Why do so many truckers pack themselves into rest areas?

I like the rest area because I can get right back on the road when I get up. I also never know if the truck stop will have parking. When I shut down, usually late at night there is no parking or very little. I just roll into the rest area, if there is a spot I take it. I carry a coffe maker and breakfast foods with me, so I have no need to go in the truck stop.

Also, I do anything I can to park somewhere away from the crowd. Nothing more annoying than a lot lizard banging on the door at 3am or a joe trucker idling his truck at 2000 rpms all night.

 

Certain states also have very clean restrooms in their rest areas in comparison to truck stops. They're my preferred stop if I have to pinch one off. A few states neglect them, but you learn where those are.

 

Heh, no offense numb. Im a bit of a germaphob/neat freak. Tough deal for a trucker.

To answer you queztion though, hell yeah I feel dirty sitting in that funky dirty seat holding that funky manhandled wheel all day that some of these dirty ### truckers has sweated In for thousands of miles before I took it. Ever smelled your hands or touched them to your mouth after holding that wheel? Gross dont ever rub that filth in your eyes man. Especially in the summer man. Sweat my ### off jumping in and out of the truck 12 times a day xoing whatever.

 

Only once have i stayed at a rest area the rest of the time i either stay at the shipper, reciever, t/s or walmart.

 

Many greenhorns don't wanna nest in the lions den, so for me I would typically pick the coop over a rest area any day.

 

I can go every other day, and to the who else has drove the truck, That is the joy of puttin all but 29 miles on the truck. Im the only one to hold the steering wheel or sit in the seat and if you got in the truck you would think it just came off of the showroom floor. (Kind of OCD about how clean the truck is.)

 

Hell try finding a spot after 5 PM

 

Sounds like its a nightmare to be trucking out east were you guys are all talking about . I think I will stick to my usual Montana , Idaho, Utah ,Nevada , California runs. Cali is busy but never have I had problems finding a park . However I do go to the same areas consistently so I have a good idea were you can find a park, I think a bit of accumulated local knowledge helps. I don't envy you east coasters one bit LOL !!

 

Hmmmm .. "Why is everyone else so thoughtless while my efforts are rewarded pretty much every time." ...

The greenhorne smell is all over that statement. I'll respond.

1. The reciever held me up ..so in order to make it a solid productive money making day I drove as late as I could
2. I had a tire blow .. fixing it took 5 hours out of my day .. I drove late ...
3. I drive team.. we run 24/7 but it's one of those times we're both tired.. pulled over.
4. The shipper didn't have the product ready .. I arrived at 8am .. Left at 4pm and my driving day got hammered. I did what I could to make it up until I pulled over.
5. I haven't been home in 30 days .. I've struggled to log ONLY 70 hrs and it's catching up to me.. had to pull over.
6. The last time I was in that truckstop a lot lizard knocked on my door at 3am .. I don't go there anymore.
7. The last time I was in that truckstop .. a panhandler knocked on my door at 4am.. I don't go there anymore.
8. I sleep lighter than other drivers .. helps me to not have a reefer unit cycling on and off beside me all night.
9. Blah, blah, blah, blah ... blah, blah, blah,...... blah, blah, blah.

Nobody believes you have the midas touch in truckstop parking spot finding... everybody ends up hunting sometimes, doesn't matter who you are..finding nothing when they are dead ##### tired. Experienced guys know where all the truckstops are... can tell you the milemarker or town without the use of their map or GPS.

 

What I usually do it's set it up where I end my day at a Truck Stop/Rest Area that i know will have parking. Now your probably thinking, "well what if you've never been to that truck stop before" What i do is, in my truck stop book find the biggest Non Pilot, Loves, T/A, Petro, Sapp Bros, ETC and try to aim for that especially if there's a Pilot or something in the Area down the road. Especially late at night.

The truck stops i know guaranteed to have parking all time of the night is limited, The T/A in Ashland, VA at the 89 and Sadler Bros now the Pilot at the 11 on 95 in VA, Iowa 80, The Petro on 81 that use to be Whites now that they've expanded parking into the old Roadway terminal, The Large Parking Rest Area's on the Toll Road in Indiana, and the Flying J in Elkton, MD.... I'm sure it's more but i only run a certain part of the country and this is all i know by heart!!!