In an article in Overdrive, Wendy Parker took on the million-dollar question in eloquent fashion.

Should those with trucking jobs have to pay for truck parking?

Parker’s candid article sheds light on the lack of truck parking today and on how this problem may evolve in the future.

“Let’s talk about paid parking,” Parker wrote. “We paid for parking in Charleston, Mo., a couple of nights ago, at an establishment we spent over $20,000 with collectively last year. I’m not going to lie – it stung a little. For some reason, that $12 seemed pretty close to the straw that broke the money camel’s back.”

But, Parker continues, there was one benefit to that paid space—peace of mind.

“It was really nice to know we had a spot waiting for us, even if we did have to pay for it,” she wrote. Let’s face it, if you can’t stop to look for parking before 3 p.m., you’re pretty screwed these days. And even if you’re running nights, good luck finding a spot in the DFW area at all. Love’s and T/A in Rockwall are slam full by 11 a.m., and all the trip planning in the world isn’t going to magically create more parking spots in Seattle. There are simply not enough (spots).

Yet somehow, adding paid parking to the mix only fans the flames of discontent.

“Whether or not you love it or hate it, the underlying feeling of being screwed out of another twelve to eighteen bucks is still prevalent, especially for those of us who are very specific about where we fuel,” she writes. “When you commit to one company, and spend the bulk of your fuel dollars there, it’s hard not to feel like they’re just extorting you because they can.”

ELD mandates only exacerbate the parking problem, Parker says.

She also says that truck stops are keenly aware of that fact and, as businesses, they will seek to capitalize on it. She writes:

These are undeniable facts, and quite frankly, I don’t know of anyone in business who wouldn’t take the opportunity to (capitalize on it). When convenience is part of your business model, offering convenient, reserved, paid parking is a natural progression.

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