By Deanna Boyd
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Reprinted With Permission

FORT WORTH -- It was noon, and after rumbling down the highway
all night trucker Terry Stillman and his wife, B.J., were thrilled to
find the Drivers Travelmart along Interstate 35W in north Fort
Worth.

The Stillmans had beat the crowd of truckers who would later fill
the lot meant only for 40 rigs. A truck stop employee estimates that
up to 70 truckers flock there nightly, with the overflow spilling onto
nearby streets and a grass lot.

"Once dinnertime hits until about 9 p.m. is when a lot of drivers pull
off the road. It's just impossible," said Stillman, of Mesa, Ariz.

Texas and the Metroplex are among the more troublesome spots for
truckers looking for parking between deliveries or overnight. The
problem is likely to escalate with cross-border trucking, part of the
North American Free Trade Agreement. U.S. officials hope to
implement NAFTA's truck provisions by the end of the year.

Texas already bears the brunt of international truck traffic spurred
by NAFTA. About 80 percent of NAFTA-related Mexican goods flow
through the state. About a half of those trucks travel through the
Metroplex via I-35, Texas Department of Transportation officials
said.

A federal study done in 1996 identified Texas as one of five states
with the greatest need for additional truck parking spaces. Another
study, detailing current parking needs and including private truck
stops, is due out this year.

"I think we already know in certain corridors, especially high traffic
areas, there are shortages," said Janet Coleman, director of the
Federal Highway Administration's office of safety programs. "There
are different views on the severity and extent of these shortages."

Texas has 104 rest areas. The Department of Transportation is
spending $52 million to build or renovate 25 rest areas. Larger
parking areas for trucks and cars will be among the improvements.
As more money becomes available, TXDOT plans to add or renovate
more rest areas and convert some outdated rest areas into truck
parking areas.

"Obviously the increase in truck traffic has brought on the need for
an increase of truck parking," said Zane Webb, maintenance director
at TXDOT. "It's only responsible for us to have some parking
available so that tired truckers have a place to rest before
continuing on their travels."

But there are no rest areas in Tarrant or Dallas counties, nor are
there plans to build any.

The Fort Worth district has five rest areas: two in Palo Pinto
County, about 12 miles west of Weatherford; two in Johnson
County, 3 and 5.8 miles south of Burleson; and one in Wise County,
seven miles north of Decatur.

The Dallas district has six: two along Interstate 35E in Ellis County;
two along Interstate 45 in Navarro County; and two along
Interstate 20 in Kaufman County.

Webb said there are no plans to build in Dallas or Tarrant counties
because there are private facilities available.

"If we go into Tarrant and Dallas and Harris and Travis counties and
start putting in rest areas for several millions of dollars a piece,
we're in effect going into competition with local private enterprise,"
Webb said.

The National Association of Travel Plazas and Truckstops (NATSO)
says it can meet truckers' needs.

Truckers say demand is outpacing both government and private
efforts.

"I see truck stops going up all over the place, but it's not putting a
dent in what we need out there," said Stillman, who like many other
truckers, routinely parks on side roads or highway ramps when
parking cannot be found. The Stillmans say they drive through the
night to increase their chances of finding parking during the day.

NATSO lists 95 Texas trucks stops in a directory published on the
group's Web site. According to that directory, four truck stops are
in Dallas County, two in Denton County, and four in Parker County.
In Tarrant County, NATSO lists only two trucks stops in Fort Worth.

That number is too few, said Leonard Glasgow, a Fort Worth
trucker, who faults cities and state for not preparing better for a
problem they have known was coming since NAFTA was approved in
1994.

"They knew this NAFTA thing was coming," Glasgow said. "This stuff
should have already been in place."

Glasgow used to park his flatbed in the 8800 block of Marlene Drive,
a dead-end road in south Fort Worth, but a recent crackdown by
police and city code enforcement officers drove him and other
truckers away. City ordinance prohibits oversized commercial
vehicles from parking more than two hours on any city street.

"You can drive 10 hours a day, and then you've got to shut down
for eight. Where do you park for eight hours?," Glasgow complained.
"Fort Worth is about 10 hours from Laredo. That's the point that
these trucks are going to start looking for a place to shut down."

Now Glasgow leaves his flatbed at a friend's home in a rural area
south of Benbrook.

"What good are truck stops outside the city limits going to be?,"
Glasgow said. "I know we can't park them at our doorstep like we do
our car, but it would be nice to have it a few miles from your house
or at least in the same city."

Drivers Travelmart at 3201 N. Interstate 35W and Love's Country
Store at Interstate 35W and Garden Acres Drive say their lots are
filled daily. Both are considered small, offering between them less
than 70 parking spaces for truckers.

Travelmart manager Shary Palmer said trucks often spill into the
neighboring lot.

"When it's not raining and they know they won't get stuck, I have
trucks that will park in that field," Palmer said. "You would swear
there were yellow lines on the grass."

With few restaurants in the area that allow oversized commercial
parking, Palmer said the store goes through about 60 cases of hot
dogs a week.

"That's like 3,000 hot dogs a week," she said.

Although cross-border traffic would mean more business for truck
stops, Palmer worries that it will also mean turning away more
drivers looking for a place to park.

"We want the business, but we don't know where to tell these poor
guys to park," she said.

Deanna Boyd, (817) 390-7655

Send comments to dboyd@star-telegram.com