A new system will provide semi tractor-trailer drivers on Interstate 70 with up-to-date information on safer parking options, in hopes of clearing commercial vehicles from rest area shoulders and highway ramps.
The information system, funded partly through a $25 million federal grant, sounded like a good idea to driver Jim Smith — even though his routes seldom cross Indiana boundaries. On a recent afternoon, he was hauling freight to Charleston, Ill., for AIM Integrated.
“You can never have too much information, especially hauling one of these things,” Smith, a Mooresville resident, told the Tribune-Star during a stop at the Cumberland Road Rest Area, along I-70 at Marshall, Ill.
Indiana will receive $4 million from the grant to implement the setup, called the Truck Parking Information and Management System, said Will Wingfield, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Transportation. The state is contributing a 10 percent match.
Once it’s in place, INDOT can broadcast real-time parking info through electronic message signs, traveler information websites and smartphone applications, according to an agency news release.
Details on the implementation process and specific locations have not been finalized, Wingfield said.
“We anticipate that most, if not all, of the rest areas and private truck stops along I-70 will be included in the project,” he stated in an email.
Wingfield said INDOT plans public-private partnerships with truck stops to provide parking for semi tractor-trailers.
Interstate 65 — which runs southeast to northwest across the state — and Interstate 94, covering northwest Indiana into Michigan, will also be included in the system, according to INDOT.
“The volume and percentage of truck traffic that travels on I-65, I-70 and I-94 are higher than any other interstates that INDOT maintains,” Wingfield said in an earlier interview.
I-94 is also packed with semis in southwest Michigan, where the same information and management system went live last summer. Michigan’s department of transportation received a separate grant to implement the program.
That state plans to use its portion of the new grant to expand the system beyond I-94, according to a news release from the Michigan Department of Transportation.
Fifteen facilities are currently included in the program, covering 130 miles of roadway, said Collin Castle, the agency’s connected vehicle specialist.
Detection equipment in the field, he said, helps the state collect parking information from public sites such as rest areas. Data are currently displayed on five roadside signs, each listing one rest area and two interstate exits with parking alternatives, he said.
The information is also shared through the state’s traffic conditions website, a smartphone application and a fleet of trucks equipped with on-board connected vehicle equipment, according to the transportation department.
Truck Smart Parking Services, a private company the state is partnering with for the program, collects parking information from 10 private facilities including truck stops. The company has its own website and mobile app to share the messages with drivers.
The University of Michigan’s transportation research institute is independently evaluating the system, Castle said, studying its performance, impact on facilities use and any safety considerations. The study is expected to be complete at year’s end, he said.
Castle said the state has received mostly positive feedback from drivers who’ve consulted the websites or mobile applications.
“Overall, we just feel it benefits the community as a whole,” he said.
Seven other Midwestern states were also awarded a portion of the $25 million grant, including Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
The Mid America Association of State Transportation Officials is administering the grant.
Semi drivers must follow federal hours of service regulations, limiting time on the road and dictating use of sleeper berths.
Drivers carrying property may drive a maximum of 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty, according to regulations posted on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s website.
They cannot drive beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty, according to the regulations. That’s following 10 consecutive hours off duty.
Drivers following the sleeper berth provision must take at least eight consecutive hours in the berth, plus a separate two consecutive hours either in the berth, off duty or a combination of both.
Similar rules apply for drivers carrying passengers, except for a provision splitting sleeper berth time into two periods of no less than two hours.
Indiana State Police will allow semi drivers to sleep, as long as the rigs are not parked in the travel lanes of the roadway.
In enforcing parking laws, Sgt. Joe Watts said troopers would rather have drivers rest than risk putting a sleepy trucker back on the road.
Watts said ISP realizes truck stops and rest areas are overcrowded and said issues with drivers parking on entrance or exit ramps are scarce.
“Right now, we haven’t noticed a problem, and crashes are very rare,” he said.