USDOT awards $200 million for truck parking projects in 12 states

The U.S. Department of Transportation on Oct. 14 announced $200 million in grants for 14 truck parking projects in 12 states.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the awards through the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects (INFRA) program. According to Truck Parking Club, which compiled USDOT's project list, this year's INFRA round included a separate track set aside only for commercial vehicle parking. Together the projects are expected to add about 2,403 spaces, though USDOT says space counts are estimates.

USDOT said the investment is meant to reduce fatigue-related crashes and improve supply chain efficiency, and noted that 40% of truckers spend more than an hour a day looking for a place to park.

Where the money is going

The largest projects by number of spaces:

• Tennessee: about 500 spaces at five Pilot Travel Centers along I-40 and I-24 near Nashville and Knoxville, which USDOT says will be free to use around the clock ($23.96 million).
• Los Indios, Texas: about 305 spaces near the Los Indios Port of Entry in Cameron County ($9 million, including road work for access).
• Savannah, Georgia: about 275 spaces at a new Port of Savannah parking area in Garden City ($11.95 million to the Georgia Ports Authority).
• Enfield, Connecticut: up to 260 spaces on I-91.
• Iowa: about 150 added spaces across six public rest areas on I-80 ($24.5 million).

Other awards cover a new rest area on I-49 in Crawford County, Arkansas (about 137 spaces); about 140 spaces plus container staging at the Port of Wilmington, North Carolina; about 106 spaces at two I-41 rest areas in Dodge County, Wisconsin; about 100 spaces at a Pilot Travel Center in Fort Worth, Texas; about 100 spaces in Needles, California, near I-40; plus projects in Georgia on I-75, Illinois on I-57, Minnesota on I-94 and Nebraska on I-80.

Not every space is a net gain. Nebraska's project builds new rest areas on I-80 in Dawson County that replace four aging ones set to close; USDOT puts the net gain at about 92 spaces.

A big step, but not a fix

USDOT said it has put more than $300 million into truck parking grants since April 2025, including $62 million in July through the BUILD program for projects in Kentucky, Wyoming, Louisiana, Mississippi and Illinois.

The new awards fund design and construction. USDOT has not published opening dates, and several projects still need final design, environmental review or permits.

What it means for drivers and fleets

Nothing changes tonight. For drivers running I-80 through Iowa and Nebraska, I-40 and I-24 through Tennessee, the Savannah and Wilmington ports or the Rio Grande Valley, relief is coming, but most likely over a period of years.

According to Truck Parking Club's review, most projects include occupancy sensors or cameras that will feed parking apps, highway signs or state 511 systems, which should cut the time spent pulling into full lots once they open.

Fleets planning routes in these corridors should keep relying on reserved or known parking for now, and track the projects as they move to construction.