whats the deal (rant)

I know they do it on purpose,they see a spot and just park it.Who cares who im blocking,they'll leave when im leaving.So they think.Hope they never block me in.Theyll be in a deep sound sleep and BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

This happened this morning to me at a service area on the NJ Turnpike. Got up around 0500 and there was one guy parked behind the trailers in front of me perpendicular across. Fine as I could probably squeeze out with just him there. But there was another guy double parked next to him blocking a bunch of us in and you could tell by just how his tractor and trailer were (not) lined up that he just parked it as it was in the middle of the aisle. I banged so hard on his sleeper I think I almost dented it. Unintentionally and I almost felt kind of bad about it. Almost. If you are going to park like you don't give a #### about others then prepare to be woken up.

 

A lot of drivers don't even do a walk around to check on their equipment at the end of the day, why would they check to make sure they are parked correctly?

 

Almost but not quite there huh,lol.I wouldn't have felt bad one little bit.One guy at a rest area was in my way,me no speak English he says.I yelled with hand and arm signals,he got the message.

 

This would be the same driver taking his 30 at the fuel island.

 

At least,maybe 45 minutes.I always get fuel at the pilot in Sioux City and very rarely do I go around once im done,I back up because the the driver ahead is inside eating or whatever.

 

Yeah that's no excuse. The only excuse would maybe be a brand new driver who doesn't know any better. But you pick up on the trucking etiquette pretty fast, sometimes by a little trial and error. If you've been driving for a while you should know better.

I remember in my first couple of days OTR with a trainer I almost honked my horn to back up at a truck stop, as the company instructs you to do whenever backing. Didn't want negative marks against me by the trainer. I was stopped before I honked thankfully. It would have been a schmuck move on my part and maybe got me killed by someone sleeping.

Most of us know the etiquette its just a matter of whether we care or not,

 

I know what you mean about new drivers and I cut them some slack.Like you said they'll learn soon enough.

 

It's my company's policy too to honk before backing. And the only place you really see it being done is at the terminals. Rather than tap the city horn, some guys just lay on the air horn, regardless the time of day, nevermind the plethora of trucks with their curtains closed in the immediate vicinity.

 

I don't honk before backing,although that is a good policy in place.But most drivers just ignore the horn and focus more on the flashers.