He Was Killed for $7 and Why it Hasn't Fixed yet

In 2009, a truck driver named Jason Rivenburg stopped to sleep at an abandoned gas station in South Carolina, because it was the only place he could find. He never woke up. Seventeen years later, America still has roughly one truck parking space for every eleven drivers. In this episode we explain the federal clock that tells every trucker when to stop, why there is so often nowhere to stop, what it costs drivers, and what Washington is doing about it. Chapters: 0:00 He was killed for $7 0:33 The clock 1:54 The math 2:59 The hour 3:58 The ramp 4:57 Jason 5:49 Why not just build more? 6:53 The pause button 7:29 Nowhere else to go Sources: • FMCSA, Summary of Hours of Service Regulations: https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations... • FHWA, Jason's Law Truck Parking Survey: https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/Freight/infr... • FreightWaves, ATA & OOIDA letter on truck parking (1 space per 11 drivers; 98% figure from the 2019 update): https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fed... • ATRI truck parking diaries (56 minutes; 9,300 miles; $4,600), via Transport Topics: https://www.ttnews.com/articles/parki... • ATRI Top Industry Issues 2025 (88% felt unsafe while parked), via Platform Science: https://www.platformscience.com/blog/... • CDLLife, truckers' comments to FMCSA on parking (2026): https://cdllife.com/2026/talk-about-s... • FleetOwner, Jason's Law (2009): https://www.fleetowner.com/resource-c... • WIS-TV, verdict in the killing of Jason Rivenburg: https://www.wistv.com/story/11623852/... • U.S. DOT / FMCSA, $200 million truck parking grants (Oct 14, 2026): https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/newsroom/tr... • FreightWaves, grants fund 2,403 new spaces: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fed... • TheTrucker, Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act ($755M): https://www.thetrucker.com/trucking-n... • Transport Topics, highway bill awaits House consideration (May 2026): https://www.ttnews.com/articles/highw... • Heavy Duty Trucking, FMCSA hours-of-service pilot programs: https://www.truckinginfo.com/news/hou... Archive footage: "Singing Wheels" and "Knights on the Highway" (1938), Prelinger Archives via Internet Archive, public domain. Stock footage: Pexels and Pixabay. Photo of the U.S. Capitol: Andy Feliciotti on Unsplash. #trucking #truckparking #howamericaworks