Two Florida universities are conducting a survey of truckers as part of efforts to identify safe truck parking during dangerous weather.
The Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering at the University of Florida and the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Florida Atlantic University conducted a study to identify potential emergency parking locations throughout Florida that can ensure the safety of drivers and their trucks during severe weather events. The study aims to identify potential challenges and opportunities associated with identifying these emergency parking locations. By doing so, the study hopes to improve the safety of drivers and their trucks during severe weather conditions by ensuring that they have safe parking locations to go to when necessary.
Severe weather events refer to any dangerous weather conditions that have the potential to cause significant damage or disruption. These events can include hurricanes, heavy precipitation, fog, fire smoke, high winds, and more. Such weather conditions can create unsafe driving conditions, which may require truck drivers to stop driving and seek out safe emergency parking locations until the weather clears up and it is safe to resume normal operations.
As part of the survey, a safe emergency truck parking location is defined as a designated site reserved for parking trucks during severe weather events until the drivers can safely resume normal operations. These locations will complement the existing public and private truck parking network, and will be free and available for any truck driver to use until they are able to resume normal operations. The purpose of these safe emergency parking locations is to ensure the safety of truck drivers and to reduce the potential for accidents or damage during severe weather events.
The researcher said, “As a professional with first-hand experience in the trucking industry in Florida, your participation in this survey will help us identify and prioritize potential emergency truck parking locations to ensure the safety of drivers and their trucks during severe weather events.”
The survey does not include any questions about your personal or institutional identity. The collected data will be summarized for reporting purposes.
