Parking

On the shoulder you could be dead or someone else may be.
Don't even think about parking for 10h on a shoulder.

 

Last few days they are towing trucks off the streets in New York.

 

Welcome to a trucker’s second greatest fear, after hitting a sudden dead end.

 

Plan your trips and time so you can find parking.
Simple.

Not so much in many parts of the country.

But before I accept any load I am looking at where and when I will park for the next night or two.
It might mean to reserve a spot at a TA/Petro, Flying J/Pilot - but one of my must haves is a decent place to park for the night.

I will pay for a spot, no problem.
But if I can't be certain of someplace to shut down safely, I turn down the load.

 

Parking is a major challenge especially in the North East. You can plan until the cows come home but things change in this business FAST. The only thing you can truly plan on is that your plans will fall apart. Get used to sleeping at places you wouldn't normally think a truck would be. HINT: it's not a truck stop.

 

They have paid reserved parking at truck stop now. You also kinda learn what truck stop fill up early and ones that usually have parking if stopping later at night. They have app you download to cell phone called Trucker Path other drivers report how the parking is. Since it other drivers they can always put wrong information on the app. I used the paid version and it kinda expensive just for an app but you can then see more history. Usually when they are listed as full no parking, it's full. It's that 5-7 pm when it's listed at some parking. Your taking chance of it being full no parking when you get their.

 

Learn how to stealth park, and in extreme situations get as creative as your mind can get. Let me tell you I sure have. 95% of the time my trip plan goes accordingly. When I say trip plan I always have a plan A and a Plan B. About 40% of the time I have to resort to Plan B. If Plan B doesn’t work out and my clock is running down, that’s when I go into MacGyver mode. Literally will park this thing anywhere it will fit that I won’t get in trouble. Or that I hope I don’t get in trouble. Lol I’ve parked in some pretty wild spots over the last four years. So far I haven’t received any tickets or been towed. So I can’t complain. 90% of running out of parking spots? All depends on where in the country you’re traveling. There’s certain places where it’s full basically all the time, certain places by 3 PM everything is full, and certain places where you never have to worry at all. Learn the difference between these places and plan accordingly

 

When was the last time you spent a million dollars to help someone out? Land is expensive where there is not enough truck parking. Truck parking takes up a lot of land. Truck parking doesn't generate a lot of revenue many drivers simple refuse to pay for parking and risk parking someplace illegal or hidden, they hope. Most drivers TRY and cope by starting to drive as early as they can, HOPING that will mean after the customers and dispatchers get finished wasting all the time they want, you can still make your appointments and find parking before all of the parking is gone. The Northeast and California are among the worst places to find truck parking. It is one of the very real stresses associated with this job. Having some loud reefer trailer or worn out container hauler's truck whining and leaking air all night doesn't make finding a parking spot always the end of your struggle. Many drivers keep a secret list of parking spots to themself, but most drivers park at customers, truck stops, rest areas.

 

Is that a company reimbursable expense or just a road expense for the driver?