No 2 a.m. parking at truckstops?

I try to find the small mom and pop truck stops to overnight at, Even if its "off the beaten path" a couple miles. Most times there are parking spots any time of day. Ill stop at pilots throughout the day to fuel and grab a shower on my 30, this way I don't need to at night, allowing me to stop anywhere. The big chain truck stops are the ones that seem to be packed at 5PM....

 

They fill up first because most companies have their drivers fuel there and they have free showers and drink refills.

I love stopping at small no name stops for that "mom and pop" feel, but having to go to bed without a shower and getting up in the morning and smelling myself reminds me why I love Love's and PFJ so much.

One thing I read on this forum which has been proven true a couple of times....if you can find yourself even a stupid place to park and watch the lot. The first set of headlights you see come on start moving to get into that spot. Several times I've parked and within 5 minutes someone pulled out. I went and got their spot. But had I simply swung through the lot it would have appeared to have been full.

People come and go all the time. Not every truck you see there at 2am is doing all night there.

 

That's when I prefer to be on the road in winter. At night. There is next to no traffic to wreck.

Around here, when it snows, people get downright stupid. You literally cannot drive anywhere without getting behind some ding-dong driving 5mph with their high beams and four ways on. That's in the daytime anyway.

Once the sun goes down, then it's time to work. Then it becomes me against Mother Nature. Not me against Grandma going to the store for the last gallon of milk.

In the winter, I do a fair amount of running across 68 in Maryland and West Virginia. That's about the toughest I deal with. But, I'd willingly do that at 3am in a whiteout, over 6am Baltimore on a clear sunny day.

 

Not all of us run out our 11/14 every day, and then need to get moving after just 10 hours.

 

Since the mandate I've noticed spots open up frequently through the night but I like to keep a schedule where I'm shutting down between 0400-0600. This way I know guys that shut down as early as 1800-2000, which probably had to fit in a tight spot, want to get rolling as soon as their 10 is up or possibly their 8 so they don't have to struggle at end of day parking. I love rolling nights, specifically due to rolling into the last 30 minutes of that #### ELD knowing there will be a spot. Fueling is in/out at 0200 and can squeeze a 30 easily without holding anybody up or I just park on get on ramp with a wide shoulder for 30. Hopefully the 30 will be abolished and can roll on a full tank.

 

My least favorite time to run is between Noonish and around midnight. Any time the shift ends after eight pm, or even earlier depending on where I'm at I cringe. I've had write ups with big companies and long talks with owners of small ones.

The big companies are always the same, "If you run out of driving time before you find a place to park, that indicates poor trip planning"

Kiss my ###.

 

What the hell? Do they want drivers to get HOS violations?

Edit: woops, read that backwards I guess. Why would running out of time NOT indicate poor planning?

 

