With the truck parking situation how it is today, most drivers have, on occasion, had to get a little “creative” with their parking situation. Eventually, someone will take issue with where you’ve decided to get your federally mandated rest time, call the local authorities, and you’ll get saddled with a hefty fine. What’s the most you’ve ever paid for a parking fine? $200? $500? How about $200,000? That’s how much driver Darrel Gashette is being fined for parking his rig in his own driveway.
Gashette has lived in the same home outside of Houston, Texas since 1999. His driveway is extra wide and extra long to be able to fit the cab of his rig when he’s at home, and since he’s an OTR driver, that’s not very often. He says that he doesn’t like to park his rig in the street for other people’s safety because it’s a big black truck and someone driving at night might not see it and end up hitting it.
“I don’t like it on the street for fear of other people’s safety. It’s a big black truck. Somebody could run into it at night,” he said.
The neighbors were all friendly enough, so parking in his driveway was never an issue… that is until new neighbors moved in about a year ago. The neighbors complained about the truck to a city attorney, pointing to a violation of deed restrictions. Gashette noted that these were the same deed restrictions that were so outdated that they still have a section that says that “none of the lots shown shall be used, owned or occupied by any person other than the Caucasian race.”
The issue was argued about for months until the city finally hit Gashette with the fine for $202,000.
“Two hundred and two thousand dollars. They wanted a thousand dollars a day for every day since the complaint was filed,” Gashette said. “I’m on the road. I’m a truck driver. I probably wasn’t home 200 days last year.”
The court agreed to waive the bulk of the fine after Gashette challenged them, but the court told him that, per the deed restrictions, he will not be allowed to park in his driveway any more. He instead will have to park on the street.
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Source: khou
Park it in the street RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE NEW NEIGHBORS HOUSE!
Exactly what I’ve done before. It won’t be long until they start begging you to park back I’m your driveway. Seriously though $200K I would expect this in some places but not Texas.
I got a complaint like that in a small town i was living in. Complained i parked ‘backwards’ because it was easier to me to get out by going the other way. After i realized who it was that complained i parked on the ‘right side’ of the street right in front of their house. After a few days they asked me to move, i mentioned ‘well i would but CHP said i couldnt park like that due to complaints’. Needless to say, that day i got an apology and was invited to park any way i pleased in front of my house. 😀
Agreed, park it right in front of their house with the trailer hooked up. You might as well sleep in it a night or two with the truck idling!!!
I think we should park as many as we can on the street till every inch of it is trucks for about 200 days…..well rotate out like the military fighting a war haha.
His neighbors are such a naaaasty ppl! I don’t understand why so many ppl don’t like truckers… It’s sad…
This is ridiculous, whats the difference if its in the street or your personal driveway you pay taxes on? In the street causes more concern than in the driveway, I would get a petition together to get rid of the new neighbors now or find something wrong they are doing and turn them in.
lol exactly. If the deed has restrictions about race, then file a complaint about that to the city attorny and force the city attorny to waste time on that. (im not racist, just saying “use that point to prove your point”, that it’s just a waste of time/money)
What I don’t understand is how a small group of people or whatever can dictate what you do on property you own(assuming he owned that house, it still applies to those that do own even if he doesn’t). It’s like buying a brand new house and being fined for now having your grass exactly 2 inches, when maybe you prefer 3. You own the lot and the house so why or how can they fine you? I would never live in a place that would dictate what I can or cannot do on my own property, especially when it doesn’t effect other people in any way.
