Truck Drivers Struggle to Find Parking Spaces in the United States
Truck drivers in the United States are having difficulty finding parking spaces. With only 313,000 spaces for around 3.5 million drivers, the situation is critical. On average, each parking space is contested by 11 drivers, forcing them to spend nearly an hour each day looking for a spot or even parking illegally three times a week. The government has added a few spaces, but it’s still not enough.
Evan Shelley: A Commercial Real Estate Professional
It was with this in mind that Evan Shelley joined the trucking industry. He had worked in commercial real estate for many years but had never been involved in the transportation industry as such. However, in 2021, he had the idea to use non-industrial land for truck parking, which put him in touch with the local community that opposed it.
Creating TruckParkingClub.com
Faced with this opposition, Evan Shelley decided to circumvent the obstacles by purchasing ideal parking locations all over the country, to bring them together under one brand. He met Keith Cristal of StoreMyTruck.com, who manages several parking facilities along the I-85 route between Atlanta and North Carolina, and together they created TruckParkingClub.com. This technological platform acts as an intermediary between property owners with parking space and truckers who need it.
Difficulties Encountered
However, the company faced difficulties due to the booming real estate market and high prices for parking locations. Nevertheless, they launched the company in November 2022.
TruckParkingClub.com: An Airbnb for Truck Parking Facilities
Since the launch of the company, Shelley and his team have focused on promoting their service to convince owners to list their locations through their platform. TruckParkingClub.com works a bit like Airbnb for truck parking facilities, attracting more and more truckers willing to invest in paid parking reservations.
Do you think the TruckParkingClub.com platform could solve the problems of parking shortages for trucks and make life easier for truck drivers looking for parking spaces?