What % of all truck stops are tight backing only

See! Now you just TOTALLY confused him when you backed up.

 

Haha , that's what I was thinking

 

Don't let it scare you. Its all about angles and turn radius and setup. As others have mentioned always get out and look, ask for help if you need it.

Instructors reinforced this core concept while learning. ALWAYS know where your trailer is at.

Why? because there's going to be that one time your in the truck and your company trainer is going to be spacing off in his phone and if you short a corner like a student in a CR England truck did this week. You'll tear off/ damage another drivers turn signal/headlight. Happened just earlier this week as my instructor and another student turned by the petro station. So after they stopped back at the school we needed to fuel. So the rest of us hopped back in the truck to just go see the damage. Wasn't bad but the O/O was pretty pissed. Wasn't even a tight turn mid day.

 

^^^^^ Yup. You don't need a degree in physics, just common SENSE! . . . The set up was so wrong, I was grinding my teeth as I watched it. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard when the setup is SOOOOO off. I'm so glad I'm not OTR anymore, but there are days I gotta take a break or something at a J or L or P . . . just WOW..Wow..just WOW!

 

Also it's a bit deceptive. Because he gets tunnel vision and must hit the first spot he sees he totally misses that there is a pull through open. On the very last couple of frames when he pulls around you can see the space between the green and light tan (dirty white?) trucks there is an open spot behind that truck also. Of course he might not have room to get sure, but he never even tried to see if something else was available. Unless you have reason to believe there are no other spots open (small lot you can see every spot, or it's 11:00pm in a city...) it's worth the time to see if an easier spot is available. Remember there are no awards for taking 30 minutes to back in a difficult spot. There are bad awards though for taking off a hood because you didn't see those 10 open spots on the other side of the lot...


-Steven

 

Man, that tight of a space ain't worth it. You tap that truck and it's a reportable incident. Move on and drive another day.

 

I'd be more worried about the guys next to me pulling out at 3 in the morning and wiping out the front of my tractor. A couple of weeks ago I parked early in the afternoon at the Petro in Ontario, CA. As I surveyed the situation, I decided to pull out and find a parking spot (in the same lot) that wouldn't put me at as much risk. Which I did.

I deliver right near that Love's in Tacoma every now and then. Fortunately, I've gotten to know the receiving dock manager who lets me dock the trailer and bobtail over to the truck stop for the night and come back in the morning to pick up my unloaded trailer.

 

Ya know, I just noticed, after watching the vid again, that the white "maybe Celadon" or ???? slid in to the spot he passed up, ON the opposite side. WTF?!?

He should've gotten out of the island and got that spot without taking his 30 . . . LoL. And yes, to the previous poster, I DID see / now, that the Green and tan trucks had a pull thru. Just WOW!
Sorry, Dave.

 

Getting a no parking ticket is not better because then you would have done a load or two for free because you're now paying for that ticket.If I know of any bad trkstops like this Pilot,I'm going to be getting out my pocket size truckstop book,an atlas and find something better.

 

Pull ups are not shameful in my book. That said, pull ups that do not improve or worsen your position are ridiculous and show you need to think about what you are doing. Blind siding is tough for the best of drivers. There is no shame in getting out and looking. Far better than hitting another truck..