I suspect the rule was originally put in place to ensure someone doesn’t establish a truck drop yard, terminal, etc. on residentially-zoned property. The neighbors would probably have a legitimate concern about that (as it would affect their property value, etc.) But these neighbors seem to be over-reacting here, out of spite.
sound like my house cant park in my diway have to rent a place 10 miles down the road when I am home but still pay rent when I am out working still no brake for a trucker
Yeah it seems crazy I had a problem with parking today I’m only home on the weekends and I talked to a friend of mine and asked could I park my truck beside his house because he parks his truck on the other side and it’s not blocking anything its out the way and no one is complaining so everything is good but there this one cop that decided to ask my friend who’s truck it was he said my friend that lives right down the street and the cop was like really so he doesn’t live here he said no so the cop said because he doesn’t live here he can’t park it here. dispite the fact that I live within walking distance of the truck so he said i had to move it he came all the way down to my house and told me the bad news now I have to pay a storage fee just to park it down the road from me but I have to leave it unattended and I did before and one of tail lights was smashed when I got back…..so I’d rather park where I can see the truck at all times…..my friend told the cop it wasn’t a problem then he was all like we’ll the the vehicle can’t exceed 20 feet so what I’m gonna do is drop the trailer then park in the same spot and see what he says…. no respect for truckers……I hate it how there’s no where to park and you can’t park on your own property or if someone has the space and says it’s OK to let you do it….I tell you the need to make America for trucks too…..
This is so disturbing …what a bunch.of crybsbabies….we need to shut’um down …
New neighbor sure does enjoy all of the goods trucked to the store for his\her consumption.
park on the street and put orange cones in front and in back
Personally, I’d send the City a registered letter stating that a driveway was built to hold the truck, and that, since the City is forcing him to park in the street, they are now fully liable for any damage or death they may occur from their requirement. 🙂
Oh yes..I so much agree. He is very much concerned with safety, this is totally ridiculous!
And then……. the neighbor will complain because they won’t like the truck in the street because it is a safety issue. I can see the next chapter forming already.
I don’t care for people’s 2 cents about where
Drivers park their rigs when they are off and on
Their own property. Sounds like these people need
To mind their own business.
This is unbelievable. You have a trucker that thinks about the safety of others (pretty common) and you also have an idiot who apparently doesn’t think at all. I like the idea of the orange cones since it does not give the idiot any satisfaction. When they change the racist deed restrictions, change the stupid parking restriction, too. By the way, nice looking rig.
I think if I was him, I would buy 2 or 3 more trucks, or “rent” out a room to a few other truckers, so they can park their trucks in the road as well. That should really make the neighbors happy. Wtf people what ever happened to what you do on your own property is your business and your life?
What a joke!!!..where the heck did the authorities come up with such an exhorbitant fine?….we have our own truck and trailer and I am so glad we live out in the country….we have room to park our rig right in front of the house but off the paved road…we have lived here for 30 years now and we have the best neighbours ever….never a complaint….we wouldn’t live in the city or suburbs for anything….the new neighbours are cowards to call and complain rather than approaching the driver and talking to him about their concerns (maybe they just don’t like truckers)…as for the authorities saying he must park on the street…he needs to be sure to put out the reflectors front and back of the truck to warn drivers it is there and hopefully nothing bad will happen.
Bringing home a dumper of manure for a couple of days would be interesting in the texas heat.
I had a similar situation, I live in a small rural village of about 250 people in SW Pennsylvania. Several of my neighbors are truckers as well, although most due local tri-axle dump work, so there are a lot of trucks parked around the streets. But people are moving out of the suburbs of Pittsburgh out into the rural farm lands for the lower taxes and excellent school system we have and they started to complain about all the trucks. I parked my entire truck and trailer in the street in front of my house, after some complaining the township put up a “No Parking Zone” sign, which I took down, knocked down, backed over, etc numerous times until finally one of these rich snobs called the State Police to have them write me a parking ticket. I fought the ticket based on it being an illegal No Parking Zone, as I don’t have a driveway and technically it means that I couldn’t park ANY vehicle I own in front of my house, also there was no end to the No Parking Zone and I insisted the Trooper ticket everyone else on the entire street since by law they were ALL parked in a No Parking Zone. Court pitched the tickets, and the township then erected a 10 Ton Weight Limit Sign in front of my house. I suppose I could have elected to bond the road to exempt myself from the Weight Limit, but I just found a place to drop my trailer nearby, and continued to park my tractor. The State Police were once AGAIN called claiming I was violating the weight limit by parking there, but as I pointed out to the trooper the registered weight per the build spec sheet was 18,500lbs, or 9.25 tons, and there was no longer a No Parking Zone. The Trooper went and found the complainer neighbors and explained that they should really mind their own business and they moved to a rural area and if they wanted to live in a little housing development community they should move back up to Pittsburgh.
