Where's your car when you're driving your truck OTR?

Well; heck look at werner in Dallas. You have to fight for a place to park and werner has a yard 100 yards from the pilot, but half the parking lot is werner...

 

Yeah, because the terminal is a no return point. Trucks go in, get red flagged, and have to wait 5 days for repairs. So they sneak in at night, drop the load, and run as soon as they slip through the safety lane right the hell back out before anyone red flags em. Plus, sad as it may seem, the terminal is retardedly designed, the bobtail parking area is a good like 1/2 #### mile from the only 24/7 rest rooms. Its better to go in and get the hell back out.

As for parking, my car was in the garage and his car at home. Our house was 30 miles from the terminal so we just swung by the house or parked nearby the house at a local parking lot that said we could. Now his car is rusting away at the Schneider lot cause Schneider won't let you bring the truck home without a big hassle. And I refuse to drive his car because he is really attached to it and if it ever got scratched through no fault of my own he'd probably divorce me.

Or course I am the same way with my car... speaking of... anyone want to help me get my car into the garage haha. Stupid battery...

 

The post below that begat this thread, I think, asks some good questions.
And are things wannaBees & newBees oughta consider.

I've included a sampling of replies -------

Perhaps a tad off subject, but I think the pet peeve point raised about no available parkin' due to many dropped trailers, and/or days-at-home Big trucks
pluggin' up the parkin' lot, is a good point.

Who out there drivin' a Big truck hasn't had that happen to them?
What did we call those who did that,
and now some are doin' it, too?
Or at least thinkin' 'bout it?

SOMEtimes, truck stops actually have a deal with some truckin' companies to park for a fee.
If anyone remembers the Alamo truck stop up thar in Sparks, Nevada, (Reno) back around the early 1990's ----- and all the Interstate Truckin' Company trailers that plugged that parkin' lot......

....... Same at Sierra Sid's 76, sometimes, but not nearly as often.

But when it was determined that the lack of warm bodies parked there was causin' the casino to lose business -----
The business of paid parkin' went out of business, too.

Big truck truck stops are not in the business of providing parkin' places.
NopE!
They're in business to make money.
Providin' parkin' helps 'em do that.

I live close to the Ontario, California T/A truck stops. T/A West used to be a 76 truck stop, and in it's day, when first built, it was a nice place.
It soon got wild.
But I digress -----

Now-a-daze those truck stops are know to become packed to overflowing. And Ontario industrial areas are posted No Parkin' --- and the Mills Mall will tow a Big truck --- with trailer if necessary --- PDQ, ....... for any who park in that parkin' lot.
They've even been known to tow delivery trucks, while the driver was in tryin' to figure out just where the delivery was supposed to go.

For that reason, I myself, wouldn't consider droppin' a trailer there for a week or more at a time. I'd make other arrangements.

I'm glad you revived it.
And welcome to the forums.

Have you read all the posts on all four pages in this thread?

"Convenience" comes with a cost.
Consider that when the Big truck is with you -----
You're responsible for it.
You're the Captain of the Ship.

When a driver parks at a company facility, -----
The company is in charge.
Some feel that's a relief.

And I doubt many companies would tell you to fill-'er-up and pay 'em back on payday.
Besides the cost of fuel, there's those dad-burned
Road-Use-Taxes, for every mile driven.
What's the road-use-tax in Oregon these daze?
Still 'round 14 cents --- a mile?
Or $7.70 an hour.

Do you presently have a car, ----- or are you planning on using the
Big truck for transportation when you're at home?

 

Hey there -

Personally, if I can't take the truck home, I am going to look for another company. The way I see it is when that truck leaves my "care", it could potentially end up in someone else's hands, and then I get someone else's hand-me-down.

There are a bunch of companies out there that assign you a truck and it is yours to love and nourish. When you go home, it goes with you. And I feel that if I take the time to get the truck set up the way I want it, put my canned goods in it, my little electronic goodies, refrigerator, maps, and whatever else (not to mention clothes), I do not want to have to take everything out, put it in my Bronco, take it home, bring it back, reload the truck, and start all over again. I will have enough work to do without having to add this to it. I am certainly not going to leave all my stuff in it, then come back to the terminal 3 days later to find out that my truck ended up going out with someone else "because they had to do it". Then if I am lucky, I might eventually track them down and get all or at least most of my stuff back. But doing without it until I find them.

Nope, not gonna do it. Find a company that will let you take your truck home. If that is absolutely impossible because of your distance to a terminal or a trucking lane, then you may want to make all of your stuff portable.

For what it is worth in regards to parking my truck in a safe location, I have made arrangements with a fenced (topped with barbed wire) and gated Self Storage Facility to park my truck and trailer in the IDEAL LOCATION. Right inside the gate facing out, under MANY LIGHTS, just outside the bedroom window of the Resident Manager, with two surveillance cameras pointing at it, one from the front, one from the rear. When I am in my truck, I can leave my Bronco there. Total cost - $45 / month. It is 8 miles from my house, but it is also where I-40, I-540, and Hwy 70 come together. And they all intersect about 1 mile away. One turn right to the right when I pull out of the facility and I am sitting at an easy access to anywhere I want to go.

Hope that helps!

 

Do you presently have a car, ----- or are you planning on using the
Big truck for transportation when you're at home?(this is a quote)

no personal vehicle but would not use company vehicle to go to the store or what not. just want a ride home,thats all. i live 40 miles from columbia,s.c. 200 from atlanta, 160 from charlotte, and 250+ from florida state line. i dont need the big truck when im home, got my wifes jeep wrangler for that, but do need transportation to and from terminal. just a thought on that, i know its my responsability to provide my own transportation and can do it if i have to. if i have to take a cab i will. i can adapt and overcome most situations. just more convienent to have the equipment im responsible for close at hand. hard to trust a lot of *"companys"*in this day and age.

*" *"= any company, not just trucking companys. already found that out with my recruiter today, so im taking dot physical on my own monday and taking cdl written tests on friday. question: if i show up with a dot physical the first week of february and my cdl permit and endorsements will the c1 school in ft worthless accept that? i just feel more comfortable doing it on my own. give me some feed back you all, and thanks

 

You have to take the tests AT THE EXACT location your school tests at.

Texas is backwaters, they are not linked. You'd have to redo the entire test series otherwise. I found that out the hard way after doing exactly what you stated.

 

good to know iroc. dont want to waste time or money if i dont have to

 

Are we so bored we sit here answering questions someone asked 2 years ago?

 

Uhhhhh yup!

 

The weird thing is that Im pretty darned sure that someone asked this same question or something similar recently....?

Either way...I can see the side of trucking companies and their reasons for wanting you to park the truck somewhere. Im up in the middle of nowhere in Gods Country Wyoming. I only applied for two companies....Watkins Shepard, and SNI. W/S said I was too far out of their hiring radius from their nearest terminal up in Montana. SNI actually doesnt even HIRE in Wyoming as their freight goes through it, not to it (for the most part). Im one of only 3 employees that lives in the state.

I think each company is different as well. Some will let you drive the truck home, IF its convenient for them as a company (ie...no unpaid miles...close to an interstate...they can route you home on your way back for another load...etc). Some will let you park at home if you can, others want a local truck stop if possible. Others simply want you to bring the truck back to the terminal (I don't think they want to take your truck either...I rarely if ever hear of this happening...its just a secure location for the truck n trailer).

Another thing too is that, I think a majority if our members on here are city dwellers, live in big towns, or towns in general compared to living in the boonies. Keep in mind that many towns now are putting out ordinances for trucks parked in residential areas.