Leave Enough Space - Rest Areas

I dont know why anyone even parks in rest areas. I only did it twice and it wasn't the parallel park type. Do you guys drive until your hos is down to 2 minutes and just rush into a rest area squeezing past all of the crooked trucks? Every place I go I have about five or six truck stops that I know will have parking available.

 

I like parking in rest areas usually it's because it's easy on and easy off. Generally I will try the rest area before a truckstop because that's where everyone wants to be at. Allot of the times getting into or out of a truckstop can be a rat race. Generally allot more quieter and hardly ever have to deal with a lot lizard or a bum.

 

Driving teams its less time consuming to switch out in a rest area if you don't need anything from the truck stop. I wont even get into the whole switching without stopping stuff. Wouldn't want to be the cause of bad habits developing :/

 

Being on Elogs, certain runs I've had, to make everything click for the delivery appointment and next pickup appointment, the timing made me have to use rest areas instead of truck stops. Try finding a truck stop parking space on I-26 near Charleston, SC at 2 am. One customer in AZ we had to do a 10 break in the staging area with no facilities across the street from the customer instead of at a truckstop in Eloy. If we had done the break in Eloy, wouldn't have enough hours left for the delivery appointment and then make it back to El Paso before running out of hours again. By not making it back to El Paso the driver would lose out on a run that would mean the difference in about an $800.00 paycheck and a $1200.00 - 1500.00 paycheck for the week. For many of us, using rest areas or staging areas depends on the type of freight and the customers appointments which could not be changed. One example, during freezing weather, and no in-transit heating system on some trailers for liquid chemical loads, a few degrees loss in temperature of the product can mean customer rejection of the load or even a couple of hours longer to pump the load off because it has thickened. When this happens you may just lose a few hundred dollars pay that week. That's what's required to keep the $65K annual pay consistant in some types of trucking.

 

Agreed, sometimes you have no choice in the matter to make appointments and especially when traveling beyond 22:00. It is what it is and there's not much can be done about it in some situations and in some areas. It's park HOWEVER and WHEREVER you can park or risk getting that egregious violation that puts you over you allowance and potentially fired.

That said, if you end up parking and pluging up the exit hole with all but 2 inches clearance for those trying to leave or who could not find a spot, expect irate drivers to wake you up regularly with their horn or worse.

 

I would rather park at a rest area. Quiet, not a lot of riff raff, and if you run west, a lot of them are in beautiful places. Beats looking at Swift try not to hit the Prime truck that's parked where he shouldn't be.

 

always the Swiftie jokes, you know some of us swift drivers actually do know how to back....

when I was otr I preferrred rest areas, a lot of times late at night it was easier to find parking in those, nowadays when I have to stay out overnight I park at the store I delivered to and the other nights I bobtail to a side street or the truck stop close to the dc, being bobtailed I can always snatch a spot all the other guys leave alone.

 

The other Swifties can. You can't. Don't think I don't know where you are. And what you're wearing. By the way. Your socks don't match. And put the phone down while you're driving. And really, who wears aviator sunglasses at night??????













Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

 

Let's see, Fog so bad you can't see, snow, rain, wind, 10-100. At least I park straight. Greatful to have a place to get off the ribbon. Can't always see a feeder road. Any port in a storm. Fog & white outs are the worst. Left out dust storms. Idiots stop on the shoulder. Inch your way to safety. Park however you can. Straight is better. I would rather be in a bent up truck than a box. Tornados are fun on TV different in person. The dust is brutal. I can't see thru dirt. Snapped my 5th wheel off once. Found my trailer 3 miles away. 2 mph slower Wife & I would have bought it. Ma Nature is a beast.