Low Cost Strategies to Increase Truck Parking in Wisconsin

This report documents a study of truck parking issues along the major state highways in Wisconsin. The effort builds upon another project at the National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) funded by the Mississippi Valley Freight Coalition to study the truck parking issues on Interstate highways in the ten-state AASHTO Mississippi Valley Region. This study also inventories both public and private parking facilities along a select number of state highways. A web geographic information system (GIS) tool was developed for continuous survey and public participation. The study surveyed highway patrol officers, public freight planners, and truckers to identify parking facilities incommensurate with truck parking needs. It proposes a method for ranking parking facilities identified as having the most need of additional truck parking capacity. Building on a review of previous studies and face-to-face interviews with carriers, the report contains a discussion of why existing parking facilities do not meet needs and describes a set of low cost strategies for addressing truckers' parking needs.