as an old long hair rock and roller let me just say when and if like REO Speedwagon I've learned how to keep on rolling..
got to roll with the changes baby so if you want to play the game you got to learn the rules. and they do change...
29 years out here I've gotten to where now if I win a little money like scratch off lottery tickets I allot money for parking at night..I'm not struggling to make ends meet scrimping and scraping I eating nice I eat what I want. but the bottom line, I've now learned that if you want to park and not play drive around all night but just go to bed.. Say the heck with it just suck it up and pay for it. so basically each week I will take about seventy-five bucks just put into an envelope on the side so if it runs into the fact maybe three days out of the week between 15 to $18 to safely Park and securely Park!!!
knowing that unlike the guy at whiteland Indiana a couple weeks ago with his big long fancy Peterbilt leased to Mercer who parked in the middle of the parking lot creating his own spot sadly A Eastern European Chicago based driver GPTransco just a Rollin and a texting away witnesses were around came around the corner and KABOOM!!!! crunch! took off the hood and the fender but the worst part for Peterbilt man was when the cop came out after he called this is the part that sucks to be him; the cops like I'm sorry but you called me out even though it's private property I will file a report. however let it be known that when I take pictures of the scene you're going to see where the yellow paved lines are and that most drivers from the old school now park in designated parking spots. if they wanted you to park where you were they would have had yellow painted lines is that not correct?? you can see the defeat in his face already forming on his face as disappointment begins as the UHOHH begins to really set in. sosmr. cop says I'm going to be taking a picture and I'm going to have to notate that you were illegally parked for the insurance purposes and for his company to because I have to give an honest report and it clearly shows where the yellow lines are. and when other people do the create a parking spot and you're about 4 into creating where the parking lot should end to make plenty of room for turning..
so when it comes to create a parking be careful sometimes you win sleep all night no one bothers you sometimes you lose top May wake you up you may find yourself with sometimes you but allowed to sleep all night long like Illinois does on the toll road Oasis is sometimes depending on who's working that 294 Hinsdale if it's good old Tim he's going to walk up and slap that $250 parking sticker on but not tell you but it's like getting a room at the Hilton you're going to have to pay for it but he'll let you sleep..I was the recipient of that one time at monee Illinois two years ago parked outside of that pilot on the street where a lot of trucks were happily went to bed and woke up and hears this little yellow thing I'm thinking maybe oh it's one of these Eastern European companies putting up one of their little flyers nope it was University Park's finest with $100 parking ticket but I wasn't towed and I slept so I'm like well looks like I just stayed at a Holiday Inn that I never stayed at LOL pay the ticket and it was done.
so basically to make a long story short 75 bucks on the side if you don't shut down early enough of you know there's going to be no #### parking just simply pay you got the money on the side I look at it as money I'd scratch off at lottery tickets or buy some kind of nonsense for about 50 bucks or so so I left the money on the side so therefore when I pull in I could just pay the park I don't like it but I like knowing that I have a spot reserved I pull into this is the way the game is that's the way the game is once again it goes back to roll with the changes.. keep on rolling keep on rolling Roll With The changes. started for me back in 2003 won the first 14-hour clock came into play and so many drivers decide to leave the industry that we started the rent-A- foreigner program importing from Eastern Europe .now we import from everywhere else so does Canada.. now the only problem in Canada is they can't get all the Eastern Europeans in huge numbers or is because a lot of them sadly have criminal records they come from war-torn countries and they basically according to the prime Minister are not allowed into Canada because of past doings just like in the states back when I first started driving it was the same way in the early nineties to can you go to Canada know okay we'll put you on the list other people could go no but everybody knows if you had they record felony warrant or misdemeanor no Canada for you. ucan't get into Canada.. so they've started the Muslim exile and immigration from all over.. if you notice most of Ontario plated trucks nowadays start up companies in the last few years usually driven by a Muslim.. because basically like how we had to struggle to keep a driver shortage away we started our Eastern European rent a foreigner our brothers and sisters to the North theare doing same thing. sorry to sidetrack from the topic about parking at 2 a.m. or what to do if there's no parking or only paid to park places
so as far as not being able to park that's why I like to just reserve a spot when I know it's going to be an area where there won't be any parking or a lousy area where I want to feel like I've Park safely I just simply you know as what the 14 hour clock n2c sa2010 now and to elog probably next will be speed limiters and then mandatory dash cameras I have a feeling but who knows I can adapt because I look at the way the equipment is changed through the years I look at the fact that I sleep well at night and I just unlike others can adapt.. no I don't like it and I will voice my opinion but I still want to play the game so I guess none the less I have to abide by the rules and learn them so like I said I tell people I say do you make enough money are you working for some lousy company at pennies-on-the-dollar you have no money at the end of the week?! so just simply a lots of money figure 15 to $18 depending on which truckstop you use so you figure 15 boxes an average 4 days at 60 bucks that covers your for 4 days lot of times you might luck out and get parking where you need to but it's always best just to keep it on the side put it in an envelope and then that next week do it again and then it starts to build up next thing you know you got a hundred and fifty bucks over three or fou because you didn't have to pay every single night but the nice thing is you have the money you don't have to worry you could pull it and be like no parking okay I'm just going to pay to park be done with it enjoy a meal take a shower go to bed goodnight... so that's simply my point put it into the budget doesn't have to be as much as I do you could just do twenty bucks for one night but I just prefer to do it that way it's like okay let me just toss 50 or a hundred bucks on the side and doing envelope that way if I have to pay the park I'm done and I could rest peacefully like I said stars in 2003 with the first 14-hour clock and just like the Rock and roller in me as I sent that shut down at night like a plug in my little Roland micro cube amp in my electric guitar and gem mountain the stress of the end of the the bottom line is to keep on rollin Roll With The changest enjoy the weekend gang. currently noon March 2nd 2019 as I type this from the Love's in Ardmore Oklahoma because right behind me is the Michelin tire plant and I'm waiting on a load of tires for South Carolina. going to start contributing more here now that I'm able to actually get this thing to login properly so looking forward to commenting on certain things maybe some old post or creating some post but be safe out there and remember bottom line if you want to play the game sometimes you got to play by the new rules you may not like it but that's just the way it goes or get out I'm not ready to get out I just try to figure it out and see if I can make it work..and that's the nice thing about some of these scratch off lottery ticket I scratch how many I don't know how much I paid for a week quite a bit.. so if on odd chance win fiftybucks into the parking envelope fund it goes

 

You got a lot of interesting stuff to say but you make it too hard to read without punctuation.

 

That's the longest sentence I've ever seen. What I can get from it, he speaks the truth.