $4600 in pay for the average trucker totaling over 16 billion in lost revenue and wages. Also, this leads to increased stress as well as posing a safety risk as truckers are forced to park in areas that aren’t safe. The private sector has little financial incentive to expand their parking and I’ve seen more public parking being shut down than opened. There isn’t a trucker alive that’s not aware of the parking shortage. At this rate I can only see this crisis becoming much worst. \n\nI’m asking in turn that you introduce a bill to allocate roughly $2.65 billion to fund the construction of 300,000 more parking spaces over the next 9 years. This is to double the number of parking spaces available from 300,000 to 600,000, with a minimal yearly goal of 35,000 newly constructed spaces. The funding will be used to expand parking at rest areas, weight stations, constructing new parking areas, and subsidizing the private sector to create more free parking. Subsidies will be very effective to for the tax dollar since the private sector will uphold the cost of maintenance and facilities that improve our quality of life. Once the 9 year period is up a portion of funding shall be allocated for the maintenance and improvement of the amenities of DOTs expanded parking. The funding shall be focused on truck parking alone with minimal cost on facilities, specifically towards areas that are in shortest supply with the highest demand and long stretches of road with no parking. Data from company’s like Trucker Path can be used to target the areas that have parking full most often. Although, across the whole country this is an issue. The risk isn’t doing to much but in doing to little. \n\nTwo other supplements to this bill would be to create a tax incentive for Consignees and shippers to provide parking areas for deliveries and pickups. Also, a mandate to require street parking for 18-Wheelers in future and current developments of industrial zones where space allows.\n\nAfter the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act died in 2020 with no vote many feel as though the government has abandoned us on this problem. Many have lost faith in the government to support us on this issue. This bill could change the trucking industry for the better, and restore truckers faith in the governments support. I urge you to help the hard working men and women of the trucking industry to keep America moving. \n\nSincerely, Corey Wrtachford","videos":"[]","link":"{}","pics":"[]","canComment":true,"externalShare":false} |
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