WESTLAKE, Ohio -- TravelCenters of America LLC, operator of TA and Petro Stopping Centers branded travel centers, has rolled out Reserve-It, a program to benefit professional drivers. It allows drivers to reserve a parking space at select TA and Petro locations in advance of arriving.
Drivers can now use more of their allowable hours of service (HOS) time for moving freight and getting paid instead of looking for a parking space.
Reserve-It will be available at 48 TA and Petro sites by November 1, 2012. A total of 74 sites will offer the program by year-end; more locations may be added in 2013 based on driver demand. To inquire about Reserve-It pricing and reserve a space with a credit card, drivers call the Reserve-It reservations center toll free at (855) VIP-PARK, or reserve the space in person at the fuel desk of the participating site where they want to park.
The check-in time for Reserve-It spaces is 4:00 p.m.; check out is before 3:00 p.m. the following day.
"As with many of our offerings, we introduced Reserve-It based on driver requests and have been testing it for several months," said Tom O'Brien, president and CEO of TravelCenters.
"Drivers have told us with Reserve-It, they can make more money because they don't have to spend time looking for a place to park. Some drivers we talked with spend as much as 2 ½ hours at the end of their day looking for a parking space. That's nearly 23% of their 11 allowable [HOS]," he said. "If a driver was on the road instead of spending time looking for parking, they could spend more time making money. Having a reserved parking space at the end of a long day may also provide the opportunity to plan for and accept longer hauls, or a greater number of hauls generally, which may increase opportunity, efficiency and profitability for drivers and fleets."
TA and Petro locations have the largest truck parking lots in the travel center industry, the company said. Sites offering Reserve-It have set aside a small percentage of spots, generally 5% of the spaces on average, for reserved parking. These locations still maintain a high number of traditional "unreserved" parking spaces available on a first-come basis.
Drivers can easily see where Reserve-It is offered on the TA and Petro web sites, the TruckSmart mobile app and on the directory pages of RoadKing magazine, which can be found at all TA and Petro locations. Additionally the TruckSmart app shows how many Reserve-It spots are available at participating sites (updated every two hours). There is a reservation fee for Reserve-It spaces. Prices vary by site and can be accessed through the toll-free number.
TravelCenters of America, Westlake, Ohio, is a leading travel center business in 41 states and Canada operating under the TA and Petro Stopping Centers brands. With 242 convenient locations off interstate highway exits, TA and Petro offer customers diesel and gasoline fueling services, nearly 500 full- and quick-service restaurants, 24-hour convenience stores, heavy-truck maintenance services, RoadSquad Connect (24/7/365 emergency roadside service), electronic communication (WiFi), and many other services, all within large, high-traffic facilities.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.