On and off ramps parking

Right, you should always make plans for getting tired. And follow through with them no matter what. If you get tired before you planned on getting tired, keep driving cause you made plans. Plans are the most important thing ever.

Oh, and if your planned stop is full, just park wherever you please and set the brake. Cause you had plans to be there. Period.

 

What annoys me is states like Nebraska, wide open, and they have a lot of rest area that havn't been updated since the 1960s. And they won't let you park on ramps, they WILL ticket and/or tow you.

 

That's what I said when I got to Phoenix flying j the other night...seriously...or what I was thinking anyway. I lucked out, It boggles my mind how and why some places are so overcrowded.

 

I submit to the OP that if you are parked on a ramp whether the get on or get off side,and another vehicle runs up under/hits you in the rear,you will be at fault.That includes the drunk driver hitting you.you and the company will be sued.Do a bing search,google keeps and sells your search info,and ascertain for yourself the implications of parking for longer lengths of time on ramps.

Being broken down is another scenario as your triangles will be out which pretty much legalizes parking on a ramp.I have been known to check my load/tighten straps on ramps but it is during the day and i am there for 5 minutes if that and the ramp will be a long one with sufficient shoulders to keep me out of traffic's way.I will not sleep on a ramp.Did once early in my career and was ticketed by a Indiana trooper and it cost me $100 back in the early 90's.the lecture from him made an impression and has stayed with me over the decades.it is about safety and there is nothing safe about parking a rig on the shoulder of a ramp with all the incompetence surrounding drivers including other drivers.


I've always loved those that park a truck in the dark on a ramp and not turn on the parking lights.you know they are distant relatives of einstein.

to each his own however and i see the megas on the shoulders without any triangles placed or even any flashers on.simply genius.

common sense wannabedriver.common sense. it is applicable in everything that you will do as a commercial driver.

 

I remember way back when in Wyoming they had numerous pull off areas along the interstate to park. They are mostly gone now and running that state is little different than any other. Even California back in the day you could pull off in wide graveled areas along the freeway.

I never had an issue in any of them. Except for one time I pulled my cabover up close behind a trailer and slept over the wheel. Woke up with a start thinking I'd fell asleep driving and was just about to rearend him. It's funny now.

 

My many nights on the road I never had a problem but one time and at that truck stop. A 4-wheeler ran up under a truck down by the on ramp and was killed. It was the 4-wheeler's fault. A nutcase cop or security guard came up to the truck stop and started harassing drivers because he thinks they are all evil. That's the only time in my life I have been threatened with being took to jail. Needless to say I never stopped there again. Phoenix has serious parking issues. It's kind of ridiculous with all that open desert.

 

regarding making plans AND sticking to them as applicable to your driving day,i am not much of a planner.I just get going when loaded or empty and plan as i roll. novel concept,huh? I am a simple driver from another era that calls shippers/consignees for directions and uses a 2012 paper atlas. either you will be late or the shipper will load late or the consignee will not take you or whatever,and that well intentioned and laid out plan will almost always not go as planned.i pity those that must(because they have chosen to do so) drive under the constraints of elogs,slow trucks, qualcoms and companies that dictate where you have to fuel and park your truck for your 10 because they are the drivers that will park on the shoulder of a ramp because they will get penalized for moving that constrained truck after x amount of time.

let's all speed through construction zones and truck stops and park on ramps because we need to make up for lost time in our slow/elogged trucks,shall we?

 

excellent recall sir.i remember them as well but i also remember the reason that most if not all of them were closed.the lot lizards,the same sex seekers(the good buddy junk),the drugs,etc.that were prevalent which caused the general public to witness the crime and degradation that prevented them from using that same pull off while with their family.

man.you sure made me think back to a fun/more safe time just prior to all the stupid stuff that gave us as an industry the black eye.

 

In Wisconsin you won't find any ramps that don't have a no parking sign.Why would you wanna park on a ramp doing your brk if you have the time to find a safe haven.

 

The only ramp I see that is legal to park is at the chicken coop on i55. They even have rows of garbage cans so we won't litter