Truck Trailer Parking & Storage

it is a SHAME that you even have to put that last paragraph in your post. We are professional drivers, and another driver should not have to ask fellow drivers to 'be clean'.

I have pulled into a mall parking lot once, actually it was the back end of a very big parking lot for Longhorn Steakhouse. I was actually in the mood for a good steak, and went in and got a porterhouse. I spoke with the manager beforehand, and said "hey, i hate to do this, but i am out of hours, i cannot drive right now because at X'oclock i turned into a pumpkin. I've parked as far away from everybody as i can so i am not in the way...will that be okay?" And i've never been told to move afterwards. Being professional and respectfull goes a long way. Some drivers would be good to pick up on that once in a while.

 

The parking lot at most Wal-Marts and retail stores in general is NOT reinforced concrete. They simply have a couple inches of blacktop which will support an average 4 wheeler without a problem. 18 wheelers on the other hand are too heavy for these lots and do cause premature breakdown of the lots. Ruts are the biggest factor, then would be broken curbs from drivers driving over islands, crushing landscaping bushes and shrubs, knocking over light poles, running over cart corrals or shopping carts, dumping pee bottles and trash, and finally hitting parked cars.

If you feel the need to shop at a Wal-Mart while in your big truck be smart; "follow the signs for the truck route and park 'BEHIND the store or on the SIDE' of the reinforced driveway." If you do this you will not be "damaging" the property and should not be bothered. Anyone that sees you back there may believe you are making a delivery or have just completed making a delivery. This works for all the big box stores and even strip malls.

 

4 wheelers are not looked at the same way as us in the big trucks . You should know we are always the one to blame .Theres just some scum bag truck drivers out there that ruin things for others.

 

True and not....There are many Walmart parking lots that turn into RV parks after dark, too. Regretfully for us truckers, most of them are older, more considerate folk and don't get blamed for the garbage or pee bottles. But some of them might and do drop off their waste (including blackwater that I saw a travel trailer dump on the side of a Walmart in NM) knowing that trucks would only be blamed.

The poster that mentioned about the surface being soft, this is also true. NEVER DROP A TRAILER IN A WALMART PARKING LOT, ESPECIALLY IN THE SUMMERTIME!!!!! Your landing gear may go right through the asphalt.

I make a point to keep toward the area of the store where the loading docks are just for that purpose. I would imagine if nothing else, there would be a provision for Walmart fleet trucks to park somewhere on the property where the tarmac would be re-enforced.

Good Walmarts on I-70: Oak Grove on the south side of the building, Terre Haute, go past the store on IN 46, turn left at the light, go behind the store and come out on a little side street on the south side of the building, Vandalia IL has truck parking spaces. I believe Marshall IL also welcomes trucks, though I haven't stopped there. I have shopped at Clayton OH x26, but it's tight and I never spent the night there.

 

If you go into WalMart to the maps section, Rand McNally does a "WalMart Edition" Map with store locations, addresses, phone numbers etc. for every store in the US. They sell a spiral bound version for $9.95. If you run into a WalMart private fleet driver, they can sometimes get the laminated trucker edition for you. Might cost you dinner, but it's worth it.
Russ

 

They better hope the wal-mart owner dosen't hear about it as a big teamster supporter trucks are always supposed to be welcome at walmart

 

I purchased, FROM a Wal-Mart, an atlas that specifies where the stores are from the Interstates....

However, NONE of them are listed as "trucker-friendly".

While on the road with my husband, this atlas has come in very handy.
It lists locations and phone numbers.

All hubby has to do is call the location he needs, ask them if they have truck parking, and if they don't, is there a nearby place where he can park.

As truck drivers, let's face it.....MOST places do not allow big truck parking, in order for us to shop for our necessities.

And that is because a very FEW of us leave our trash, pee bottles, and poo bags behind when we leave.

There WERE MANY, MANY Wal-Marts that made truck parking a part of their design when building that Wal-Mart.

A WHOLE LOT of them have since discontinued allowing big trucks to park...even for shopping.

BECAUSE of "nasty, trashy,inconsiderate,filthy" truck drivers......

If it costs MORE to pay people to clean up after us,
then why would they allow us to park there???


JMHO
Judi Kay

 

the Super WalMart in Delavan, WI, I-43 exit 21 i think it is..ive spent a few nights there, nice people, strip malls infront of walmart, good chinese food restaurant there.

 

That one looks hard to get into
Off to the left and up the hill
Its amazing how fast that area has grown

 

I dont think there is a hill by the Walmart, Walmart is on flat ground there