National Coalition on Truck Parking: Technology and Data Working Group Meeting 3 - May 10, 2018

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Contact Information: Freight Feedback at FreightFeedback@dot.gov

U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
Office of Operations
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590

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Champion:

• Dan Murray, American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI)

Facilitators:

• Tiffany Julien, FHWA
• Jeff Purdy, FHWA

• Jordan Wainer, Volpe

Welcome and Introductions

Jordan welcomed the group to the meeting and provided an overview of the phone settings and webroom. She also stated that the meeting is being recorded for those who cannot attend and that the link to the recording will be distributed via email later. Jordan then introduced the agenda of the meeting and turned the discussion over to Dan Murray, the Working Group Champion.

Summary of Previous Working Group Meetings

Dan greeted the Working Group. He said that there is a lot of activity going on in the freight industry that is related to this Working Group, so now is a very good time to be working on gathering some of the results of this work into summary documents. Jordan provided a brief overview of the activities of the previous Working Group meetings as well as the discussions that have been held between FHWA, Volpe, and the Champion.

Turning the discussion to the Working Group products, Dan noted that he is still interested in hosting a webinar with American Association of Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) as one of the products of this Working Group. Jordan responded that the Working Group can discuss options for that later in today's meeting. She then transitioned discussion of the draft products that Volpe emailed to the Working Group a few days ago.

Working Group Products Discussion

Jordan listed the products that Volpe drafted on behalf of the Working Group. She suggested that the Working Group go through the documents individually and address each comment that Volpe made in the draft documents. The Working Group products created are:

1. Best Practices on States' Use of VMS
2. Truck Parking App Survey
3. (Potential) Joint Technology and Data Working Group/AASHTO Webinar

4. 1. Best Practices on States' Use of VMS

California:

Reduced Emissions Through Efficient Parking for Trucks (REEPT)

• Jordan stated that Volpe is looking for information about the timeline of the REEPT initiative. Dan shared that he would also be interested in learning more about this program. A Working Group member said that he will follow up with a contact at Caltrans about this.
• Jordan notified the Working Group that Volpe plans to show the draft product information to each State that is mentioned in the product in order to obtain their approval of the information prior to disseminating it.

Smart Truck Parking (STP)

• A Working Group member said he will check with his contact at the University of California- Berkeley (UC Berkeley) about this system. He said that it has been piloted on the Interstate-5 corridor.
• The Working Group member stated that another key tool that should be added to the product is AmericanTruckParking.com. The tool is currently available online and is also being run by UC Berkeley. The Working Group member will follow up with his contact at this program for additional information. Jordan thanked the Working Group member and noted that the contacts could also reach out directly to her.

Colorado:

• Jordan provided an overview of this project. She asked whether anyone had any more updated information to add. Dan said that he is on the team that is updating the Colorado truck parking plan and that he will provide additional information about this project to Volpe.
• A Working Group member suggested that Volpe confirm that this initiative was allowed to move forward.
• A Working Group member said the Colorado said it would like to use the Mid America Association of State Transportation Officials (MAASTO) as a model for their system. Volpe will follow up with the Colorado Department of Transportation (DOT).

Florida:

• Jordan described the project occurring in Florida.
• Dan offered to follow up with his contacts in Florida for additional information and get back to Volpe.

Maryland:

• Jordan introduced the project occurring in Maryland and asked if the Working Group had any additional information.
• A Working Group member said that this project was separate from the one on Interstate-95 in Maryland and Virginia (see below). The Working Group member stated that this project was carried out with the University of Maryland with the goal of testing a particular sensor.
• The Working Group member suggested that even though this effort was only a proof of concept, it should still be included in the document in order to provide information about this specific type of technology.
• Volpe will reframe the description to show that this research was proof of concept. It will also provide the text of the description of the project to the Working Group member to be sure that the information is accurately captured.

