The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) today posted two new truck parking studies on its website.

The lack of available truck parking continues to be a hot research topic for ATRI and these latest studies, completed for the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, examine new approaches for identifying available truck parking capacity.

In the first, “Utilizing Truck GPS Data to Assess Parking Supply and Demand,” ATRI presents a technical analysis that utilizes truck GPS data to assess truck parking capacity at four Minnesota rest areas. This first-of-its-kind research assessed truck parking supply and demand by time-of-day and day-of-week by cross-referencing truck GPS data to identify truck activity at several state-run rest stops.

The second, “A Comprehensive System for Assessing Truck Parking Availability” details a field test conducted by ATRI and the University of Minnesota to deliver real-time truck parking information to commercial drivers through three separate delivery systems: 1) Roadside Changeable Message Signs (CMS); 2) an Internet/Website information portal; and 3) through in-cab communication systems.

Both studies successfully demonstrated new approaches for identifying where additional truck capacity is needed and how delivering real-time information on parking availability to commercial drivers can improve their operational efficiency. The reports are available at the respective links above or by going to ATRI’s Truck Parking page by clicking here.