Since all of this happened I got a new neighbor who bought the farmette next door and turned it into a working horse farm, and a guy up the street who opened a PPG Certified Body Shop so between all the Ag Traffic for the farm, and the parts deliveries for the shop (lots of Yellow-Roadway, ABF and FedEx Freight trucks all week long) there’s more truck traffic on the road then there ever was when I was bringing my truck and trailer home for a few days once a month. Hope the neighbors are enjoying the relaxing country living.
I can see if the city didn’t allow truck parking in residential neighborhoods, but to allow it on the street and not in the driveway off that same street is insane. I agree with those who say park that rig directly in front of their house.
Now those complaining neighbors will cry about how that big ugly truck is blocking the road and causing a traffic hazard. Neighbors should get together and oust those people.
I would pay someone to keep an eye on the new neighbor. And for every offense they commit, and I don’t give a rip about how large or small the offense, I would be reporting them every time. They need to learn a hard leason. The old saying applies here, “What’s good for the goose, is good for the gander.”
Let see here, you move into an area that has rules governing parking. You chose to break the rules and the neighbor who calls wishing to have the rules adhered to is the SOB. Typical modern day truck driver mentality. Instead of let’s work out an alternative , it’s let’s get the complainer! What’s even more sad is some of the comments posted here. It’s no wonder the government has to dictate when to drive, when to sleep, when to take a pee break, etc. etc. This trucking industry has become a dumping grounds for every misfit, cull , and reject from every other industry in this nation. What an embarassment this industry has morphed itself into.
Maybe they should enforce that Caucasian rule too, huh Carl.
The original people that were living there was the truck driver. The people that moved there was the cry babbies. You should try to get better understanding on things before you post.
Hey Carl…perhaps you ought to read the article before you start running your mouth. The whiners are the ones who just moved in, not the trucker. He’s been there since 1999…and only his new neighbors had no complaints. So some city scum move to the country and think the world must change because they got there.
We have a similar problem where I live. It’s a very rural area in NW RI, with lots of old farms that have old, out-of-service farm equipment out in the fields. We’ve had a lot of people moving out here from the city, and some of them are starting to complain about the relics being left out to rust…like they have been for years. It takes some serious stones to move into an area and think you have the right to start telling folks that have lived here for generations that they need to change their lives to suit you. Our message to those people…if you don’t like it, go back to where you came from. Nobody asked you to move here, and if you can’t deal with the way we live, then get the f*** out. Some of these old-time Swamp Yankees won’t think twice about helping them make that decision to get out a little quicker…if you get my drift. Lots of woods to “get lost” in out here…
I like your way of thinking Mark.
I will park my Sherman tank just right in front of your rusted POS.
The next after that I will dock my USS San Diego right behind my
Sherman. Any difference ? And by the way one of the space crew
members is moving to the hood. He might start docking the ISS
in “your” spot !! Truckers SOULD not run for president !
The real issue here is not the wretched neighbor who “adhered to the rules”, but that If the driver owns the property, no one can tell him what to do with it. If a local or other authority besides the “owner” can dictate to him how he must or must not use “his” property, or a property is taxed, the alleged owner is not the owner. So: if you actually own property, no one can tell you how to use it. In a free society, the only way you can break the law is to violate someone’s rights. (This is how things used to be, in America.) We’re obviously far from being free.
You got the hammer and you sure did hit that nail.
Keith, I understand your point and am not trying to argue with you here, but think about it for a second. Would you be happy if you lived in a residential area and your neighbor decided to start up a large, 24-hour hog slaughtering operation, etc. on their property next door to you?
The original rule was probably established to prevent a scenario like this — where someone might otherwise decide to open a truck terminal / drop yard on their property in a residential area. That would of course violate their neighbors’ rights to not have their property values trashed. This case seems like the complaining neighbors are maybe taking enforcement of that rule too far. That’s the problem with writing these kinds of rules; it’s hard to predict how they might be taken to the extreme in the future.
