UPS, FedEx Rack Up Parking Violations As City Struggles To Reduce Congestion

Published Feb 18, 2020

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Freight carrier UPS paid $23 million in New York City parking violations last year, while FedEx paid $9 million, according to the city's Department of Finance. These fine totals represent a marked increase from 2018, when the Independent Budget Office says UPS paid $14.4 million in fines, while FedEx paid $6.8 million.

Yet these millions of dollars don't even represent the full amount of issued fines, since both companies participate in the city's Stipulated Fines and Commercial Abatement program run by the Department of Finance as a kind of discount club for companies who anticipate racking up parking tickets.

Last year, an Independent Budget Office analysis showed that UPS received the most summonses -- 254,868 in 2018 -- of all participants in the Stipulated Fine Program. FedEx was the second leading violator with 114,005 summonses issued in 2018.

"No company is above the law, and the NYC Stipulated Fine program serves to hold responsible companies who are ticketed for parking violations," said Marcy Miranda, spokesperson for the DOF.

The program was created more than 15 years ago to ease the burden on the city's traffic courts, but City Councilmember Costa Constantinides proposed abolishing it last year as the staggering toll of online shopping on New York City's roads, safety and the environment has become increasingly clear. (The proposal is stalled in committee.) In December, the city Department of Transportation announced a pilot program to allow electric cargo bikes to park in commercial loading zones, with 100 bikes operating in Manhattan below 60th Street, in hopes the bikes can eventually replace some delivery trucks.

In 2017, 89 percent of the 365 million tons of cargo passing through NYC was carried by truck, and that overall number is expected to rise to 540 million tons by 2045, based on current rates of online commerce.

In a statement, UPS said it's time to reimagine the urban landscape beyond curbside parking.

"In every metropolitan area today, especially in the U.S., there's a scarcity of commercial vehicle parking, which often forces deliveries to be made in a way that seemingly conflicts with other road uses, like biking," said Matthew O’Connor, Senior Manager for UPS Public Relations. "The reality, though, is that active transportation modes and freight services do not need to conflict. The underlying issue is how cities manage the curb and how they allocate space."

"Simply put, the curb today in most American cities is overwhelmingly devoted to single occupancy personal vehicle parking, which is simply unsustainable and not aligned with most cities’ stated transportation priorities, like shared mobility, active transportation, safety, equity and commercial goods movement," he added.

FedEx expressed simple gratitude for the opportunity to pay reduced fines: "The stipulated parking fine program plays an important role in our ability to serve our customers in New York City, allowing us to better manage the ticketing process while meeting our customers’ pickup and delivery requirements. FedEx supports the program and urges New York City legislators to uphold it," said Emily Newman of FedEx Global Public Affairs Communications.

In another effort to mitigate trucks snarling traffic, the DOT has also updated language on trucks double-parking with new policies issued earlier this month: commercial truckers can currently double-park if the crew is making "expeditious" deliveries, pickups or service calls, but the new rules say the double-parking is only allowed if the crew is "actively engaged in loading or unloading goods, tools, materials, or other items for the purpose of making pickups, deliveries or service calls."

Other updated policy includes explicitly banning trucks from double-parking when the vehicle blocks the only lane of travel in the same direction, or takes up space in the lane "as to leave fewer than 10 feet of roadway width available for the free movement of vehicular traffic."

Midtown's no double-parking zone, currently defined by 14th Street, First Avenue, 60th Street and Eighth Avenue, will now go further west to 12th Avenue. The new DOT rules go into effect March 8th.

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Sophia Chang is a reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering government policy, social structures and other issues that enable and complicate city life. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 347-688-7674.

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