Legality was mentioned, In WI its legal as far as I know, in IA, its not. and there aren't always signs to that effect. Its not legal in IN. I noticed in NB that they drive posts making it difficult to park on ramps, this is at rest areas,too. Usually there will be no parking signs, but not always. AJ
Ah yes, that one is always fun. It happened to me one night in OH (south of C'Bus): I was so tired that I was about to fall asleep, so I saw a nice long get-off ramp and exited. Little did my tired eyes comprehend that the get on ramp ran right next to the ramp I was on, and the road the ramp ended in did not have nearly enough room for me to attempt a U turn (180). So I found the on ramp in the opposite direction and went to sleep, realizing that I would have to backtrack in the morning.
It is also enforced in PA...certain places you can't park on a ramp (southern portion of I81 comes to mind) and you can't park in some of the rest areas for more than 2 hours (central I80 comes to mind)... It is hit and miss from state to state. steved
one time I was absolutely forced to sleep on a ramp. I like to say never but I can't anymore. Last week I took an off ramp in WI and it wept around to the road. There was a truck parked on the shoulder of the off ramp in the middle of the curv with his trailer sticking almost two feet into the road. I came as close to hitting him as I'v ever been to hitting anyone. I had to creap by him in granny gear to make sure I didn't hit the trailer. That guy should be arrested and I tried to find a bear but of course they are never around when you need them
I'm sure it's overly wishful thinking, but has anyone compiled a list of states that allow/dont allow ramp parking? If not, maybe I'll start researching this once i'm on the road and need to kill time once in a awile.
I've seen fellow truckers getting tickets for parking on ramps, and others getting by with it. Here in MN the ramps clearly say Emergency Parking/Stopping Only. Just depends on if the officer needs a cup of coffee and a few donuts to make it through the night.
shoulda had the horn on the whole way around!! just to make sure he didn't pull out on ya of course<wink> just like the CDL manual says.
Probably wouldn't have ben too much of a problem with a regular van trailer but I was hauling a mobile MRI trailer which has a generator and a/c units hung on the front giving it a 96" king pin setting. I think you can just imagine how much front end swing that give me going around a turn
I'll check out the situation at the truck stop first. If there's ample parking I'll consider it, but to be honest, I actually prefer the ON ramp for parking, though with some conditions: It's got to have a fair sized extended shoulder, so I can actually NOT be on the road! it'll have to be in a fairly secluded area, etc. I'll put about 1/3 to 1/2 truck length buffer from the intersection so's there'll be a comfortable buffer. Though, I NEVER park on the off ramps. Ya have vehicles slowing, and exiting the freeway. There's a good chance some dingbat will mistake ya for a moving vehicle.....