I agreed
I agreed. The previous reply at the bottom suppose to be for your comment.
I’d jake it all the way down the street in 3rd, then downshift each half gear (if he has an 18) until I got into deep reduction and noisily glide to a stop right in front of that neighbours house. I’d make sure I left the engine running for a few minutes to cool it down (best if there’s a manual fan override) before shut off. With any luck I’d have a trailer attached, so I’d drop the trailer just at the very edge of the guy’s driveway, and then pull ahead to the very edge of the other side of the driveway.
All the city has to do now to the driver parking in the street is claim it’s a traffic hazard and put up no truck parking signs, I parked for years on the street until someone complained . Now signs say no parking over 10 min for trucks. Good luck! Time to move!
And you wonder why trucking companies are always hiring.
That’s not fair to him, a working man trying to make a living. Why is it that the people of this country can’t do anything? When the officials make up dumb laws to suit there needy funds.
That’s his home he should be allowed to park his truck there. For one thing it beats going to get it. Either at his job or a mile or 2 down the where its parked. It’s sounds like to me that neighbors are very rude and selfish. If they don’t like it move out of there!!
Used to happen to me, but every time code enforcement showed up I was allready on the road again. They would leave notes on my door telling me not to park in the driveway, but the truck was never there when they showed up. I later found that in my neighborhood there is a 72 hour exemption. So they never got me.
I really wish we would all stick together….example nyc hates big trucks parking in there city….stop delivering to them and stop trash removal would only take a week….company drivers get sick and owner ops have break downs…..demand respect….and stop allowing the closed minded to rule our lives ….its harrassment in the work place….and from what the yuppies tell me its illegal.
I agree with the driver !! Park in front of the neighbors house !! I’ve got a neighbor that is in this catagory and don’t miss a beat when it comes to pay backs !! BTW, I live about 120 miles south of Houston !!
Sounds like Texas is getting just like most every other place.
If the engine is running then you are no longer parked, you are standing!
Time to get the guns out and retake the country
This is becoming a serious issue across the nation, as “house flippers” and NIMBY’s (Not In My Back Yard types) who think “dirty trucks” in their neighborhoods negatively impact property values, the former interested in a quick sale for huge profits, the latter wanting to use the equity in their homes as a sort of “piggy bank” (what got the housing market in so much trouble to begin with).
The problem has been allowed to fester and grow due to most truckers having neither the time or energy to constantly fight attempts by non-truckers with plenty of time and energy in court or city hall, especially if the new “neighbor” is also a (potential) major campaign contributor to one or more sitting politicians seeking re-election.
These laws clearly state that no vehicle shall obstruct the landowner’s view. That said and I agree,
the driveway needs to be lengthened so the vehicle is even with the fixed obstacles or rezoned to allow your rig. This also includes camper trailers and temporary construction trailers ( with a permit). I am a trucker and feel your pain, but quality of life is important to all of us. Make sure that your neighbors respect your space as much.
Bring a 53′ trailer home (or a 45′ if the 53′ won’t fit) and see how that perks up the homies.
He could get even uglier if he parks a reefer out there and leaves it running. Just put a case of
fruit in the box and tell anyone that asks that it’s your backhaul that delivers in a couple of days.
The reason the people complained is that the trucker was idling the vehicle all the time (including all night a bunch of times). He probably was sleeping in it. Hardly anyone would have noticed or even cared he had the truck had he not done this.
He also didn’t get a $200,000 fine, the story was seriously misreported. He ended up paying about $1800 after he refused to relocate the vehicle for 9 months and the city finally had to sue him.
go park your truck in the snobby neighbors driveway
Sure, park in the street till some one hit’s the truck and injure or heven forbid, kills themself, then he’ll be sued! Can’t win for loosing!
If I were you my friend,I would park ion front of his house whenever there is an open space.PROBLEM SOLVED…
Most people don’t realize that Houston and environs have little or no zoning rules, instead people rely on deed restrictions to prevent nuisance situations. (Also, all deed restrictions in the United States related to race were voided by the Civil Rights Act.)
