NC , enforcing no ramp parking laws

I know a safety manager for a trucking company & here's a true story. One of their trucks was rear ended by a drunk Army officer who was also speeding. The truck was stopped on the interstate due to the interstate being closed for ice. Some local lawyer rushed to the scene and photographed the car jamed under the truck trailer, then photographed all the trucks in line in front of the wreck. Every trucking company that was stopped was sued, and from what the safety manager told me, it costs them millions. Millions to the guys parents and free medical care for life. This Army officer is like a little child due to brain damage. What the jury was not allowed to be told is, the Army has to care for the guy by providing free medical care and a disability pension for life. The lawyer knew all this but swayed the judge to keep it secret so he could get his multi-million dollar fee. The jury socked it to the trucking companies, not knowing the Army would take care of everything.

 

Sucks.

Mark posted this a couple of weeks ago.

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/threads/parking-in-nc-along-i-77.287157/

I do know that at the Pilot location at I-77 and I-85, they pretty much leave the trucks alone that have to take the On Ramp for parking, due to space limitations.

I don't endorse ramp parking, but if I have no other choice and have to park on one, , I always make sure it's the On Ramp only and with my parking lights on.

 

I saw them crawling over trucks in a rest area in VA this week where the trucks had parked along the shoulder going in to and out of a rest area.

Not a pleasant way to begin the day, for sure.

I don't know if it's just a rumour, but I remember hearing about DOT in Michigan waking drivers up and when they plunked in the seat to open the window, demanding to see the log since they were now behind the wheel and "on duty"... Don't know if that is true but I stay away from scale houses and rest areas if i can avoid them.

 

There was a vineyard about 10 years ago that had it out to shutdown a brickyard General Shale, and they hated trucks.www.b-ville.net
They ended up shutting down the brickyard because the vineyard said the brickyard was contaminaing the grapes, and the trucks were dangerous.

 

I've been out here 3ish million miles and have N-E-V-E-R parked on a ramp for a break. In fact, that CFI wreck judgment amount wasn't just from the driver, it was from the family of the passenger in the car that was killed. When I was at Landstar, they took such issue with parking on ramps that if you were breaking down and parked there waiting for a service truck or tire repair, you had 10 minutes to get your triangles out and in place or they pulled your lease. Another company was sued when the driver had to hit an off ramp because his truck was shutting down and as he was getting out to get his triangles when an elderly couple hit his truck because they weren't paying attention

 

How many rest areas are now closed and overgrown for no reason other than keeping trucks from parking in someone's backyard? The cost of building in truck only parking ramps on America's interstates is ridiculously low. There is no respect for the American trucker! A simple widining of the road a few feet every few miles while it's under construction will cost no more and solve the so-called problem of the "tired trucker". But unfortunately, people want their goods on the shelves and care less about our quality of life on the road!

 

If we want places to park, how about respecting the places that allow it in the first place?? The pigs that litter this industry have ruined a lot of places for us. Can you blame places for not allowing it? Even ramps, where these fat ### slobs throw piss bottles and garbage and even bags full of defecation. You can't blame them. Not in the least.

 

That's a separate issue that does need to be addressed, but it has nothing to do with the lack of planning at the state level DOT for rest areas. Rest areas and truck parking needs to be addressed by the DOT as they renovate the Interstate system. They just love to criticize the industry for having tired drivers, but do nothing about fixing the problem other than instituting new regulations that don't create one new parking space...

 

Drive at night and sleep during the day, parking is never a problem. Or just run the Midwest.

 

You mean lack of planning by "truck drivers".