KDOT deploys Truck Parking Management System to benefit professional drivers

TPIMS Ties 8 Midwest states together to provide commercial truck drivers info to 

make smarter, more efficient parking decisions in real-time along commercial trucking corridors.

TPIMS deploys: A management system that will provide commercial truck drivers with reliable, real-time information as they travel in parts of the Midwest has officially begun operation. KDOT highlighted this new system on Jan. 4 at the westbound Paxico rest area.

The Truck Parking Information Management System (TPIMS) project coordinates the trucking industry and the eight states in the Mid-America Association of State Transportation Officials (MAASTO). It will help commercial truck drivers make more efficient truck
parking decisions along corridors using computer-monitored truck parking areas, dynamic message signs and web and mobile applications.

KDOT Transportation Planner and TPIMS Regional Project Leader Davonna Moore explains the importance of the TPIMS program to a group of onlookers at the ribbon cutting that took place on Jan. 4. 

“This project is one of the biggest steps forward in improving efficiency and safety for our commercial truckers,” said Davonna Moore, KDOT Transportation Planner and TPIMS Regional Project Leader. “More efficient movement of goods, reduced fuel costs and safer parking benefits markets globally.” 

The system is funded through a $25 million federal grant and each participating state contributed additional funds for the project. The system will use existing intelligent transportation systems (ITS) infrastructure and capabilities, along with emerging vehicle detection and data collection technologies, to monitor the availability of truck parking. It will then provide real-time information to commercial vehicle operators for more than150 parking sites across the MAASTO region. More information about TPIMS is available here. 

Truck Parking Information Management System project underway

Truck Parking Information Management Systems help inform truck drivers about parking availability in rest areas. 

The Kansas Department of Transportation has joined together with seven other states in the Mid America Association of State Transportation Officials (MAASTO) to develop a multi-state Truck Parking Information Management System.  This TPIMS project will improve the safety and efficiency of America’s freight network by providing real-time parking availability information to truck drivers through dynamic message signs, smart phone applications, traveler information websites, and other communication methods.  With implementation of the regional TPIMS project, commercial truck drivers will be able to find available parking more easily and efficiently route themselves to those locations, increasing their productivity and lowering their costs.

In 2013 a national survey revealed that 83 percent of drivers routinely took longer than 30 minutes to find parking.  Drivers who have not located parking before reaching their hours of service limits are often forced to park illegally or unsafely, often on the shoulders of highways, on off ramps, or at abandoned facilities.  This loss of productivity adds six percent or more to labor costs associated with moving goods through the national freight network.

KDOT began installation of TPIMS on Monday, December 11.  These signs will provide the number of available truck parking spaces at 18 rest areas along I-70.  Each sign shows parking spaces available for two to three rest areas to give trucks an idea how full parking areas are five, 30, 60 miles ahead, as an example.  We are using a “computer vision” 

system that uses cameras to build a 3D image of the parking area so available spaces can be automatically detected.  Most rest areas will have two camera poles installed near the truck parking area and each pole will have three cameras mounted on it to produce the 3D image.

Deployment of this innovative system is scheduled for the Fall of 2018.

MAASTO Truck Parking Innovation takes center stage at ITS World Congress

The Mid America Association of State Transportation Officials (MAASTO), including representatives from the Kansas Department of Transportation, recently showcased truck parking innovation technology at the Intelligent Transportation Systems World Congress.

The Regional Truck Parking Information System (TPIMS), the largest project of its kind to ever be funded by a U.S. TIGER grant, was presented at the ITS World Congress in Montreal, Canada. The U.S. TIGER grant made it possible for MAASTO members to attend and present the innovative technology to the world.

“It is fitting that the Kansas Department of Transportation and our closest peers and partners are honored for developing trucking-related technology,” said Secretary of Transportation Richard Carlson. “Kansas’ top-ranked highway system and road miles, as well as our geographic and logistical advantages create an excellent opportunity for transportation innovation and synergy to unite.”

The presentation highlighted how member-states of the MAASTO joined together in creating an eight-state regional technology program for providing commercial freight truck drivers with real-time information that helps them more easily find safe, nearby parking as they reach the end of their regulated hours of service. The presentation will outline how the TPIMS technology will work and be used, along with how the project is progressing towards its early 2019 full deployment.

Presenters of the project included Project Manager Davonna Moore who serves as the Assistant Bureau Chief of Transportation for the Kansas Department of Transportation and Matt Junak of the HNTB consultant team supporting the project.  

Real time truck parking availability signs along I-70 on list of approved September lettings

An example of the Truck Parking Information Management Systems (TPIMS)

A project that will provide real time information regarding truck parking availability at rest areas along I-70 through the use of roadside signs and an electronic data feed was one of the projects included in the Sept. 20 KDOT construction letting.

KDOT is participating in the Regional Truck Parking Information Management Systems (TPIMS) along with seven other states in the Mid America Association of State Transportation Official (MAASTO) region. Custom Lighting Services LLC DBA Black and McDonald of Kansas City, Mo., is the prime contractor on the $3,083,462 project.

To see all of the projects in the Sept. 20 letting, click here.