March 2026: Trucker Edition
Support for the Long Haul: The PA Turnpike and the Trucking Community
Pennsylvania Turnpike Chief Operating Officer Craig Shuey shares his gratitude for the truckers who choose America’s First Superhighway and breaks down some of the many benefits we offer to those hauling freight across the Keystone State
Finding a Place to Park Is Getting Easier in PA
The PA Turnpike and PennDOT are expanding truck parking availability, and now, parking spaces are easier to find with the 511PA app.
‘You Know You Owe’ Campaign Aims to Recover Uncollected Tolls
The vast majority of customers do the right thing and pay their tolls, but the PA Turnpike is working with those who don’t to collect their fair share.
Support for the Long Haul: The PA Turnpike and Trucking Community
By Craig Shuey, Chief Operating Officer, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
As we truck on into 2026, it’s the perfect opportunity to express the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s gratitude for the freight haulers and drivers who choose our roadway. It’s also an opportunity to highlight investments that strengthen relationships and improve productivity year-round.
Pennsylvania Turnpike Chief Operating Officer Craig Shuey
Truckers continue to show high levels of overall satisfaction with the PA Turnpike, with more than 82% rating their experience “very good” or “good,” according to our recent trucking community survey.
As customer expectations for quick, efficient delivery continue to propel trucking services, preserving critical infrastructure like the PA Turnpike helps the trucking community meet these challenges.
Managing growth
Systemwide, commercial traffic is 15% higher than pre-pandemic levels, a statistic we attribute to our role supporting regional logistical operations, providing direct routes from the Midwest to the East Coast and connecting major interstate highways.
As a result, truck parking remains a significant challenge. Though no single entity can solve this nationwide issue, we’ve invested more than $29 million over the last seven years to expand truck parking by more than 160 new spots at three key service plazas.
We’re also actively collaborating to improve the travel experience for commercial drivers, leveraging emerging technologies and seeking partnerships to better support both driver safety and logistics efficiency.
Driver productivity is also in our sights. The PA Turnpike partnered with Drivewyze’s Smart Roadway program and INRIX to provide commercial truck drivers with real-time alerts for slowdowns and congestion. Our automated traffic management software is integrated with wayfinding apps like 511PA, Google Maps and Waze, and Trimble Maps includes our truck parking feed.
Enhancing information
One year ago, we debuted a new text messaging service, providing timely updates when traffic unexpectedly stops. Once at a complete stop, text “info” to 47676 and follow the prompts to verify your location using GPS. The PA Turnpike’s Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) uses geofencing to verify customers' locations and incident status. Once confirmed, the service provides automated, location-based information, including anticipated clearance times and roadway updates every 15 to 20 minutes until the incident is resolved.
These enhancements join long-time, customer-valued services, such a dedicated commercial section on the PA Turnpike website and round-the-clock driver assistance via *11.
Building for the future
Our decade-long journey to modernized operations that meet customer expectations for seamless, non-stop travel culminated in last year’s launch of Open Road Tolling east of Reading and along the entire Northeast Extension. You can read all about its westward expansion in this issue of The Road Ahead – Trucker Edition.
With this shift, the PA Turnpike shed weight-based vehicle classification while standardizing toll rates systemwide. We now align with nationwide norms, improving toll predictability, particularly for interstate drivers.
Standardized toll rates also make it easier for large and small companies to anticipate and budget toll expenses. The PA Turnpike’s online Toll Calculator provides precise toll charges, factoring in vehicle class and distance traveled.
This investment in nonstop travel brings benefits including lower vehicle exhaust emissions, less fuel use and a cleaner environment. Additionally, removal of existing toll plazas and infrastructure means fewer obstructions and less congestion entering or exiting our system, which can reduce the number of crashes caused by stop-and-go traffic.
For 85 years, the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s been the trucking community’s connection to Pennsylvania and beyond. We’re honored to celebrate the crucial role professional truck drivers play in safely and securely delivering America’s freight.
Finding a Place to Park Is Getting Easier in PA
Driving a long haul along the open road can be a thrill except for one aspect.
Finding a place to park.
That’s among the biggest concerns truckers cite about their travels through the Keystone State, said Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association President and CEO Rebecca Oyler, but there is some good news.
We have an app for that.
The 511PA website and mobile application have both been updated to help truckers find a safe and convenient place to pull over on Pennsylvania Turnpike and PennDOT roads. Finding a place to park through the app is easy:
App users may notice more parking places coming online soon. PennDOT Secretary and PA Turnpike Commission Chairman Mike Carroll and PA Turnpike CEO Mark Compton announced in November they are expanding truck parking statewide. The Commonwealth is adding 1,202 truck-parking spaces in 133 locations by the end of this year, and the PA Turnpike is evaluating opportunities to add more than 600 spaces across the system. You can read all about that in the November Trucker Edition of The Road Ahead.
Oyler said the reaction from truckers has been positive.
“Pennsylvania is a freight-heavy state, and being the Gateway to the Northeast, we’re happy this issue is getting some attention,” Oyler said. “Every new space is one fewer driver who is looking for a place to rest tonight.”