Deed restrictions have an advantage in that they can’t be “exempted” by corrupt local politicians, and the disadvantage that it is incredibly difficult to change them in light of changing circumstances. So in many cases, such as this one, a neighborhood will ignore certain rules by general consensus — until someone new moves in and complains. No easy solution to this problem.
File a 10 million dollar invasion of privacy lawsuit against the neighbors, and file a discrimination lawsuit against the city for the Caucasian deed restrictions. The city has been upholding the deed restrictions, in violation of the privacy/property rights of this man.
This was most likely a bunch of yankees that did this, a true Texan understands that there are no such things as deed restrictions to YOUR property. A real Texan would never pitch such a sissy fit over a man’s property. The city should have no jurisdiction in this because it is private property and he should not be told what to do or what not to do.
Little do we know, but there’s hog trailer behind that truck. The neighbors wished he went back to hauling bulls.
I’d park it in their living room! If this does happen to me I’ll ask them to move. If they refuse, I’ll just burn their house to the ground.
Make sure you nail all the windows and doors shut, first!!!
It shouldn’t surprise him that the government only enforces the laws they want to and not all of them. Our elected officials have all become tyrannical in their pursuit of power. I think he should go get a refrigerated load and park it in front of their homes with the trailer running all weekend.
What’s the address? I’ll have 10 trucks with reefers parked around the block
What is really bothersome is the fact that the driveway he purposely built for the truck and no other neighbor complained until the new ones arrived. Since it’s only on the street, common sense would be a vote of neighbors and chances are those new neighbors will be crying. I’ve got the same issue though when I take my truck home (rarely because I pay for parking in an industrial park). I have a HUGE driveway that can park 5 semi’s and all the tenants are quite okay with me parking the truck there (which happens to be my sister, her boyfriend, and an elderly lady on the ground floor). The landlord saw it there once and said it had to go… So now I park it across the street in the fairgrounds with my trailer. Granted I only take the truck there once a month, but still, it wasn’t bothering anyone. If anything I bring it there shined up and people stop and admire it (yes I still get a WOW! for my old sterling).
He should borrow a bull haulers trailer and park it on the street also! Before its been washed out of course!
A $200 thousand dollar fine, D***!!!! I thought paying a $500 fine was steep.
You MUST completely enclose your yard & property somehow, to keep prying eyes out. Or build/create an enclosure for the truck be it man made or natural such as tall arborvitae trees.
I would do this before I ever moved in a place. Once nosy neighbors see something they like to make a fuss. Out of sight out of mind.
I would also personally inform every good loving neighbor what has happened and make them aware of the spirit of those who newly reside on your street. Then form a micro-coalition and form a barrier of strength around these strangers so they get the impression of unity against them.
He should turn around, and file a complaint against the new neighbor for “harrassment”,and the city for “unlawful prosicucation” He has rights also. I also saw that “The court agreed to waive the bulk of the fine “….they had an agenda also…to make money off the deal too…how “honest” is the court ? Not very by the looks of the court’s actions.
You’re all forgetting one thing. While I support this trucker, we don’t own our property anymore. We rent it from the local government after having paid the mortgage company 3 times the purchase price for the privilege of paying rent to the county, etc. Rent you ask? Stop paying the rent (property tax) and see what happens. You’ll be sleeping in your truck. So, no, we don’t live in a free society anymore.
Park your truck in front or very close to of your neneIghbors drive way, as parking on a public street is not a deed restriction.
Also, if your city and state allows idling of the tractor…idle your rig as you see fit on the public road.
It’s an example of what you see all over the place. Instead if not moving there and leaving that man alone they come in and rob him of the rights of his own property that he’s enjoyed for a decade; DISGUSTING!!!!!
Had the same problem with my truck in the town i live in. Had to tell them my truck was 9.75 tons and i was under the limit and that was legal, so as far as the people next door,,,, I put my truck in regen mode at 3:00 am,,, lol