DALLAS — While the evolving impact of the COVID-19 crises on state’s rest-area operations has created confusion over which sites remain open for truckers, the need for drivers to find safe parking hasn’t subsided.
“Not knowing where drivers will find available parking at the end of each day continues to be a challenge and a stressor for truckers,” said Brian Heath, CEO of Drivewyze.
In response to this need, Drivewyze has expanded its temporary rest-area parking notifications to include Arizona, Virginia and Ohio.
“Drivers are busy driving and don’t have time to keep track of changing open/close statuses at traditional parking areas,” Heath said. “This problem is exacerbated when you add temporary parking sites to the equation. New temporary parking is welcome, but how do drivers know where those are on a timely basis?”
Arizona recently opened two temporary sites, and Virginia is now allowing long-term parking at 10 weigh stations. The Ohio state DOT has asked Drivewyze to provide messaging to truckers as an extension of the state’s decision to keep all rest areas open, patrolled and safe. According to Heath, Drivewyze leveraged its GPS-based safety-notification service to help drivers in these three states.
“We volunteered to map out all the sites in these effected states and put our technology to work,” he said. “Truckers now receive an automated heads-up notification with open/close status 25 miles and 5 miles prior to the rest areas in Arizona and weigh stations in Virginia. In Ohio, the notification that all sites are open goes out when a trucker crosses the state line. The goal is to give drivers in all three states a sense of relief in knowing where they can park.
“This work was done in conjunction with our state DOT partners,” Heath continued. “We saw it as a joint mission to help drivers, and the alerts will continue as long as COVID-19 is impacting parking. We will add states and sites as circumstances change. It’s truly a liquid situation.”
In addition to the three new states added, Drivewyze provides temporary parking notifications for Pennsylvania and Florida. Notifications are available and free to carriers subscribed to the Drivewyze safety-notifications service. The notification format will be familiar to drivers who already receive similar Drivewyze safety notifications.
Both the Drivewyze PreClear weigh-station bypass service, and the Drivewyze safety-notifications service are available to carriers on supported ELDs and other in-cab devices, through the Drivewyze partner network. Subscribers interested in deploying the Drivewyze safety-notifications service, and rest-area alerts should contact their ELD or in-cab device provide or Drivewyze customer service.
The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
