sleeping on fuel island

Let me just 1st state that I am a rookie. I have only been driving a truck about a year and a half. But all my life I have always over planned everything. On a normal day I have a place picked out to sleep with a backup. If there is any chance of being held up in a major traffic delay or being held up at a shipper/recciever my mind is usually going a mile a minute figuring out other places. I have always over planned things. When I drive I always think about "what ifs" . Now like I said I am still a rookie and have plenty more to learn about this buisness.

I can only speak for my self and any time I have a had a parking problem was my fault related to poor trip planning. I can't speak for other people. I regularly run my 14 hr clock down within an hour of running out of time every day. I don't take long breaks and don't enjoy hanging at truck stops I am usually taking a 10 and hitting the road my breaks never go over 11 hrs even 11 hrs is a rarity.

Like I said I am still a rookie. I don't run 48 states I run the northeast. From the tip of maine to the western NY/Ohio boarder across Pa I don't go any further south than that and don't go any further west than that. I can only relate to what I deal with. I cannot relate to OVR drivers I do not know what the parking is like out west or down south. So I guess I can say that I am fortunate that I only run the northeast were parking is only an issue at a few smaller truckstops and with proper trip planning I do not have issues with parking

 

ya got my respect harleyguy ! ....i think part of the problem is people that are just to dam lazy to properly park their trucks .

 

i'd like to know how you all trip plan.

cosidering you have no idea how the day is going to go.

construction, weather, animals, accidents. any number of things will screw you over.

 

That is true. I am sure it is part laziness part inexperience. I grew up around trucking. My dad drove for years made sure he drilled it into me that it was not the life for me. After I got tired of a good career I decided to get into trucking in my 30's and love it. My dad regularly tells me he considers me a rookie until around my 10 year mark LOL

I grew up seeing my dad back trailers. I regularly got to back trailers weather it be a camper, small boat at the boat ramp or just a small dump trailer behind our tractor In the yard. So long before I got into trucking I had backing experience. I see trucks parked where they shouldn't be at truck stops all the time when there are open spots. Are they the easiest spots to back into no bUT they are doable. There are plenty of lazy truckers but I have to assume a good amount of them are either scared or incapable of getting into the spots

 

yeah ya gota good point .

 

I have to assume you are taking about major delays? Construction, major accidents, animals breakdowns etc etc? Do you run into these types of major problems daily? I run into those problems to but not every day.If I plan on running 600 miles in a day I will usually have a few places in mind starting at about 300 miles into my day. Nothing concrete but just a few places in the back of my mind. Do I know that there will be a major issue 350 miles into my trip before it starts no of coarse not but I can plan for it just in case. Like I said in my previous post I only run the northeast. for all I know out west it could be 300 miles between rest areas or truck stops? (Just an assumption cause thats what you guys are making it sound like.)

Up hear I don't run any major stretches of road that I can't find a place to park with 50-75 miles weather it be northern maine, upstate NY, VT etc etc

someday when I get sick of being home every weekend (and sometimes a night or 2 during the week) I look forward to running to other parts of the country where parking is so difficult to find. Maybe my trip planning strategies will have to be revamped and adjusted to work but that is my job to complete as many safe miles in a day as I can and properly plan my trips with any and all types of delays thrown in the mix

 

I'm on loose leaf and don't drive for a mega carrier so I basically make it up as I go...

and 21 years of doing this for a living certainly helps..

 

yep !!


its pretty easy to tell just by reading the posts who really has experience from those that don't..

 

...well you know. I've got as much experience as anyone with my 0-1 years!!!

Nah...I hope I don't come across that way for real. I've got a big mouth, but I know my place.

I haven't had a problem, *yet*, but how I trip plan has more to do with the fact that I learned in the first month that it is not a good idea to let your clock get all the way down to where you legally have to stop. In those months, I was either lucky, illegal, or both. ....shhhh.

 

its really not that hard to figure out especially if one is on elogs.....

you plan for how many hours you have left to drive for example if you have 8 left you figure to drive for 7...then depending on what time it will be when you hit that 7 hour mark will one be able to find a place at xx or will one need to shut down a little before...or can one make it to the next place to park safely....

The unknown factors you talking about traffic, weather, etc....well sometimes one needs to just calculate and figure if one can still make it to their plan destination in time....

I never had an issue and still don't....and if on elogs, I had 2 rules....first last hour of driving I find a place to park, if parking isn't going to look so good then I would start looking at the 1-1/2 hour to 2hr mark for a place to park.

2nd......if I only have 1 1/2 hours left and i need to deliver a load well, guess they will get the load tomorrow as I am not going to be stuck out of hours because the reciever took so long to get me unloaded. (if they really wanted it today then tomorrow when i show up they should unload it that much quicker).

again I haven't had issues, sure may have had issues with dm, etc...telling me i had to move, but I just tell em nope, and ask them what flight they be flying in on so they can move the truck...really peed them off lmao...