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Closing of Servicetown truck stop added to challenge truckers face in finding spots for mandated rest Date published: 2/4/2007
By PAMELA GOULD Joanne Jones says the Days Inn she manages hasn't suffered from the closing of Servicetown Truck Plaza nearly two years ago. Truckers still stay overnight and are happy to have a spot to park. "Because of the size of our truck parking, we still get a good number of them," the Days Inn-North general manager said last week. The fact is, truckers are desperate for places to stop along the East Coast to meet their federally mandated 10-hour sleep breaks in each 24-hour cycle. "For many, it's just a nearly impossible task every night," said Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. He said the problem has gotten worse over the past decade. Servicetown closed on April 27, 2005, and with it went 207 overnight spaces. The truck stop was located on roughly 17 acres off U.S. 17 near Interstate 95 in the Falmouth area of southern Stafford County. Target Corp. bought the site and is expected to open a store there in October. Meanwhile, truckers find themselves with few options along the I-95 corridor. Four truck stops sit about 30 miles south of Fredericksburg at Carmel Church, but their parking spots--numbering roughly 300--fill quickly, managers said. The next closest option to the north is a truck rest area at the weigh station near Dumfries in Prince William County, but it, too, offers few spaces. The problem of truckers parking illegally along the interstate is so rampant that Virginia State Police could make a full-time job out of writing up the infractions, Sgt. J.A. Galbraith said. She said the closing of Servicetown exacerbated the problem. Last year, 2.9 million trucks passed through the north- and southbound weigh stations near Dumfries, according to Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles spokesman Bill Foy. He said the Dumfries sites are the busiest along the I-95 corridor and one of the top three in the state. The other two sit along I-81. "We need more truck stops. I know that. Everyone knows that," Galbraith said. "I just don't know what the answer is." Managers at the Carmel Church truck stops said they haven't seen a significant increase in business since Servicetown's closing.
Date published: 2/4/2007
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