Parking on ramps, but not every one. What's the deal??

Trucks attract trucks. Where one parks, more flock to it.

 

I would say it would depend on what receiver/shipper is just down the road from the on/off exits. Follow the signs and stay to the right of the white line and you will be surprised where you can sleep for the night.

 

^^ mostly this.
Not really a whole lot of science behind it; if there is no signs, city/state ordinances, & a wide enough shoulder so you can be at least out of the lines of the lane by a foot or more - generally you are ok.

Idaho is weird (according to one stater at least he didn't give a carp about parking on shoulder, provided all your wheels were on pavement.
Reasoning - the drop off from pavement to dirt by heavy vehicle over time will break off the edges of & rain gets in eroding further plus freezing in winter.

A lot of it comes down to local culture & tradition I think.
I live in a part of Tennessee where I could park the truck (& some locals do) for days at a time on our local off/on ramp's wide gravel shoulders & the locals would think nothing of it.
Get caught 1mph over local town speed & you will get the ticket, even if they know you.

Try parking on I40 & you are guaranteeing yourself a ticket eventually, while it seems you have to do a heck of a lot over the limit to get a speeding ticket...

Don't do it where you are near residential areas, where there is trash already on shoulder from other idiots, in a lot of NE states, & most of all - park on the ON ramps not OFF ramps as far away from the entry back into freeway; distracted people entering ONramps will run into your rear a lot slower then will idiots flying off exits minimising fatalities.

Also harder for our finest blue liners to see you parked on an average above grade on ramp until passing the off ramp when (s)he is travelling down the road looking to write checks for the department.
Then just hope they have better doughnuts to do rather then turning around or something.

 

Yup, trucks attract trucks.

One guy is needing to stop.....sees a truck on an off ramp.....well it must be ok to park there and so there you go.

Believe me there isn't that much thought put into it. After all, we're just drivers....

 

BINGO!!!! One guy parks there, someone else will see it and park behind them. Then another and another.

 

Well sir, since you asked, I can tell you this. Landstar has something called the Sitting Duck policy. We aren't allowed to be on the side of the road. Ever. Unless it's a breakdown or emergency situation. No ramps, either. If you are spotted and reported, you will most definitely get a phone call. From what I've been told in the past (and again today) is that you'll likely get a warning your first time, especially if you're new. If you violate the policy again after that, you're fired. Period. That point has been drilled home on several occasions. I know that this isn't really answering your question, but ramps aren't something I've ever done at Millis. From some of the stories I've heard there, they have a semi-similar rarely enforced policy over there. It most certainly won't happen while I'm here. This place is a very relaxed place to work, but they don't play with safety at all. I'm not talking about stupid crap like bent cab extenders. I mean legitimate things that can screw up their safety rating with the DOT. If someone hits you while you're parked on a shoulder and you aren't there for an emergency it is very possible that you'll be found at least partially responsible for the accident by the DOT. Even if you aren't cited. Bye bye Landstar job. They are very protective of their rating. If you present yourself as a liability because of poor decisionmaking, they'll cut you loose in a heartbeat.

 

It's best to avoid parking on ramps altogether. But if you need to park on a ramp, always make sure it's the on- ramp and not the get-off ramp. Reason being that traffic is usually barreling down the get-off ramp at near highway speeds while traffic is accelerating on the on-ramp, especially near the top.

I knew a driver from Sunflower Carriers back in the day who was killed while parked on a get-off ramp. Some fool in a large car Pete slammed into the back of him in the wee hours of the night. His truck caught on fire and he was pinned inside the sleeper. Not a good way to go.

 

That's a fact right there. I parked on a ramp in Georgia, and once I opened the curtains and did my pretrip, imagine the trucks behind me. I actually like sleep on the ramp, but there are certain ones that are better than others. You can't choose the ones that are high traffic, as in an exit that has two truck stops, Cartersville GA comes to mind. You have to pick one where there's not as much action, maybe an exit leading to a ghost town. I like the ramps because I get the best sleep there. I've never been a big fan of sleeping at the truck stop but sometimes I have to lay over and that's my only parking option..