secure truck parking

You might also check with storage facilities. Many of them have spaces for trucks, rvs, boats etc.

 

If there are any warehouses in the area or an industrial park, they may have some that are closed on the weekends and if you talk to them they may let you park there. Ride around in your area and get creative, but always get permission. Tow trucks are also in the area.

 

check with any local towing companies. many of those have fenced in yards where they put the police impounded vehicles. they will charge you a fee though, unless you know of someone personally. or at the very least, they may allow you to park outside the fenced area, but still on thier property. how about any gas stations...?? they may want a smaller fee, but that is an option as well.

i do not believe any trucking company will reimburse you either for parking. sometimes a "secure parking area" can be where there are street lights, then you just lock up the truck. because even in a fenced in yard, crap can happen if someone really wants something.

when i used to take home my combo, i just parked it in an empty parking lot.....locked it up, went home....if something happened, so be it. i didn't live my life worrying about the equipment. i figured if the company did not want to reimburse me for parking, they got what "free" provides....

 

Most of the local suburban cities do restrict truck parking unless your driveway actually exits to a highway of some type.

I called the city. I knew I could bring it home to work on but not leave in the drive. The city told me that was true and no permit/waiver was available. They then told me the police do NOT ticket w/o a complaint. 1st ticket is a warning only.
So I approached each neighbor and asked. Since we live on a dead end, I figure no one would have an issue and I got lucky. No one could have cared less, but all it takes is one jackwad of a neighbor...I think it helps having a nice looking rig vs some old decrepit piece of crap sitting there..

I leave it parked at the home when I am working on it but otherwise I did find 2 other spots:

1. A U-store it type lot that has a ton of motorhomes. It was rather vacant so I negotiated a deal for $50/mo. No trailer space though. It's fairly secure.
2. A trucking company here has a drop yard that is not used much since they moved their main operation to IL. $75/mo for truck and/or trailer. It's fairly secure.

So if you do some legwork, its not too hard to find a space somewhere. The fees I deduct under my taxes too....
I put an add on Craigslist too and did get some hits but those were $145+ and they acted like they were doing ME a favor....

..I also never fire her up before 8am and try to be quiet when I am working on it..being considerate to the neighbors that are allowing me to do this.

 

as an o/o you can "write off" the parking fee's...???

what always did bother me was the trucking companies want a secured place, and that is ok...but they WILL NOT reimburse the driver and to me this isn't right. which is why i say, they get what they can get for free. why should any company driver (or even an o/o) have to seek and search for secured parking at our own expense...??? another in the long list of reasons why i will not want to do OTR anymore. the trucking companies make it sound so easy when they say, "oh sure you can take you truck home".....

 

Monthly rent/storage. I am an independent O/O and paying rent to store the rig is a cost of business and as such deductible. I would doubt that would be appropriate if I was a company driver of course...

 

and this is exactly what i thought, business expense, and yes, as a company driver, i was never reimbursed (well i never paid since i was told i wouldn't be reimbursed) . i suppose one could save all receipts from parking fee's then at tax (as this would be a work related expense),time have the accountant do his job, but i'd hate waiting that long, as i would have needed "pocket money" weekly...

 

that things as big as your house.LOL

 

Exactly, thats what insurance is for. If something happens to their equipment, they can file an insurance claim on it.

 

which was his house...???