A coalition of Departments of Transportation from Arizona, California, New Mexico and California are seeking a federal grant to develop a program that would alert truck drivers to available truck parking along Interstate 10.

The group, called the I-10 Corridor Coalition, was formed in 2016 to create safer and more efficient travel for commercial and personal vehicles along Interstate 10. Public truck parking availability is one its priorities and the I-10 Corridor Coalition is seeking a $13.7 million Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment Grant through the Federal Highway Administration to address the issue.

The funding would go toward a system that would inform drivers about available parking at rest areas through signs along I-10. A similar system called the Truck Parking Information and Management System was developed for eight member states of the Mid-America Association of State Transportation Officials, and is set to be fully implemented by 2019. That system will allow drivers to see available nearby truck parking either online or through a series of electronic road signs.

The hope is that the system would help drivers using Interstate 10 better plan their daily schedules and reduce the number of drivers parked on freeway shoulders and along ramps. It would also reduce the amount of time that tired drivers will spend looking for parking spaces, and as a result potentially reduce emissions and fuel consumption.

“When we launched the I-10 Corridor Coalition two years ago, this is exactly the kind of collaboration we had in mind,” said John Halikowski, director of ADOT. “By working together, our states can create a safer environment on I-10 that will be more efficient for drivers and boost economies across the region.”

The I-10 Corridor Coalition was designed to remove “friction” to move goods more efficiently. This affects a variety of commercial vehicle permitting and inspection practices in each state along Interstate 10, the primary trucking route connecting the markets of Southern California and Texas with international shipping. If the four states were combined, the region would have the 10th-largest economy in the world, according to the coalition.

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