In a move that underscores President Donald Trump's focus on blue-collar industries, Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy has announced a double-fisted approach to bolster the trucking industry: cracking down on illegal brokering and expanding truck parking facilities. According to the Department of Transportation, the initiatives are set to address the inconveniences and hazards faced by American truckers today, a group Duffy claims has seen diminishing support in recent years.
Safe truck parking with a 2019 department survey highlighting that 98 percent of truckers struggle to find secure spots to rest and a staggering 11 drivers for every available stop, leading to them having to park illegally on highway shoulders, ramps, or vacant lots or spend hours searching for a place which, according to Duffy, "That’s not just a costly nuisance—it’s a safety hazard for everyone on the road." As the Transportation Secretary, Duffy's answer is a $275 million investment to create more parking spaces, intending to alleviate some of the 12 percent hit to truckers' pay caused by parking shortages.
In the same vein, Duffy has taken steps to remove what he calls "Washington roadblocks," rolling back federal regulations by 1,800 words, which he asserts will save truckers both time and money, enabling them to deliver loads "safely and on time." Duffy elucidated measures intended to protect U.S. truckers from competition by foreign labor and shed light on the administration's priorities and echoing the sentiment of Trump's push for America-first labor policies.
