According to the OOIDA Foundation, the association’s research and education branch, “most researchers don’t have access to enough owner-operators to properly collect and analyze information from this critical segment of the trucking industry.” To address this gap, the Foundation has actively engaged members since 1998, ensuring that their opinions reach federal, state, and local agencies. This ongoing effort has produced one of the most detailed profiles of owner-operators in the United States.

The 2025 OOIDA survey is now open and can be completed anonymously online. “We want to make sure that we are focusing on the issues that you desire,” the Foundation said. “It’s important to us that we support both your business and lifestyle. We need to know what you think on critical topics so we can direct our energies appropriately.”

Key Findings from the 2024 Member Survey

Last year, more than 19,000 owner-operator members participated in a random sample survey. Among respondents, 46 percent reported being leased to motor carriers, while 44 percent operated under their own authority. On average, drivers covered over 102,000 miles, with roughly 20 percent of those miles being deadhead, often due to challenging market conditions.

Surveyed operators reported annual maintenance costs averaging $18,900, including $3,400 spent on emission-related repairs and $3,300 for damage caused by poor road conditions. Independent operators typically spent more on tires compared with those leased to carriers. Maintenance costs per mile rose to 23 cents.

Freight rates, availability, and carrier reputation were the most important factors influencing leased owner-operators when selecting work. High driver turnover was largely attributed to low pay, a lack of respect, and inconsistent freight. In fact, 40 percent of leased drivers reported working for five or more carriers in the past year.

Challenges Facing One-Truck Operators

Research focused on one-truck operations, which make up nearly half of all motor carriers. These operators face unique hurdles in securing consistent freight and navigating complex regulatory requirements. While direct contracts generally provide higher earnings, most one-truck carriers rely heavily on brokers and load boards.

Many drivers also noted difficulties contesting inaccurate safety violations through the DataQ system. Insurance, permits, and other regulatory fees remain significant concerns, alongside rising fuel costs, declining freight rates, and parking shortages.

OOIDA’s research underscores the importance of listening to owner-operators and addressing the practical challenges they face daily. By capturing and analyzing these insights, the Foundation ensures that small-business truckers have representation and support that reflects both their business and lifestyle needs.

Source: Land Lined Media

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The catch? The results will only be as useful as the feedback they get from the drivers who use these lots.

Right now, NDOT is asking professional truck drivers who run in or through Nevada to take a short, confidential survey about their day-to-day parking experience. Drivers won’t be identified, and no company information will be shared. The survey digs into the realities you face on the road—paid parking, where parking disappears fastest, which corridors are overloaded, and what drivers actually want from a parking facility.

Nevada moves more freight by truck than most drivers realize. More than 80% of the state’s freight relies on trucks, and Nevada has just under 5,000 parking spots spread across 56 locations. With long stretches of desert highway and limited development in rural areas, those spaces don’t always land where drivers need them most.

The challenges aren’t new. Earlier this year, a group of truckers pushed back hard against Clark County’s parking shortages, threatening a $500 parking surcharge if officials didn’t take the problem seriously. The Nevada Hispanic Truckers Association said attempts to build new lots were “chased away by outdated rules and red tape.”

Past planning shows how far behind the state already is. NDOT’s 2019 Truck Parking Implementation Plan reported more than a 550-space shortfall in Clark County alone. Reno was short roughly 250 spots. Most of the state’s parking comes from the private sector, over 90% of all spots, with about 20 truck stops offering more than 100 spaces each. About half of Nevada’s truck parking sits along Interstate 80, leaving gaps in other freight corridors.

NDOT has identified multiple problem areas: staging issues, emergency parking needs, lack of spots for drivers trying to park at home, and municipal restrictions that make building new lots almost impossible in some counties. Nevada isn’t alone there; similar local rules have slowed truck parking development across the country.

If you’ve dealt with Nevada’s parking firsthand, NDOT wants your input. Add your feedback here.

The post Nevada Wants Better Truck Parking, and Drivers Hold the Key appeared first on Truck Drivers USA.

The study highlighted that despite acute parking shortages, truckers are often parking in unauthorized areas like highway entrances, exits, and rest stop shoulders, leaving tech solutions underutilized. These behaviors underscore the untapped potential of digital parking solutions.

Study Objectives & Industry Challenges

The study’s primary goals included:

• Analyzing parking utilization patterns along I-80 and I-94.

• Identifying trends in unauthorized parking to guide safety improvements.

• Assessing the potential of app-driven solutions to enable efficient parking management.

“Adequate, safe parking remains a top concern for the trucking industry and for truck drivers, but providing sufficient and free parking in a timely manner is becoming increasingly challenging for both the public and private sectors,” according to the study.

Challenges like limited funding for parking expansion were emphasized by transportation officials in both Iowa and Wisconsin. Consequently, scalable and affordable technologies like Parkunload represent potential alternatives by offering real-time data on parking space availability and location.

Mixed Reactions from Drivers

During the pilot implementation of Parkunload technology, in-person feedback from drivers was largely positive. However, social media outreach designed to solicit broader driver opinions revealed significant resistance to the app.

“The input received from truck drivers at the Pilot rest areas during the implementation of the Parkunload platform was overwhelmingly positive,” the study said. “On the other hand, the input received in response to the social media outreach was overwhelmingly negative.”

Unmet Demand for Overnight Parking

One significant finding was a stark gap in overnight parking availability, which has driven truckers to park in hazardous or unauthorized areas along highways like I-39, I-90, I-94, and beyond. Beyond highlighting this unmet demand, the study demonstrated the technical feasibility of parking apps, which could reduce unsafe parking practices by providing precise, “granular” digital parking information.

The identified technological capabilities include managing available spaces, setting parking time limits, and offering a cost-effective infrastructure compared to large-scale parking expansions.

Barriers to Adoption of Parking Technology

However, industry uptake faces steep hurdles. The study identified two critical barriers:

1. Driver Participation – Encouraging drivers to download parking apps has proven to be a significant challenge.

1. Compliance – Even among users, convincing them to regularly engage with the app remains difficult.

These challenges make gauging the broader acceptance of parking platforms challenging, particularly since sampling a representative portion of the driver community is inherently complex.

Future Applications of Parking Tech

Despite challenges, the study pointed to promising applications for platforms like Parkunload in areas such as rest stops, safety checkpoints, and weight enforcement stations. These locations often lack sophisticated availability systems, making them ideal testing grounds for emerging parking technologies.

Source: Transport Topics

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