GREENWOOD, Ind. — On Wednesday, police in Greenwood said they will start ticketing truck drivers who park illegally on interstate ramps.
Last month, 13News shared the problem of a lack of parking for truckers — not enough open spaces at truck stops, forcing some to park their rigs on ramps along interstates instead.
But that's illegal in Indiana.
And now, at least one community is cracking down by making violators pay up.
For the past two months near Interstate 65, Greenwood police have had a nightly routine: knocking on truck cabs and warning semi drivers who are parked illegally to move.
"If you travel at night, or early in the morning, it's everywhere. You see it everywhere," Greenwood Police Ofc. Jason Grable said.
But those warnings are going away.
Police said the problem's gotten so bad at the Main Street and Worthsville Road exits that, starting Wednesday, trucks parked along the highway's on- and off-ramps will get a ticket.
"As of tomorrow morning, citations will be issued, and it's going to be hitting their pocketbooks," Grable said.
Each violation comes with a $150 fine.
13News reached out to Greenwood police for an update Wednesday morning. A spokesperson said officers written eight warnings — and no tickets — so far.
The violations are for something officers say isn't just illegal but also dangerous.
"At night especially, if they're not well illuminated, vehicles can run into them," Grable said. "If someone's not paying attention, then we have a real problem."
It's happened in other communities.
In Clark County recently, someone died when a semi slammed into trucks parked on the highway. In St. Louis, a Greyhound bus crashed into semis parked on a ramp, killing three people.
Truckers said they want to stay safe, too. But they said they just can't find parking spots at truck stops when it's time to rest from the road.
Too many semis — not enough open spaces.
"It's very tough. We're actually having a big issue," truck driver Faisal Abdullahi said. "I'm actually saddened that they're going to start ticketing people at the ramp. Yeah, that sucks."
Safety regulations mean truck drivers have to stop when their hours are up or face a fine.
Abdullahi gassed up in Greenwood but said he spent the night roadside in Lebanon. He's parked on ramps before when he's tired, too.
"There are times you can't make it to the next truck stop," Abdullahi said, "and then, you've got to pull over wherever you're at because it's not safe for you to be on the road. You could hit somebody. You can kill somebody. So you're better off pulling on the side of the road, get a little bit of a nap and get back to rolling again when you're not tired."
He said most semis try and fail to find parking at a truck stop. Everything's full.
"They can look, but he's not going to find a parking spot. He won't," Abdullahi said. "So he's forced to park on the side of the road."
"We would love for the destination points, the warehouses, to allow them to park there and wait, but again, we don't control that property," Grable said. "We feel for them. We just cannot allow the off- and on-ramps to be the solution."
So Greenwood's now cracking down with tickets.
13News did find a multistate effort in the Midwest, which started in 2019, meant to help truckers find safe parking.