(WSIL) -- Tons of tractor trailers are on roads across the United States everyday. Congressman Mike Bost is working to make it easier for those drivers to find places to park and rest.
"Being able to find safe parking places is a real issue around the nation right now. I'm sure that a lot of people when they're out on the interstates, highways, and different locations, they see them."
Representative Bost, who has personal ties with trucking, understands the challenges when it comes to parking.
"Drivers have been robbed and assaulted and killed. And not only drivers are in danger," he said.
The Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act would invest millions of dollars in projects that increase truck parking spaces so drivers can safely comply with rules that restrict how long they can be behind the wheel.
"It takes and allows for competitive grants for municipalities, for states, for other government agencies to apply for these grants and be able to put these in place," said Bost.
Truckers who drive through Illinois like the idea.
"It'll be great because right now it's very hard to find somewhere to park鈥nd they're charging for a lot of parking places, and a lot of drivers can't afford it," said Larry Dixson.
"What they need to do, see they need to make the rest areas bigger. More parking in the rest areas would really make a heck of a difference. It'd be a lot safer," said driver Joe Royer.
Bost says the next step is getting the bill to the U.S. Senate.
"I think the most important thing is safety."
Truck drivers transport 70% of the goods in the U.S. Bost says that fact alone is enough to try and do more to improve the safety of drivers.
