No where to park

Most of the time your plan will work. Some times you just have to look around as you drive to the drop and PC when you leave. You'll figure it out as you get a few months experience.

 

If you didn't pass a wreck in the last 11 hours, guess you're out of luck, eh?

 

There is no 14 hour exemption. There IS a 16 hour exception that is available once per week...but ONLY if you start & stop each day at the same place. An OTR driver has no such exception, and must not drive past the 14th hour.

 

Until you get a feel for what the parking situation is in various places I would recommend stopping at the first available spot you see after you pass 9.5 hours of driving for the day.

There are very predictable patterns to truck parking...

1) Major chains always fill up before mom and pop stops
2) parking is the hardest to find between 4 p.m. and 2 a.m.
3) the parking in closest to major metro areas or shipping hubs are very seldom going to have open spots, no matter the time of day.
4) almost always parking available if you are willing to go 10 to 15 miles off the interstate or out of route.
5) the best parking spots are the ones that 90% of drivers drive right past and dont even realize it.

There is never an acceptable reason to go over your drive time JUST to find parking, except if forced to leave a shipper/reciever to go to NEAREST available, safe, legal spot.

There are acceptable reasons for extenuating circumstances such as bad weather or traffic accidents that cause UNFORSEEN delays.

Learn to plan, replan, and plan again... For EVERY intended stop. Then be ready to plan on the fly when it becomes obvious that your original plans are not going to work.

Forget that #### Truckers Path App... Get a paper copy of Pocket Truck Stop Guide, most any truck stop will have them. A good truck gps that has truck POI's will also help in finding truck stops.

 

You need to try and not put yourself in that position. It takes some time to figure out if there will be parking in the area you will be at when your clock runs out. sometimes you need to stop early.

Driving over hours to find parking is really only "safe" if you were detained at a shipper/receiver for an unexpected amount of time, ran out of hours, and needed to leave the property. Can't just drive out the clock and then look for a place to park, you can get in trouble. Especially if there is an accident, an accident that isn't even your fault.

Just have to make a backup plan or two. I would like to stop here at the end of the day, so make a plan for that. But there may be an accident that slows you down for an hour. It helps to know where you can stop before you run out of hours if something goes wrong. Blan B and plan C...

Worst comes to worst you can look at google maps and look around for a commercial area nearby for street parking. Look at the "street view" for any "no truck parking" signs or whatever. Maybe a pull-off area along a highway, off the pavement somewhere. Sometimes an abandoned/closed commercial property like Sears or K-mart might be ok to park at for the night, but look for no parking signs. There might be a tow company just waiting for someone to park there...

 

Keep riding until you find a safe spot...Don’t be like every other new breed idiot that parks on the fuel island, fire lane, or any other place they aren’t supposed to.

or go to work for an elog exempt outfit..

 

My rule of thumb is drive 10 hours, use the 11th to get to a parking space. Unless you know what's reachable in less than 60 minutes don't chance it.
Plan ahead, always. And eyes pelled on your way to and from.

 

Thanked. Good advice except for dissing Truckers Path. It gives current available parking at a given truck stop or rest area, taken with a grain of salt. It also has ALL truck stops, including brand new ones that aren't yet in the paper books. I try looking up the address in Google Satellite and Street View and it shows grass and dirt, so you know it's new.

 

Also, reading the reviews of a truck stop on trucker path while highly annoying can give you an idea of whether or not it is a good truck stop or not.

 

Yeah I guess if taken with a BIG grain of salt Truckers Path can also be another tool that can help. Just dont rely on the available parking info to heavily... It only takes a few mins for parking situations to change drastically. A good driver can enter a Truck Stop and park in 2 to 5 mins.