I find checking out online reviews from various sources for truck stops and shipper/receiver locations to be very useful on occasion and useless at other times. Just wanted to say a couple things about it and thank other drivers who do take the time to post them. My basic thoughts and experience are:
1. Truck stop reviews: Reserved parking is quite ubiquitous these days at most, not all, truck stops. I know that many drivers seem to be strongly against this practice and often leave bad reviews for truck stops simply because it has reserved parking. It tends to frustrate me because all those bad reviews skew the overall rating of a place. If you are at a PFJ or TA/Petro chances are they have paid parking spots. Posting a bad review for it isn't very helpful to others. If it only has paid parking, since that is not common, posting a bad review may have some merit. But, just because it does have some paid parking, I wish folks would stop dinging it.
2. Shipper/receiver reviews: This is where I really wish to thank other drivers who have taken the time and effort to post. On many occasions, these reviews provide very useful information about incoming procedures or other characteristics of the place that are helpful to know ahead of time. It is a normal part of my planning, when going to a place I haven't been to before, to go on Google maps and check out the reviews of the place. It is not uncommon to find posts that provide info about street parking near the place or other nuggets of useful info. To those drivers who do this, I sincerely thank you and I strongly encourage others to create these posts if you know something about a place you could share to help others, please do so. And, if you haven't discovered that you can often find this kind of info in the reviews of a place, know it sometimes exists and is often worth the time and effort to look at.
Any other thoughts or opinions about online reviews?
Online reviews
Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by Six9GS, Nov 10, 2020.
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rachi, Dale thompson, UturnGirl and 3 others Thank this.
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I will use paid parking occasionally. I have no problem with it. I'm glad other drivers ##### and complain about it. Just assures there will be a spot for me. One place in particular is Dukes in Mt. Vernon Texas. 10 dollars for parking all spots. The rest of you can go across the freeway to the Loves and deal with that S#!+show. Great place to get your hood ripped off of your tractor. Thank you!
dunchues, drh72 and Dale thompson Thank this. -
Also, that Loves is a TOTAL DUMP. Dukes is clean with great food choices too.
Dale thompson Thanks this. -
On-line reviews of shippers, esp. if to get in requires a quirky route, are very useful and appreciated.
rachi Thanks this. -
1) Have your company pay for the parking. If they don't they are not worth working for.
2) The best part of the shippers and receivers is the directions going in/out. Some places have 5 streets to use but only 1 is the truck route. Also good to know the procedures at a shipper/receiver ahead of time before arriving.
Make sure to contribute and not just use the info. Help another driver out! -
I should start leaving helpful reviews, I always appreciate when others do. Overnight parking availability and check in procedure posts have saved me hours of headache over the years.
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There is an app called Dock411 that gives info about different places. If enough drivers used something like this and left honest info, it could be a useful tool.
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