A suggestion (just a suggestion, mind you!) to wannabes from a wannabe.

You got that right! Sci-Fi, Law Enforcement and Westerns seem to be the most popular viewings in the lounge which is why I usually hang out mostly in my sleeper. You rarely get to choose the station but once in a while you get it all to yourself.

 

If there is a bar to sit at in the restaurant (like in a J) then you can learn allot lol.
If a driver is sitting at the bar, he/ she normally is looking for some type of conversation. If they wanted to eat without distraction they will normally go to a table.
On the fuel island thing.
I follow what I saw another poster say. If I can get done what I need to get done, before the truck behind me is done fueling, then I will go in.
Otherwise I will park the the truck first.
I am bad about only eating one meal a day most of the time, and it will not be one I get after fueling, unless I am parking.
I just do not like to stop unless necessary, until I have too.
I may also pull into the pumps, wait for a clear one, and pull thru. I will not go into the TS till I am away from the pump, even if I don't need fuel.
I will wait for the pull up area to be clear, then I will use it. This practice has bit me bad before, when I get stuck waiting for 10+ min before I can even go in, but I still think it is the better practice.
The way I see it, I will be inside less time than it will take someone to fuel 90% of the time. Since I am just using the facility's and getting a coffee.

On the pulling up far enough to fuel a reefer.
I use to pull one, and I still normally cannot pull up far enough for you to do that. Most truck stops do not have enough room for me to pull up and extra 20 feet, and not have the nose taken off of my truck.
I realized this when I drove reefer, and did not complain. Though I would ask the driver in front of me to please pull up a little extra if possible on the radio. This worked some.

 

I'm glad he mentioned the bar because that's what I meant lol. I would think it's a bit strange if a stranger just came and sat with me at a table lol.

The fuel island thing is like he said. There's an unwritten rule about it and that is a MAXIMUM of fifteen minutes inside the ts or you're probably going to be hunted down and belittled and if they can't find you you'll be hearing a page soon from management lol.

If I think I'll be in there longer than 15 minutes then I'll park it. What happens sometimes though is you go and pee and grab a drink and stand in line for 10 minutes which really isn't the drivers fault or if you scaled before you fueled and go in to pee, get a drink and get the ticket, sometimes they take their sweet ### time getting you the ticket.

But NEVER under ANY circumstances park there and then go in and sit down to eat or shower unless you like living dangerously. AND NEVER PARK ON THE #### SCALE PEOPLE!!! Actually ran into that once believe it or not, I #### you not! People gotta be a bit off their rocker to do that.

 

I ran into this once before to at the hook on the circle in Indy. Sitting there waiting for this truck and someone pops on the radio, I think that guy walked inside the store. Sure enough 20 minutes later here he comes strolling to his truck. Turns out he hadnt driven otr in about 15 years and didnt know you were supposed to turn the cb on for the hooks scales so he pulled on then walked into the store to give her the info.

 

It isn't ... trust me.

 

The guy I'm talking about was sleepin' lol. It was late at night and I just picked the load up and was ready to rock'n'roll and dontcha know, ####### was camping there for the night!

I don't know why management didn't say anything (they weren't very busy though small ts but the spots were all taken) maybe he hadn't been there too long by the time I got there.

 

Fairly standard SOP, when I pull forward after fueling, I try to be as quick as possible inside in case the driver behind me is in a hurry.