Deadly Metro East crash in July boosts US Rep. Mike Bost’s trucking bill

Bost, a conservative Republican from Murphysboro, represents far Southern Illinois, including parts of Monroe and St. Clair counties. He was first elected to the U.S. House in 2014.

A bill for over-the-road truckers seemed like a good fit for a seasoned lawmaker who knew how to bring money home to his district, which is home to a large number of rural, agricultural and blue-collar folks. And to boot, Bost once was involved in his family’s trucking business.

But then came July 12, when a deadly wreck near Highland revealed the practical, not to mention public safety, side of Bost’s efforts.

Early on that Wednesday, a crash at the Silver Lake rest area outside of Highland killed three of 22 bus passengers and injured 14 others. 

The bus was traveling west on Interstate 70 about 1:55 a.m. when it crashed into three tractor-trailers parked on an exit ramp, Illinois State Police said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating to see if the trucks being parked on the exit ramp contributed to the crash.

Trooper Josh Korando of the Illinois State Police told the Post-Dispatch that the truckers had pulled off the highway to sleep, and the tractor-trailers were lined along the right shoulder of a long ramp that heads to the rest area.

The rest area’s parking lot for trucks was full at the time, Korando said. 

A follow-up story by The Associated Press noted that about 13 million trucks operate on U.S. roadways, and there aren’t enough overnight parking places to handle that load.

“It’s absolutely an issue,” NTSB board member Tom Chapman told the news service.

That is why Bost is one of the main sponsors of the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Action, which would require the U.S. Department of Transportation to fund the building of new parking spaces dedicated to large trucks.

The bill calls for spending $755 million in the next three years for the improvements.

“I understand how difficult it can be when America’s truckers are forced to push that extra mile in search of a safe place to park,” Bost said at a press event Monday at the TA Travel Center truck stop in Mt. Vernon.

The new bill, should it pass, would free up funds to create thousands of new spaces and improve existing ones, he said.

Contributing to the truck-parking problem are federal regulations which require the electronic monitoring of the hours truckers spend behind the wheel; and violating those limits can result in hefty fines.

Bost said truckers have been complaining to transportation officials about the large amounts of time they have to spend to find safe parking.

The practice of large rigs parking on ramps is illegal in Illinois and most other states. But according to the AP, police often look the other way, aware of the plight truckers face.

“If we expand access to parking options for truckers, we are making our roads safer for all commuters,” he said.