Missouri's trucking and freight shipping industry has made massive expansions in the past decade, but with that comes the need for additional places to park the large trucks driving the growth.
Approximately 55% of all goods were transported by trucks in 2023, and there is an anticipated increase to 59% by 2043, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Truck Parking Draft. In the U.S. there is only one dedicated parking space for every 11 trucks on the road. Parking improvements are planned throughout the state, and with that comes a push for highway safety upgrades.
Improvements will include an increase in truck parking availability in addition to the third lane on the first three segments of the Improve I-70 project. Construction is set to begin at the end of summer.
The U.S. Department of Transportation created the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America Grants focus on rebuilding and improving the efficiency and safety of freight networks.
Surrounding states such as Illinois, Iowa and Indiana have received the INFRA grant.
Eric Kopinski, the Improve I-70 program director, said MoDOT applied for the competitive federal INFRA grants to improve I-70 for all drivers.
“One of the first things that I did for our team as we quickly got on board was we said, ‘Is there any way to leverage this historic funding that's been provided by the governor and the general assembly?'” Kopinski said. “Missouri's taken a very bold step with this funding of I-70, and the federal government should help participate a little more.”
The department initially requested over $300 million and was awarded $93 million. It will use $33.4 million in INFRA grant funds for the expanded parking. That includes the $30 million contract for the design and labor, plus $3.4 million for the early design items and project contingency. This all aims to improve the road quality and ensure safety precautions for truck drivers.
“As everyone clicks on their Amazon order or orders their groceries online more and more, the need to move goods and services along I-70 is an all-time high,” Kopinski said.
In surrounding states with similar high demands for the freight industry, significant crashes have happened on highway corridors. Many accidents were due to semitrucks not having places to park. Ultimately drivers may resort to using unfavorable parking spots on the road shoulders or ramps, which can result in crashes.
“There were several needs that were brought to our attention from the trucking community,” Kopinski said. “But the biggest, by far, was ‘Spend this limited money on as many new spots as you can get.’”
Truck drivers have a maximum of 11 hours they can drive when carrying property after 10 consecutive hours off duty, and a 10-hour driving maximum when carrying passengers after eight consecutive hours off duty. Kopinski said improving and expanding parking areas across the state will be a “game-changer” for the freight industry.
“The freight that moves along I-70 is going to be able to do so more easily, and really, for Missouri's businesses and the parking, it's going to be a good thing,” Kopinski said.
One of the biggest concerns the trucking community expressed in public interest meetings was that overnight truckers have limited hours that they can drive.
“As those hours become close to the end, they have to find a spot to safely pull off and park, and if they can't, then they run into the paradox of do they park or do they keep trying to find another spot," Kopinski said. “So it becomes a real big pinch point for them and puts them in a difficult spot.”
The INFRA grant along with investments from MoDOT and private gas stations and rest stop companies will contribute to that solution. There are two projects MoDOT is working on to help improve the rest areas and truck parking.
“The combination of the public-private partnership, where we're each investing dollars into this, this challenge, it's going to make the situation a lot better,” Kopinski said.
Outside of the truck parking project the department also has around $4 million to update facilities on I-70, I-35, I-29 and I-55. Kopinski said there are requests from the public to upgrade more building facilities and add additional truck parking on other routes but funding becomes the limiting factor.
Other states have invested in truck parking apps such as “Park My Truck,” “Trucker Path” and “TruxSpot,” but the need in Missouri was to add more pavement, parking spots and lighting.
“MoDOT will continue to have ongoing conversations with freight partners about this topic. We will also continue to communicate with surrounding states,” Kopinski said. “For many drivers having different apps for different states becomes problematic.”
Construction will begin at the end of the summer and is expected to be completed by December 2028. The first stop will be Concordia, which is about 50 miles east of Kansas City, then crews will move to Wright City, which is about 50 miles west of St. Louis. The final two stops will be Mineola, about 40 miles east of Columbia, and Boonville, about 25 miles west of Columbia.
The new parking spots will be in very similar locations compared to where current options exist, with the biggest change being additional parking spaces. The eastbound and a westbound locations at each of those stops will operate while the other is being improved. Furthermore, improvements will be completed one at a time, for accessibility to drivers who need to pull over.
“We're going to go try to continue to find more money to do this at the federal level to bring back to Missouri, because this is a win-win, and we want to make sure that we can ship goods across our state for our businesses and for everyone doing their personal shopping and those types of things,” Kopinski said.
This story was first published by Missouri Business Alert.
