Paper med cards are done

TRUCK PARKING CLUB

Friday Bulletin • October 16, 2026

Good Morning Truck Parking Club Members,

Did the Lot Match the Listing?

Booking the spot is only half of it. The other half is the gate, the entrance, and the lot itself. Tell us how close your last location matched its listing, what has gone wrong on site, and which listing photo actually helps you decide. A few multiple choice, a few in your own words.

$25 promo code shown after you submit.

Settle It: What's the Best Truck Dog?

Tap the one you'd want riding shotgun.

The Big Thing

Your Paper Med Card No Longer Counts

For decades, proof that you were medically fit to drive was a piece of paper in your wallet. As of October 12, that paper stopped counting. If you hold a CDL or a learner's permit in any state except Alaska, your medical certification now lives in one place: your state driving record.

Here is how it works now. Your medical examiner has until midnight the next day to send your exam results to FMCSA's National Registry. FMCSA passes them to your state licensing agency, and the state posts your medical status to your driving record. That record, not the card, is what your carrier checks and what keeps your CDL valid. For the past year, a paper card covered you for up to 60 days while the system caught up. That relief expired October 11, and FMCSA says it does not expect to grant another nationwide waiver. Alaska is the only exception, with its own exemption running through October 12, 2027, because it is the one state that has not finished hooking into the system.

The risk is in the handoff. If your examiner never transmits the results, or your name or license number doesn't match what the state has on file, your new certification never reaches your record. When the old one lapses, the state has to downgrade your CDL, even if you passed your physical. This is not a paperwork footnote. At this year's CVSA Roadcheck, not having a valid medical card was the top driver out-of-service violation in the U.S., at 28% of driver out-of-service violations, up from 18% the year before.

What this means for you. Use a certified examiner listed on FMCSA's National Registry. At the exam, make sure your name, license number, and state match your CDL exactly. A few days later, confirm the new certification shows on your driving record, through your state licensing agency or your carrier's safety department. If they hand you a paper copy, keep it, but don't count on it as proof. And book your next physical before the old one runs out, not after.

The physical is the easy part. Make sure the paperwork you can't see actually made it.

Read more: Land Line | Trucksafe | Heavy Duty Trucking

Mile Markers

Where the numbers landed this week.

Diesel: $6.179/gal, down 2 cents and its third straight weekly drop. It still sits about $2.51 above where it was a year ago. (EIA)

Spot rates (all-in, national average): Van $3.12, Reefer $3.68, Flatbed $3.68 per mile, holding within a few cents of the prior week. Linehaul firmed again, up 1 to 6 cents, while a smaller fuel surcharge took a little back. Linehaul is running 29% to 35% above a year ago. (DAT)

Stay Off The Ramp

You shouldn't have to choose between a highway ramp and a HOS violation. Thousands of drivers make that call every night. We built Truck Parking Club so you don't have to.

Use code ramp25 for $25 off any daily booking at any of our 7,186 locations. Find a real spot tonight.

Quick Hits

Super Trucker Membership - $9.99/month

Unmatched flexibility + brand new features, right at your fingertips.

• 5 refunds per month (cancel before booking starts, money goes to Club Cash)

• 5 free booking date changes per month

• 5% Club Cash on every purchase (up from 1%), up to $50/month

• Access to Truck Navigation with every booking

• MORE BENEFITS TO COME!

Property Members: Free Signage & Access Controls

Need signage for your lot? Have an automated gate you want connected to our app? We cover it.

News

Washington Put $200 Million Into Truck Parking. USDOT awarded $200 million on October 14 for 14 truck parking projects in 12 states through its INFRA freight grant program. The list includes six I-80 rest areas in Iowa ($24.5 million), two I-41 rest areas in Wisconsin (about 106 spaces), the Port of Savannah (about 275), and five Pilot locations on I-40 and I-24 in Tennessee. Most of these still have to be designed and built, so don't count on new spots this winter. Read more on USDOT

Fleets Paid Drivers More in 2025. ATA's 2026 Driver Compensation Study, built on data from more than 130 fleets, puts median pay for irregular-route truckload drivers at $73,639 for 2025, up 8.3% from the last study, which covered 2023. Linehaul LTL drivers came in at an $85,000 median, and leased-on owner-operators at truckload carriers grossed more than $170,000. 74% of for-hire truckload fleets paid detention, while the median signing bonus slipped $500 to $2,000. Read more on CCJ

Kansas City Is Closing I-70 for Most of 2027. MoDOT plans to shut about 4 miles of I-70 downtown, from the Paseo to Van Brunt, starting in January for roughly 11 months. It is the state's biggest road closure in 20 years. Through traffic and trucks are being pointed around the city on I-435 and I-470, or north toward I-29. If Kansas City is on your regular lanes, start planning the bypass now. Read more on KCTV5

Arizona Pulled 110 Off I-40. A joint Arizona enforcement detail near Flagstaff ran 263 inspections and 195 weight checks from October 6 to 8 and removed 110 unsafe vehicles and drivers from the road. Another 80 drivers rolled away with a clean CVSA decal. If northern Arizona is on your route, keep your med card current, your logs clean, and your brakes in adjustment. Read more on The Trucker

The Regulars

📍 Map Check: 7,186 Locations

View Map

🎖️ Customer Care Corner

24/7 support staffed entirely by former drivers.

Contact Us

⭐ Review of the Week

Thanks for the review, and thank you for being a Trucker Member, Justin!