Iowa dot plans to help truckers find parking

I'm in Michigan, well, Indiana right now. I paid for parking last night at 2100 hours... Never had to do that here in Fremont IN. Especially on a Friday night. I spoke with another driver down in Fort Wayne IN prior to making it to Fremont an hour up the road. There are three truck stops at one exit on US-24 in Ohio, between Fort Wayne and Toledo. He stated he drove by there around 1830 and said all three truck stops were full and the drivers were parked well down the road on the get on and get off ramps, along with the shoulders. He runs a regular dedicated automotive route, he said he has never seen that before. Myself, if true, I have never seen that either at that location. And never on a Friday. There are three trucks stops here in Fremont, all were full, just a few paid parking spots left here at the Pilot. I have never seen it this full on a Friday night, NEVER.

 

There's another reason short moves should be allowed and not interrupt the sleeper or off duty period. When the spaces start loosening up the guys on the ramp should go to the legal space rather than stay a waiting duck on the ramp. But he will be penalized for doing that if he is under load. Stupid.

Same goes for the people that pull into the truck stop and park stupid late at night. I don't have a problem with it as long as you wake up at 4 or 5 am when people are waking up and leaving and move to a designated spot.

 

I believe so, I'm in the automotive sector, Just In Time... We already have drivers running out of hours at the docks. The parking, I have been off for the past two weeks, and I just got here last night, and if what I am seeing is a sign of things to come in my little 150 mile trip, we are in big trouble out here. People will lose their lives until this mess is sorted out, many more than the 26 lives ELDs were supposed to save. When you have trucks parked on the interstate and state highway shoulders in all directions... If you have been out here any amount of time, you know the outcome, and it is not good.

 

Good post Justrucking2............

Here's the Problems......
First off, It's NOT supposed to be this way!! The way Commerce has grown, Its Unhealthy for the Driver.
Our Highway system and Truckstops/Rest areas cannot handle his amount of trucks

Trucking companies Don't care /Businesses don't care- Both continue to Grow without Thinking of the Driver and the consequences they Endure.

Your Not suppose to be Nose to Tail on the Highway (Cant Breathe)

Take these 2 points of travel that are probably the most congested for trucks..

I-70 from Indianapolis,In to Columbus,Oh AND I-81 from Harrisburg,Pa to Chattanooga,Tn
Youy can't go more than 5 SECONDS between seeing a Truck..Totally Unsafe and not acceptable to me- Way Too much Volume of Trucks and Business/Commerce doesn't care

The End Results are Catastrophic accidents, Drivers Stressing out to unhealthy conditions- And Parking issues at the End of the day.

What the Solution? Stabilize Commerce- Stop the Growth- Quit letting Population grow in THIS Country- Quit Allowing everyone from other countries to Domicile here.

America is NOT the answer anymore to others coming here.

Population has grown 300% in the last 20 years- That's not just from making babies- That's a Product of bringing millions over here.

So,as a driver ,What can a person do to ease the stress of this horrible problem we have today?

Not too much.

What I do is this.......I Drive SLOWER than everyone else- Which means I lessen the Stresses of Nose to tail- or constantly needing to Pass someone- If the Speed Limit is 65-Im doing 60

What Else I do? I don't THINK about Hours, I don't think about Logs- It eases up the Day 1000%........Ive been out here Long enough to get a general idea what it takes to start/stop within a 14 hour day

Same thing from Memphis to Texarkana- I Just kick back and Watch the Stressed out trucks pass me on the Left- I can "Feel" the Stress in them, I really can... Theirs No Room for error on these highways anymore- And Certainly the Pay does NOT reflect the added stresses these days for most of these mileage based trucking companies

What does the future look like? Not Good,If nothing Changes, Gotta SLOW this Growth down, Its Gotta Slow Down or you guys will never get anything done with the Delays and disasters that will be a daily occurence

 

It was snowing last night, just light squalls, nothing major in the least, and the rest areas up in Michigan were already filling up at around 5pm, which I never see on a Friday evening, this is my regular route of a few I travel throughout the week... I ran down to Fort Wayne IN from just east of Lansing MI. There are few truck stops between here and there, and fewer rest areas. I delivered and headed North, I finally found parking up in Fremont IN at the Pilot, only pay spots available. This was a Friday night, this place is normally half full. Last night, the Shell across the street was full and the Petro across the Interstate was packed to the gills. Other than the few pay spots, they were stacked like cord wood in this Pilot I'm sitting in. I have never seen it like this on a Friday night, NEVER. And I am talking of at least a good 12 years of running around down here.

 

Heres another example. Oak Grove Kentucky, 4 truck stops. 3 are pilot and Jays. Drove through 3 of the places the other night at 10pm ish. Not a spot or reserved spot I could find. Slept on ramp. Nearest truck stop is 80 miles west in kuttawa bet that was full too. So how does Eld help this. I guess people with eld will be outlaws soon.