Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, July 22, 2025:
New York City Council passes bill to create overnight truck parking
A bill to create overnight truck parking zones in certain industrial areas of New York City has been passed by the city council and is awaiting the mayor’s signature.
This bill requires the NYC Department of Transportation to establish overnight parking areas in industrial business zones (IBZ) for commercial vehicles “where the department determines such a program is feasible.”
Earlier this year, the city launched a pilot program to test overnight parking in three IBZs:
- Flatlands/Fairfield IBZ in Brooklyn (Flatlands Avenue from Erskine Street to Fountain Avenue)
- Hunts Point IBZ in The Bronx (Ryawa Avenue from Manida Street to Halleck Street)
- Maspeth IBZ in Queens (56th Road from 43rd Street to 49th Street)
Under the pilot, truck operators are able to use the ParkNYC app to pay for parking, which is available 24 hours a day in eight-hour increments at $10 for each eight-hour session Monday through Saturday (there is no payment for parking citywide on Sundays).
Under the passed bill, the newly created parking areas would be available only for commercial vehicles and will be active for at least 10 continuous hours overnight. The parking zones would be inactive between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Prior to establishing an overnight truck parking area, NYCDOT will be required to provide notice to the community boards and council members representing the IBZ and will be required to discuss with those people if requested to do so. The bill also would require NYCDOT to conduct outreach to commercial entities in the area, as well as truck drivers operating in the city, to inform them of these new areas.
Finally, NYCDOT would be required to report annually to the mayor and city council, as well as on its website, on the use of overnight parking areas established by the department. Such reports would include the location of the parking area, available data regarding usage, and any observed effect of the overnight parking zones on industrial business zones, truck drivers, and outlying residential areas.
The program would take effect six months after it becomes law and be effective for five years until July 1, 2030.
[Related: NYC testing out paid truck parking, gets more time to end tolls]
Oregon wildfires prompt HOS waiver for relief efforts
Wildfires in Oregon have prompted an emergency declaration from Gov. Tina Kotek, which allowed the Oregon Department of Transportation to issue an emergency waiver for truck drivers providing direct assistance to the emergency.
According to the Weather Channel, the Cram Fire in Central Oregon has burned nearly 150 square miles of terrain, including four homes and two other structures. The fire started July 13.
Oregon Gov. Kotek issued the state of emergency on July 16, and the Oregon DOT followed that day with a waiver from Part 395.3 and 395.5 of the hours-of-service regulations for truck drivers providing direct assistance to the fire relief.
The waiver is effective through 6 p.m. Pacific on July 30.
[Related: CVSA to petition FMCSA to limit 'personal conveyance' use under the hours of service]
Mack intros new driver-assist safety system for new Pioneer
Mack Trucks this month introduced Mack Protect, its new proprietary active safety and collision mitigation system, debuting with the all-new Mack Pioneer Class 8 highway truck.
The comprehensive safety technology package represents a significant shift from the Bendix Fusion system previously used across Mack’s Class 8 product line to a proprietary collision mitigation system, delivering enhanced protection with features specifically engineered for Mack trucks, the company said.
“With Mack Protect, we're not just introducing new safety features -- we’re fundamentally changing our approach to active safety technology,” said Jonathan Randall, president of Mack Trucks North America. “By developing our own proprietary system, we’ve created a seamlessly integrated safety experience that’s optimized specifically for our vehicles and our customers’ needs.”
[Related: Mack unleashes a monster with 'badass' new on-highway tractor]
Mack Protect is available in three packages, allowing customers to select the level of protection that best suits their operation:
- Mack Protect (Standard): Includes forward protection technologies such as forward collision warning, adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, traffic stop-and-go functionality, forward pedestrian detection, road sign recognition and frontal airbags.
- Mack Protect Pro: Builds on the standard package by adding comprehensive side protection, including side curtain airbags, lane change and blind spot support on both driver and passenger sides, as well as side pedestrian detection.
- Mack Protect Premier: The most advanced option, adding active steering capabilities with lane-keeping assist to the Pro package features.
“We’ve taken a thoughtful approach to packaging these safety technologies,” said Blake Routh, senior highway product manager at Mack Trucks. “Rather than overwhelming customers with complex option lists, we've created intuitive packages that make it easy to select the right level of protection for their specific applications.”
According to Mack, the Mack Protect system also introduces several new safety technologies that have never before been offered, including:
- Driver Awareness Support with heads-up display capability
- Driver- and passenger-side radar detection systems
- Forward and side pedestrian detection with automatic warnings
- Active steering assistance with lane-keeping functionality
“The driver awareness features we’ve developed respond directly to the challenges professional drivers face every day,” said Scott Sokach, senior safety product manager at Mack Trucks. “Our system is designed not just to respond to emergency situations, but to help prevent them from occurring in the first place by extending the driver's awareness of their surroundings.”
[Related: Most iconic Mack through history? We asked, you answered]
