Trucks Parked in Live lanes at Rest Areas is this now the Norm?

I started landscaping business on my own, got some tools and already 3 jobs in, 2 customers waiting on me.. meh, my body is sore but the beers are cold in the fridge and I always got a place to sleep in peace... steady as she goes

 

HS very little to do with load planning. Truck volumes have probably increased 25% in the last 2 years. With eldest dispatch or load planners give you tight runs. If you are running reefer how is your load planning going to help when a 5 pm unload is delayed to 11 pm? Truck only rest areas are often filling up with nomadland types sleeping in cars and old vans in a truck space. States and cities have done studies on Truck parking. 100,000 more spaces are needed in the USA. Western Canada is a joke. Crappy Truck stops and either no rest areas or car only. Here is one of my ideas
You cannot build a mall or high rise without parking spaces. These huge distribtion centers should be compelled to provide overnight parking. If Costco has 200 doors they should have say 75 spaces. Make it part of zoning laws. Staying at deserted gas stations is a bad idea unless you have a death wish. Carriers also have skin in this game. As a company driver why should I have to search for a spot. Not my truck .
In areas where parking is nuts carriers should pay for reserved parking or contract for spaces elsewhere . Some mega carriers have their own lots or spaces in truck stops. A few years ago you could easily park by 7 pm
Now some truck stops are full before 5. Some are full almost 24 hours a day. End of rant!

 

Drivers running elogs and don’t plan their stops. North Dakota is cracking down on guys who just stop on the highway and take their 10. Been giving tickets on the interstate.

 

'If they want us to stop, supply us a place to stop': As pandemic eases, owner-operators take stock of parking, biz pressures, more

 

It is definitely an Ontario problem. On Routes are and always have been a disgrace on the best of days. Couple that with the quality of "drivers" that run that province and it is what it is.

Best thing you can do is either think a little more outside the box or do what I do and find a way to stay out of Ontario as much as you can

 

There are in fact many solutions for how to solve the dilemma of truck parking. However, we need regulation at government level to insatiate needed improvements, because obviously leaving them with the private sector has failed us. We need a governing body to assess and enact the changes.

For this to happen you'd all need to unionize under one national union and petition the Feds fiercely.
Currently, you are disjointed, fragmented, and therefore powerless.

The existing unions of today have failed us all, I don't care to point fingers. They're all useless in this regard.
So a new Union needs to be formed, decentralized, and without a governing chair to limit corruption.

The conditions you bare witness today are those of union-busting, corruption, deregulation and privatization of essentials services.

Truck stops should be robust service centers with enough parking spaces to accomodate +20% of typical traffic. If you notice a Walmart parking lots, there are almost always usually a few spaces open to park. They designed their lot and store based on population size and density, etc, to accomodate.

Truck stops need health services, facilities with a nurse and doctor present to address any potential health needs of a driver.

Also security should be standard, walking guards to prevent cargo theft or any such lesser misdemeanors.

 

Truck stops are a business. They exist to show a profit. How many drivers buy fuel at some ma and pa stop and then park at a j or ta? Opening a a TS in many areas is a nightmare. Lots of not in my backyard citizens. Ancient zoning bylaws and overpriced property. There is no profit in parking spaces so something else has to generate cash. Could be the overpriced goods in the store, profit on fuel or??? As the situation gets worse we will see more pay to park. Unions are a bad idea. Drivers,especially o/o always express their independence. Do you want these people to be union puppets. Very few unions today have any strength. It is impossible to have one strong union across Canada.

 

And you are willing to pay for all of this? Or are you one of those "I do rhis, so you owe me" people?

 

my friends, judging from replies above you choose to keep swimming in the cesspool you've yourself created, I'm out landscaping, see ya bye!

 

Exactly!!