Is this normal? Living in truck, no parking, no truck stops.

Maybe you should change to regular OTR, or get yourself to the TA/Petro in Ontario every night?

 

Trimac Transportation may have something for OTR; coast to coast. I think they service some type of chemical plant in LA when they run back to the west coast. Trimac hires new grads right out of cdl school.

 

That’s what you call “Livin the Life” Definitely not home It boils down to what you’re willing to put up with for the amount of pay.Ive met a lot of guys who Trucked for a while after getting laid off going to school for free. They run back as soon as the factory calls. They tell me how much they hated Trucking. I myself can’t imagine being stuck at a factory job. I think if you like Trucking enough you just need to fine tune your Career choices. The good news is with a CDL and a bit of good experience say a year with out a major accident you are a very Hot Commodity. Just keep looking around till you find what your happy with. The best part is you will never have to beg for a job more like the other way around. That for me is Peace of Mind

 

It is part of the trucking life.

I am constantly thinking about where I can put 18 wheels later that day. In the area I was running along US 15 for example west of DC there are a number of patches I could stick 18 wheels for the night and not be bothered. Tuscarora Maryland comes to mind off the bridge on the diner hill. They can fit 20 trucks 24/7 It's a really really really tiny stop not a truckstop, but for our purposes it's a truckstop. Everything is in the truck and once you are legally parked that's that.

I have written many times you don't park in Boston. In the Boston Chelsea Market (Aka the Combat zone, is that even valid today?) you only dock long enough to unload. Then they kick you out. As in all the way out the city until you hit US 1 foxboro for example and then park there. Logs? Forget it. Eat the violations stacked by the computer. Document the situation and be prepared to make a case when safety hauls you in to be talked to.

Once in a while, Im really bad about this and feel very terrible I'll stick that 18 wheeler on a pile of destroyed no parking signs ruined by other trucks and sit. The police show up, yell, scream and write tickets. But because they are parking tickets they have no bite.

Let's say there are a couple of half written tickets with just a unit number and company name sitting in the mud somewhere in the rain when I come out of dinner. Aw what a mess. Paper is all ruined. What a shame. (They really hate that.)

This was in the days before computer and big data, internet etc.

The best most memorable parking would be in the area of Cape Cod Mas. In the old town core.

7 parking meters fed with all the quarters they can take. All the wheels within 3 inches of the curb. Howling reefer in -20 screaming 8 feet from a row house second floor windows and fans eat the exhaust in 10 household windows.

They call the law Irate. Law showed up went over everything, eyeballed me and my big freightliner hat in the window of the diner across the street as I put away breakfast, shrug and tol the homeowners they cannot enforce anything until the meters quit.

 

If your using that shower be extra sure to take precautions, shower with flip flops on there are some nasty fungal diseases you can pick up in showers. Personally i didn't mind driving around Los Angeles for a huge city it was truck friendly compared to other bigger cities however when it comes to truck stops LA is in serious need of multiple truck stops not sure why Flying J / Pilot, Loves etc etc haven't tried building a few there, the only ones i can think of are the 2 TA's on the I - 10, perhaps land is too expensive or the city authorities don't want to allow more truck stops. What the powers at be don't realize is without trucks the city would cease to exist and they seem to be obsessed with penalizing the poor old tractor trailer driver while ignoring the motor car users. I mean seriously if there so worried about pollution why not make it compulsory for all vehicles to run on CNG or hydrogen which means the truth is its all about raking in money not really putting a stop to pollution problems.

 

What tank wash is this?

 

I have scrubbed up in the truck sometimes. I carried a water storage container and had a small electric water heater then i put the water in a spray bottle. I got a plastic container to stand on to catch dripping water.

This was mostly for situations when I spent the night at customers or rest areas and wanted to be able to clean up.

I would do that all the time if I were in your situation rather than shower under polluted water in a disease ridden stall.

 

Fontana also has a few trukk stops at exit 61. Never had any issues there.

 

Most people who spend most of their time driving in Orange and LA county have living arrangements there ... or they don't take such an job there in California in the first place. There are some hotel options in the area that are reasonable. At some point you're going to have to loosen your grip on the money your making and shell out for a rental place and/or occasional hotels, or find another gig.