No place to park and out of hours

Never. Not once in my career. There was this one time where I thought it would happen, running through Texas on a US highway with an oversized, it got dark before I could get to a truckstop, I thought that it would finally happen. I was mistaken. Found a section of road with a 30 ft shoulder. Pulled over and left the running lights on.

 

Parking on ramps is a bad idea. That being said it is legal in some places but not in most. If you plan ahead you shouldn't run into this issue. For example, I have a delivery in Dallas in the morning. I knew that running 560 miles wasn't gonna work for me today because I was short on hours so I planned for 4 different places to park depending on traffic and other random delays. Fortunately, I made it to within 40 miles of the customer (the third t/s on my list) before my hours were up.I could have pushed farther and chanced finding parking closer to my destination but I didn't and won't have to worry about scrambling for a parking spot later.

 

There's always a place to park....DOT or those pesky 4-Wheelers might not like your last minute preferences though....

 

70 has plenty of spots to park....

 

You will always see those drivers who were lucky enough to make magic parking spots appear wherever they need them by simply pushing the lil button with the red triangle on it.....

 

Dennis, finding parking at night can be nerve racking for some new drivers so that's why I think the best thing to do when starting out is to team until you get more comfortable with the job.

 

I'm more with BigChevy on this one, although I think there a few more than 4 parking spots between the T/A in Denver and Grand Junction. Certainly there aren't "plenty" of spots to park. Most of what is available is rest areas with the majority either prohibiting big rigs or with only a few parking spots. For this reason whenever I have to go through the Rockies on I-70 I trip plan to have plenty of hours available to get through. Never start over the pass with just enough hours to make it to Denver eastbound or make it to Grand Junction westbound, especially in winter.

Regarding the subject of the thread, yes when I was solo there have been time's on e-logs when I've run it down to the nub and looking desperately for a place to safely park. One particular time was on a country road in Texas, near the border with Mexico. There was no shoulder to speak of on a road raised above the level of the surrounding terrain, with minutes to go I found a place that required driving through a dry shallow ditch and found parking on a level spot in the grass. Peaceful night except for the border patrol shining their lights on my rig every hour.

 

the benefits of elogs never cease to amaze me

i cant wait to be forced to park on a shoulder or on-ramp because a computer tells me its unsafe to drive another 10 miles

off-ramps are so much safer

 

Take a walk around a crowded truck stop at 1:00 AM. That's when you'll learn how many creative ways you can park a truck. It never ceases to amaze me how many more trucks you can fit outside the painted lines.
Just remember, if you're blocking somebody, expect a knock on your window. Smile, apologize, move and take their space when they're gone.

 

My uncle Larry sometimes ducks into Lowe's and Home Depot parking lots. He has yet to be thrown out of one.