truck stops that charge for parking

This discussion is something that has been ruminating in my head for some time, especially the trip I just made from Indy to Edmonton. Take into account that most of the truck stop infrastructure and business model was put into place years ago when the competitive nature was to provide the AMENITIES we as truckers need and desire when doing our jobs. This is a bygone era when a stop owner might be doing good to pull a penny a gallon margin, all while employing jockeys, desk ladies, etc,. Showers, 24-hour FULL SERVICE restaurants, and YES, even FREE PARKING were all reasons to patronize one place or the other. Today, the general trend is to go ahead and throw up that canopy, pump that fuel for 35-50 cents a gallon PROFIT(not margin-PROFIT), stick in a subway, and if our 16 parking spots are full, oh well. I think that if a place wants to cater to truckers, great. They should provide AT LEAST an amount of "free" parking proportionate to the amount of fuel they pump. Do you think a suburban walmart should charge for parking, or should they build a 100,000 s.f. store with 16 parking spots, take the profit, and lay the parking burden onto someone else, or should they do what makes sense, cater to their customers?

 

In the perfect world we all may have a fuel tanker fill up the tanks accordiing to weights and mobile truck and trailers washers on the fly.. wouldn't matter where one parked.. Many locations for commercial fuel networks provide nothing more than pumps and the occasional portable toilet .. If it works and or what you want go for it.. 16 parking spaces may be all they can afford to provide.. there's a pilot in new jersey with one spot and no showers... yay ! Best plan your necessities well..

I'm all for super sized truck stops but how many can afford ?

 

Think about why anyone should cater to truck drivers. Seriously. When it comes down to it, most don't appreciate a ####### thing you do for them and they will destroy it soon enough with their piss bottles and feces bags and piss all over the ground, trash the place and the lot, why would anyone cater to a clientele that hasn't proven they've been potty trained yet???

 

Yeah, there IS that, which is part of the other side of the argument. Best way to combat/correct that part is to call these guys' employers when you witness the abuse taking place. Hate to see a guy trying to feed his family lose his job, but I hate even more walking thru his piss in the parking lot. BTW, Great laugh at your comment on the Mack hood ornament in another thread, guy failed to see the humor.

 

Apparently some think potty trained means don't mess in your undies..

 

I thought it was funny too. Im surprised he didn't, but hey, lol, it is what it is.

 

Most of the companies really don't care. Some know they are scraping the bottom of the barrel of humanity with some of these guys.

 

I don't mind paying but the last time I did and the time before that, I had to deal with lot lizards, people trying to sell me crap out the back of their car, people asking for money, rats, garbage piled in the garbage cans and a bunch of rude people in the truck stop. I don't mind paying if they would keep the place clean and run off the people who pound on the door asking for money or to service me.

I have one driver who refuses to pay, he said for the amount of money that he puts in fuel in the truck at T/A exclusively, he should never have to pay. I understand his point, I forgot how much fuel it is but it is a lot.

it was bad 35 years ago.

 

Yeah, I like that J as well. Big lot that doesn't seem to fill up "too fast". I just have a real dislike for Denny's. Even the stand alone ones that aren't in truckstops are pretty bad.

 

Ya who even has a buffet anymore.