Oyler noted a new bill opened up another $200 million in dedicated, federal funds for truck parking through a competitive-grant program, and with the PA Turnpike and PennDOT’s recent efforts, Pennsylvania is in a good position to seek a portion of that funding, creating even more potential parking spots. But the state can’t do it alone.
Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association President and CEO Rebecca Oyler speaks at a recent press conference about the Pennsylvania Turnpike and PennDOT's expansion of truck parking.
“The perfect solution would be a combination of public and private spaces readily available,” she added.
That is starting to happen with more shippers and suppliers offering additional spots for truckers to rest, and one PA Turnpike project is making it easier for truckers to access those private facilities. Open Road Tolling.
The cashless, free-flowing system makes it easier for trucks to get on and off the PA Turnpike without idling at toll booths. PA Turnpike Engineers are also considering additional truck parking at some of the toll plaza sites, many of which are in the demolition process now since they are no longer needed under ORT.
“I really think it’s going to open some new and creative opportunities for adding truck parking in ways that didn’t exist before,” she said. “That would be fantastic.”
‘You Know You Owe’ Campaign Aims to Recover Uncollected Tolls
While the vast majority of truckers do the right thing and pay their tolls, a very small percentage don’t, and that’s the crux of the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s new “You Know You Owe” campaign which you may have seen on social media or other advertisements.
“It’s very impactful,” said Paul Dangleman, who for the last two years has been the PA Turnpike’s Manager of Customer Service and Toll Enforcement. “They know they owe, and they’re making a cognizant decision not to pay us.”
Dangleman leads the customer call center and is responsible for collecting uncollected revenue, called leakage. Those funds are not lost, though, and Dangleman and his team have a number of options now that state law allows the PA Turnpike to pursue those who owe $250 or more in unpaid tolls – a figure legislators reduced several years ago from $500.
Revenue Collection:
- The PA Turnpike's recent initiatives to modernize its operations with Open Road Tolling continues to demonstrate effective tol collection, keeping toll revenue on track.
- The PA Turnpike continues to collect on the overwhelming majority of its transactions, with a success rate aligning with nationwide industry standards.
- Over the last five years, the PA Turnpike has strengthened its enforcement efforts and strategy, resulting in increased payments.
- From September 2024 through August 2025, the PA Turnpike collected more than $1.8 billion.
First, the Customer Service Center steps in. The team works with customers to establish payment plans, guides those managing multiple invoices from different license plates through the process and offers additional support to make paying their fair share as straightforward as possible.
If collection efforts do not work, the PA Turnpike can send the file to PennDOT to potentially suspend the offender’s driver’s registration. And in extreme cases, the file can be referred to the Office of the Attorney General for further action.
Dangleman said it’s important to note that the majority of customers do the right thing and pay their fair share. Toll dollars are how the PA Turnpike stays in business as it creates the best customer experience possible, from reliable roadways, to 24/7 assistance, to top-notch innovations in transportation.
“All of the revenue collected helps ensure our roadways are safe,” Dangleman said. Toll dollars pay for everything at the PA Turnpike, from roadway projects to the latest innovations to make those improvements for all drivers.
Open Road Tolling Expands to Entire PA Turnpike
Truck drivers traveling the Pennsylvania Turnpike in the central and western part of the state may be wondering about the stone buildings and columns along the highway, but those who have taken a long haul through the east already know.
It’s Open Road Tolling (ORT).
This cashless, free-flowing system launched east of Reading and along the entire Northeast Extension in January 2025, and changed the way the PA Turnpike collects tolls. The system is now expanding westward.
Under ORT, tolling equipment on gantries spanning over the highway collects vehicle information from transponder devices for those who have E-ZPass accounts. If no E-ZPass is detected, overhead cameras capture a series of high-definition images of license plates to generate Toll By Plate invoices to be mailed to vehicle owners. This is all done at highway speeds for a smoother, safer, and more convenient tolling system.
And when the switch was flipped in the east from tolling at the old toll booths to gantries, the transition was smooth, and no one noticed the difference.
One big change truck drivers will notice, though, is that they are no longer tolled by weight at the interchanges but are now tolled by height and number of axles, registered by “loops” in the roadway under the gantries. Learn more about that here.
No matter how big the rig, you can figure out your toll rate on the PA Turnpike’s toll calculator.
Benefits of Open Road Tolling:
- Meets customer preferences for cashless payment options
- Increases access, boosts economy, improves mobility
- Safer for drivers at entry and exit points
- Saves time and improves efficiency
- Better for the environment
The westward expansion of ORT continues. In the fall, crews finished construction of the stone-motif buildings and pillars in western and central Pennsylvania and are now installing tolling equipment on gantries over the highway at 18 different sites.
At the same time, crews are demolishing the old toll booths in the east, which are no longer needed under ORT, creating a more seamless and open interchange. You can see what that looks like here:
ORT will go live in western and central Pennsylvania in January 2027.