Parking on the On-Off Ramps

If you aren't in the drivers seat, you are not "On Duty" and DOT can't inspect you. So when they knock on the door, don't sit behind the wheel. That's what I have heard anyway.

I have parked on ramps to take a quick nap when I'm drowsy. Never took a 10 hour break on one. Most companies don't allow you to and it is illegal in most states. They have "No Parking" signs on most anymore. My brother was parked on an off ramp taking a break and had car come off the highway and drive under his trailer. Don't know if he got in trouble or not.

 

I learned 2 lessons..

#1 Don't let your tanks get below 1/4 especially in the Winter time.

#2 Either run all night and sleep all day or find a good spot to park all night in the late afternoon before the truckstops get full.

 

Starts at 278.00 dollars a shot maybe you can afford to play screw them type of games. Most of the drivers that park on the ramps around Mojave and Tehachapi are on top of line or still in the lane. I was originally taught that you needed 10 feet between your truck and the driven part of the roadway or lane. If a cop is nice enough to wake you to move don't be a jerk. A lot of them just stick it to your drivers window then it gets added to your registration when you don't pay it..

 

I appreciated the patronizing words of advice, but I'll fight it as long as I can. With or without anybody's support.

 

Better to park than to crash...I've seen plenty of accidents where drivers probablly hoped to make it 20 more miles and never did...if your tired, park...rest...and if you get a ticket...take it all the way to the supreme court...

awesome post...you nailed it...it's all about human nature...

Planning...planning??

If the driver was the only one in the transportation loop...maybe you could plan...but when your being held up by the shipper or reciever, traffic, or traffic accidents, road construction and other variables through out the day...sometimes planning can be hard to do...

Trucking is not a science...you can plan to be in Chicago at 5:00pm all you want...but if an accident occurs infront of you and road closes for 1 hour...well...

You can plan to get out of recievers dock in 30 minutes...but if they keep you there for 4 hours...well...and deliver time is not reschedualed....

In the highly competitive world of freight...drivers are expected to deliver freight on time, while being held up all day...

Impractical rules just make it harder for the driver to do their job...

I say better to park, than to crash into over pass beam...like I saw the other day...

Like going to the bathroom, when you get sleepy, it just hits...you can't control when it hits...better to park and live, than to drive and die...

 

Well, I belive part of this is simply that the mom and pops are not about to use the land they buy to help truckers, if truckers are going to treat it like trash.

That said, I still want to open a small 'park-n-chow' type place for truckers someday, probably wont be anything massive, but even a few dozen parking spots would help right?

 

I have found most large stores, (I currently work for king soopers, and my other half works for walmart and we allow it) will allow truckers that are tired, or out of hours to park in the lot in the WAY back away from customers in the 'never used' spots.

 

I was fixing to start a thread asking what states allow parking on on ramps but wow....guess I didn't realize it was such a no-no.

I can understand when you are running on an interstate, like 70, 35, 44 etc.....there seems to be plenty of truck stops and rest areas for a guy to find a spot. But a couple weeks ago I was loaded in Quincy, ILL and had to jump on 36 to run across Missouri to get to Omaha. I new 36 had a truck stop at Cameron, where it intersects with I-35. But that is a few hours away. I had like 2 hours of drive time left. I figured there must be a rest area or ts somewhere. HA! I drove and drove and was dead tired. Finally I took an off ramp, made sure I was over the white line and shut it down for the night.

It's the only time I have parked on a ramp. I try to plan out where I'm gonna stay/stop but sometimes the best laid plans......

 

For the future on 36.
Hannibal, MO Just west of town BP truck stop
Monroe City, MO small stop about 3 trucks
Brookfield, MO Walmart is where some park.
Chillicothe, MO a small Caseys truck stop.
Cameron, MO Truck stop

If going farther west, nothing till about St. Joseph MO.

 

If I must I will park on the entrance ramp, never the exit ramp. The reason for this is, the entrance ramp vehicles are getting the speed built up they need to merge into traffic so they are going slower and can possibly avoid a rear end collision. The exit ramp most people are still running the same speed as they where on the highway and can rear end you at 65/70 MPH. At those speeds it is much harder to react to a situation.