Maryland/Virginia:

• Volpe will a send the text of this example to the Working Group member who had information about the Maryland project (above). The Working Group member will review the text and add more up-to-date information.
• The Working Group member said that this project has been deployed and that the current work is communicating with the States and conducting continued operation and maintenance. The Virginia DOT took over management of the project as of March 1, 2018. The Virginia DOT is working with the National Association of Truck Stop Owners (NATSO) to provide information from the sensors to their app and make the information available to other States.

Minnesota:

• Jordan provided an overview of this research project and solicited additional information from the Working Group.
• A Working Group member said that this project was a pilot project and the technology used is distinct from the technology used in the MAASTO project.
• A Working Group member suggested that Volpe keep this project separate from the MAASTO project in order to make more clear the technologies that were tested in the pilot projects. She said that defining the projects in this way will also be useful to States looking to read about lessons learned by other States.
• Volpe suggested organizing the product by listing MAASTO first and then listing the pilot projects of the States after that. Volpe could also include a description that helps clarify what the other States' projects are and why they're operating separately.
• Volpe will follow up with Jeff (FHWA) and Dan about this information.

Tennessee:

• Jordan described the project in Tennessee and solicited additional information and comments from the Working Group.
• Dan said that he could ask his contact at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) for additional information about this project.
• A Working Group member stated that even though it's no longer operating, this project should still be included in the product document because a lot of useful research was done in it.
• Jeff said that he will see if he can provide a copy of the evaluation of the project that the University of Memphis did.

MAASTO:

• Jordan provided an overview of the information that Volpe provided in this description of the MAASTO project. She asked whether the Working Group had any feedback on the description.
• Dan recently completed a survey for MAASTO that he distributed at the Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS). He said that he will ask his colleague who worked on the survey whether it can be released to the Working Group.

Iowa:

• Jordan then described the individual States' MAASTO projects, starting with Iowa.
• A Working Group member said he is part of the team working on this project. He said that the team hopes to provide the information through the 511 website, as is stated in the description of the project.
• Jordan asked the Working Group members whether they know what makes a mobile app FMCSA-compliant. A Working Group member stated that FMCSA-compliant apps must require a maximum of one press to access data. The second press incurs a $2,000 fine to the driver and an $11,000 fine to the carrier. Drivers have to stop the truck in order to use apps that require more than one press.

Michigan:

• Jordan briefly discussed the projects being done in Michigan and asked whether the Working Group had any additional information about Michigan's work related to current or other Truck Parking Information and Management System (TPIMS) projects.
• A Working Group member said that Michigan was very successful in integrating the private truck stops into their projects and that this should be highlighted in the product.
• Volpe will reach out to Michigan to get a better understanding of the distinction between its current and prior work related to TPIMS.

Minnesota:

• Jordan provided an overview of this project and asked whether the Working Group had any additional information about Minnesota's current work. The Working Group members did not provide any comments.

Table:

• Jordan described the table included in the product, which is adapted from the June 2015 Mid-America Freight Coalition Truck Parking Management Systems Synthesis White Paper. She asked whether Volpe should expand on the table and add more up to date information.
• A Working Group member said that she could review the table and provide updated information about some of the projects.
• Another Working Group member said that he would like to add information about the number of spaces involved in each project, the cost per space, and overall project cost. Jordan said that Volpe can look into obtaining that information.
• Another Working Group member said that an FMCSA project should be added to Minnesota.
• Another Working Group member offered to provide updated funding sources and amounts to the table.
• Another Working Group member said that California and Florida projects should be added. He suggested that a contact could provide that information.
• A Working Group member said that the I-10 Connected Freight Corridor project recently began and might be relevant to this table. The Working Group member can provide contact information for that project. Another Working Group member said that he is on the Technical Advisory Board for this project.

Jordan then transitioned to the second Working Group product, the Truck Parking App Survey.

