At 4 a.m. on a Tuesday, a Wright City alderman photographed the rest area near the Wildcat overpass on I-70. Every space full. Trucks lined up along the exit ramp because there was nowhere else to go.
Last week, the city’s response arrived. Not more spaces. Not faster permitting for private lots. An ordinance making the ramp parking illegal.
Mayor Michelle Heiliger isn’t wrong that it’s a safety issue. Cars merging at 65 mph past parked trucks is dangerous. Nobody disputes that. The Wildcat overpass now has three lanes instead of two, with rerouted traffic from the torn-down Warrenton overpass adding to the problem.
But you can’t ordinance your way out of a supply shortage.
Long-time driver Charlie White said it plainly in the story: “People are still coming 65 miles per hour, if they ain’t paying attention, they’re running into the back of you.”
Drivers don’t park on ramps because they want to. They park there because the rest area is full, the next safe option is 40 miles away, and their clock is out.
Use Code ramp25 for Free Parking
If you’re driving I-70 through Missouri, you shouldn’t have to choose between a ticket and a safe place to sleep.
Use promo code ramp25 at checkout on the Truck Parking Club app for $25 off a booking at any location in our network. No catch. No membership required. We’d rather cover your parking than see another driver stuck on a ramp.
The “Solution” Doesn’t Arrive Until 2027
MoDOT won a $33 million federal grant to renovate five Missouri rest areas, including the one in Wright City. The expansion will add truck parking. Completion date: end of 2027.
That’s 20 months away.
For the next 20 months, drivers on I-70 through Warren County have an ordinance telling them where they can’t park and no one telling them where they can.
This Is Not a New Problem
In 2023, a Greyhound bus collided with tractor-trailers parked on an exit ramp shoulder near Highland, Illinois. Three people died. Fourteen were injured. The NTSB’s investigation sparked a nationwide conversation about trucks forced to park on ramps and shoulders because rest areas are full.
Three years later, we’re having the same conversation. A different state. A different exit. The same cause.
The Supply Already Exists. It Just Hasn’t Been Unlocked.
Within 10 miles of that Wright City exit, there are trucking companies with extra yard space. Repair shops with gated lots that sit empty overnight. Warehouses with dock doors that go unused after hours. Self-storage operators, tire shops, CDL schools, empty commercial lots earning nothing.
Every one of them could be a legal, paid, reservable parking option for drivers by next week.
No federal grant. No two-year construction timeline. No new ordinances. No taxpayer dollars.
At Truck Parking Club, we’ve onboarded over five thousand of these properties across 49 states. The onboarding process takes days. The listing costs the owner nothing. Drivers book through the app, payments are guaranteed, and the property owner keeps full control of pricing and availability.
In the 20 months it will take MoDOT to finish one rest area, we will add thousands more locations nationwide. No construction required. The parking is already built. It’s just sitting behind fences at businesses that don’t yet know drivers need them.
Drivers: Book Free Parking with Code ramp25
Download the Truck Parking Club app, find a location on your route, and use code ramp25 at checkout. Your first booking is on us. No contracts, no membership fees, no strings.
Get it at truckparkingclub.com.
Property Owners: Drivers Near You Need Somewhere to Park Tonight
If you run a trucking company, a repair shop, a warehouse, a tire shop, a CDL school, or any commercial property with extra yard space or unused dock doors, you can list it on Truck Parking Club today. No contracts. No upfront costs. Guaranteed payment. We handle the drivers, the payments,q21 and the support.
The 2027 rest area expansion is coming. Drivers can’t wait that long.
List your property at truckparkingclub.com
Source: First Alert 4, “Wright City passes ordinance to ban truck parking on exit ramps”