National Coalition on Truck Parking: Parking Capacity Working Group Meeting 4 - August 9, 2018

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U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
Office of Operations
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590

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Champion:

• Brian Hunter, Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)

Facilitators:

• Tiffany Julien, FHWA
• Jeff Purdy, FHWA
• Jordan Wainer, Volpe

Welcome and Introductions

Jordan welcomed the group to the meeting and provided an overview of the phone settings and webroom. She also stated that the meeting is being recorded for those who cannot attend and that the link to the recording will be distributed via email later. Jordan then introduced the agenda of the meeting and turned the discussion over to Brian Hunter, the Working Group Champion.

Final Product Review

Jordan listed the different products that the working group created and stated that the purpose of this discussion is to review and polish the finalized versions of these products. Volpe verified all information in the products with the appropriate agency represented. The products developed by the Parking Capacity Working Group are:

1. Creative Uses of the Right-of-Way
2. Case Studies Including Shippers/Receivers
3. Considerations for Low-Cost Truck Parking

Jordan then transitioned leadership of the meeting to Brian, who shared that he would show each product in the webroom and solicit feedback from the group product by product.

1. Creative Uses of the Right-of-Way (ROW)

• Brian described the general topics covered by the examples and described the layout of the product. He then asked Working Group members for feedback on the examples included, the format, and anything else they'd like to share.
• A Working Group member employed by a State Department of Transportation (DOT) mentioned that he's now doing truck parking analysis and trying to predict truck parking needs for the next 20 years. He stated that in his State, the DOT is going to use the ROW to expand truck parking at State-owned facilities.
• One Working Group member indicated that partnership with the Chamber of Commerce, as included in the Brainerd, Minnesota example, is good to highlight. She will show this example to her colleagues at work to see if they have feedback.
• One Working Group member pointed out that there's a typo in the description of the Louisiana example.
• One Working Group member said that the Tampa example should communicate to drivers that the intersection can be difficult. Another Working Group member involved in developing the project responded that the project team is aware of the problem and has plans to make access easier in that location. The project team is also working to notify drivers of parking availability.

2. Case Studies Involving Shippers and Receivers

• Working Group members would like to have a scale on the images in the Case Studies document. Members would also like the images to indicate exactly where the parking is in the image showing the Meijer site.
• One Working Group member indicated that it's easier for a business to be generous with real estate if it's located in a rural area.
• One Working Group member questioned whether the parking areas should be referred to as parking or staging. Another Working Group member responded that the businesses generally allow trucks to park overnight, but trucks can also use the spaces for staging.

3. Considerations for Low-Cost Truck Parking

• One Working Group member stated that the Working Group should consider rephrasing the description of vault toilets to say that they cost less than port-o-johns. The Working Group member stated that the current description fails to demonstrate that vault toilets increase capacity for truck parking. Brian responded that he and Volpe will rephrase this part of the document.
• A Working Group member said that the "Stormwater" column should be renamed "Other Considerations" and should include security cameras, emergency phones, fire extinguishers, defibrillators, fences, and lighting equipment. Jordan responded that Volpe can make these changes.
• Brian asked the Working Group members if they had any additional feedback and, hearing none, turned leadership of the meeting back over to Jordan to discuss next steps for the Working Group.

Next Steps

• Review and public affairs processes
  • Jordan said that the products and the final report will go through the public affairs process. They will likely take two months to be reviewed. The products will be available online in late November. The final report will have a discussion of what the Working Groups did, what the products they developed are, how they came up with the priority areas that they focused on, etc. The public affairs process will be complete and the final materials prepared in advance of the next meeting of the NCTP.
• Product packaging
  • Jordan asked how the Working Group thinks these documents should be packaged and distributed.
  • Working Group members responded that they like having the documents separate and not compiled into a single large document.
  • Another Working Group member said that they like them separate, but organized by Working Group.
  • A third shared that they'd prefer to have the documents compiled into a single large document.
  • Other Working Group members said that they would like to have the documents available online as PDFs so that they could be easily printed for distribution at conferences, State DOT meetings, advocacy group meetings, and other events.

Jordan thanked the Working Group members and noted that they can reach out to her later to provide additional input.

• Jason's Law Survey
  • Jeff Purdy provided an overview on the 2018 update to Jason's Law. Jeff shared that FHWA will be sending out surveys to all of the State DOTs to update the information that FHWA gathered through its survey in 2014. The surveys will be the same except for a few new questions. The surveys will assist FHWA in estimating truck parking demand and supply. FHWA will also be making the surveys available online to truck drivers, trucking companies, and the trucking community. Jeff stated that FHWA will be looking into parking at private truck stops also.

Jordan asked if the Working Group had any questions for Jeff and, hearing none, resumed leadership of the meeting. She moved on to the next topic of discussion, the National Coalition on Truck Parking annual meeting.

National Coalition on Truck Parking Annual Meeting

• Meeting purpose
  • Jordan shared that the next meeting of the NCTP is tentatively scheduled for the week of December 3rd, 2018. She asked if any Working Group members had any conflicts with that meeting time. No Working Group members responded.
  • Jordan said that the Working Group products should be available online about two weeks prior to the meeting.
• Tentative meeting structure
  • During the meeting, each Working Group champion will speak for about 15 minutes. Jordan asked what the Working Group members would like the champion to convey about their group during the NCTP meeting.
  • One Working Group member responded that he would like the champion to focus on the outcome of the Working Group, but it would also be helpful to provide an overview of the process of how we got here.
• Role of the Working Group in the meeting
  • The Working Group has an opportunity prior to the meeting to help guide what the champion will say about the Working Group's work. If anyone has any feedback they'd like to share, they can reach out to Jordan at any time.

Future Research Needs

Jordan stated that although the Working Group accomplished a lot this year to advance truck parking availability, there are still many topics that the group didn't address. Jordan asked what topics the group would like FHWA to focus on in the future in terms of truck parking research. She displayed a slide in the webroom that listed all of the topics that were suggested by the Working Group members in its first meeting, but that the group ultimately didn't pursue.

• One Working Group member said that she would like to think about this and get back to Jordan.
• Another member said that the group should pursue the next highest priority topic that was identified in the polls that the Working Group filled out in one of its early meetings.
• Another Working Group member said that research on truck staging needs would be helpful.
• Another Working Group member suggested researching how surface cleaning or cleaning for snow impacts truck parking availability, and another suggested investigating how to provide space for trucks with refrigerated cabs.
• Some other Working Group members mentioned examples of how foreign countries have addressed truck parking problems, and suggested that FHWA consider looking into how those solutions might be adapted to those needs in the United States.
  • Tiffany Julien responded that there is an opportunity to do a peer exchange with international partners like Germany and Austria if the group would find that useful.
• Jordan said that when she sends out the link to the recording of today's meeting, she will include the slide with the list of potential future research areas so that Working Group members can think more about them.

Both Tiffany Julien and Jordan then thanked the Working Group members for their commitment to the group and to furthering the work of the NCTP. They also thanked Brian for serving as champion. Jordan then adjourned the meeting.