Truck Parking Lot

The next property to gain from the e-commerce boom may be truck parking. There are 36 million industrial trucks on the road, according to American Trucking Organizations, and that they all need to park somewhere. Demand has only escalated with increasing e-commerce and regulations on “hours of service” that require drivers to take breaks, regulated by technology that tracks drivers’ routes.

The Florida Transportation Department has warned that overcrowding and congestion at current truck parking spaces often leave truck drivers parked on the highway or vacant lots. In a poll of almost 4,000 truck drivers in 2013, 83 percent said it would regularly take more than 30 minutes to find parking. Thirty-nine percent said it took longer than an hour.

Cary Goldman, Chicago-based venture fund member, Timber Hill Group, has been with Sitex Group for more than 25 years in the commercial real estate industry. When he saw cities boom with big-box shops with 36-foot transparent heights, he realized there would be a growing need for well-located lots better zoned and closed for truck parking, with protection.

When the retail sector was on a hot streak, the bulk of storage facilities were built for loading and unloading. With just a row of truck parking alongside the loading docks, Goldman said.

“This is not adequate to fit an off-road truck and vehicle storage waiting to be loaded,” he said.

“As far as one remains, the truck parking industry is a decentralized endeavor,” Goldman said, “made up entirely of informal, independent operators. For big players in business or supply chains like Prologis, operating a parking lot is not what they are expected to do yet.”

Goldman set out to amass a portfolio with millions in backing from private equity investors, buying properties in Atlanta, Illinois, Indiana, and Texas.

Goldman founded National Truck Parking, a joint partnership between the Timber Hill Group and Champion Realty Advisors LLC. NTP purchased a 51-acre truck and trailer parking facility located at 15545 NW 122nd Avenue in Northwest Miami, adjacent to Miami International Airport and Florida Turnpike in October. The purchaser had been F and M Parking, the property’s original owner. The sale contained 14 plots for a little more than $8.1 million. This was an off-market offer brokered by Julio Diaz, who had relations on both sides.

While there is a different demand for by-the-hour parking lots and truck stops where drivers can unwind and freshen up after a long trip. The Miami location is for trucks that are not in service, for drivers with local routes who choose to park them at night, or for vehicles to be held while waiting for shipments, Goldman said. The site has 1,300 parking spaces, 24-hour staffed surveillance, a fenced perimeter with access to electronic gates, and on-site maintenance of assets. NTP plans to improve video monitoring and extend connectivity to nearby tire and mechanics facilities.

A few years ago, Goldman said a standard 70-foot-by-11-foot parking space for a tractor-trailer was $200 a month, and now it’s $300. He is leased at 100 percent, although he said turnover is high. Tenants are a combination of multinational businesses including JB Hunt, The Hub Group, Amazon, and private tenants.

“We are running in a self-storage platform,” said Goldman. “Each room is like a locker, and the lease is a five-page warrant.”

Goldman wouldn’t be shocked if he transformed his lots for a few years to fewer tractor-trailers and more last-mile Amazon sprinter trucks. Then again, he may be forced out of business by self-driving cars, which never have to stop. This will also leave him 51 acres in a town where developers are continually frustrated that they can’t find construction places.

“More probable,” he said, “a business like Prologis would engulf him, which would be fine.”

He said, “I’m ready to be consumed.”

TRUCKING IN LEHIGH VALLEY, PA

Although the growing prevalence of tractor-trailers has been an issue for residents of Lehigh Valley, in recent years, city officials are worried about the one location they don’t see them— dedicated truck parking spaces.

Lehigh Valley has seen massive factories pop up over the last decade to meet the rising market for internet shopping and overnight delivery. Logistics centers for Target and Amazon have expanded into more than one million square feet in Lehigh Valley, and FedEx Ground is building a similar-size facility in Allen Township, which will be the biggest in the country. According to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the shipping and warehousing sectors account for around 8.4 percent of jobs in the Lehigh Valley.

But the boom in these sectors has unplanned effects. Aside from increased pollution and highway erosion, truckers are gradually having nowhere to park their vehicles for their mandatory breaks. In other cases, truckers have time to waste before they can unload their inventory, said Becky Bradley, the executive director of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission.

Lehigh Valley’s parking issues aren’t unusual. LVPC hosted the Eastern Pennsylvania Freight Summit on June 21, an all-day gathering including Federal Government guests, PennDOT, the Port of Philadelphia, and Norfolk Southern. While the audience addressed local and regional freight patterns, the crowd of more than 200 people was more interested in a forum on parking constraints for trucks.

“We need to continue talking about truck delivery in both major and small cities,” said Barry Seymour. As executive director of the Delaware Valley Local Planning Commission, he manages transit policy in the greater Philadelphia region.

Federal data from 2014 indicates that Pennsylvania ranks eighth in the country for truck parking with 10,932 spaces. The nationwide surge in e-commerce and expansion in new markets like the Lehigh Valley can mean that those spaces will not be adequate or in the right places.

Although residents rarely like hosting truck stops or car parking services, Stewart said there is a safety factor to recognize. Research showed that truck accidents related to exhaustion fell within 30 miles of a truck stop as drivers felt they could easily pull over.

While the private sector has begun solving the transition, others in the crowd have suggested that businesses have no competitive opportunity to tackle the issue. “Parking for 100 vehicles would fill 60 acres, and high land costs all over the East Coast would make it a tough expense to pay”, one attendant said, not naming himself. Many that get going are probably not involved in parking overnight.

“Some truck-stop owners don’t want to keep them there. They want to waste their money on them, and go on.” , said the attendant.

Another argued that municipalities have a responsibility to require new warehouses to provide parking and basic amenities such as showers and coffee for truckers. “Truckers already serve 60 million square feet of warehouses in the Lehigh Valley. Lower Macungie Township and Allen Township have adopted similar policies.”, Bradley says.