Hope Rivenburg
Hope Rivenburg, crusader of Jason’s Law, will be one of the guest speakers at the Illinois Truck Enforcement Association (ITEA) Conference in Glen Ellyn, Illinois on Wednesday, January 7th, 2015.
The conference will be held at the College of DuPage, Suburban Law Enforcement Academy (SLEA) in the Homeland Education Center.
Via the ITEA, “the theme for the event this year revolves around the expression Protect The Industry, and is open to law enforcement and the trucking industry.”
Although 2014 was a “frustrating year” for Jason’s Law, Hope advises that the Jason’s Law non-profit 501(c)(3) foundation has some “great ideas we are working on to make Jason’s Law truly be implemented in 2015.”
The issue concerning the shortage of safe and secured parking areas for the nation’s three million plus truck drivers has been ongoing for decades. Signed into law by President Obama on July 6, 2012, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) is the most recent funding and authorization bill to govern United States federal surface transportation spending, with the bill going into effect on October 1, 2012.
Jason’s Law, a provision successfully incorporated into MAP-21, allows funding for additional safe truck parking. Jason’s Law also made state truck parking projects eligible for federal funding through the National Highway Performance Program (NHPP), Surface Transportation Program (STP), and Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP).
As part of the bill, the Department of Transportation (DOT) was directed by Congress to conduct their own study and assessment for the need of additional truck parking facilities within each state. The DOT study was to be completed by April 1, 2014, although verification of the completed study is currently unclear.
Ms. Rivenburg launched her own study via the National Truck Parking Survey which collected data directly from professional truck drivers regarding the availability of safe truck parking. The Federal Highway Administration welcomed the survey, urging professional truck drivers to participate in order to help identify areas across the country experiencing a critical shortage of truck parking areas.
Nearly 4,000 professional truckers shared their knowledge and expertise in the survey which was also provided to the DOT to assist in their assessment mandated by Congress.
In March of 2014, Hope spoke with Wendy Parker of The George and Wendy Show via teleconference, to provide an update on the progression of Jason’s Law:
In July of 2014, Hope was one of our special Guests on our Truth About Trucking “Live” broadcast: Truck Parking Shortage: Drivers at Risk, as the heated discussion of truck parking shortages, once again surfaced when OTR driver Michael Boeglin was fatally shot in Detroit, Michigan as he waited to load.
ITEA Conference
Hope made many points on the show as reported in Overdrive Magazine, including the fact that Jason’s Law and the funding it makes available for creating further parking alternatives for trucks at the state level, also competes with maintenance and upkeep of roads and bridges.
She also noted that making the parking safety issue a priority at state DOT levels, should now be the primary concern. Drivers can find a full listing of state DOT websites via the Federal Highway Administration’s: State Transportation Web Sites.
Invited to speak before the ITEA, Hope will be addressing the attending representatives of the law enforcement, motor carriers and professional driver’s community. For more information on the 4th Annual ITEA Conference, please visit their webpage: Illinois Truck Enforcement Association.
© 2015, Allen Smith. All rights reserved.
