Amerant Bank Arena partnered with ParkPro in 2024, becoming the company’s flagship “host” property. (Amerant Bank via YouTube)
March 3, 2026 4:15 PM, EST
Key Takeaways:
- ParkPro will open up to 200 reservable truck parking spaces this summer at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla., home of the NHL’s Florida Panthers.
- The company says carriers can recover up to 12% of annual productivity lost searching for parking as the national shortage remains a top trucking issue.
- ParkPro plans to launch its platform this summer after refining operations, while additional Florida truck parking projects continue, including 100 spaces scheduled by 2027.
A national effort to ease ongoing truck parking shortages is taking a step forward in South Florida, where ParkPro plans to open hundreds of reservable parking spaces at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla., this summer. ParkPro CEO Tra Williams announced the expansion March 3 during the Truckload Carriers Association Conference in Orlando, Fla.
The project will establish a designated truck parking area on arena property, home of the NHL’s Florida Panthers. The company said the site will be able to accommodate up to 200 trucks once fully operational and described the arena as the first sports venue in the United States to offer dedicated truck parking.
ParkPro said it will launch its platform on Platform Science, Apple iOS and Android this summer. The company noted that several properties on the platform include lighting, on-site security and access to nearby hotels and restaurants.
Williams said the company spent the past year refining ParkPro’s technology and operations ahead of the launch. “Since then, we’ve focused on execution — optimizing the platform, refining operations and ensuring that when we go live, it works in the real world,” he said in his remarks at the conference.
Amerant Bank Arena partnered with ParkPro in 2024, becoming the company’s flagship “host” property. ParkPro said the new parking zone would provide carriers using the platform with secure, reservable spaces in a location close to driver amenities.
According to the company, users of the platform can recover up to 12% of annual productivity that can be lost searching for parking.
The lack of parking availability consistently ranks as a top issue for trucking, coming in at No. 4 in the latest American Transportation Research Institute report. The fiscal 2026 funding bill signed by President Donald Trump included $200 million for public truck parking projects.
Rob Stevenson, executive vice president of people and facilities for the Panthers, said the arena aims to put its unused parking areas to beneficial use. “We are proud to partner with ParkPro to offer our unused parking lots at Amerant Bank Arena as a solution for longhaul truck drivers to rest along routes for their safety and well-being of drivers around them,” Stevenson said. “We have a unique responsibility as a sports and entertainment location to be innovative when it comes to leveraging the spaces we operate for functionality and the well-being of our community.”
Last year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that central Florida would be getting more truck parking spaces, with 100 scheduled for completion by the fall of 2027 along Interstate 4 in Polk County.
Generative AI assisted in the creation of this article.