1. 2. Truck Parking App Survey

• Dan provided an overview of the survey that he conducted at MATS, which was intended to provide information about how to improve the truck parking apps. He said that he would like to use the information to expand on the MAASTO survey that he helped with at MATS once the information can be released to the Working Group.
• Dan said that one of the most significant findings of the survey was that drivers want mapping in their apps.
• A Working Group member said that there are two key pieces of information in the product: the reliability of spot availability information and the ability of drivers to input their own availability information into the app. The Working Group member said that these two pieces of information are related.
• A Working Group member asked whether there would be value in looking into what the entities like Virginia DOT should put in their data use agreements when they contract with private providers of truck parking apps. The Working Group member stated that the Working Group could provide a model to the States for what regulations should be included in the data use agreement between the public and private groups. The Working Group member said that she can talk with the Virginia DOT and Florida DOT who already provide truck parking availability information to third party app developers.
• The Working Group member stated that she would like to find out whether the public sector can ensure through its agreements with third party app providers that the data they provide to drivers is updated frequently. The Working Group member is concerned that infrequently updated information will become inaccurate and consequently drivers will not find the app useful.
• Dan said that he and Volpe will make an inquiry to private apps to ask whether they've had any restrictions imposed by a public agency on the use of their data.

Jordan asked for any additional comments by the Working Group on this product. Hearing none, she transitioned the discussion to the webinar that Dan is interested in holding with AASHTO.

1. 3. (Potential) Joint Technology and Data Working Group/AASHTO Webinar

• Dan said that the purpose of this webinar would be to collect best practices from different public and private groups working on truck parking.
• Since the primary implementer of the truck parking technologies we have discussed will be State DOTs, he would like to make sure that the truck parking information systems are streamlined across States and public and private parking areas. He said that there is a lot of activity underway, but it is somewhat chaotic because there is so much going on. Dan thinks that a co-branded webinar with AASHTO would be useful because AASHTO's webinars generate a significant amount of participation from the States. He mentioned that a few years ago some of the Working Group members discussed having a symposium focused on truck parking. This webinar could be the first step in the larger coordination.
• Dan asked for comments or questions from the group about this.
• Tiffany (FHWA) said that this would be a great idea. She asked that Dan and the Working Group develop this for deployment around a June/July timeframe, a few months before the annual meeting. Dan said that this would be good.
• Dan asked whether the Working Group has events, dates, or locations that the Group might want to work around in scheduling this webinar. He asked that the members provide this information to him and Jordan.
• Dan also said that another Working Group mentioned holding a webinar. Jordan shared that the State, Regional, and Local Government Coordination Working Group is holding a webinar as part of the Talking Freight series on May 19th.
• Jordan asked what Dan's vision is for the webinar. Dan shared that he can piece together an agenda for him to discuss with Volpe and FHWA. He stated that several States aren't aware of the truck parking activities going on in their neighboring States. He said that status updates on States' activities would be helpful.
• A Working Group member shared that in the interest of making the webinar more relevant to the mission of the Working Group, it could focus on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). He said that there is an existing webinar series run by the Volpe Center about ITS.
• Jordan said that they will target late July and she will work with Dan to create an agenda. She also asked that the Working Group members provide suggestions for possible presenters for the webinar.

Next Steps

• Jordan said that Volpe will incorporate comments into updated drafts and will follow up with Working Group members who volunteered to provide additional information for the products.
• Volpe will reformat the revised products using graphic design software in order to make them as enticing as possible to potential readers.
• Volpe will work with Dan to add additional information to the Truck Parking App Survey product.
• Dan will work with Volpe to develop an agenda, identify speakers, and schedule the webinar.
• Jordan asked Tiffany whether she had anything else to add for next steps. Tiffany said that the next Working Group meeting will occur in late June or early July, by which time the revised products will be completed. Each of the Working Groups will convene in the fall for the National Coalition on Truck Parking meeting to share the final products of each Working Group.

Jordan thanked the Working Group members for their participation and said that she will email out a recording of today's meeting as well as the action items. She then adjourned the meeting.