Why pay for reserved parking when truck stops will let anybody park there for free!?!

It very much matters. Your day planning is not their problem, it's yours. Their mind is on profit, not making your day go well. You run off one guy who didn't buy a spot but bought 750 dollars in fuel, he might have his own company with 10 trucks that he now takes somewhere who WON'T run him off for some little dude paying his 15 dollars and thinking Moses should part the red sea for him.

As for the hotel analogy, it's a bad one. For a hotel, everyone is just renting a room. At truck stops, there are multiple ways truck stops profit off of truckers. Not just one. In fact, the most profitable part of a truck stop that has a shop is the shop itself, not the fuel. So if you get a tire changed, spent 350 dollars plus labor, you should get a free spot over some cheap Jack who spends 15 for a spot only. That's kinda what Loves does. That's why they have those signs that say "parking for oil change customers only." Although Loves doesn't charge for parking, they will reserve a spot for you while you are receiving service from their shop. Why? Because they are making money off of you. A lot of money. They don't want you to lose your parking spot because you're spending money there. Did you pay for a spot? No. But you didn't need to, you deserve a spot anyway.

Just like some truck stops will give you a free parking spot if you buy fuel, or if you receive service from their service department. You don't HAVE to specifically have bought a spot to get one. Even a paid spot.

And you obviously have never operated a business before. If someone comes in and spends 750 dollars on fuel and wants a free spot over someone who comes in and wants to pay 15 dollars for a spot and not buy any fuel from you, you're going to cater to the 750 dollar fuel guy every time. They'd rather lose you, the cheapskate who buys a spot and nothing else, than the guy who spends 7 and a half bills on fuel and wants a free spot for the night.

That's why 50 gallons gets you a free shower and drink refill. Without the fuel purchase, you pay 15 dollars for the shower and about 2 bucks for the refill. But they made more money off the 50 gallons of fuel than they did off of the purchase of the shower and drink.

Quite a bit. Loves gives my old company (and I'm sure my new one also) 50-60 cents off of retail. If they can afford to do that and STILL make a profit, they're making a killing off of owner ops who come in and buy fuel at retail.

So 750 dollars of fuel probably yields 200-250 in profit. You think they're going to run off someone who just made them 250 bucks to cater to the dude who pays 15 and thinks he's God deserving a spot for the night for his little 15 bucks?

I mean ideally they would cater to BOTH, but push comes to shove, money talks.

 

Yes. They have a transaction for parking and a transaction for fuel. If I contract for a parking space for $15 and you didn't then too bad you're getting booted out.

 

Don't work that way. At least it doesn't HAVE to. You're not "entering into a contract" when you buy a spot. Your money can be refunded and your spot given to someone else at any time. If you don't think this can happen, book yourself an airline ticket and find out they overbooked. They'll ask for people who are willing to change flights. If no one volunteers, they will randomly pick people. They are allowed to that. And they paid FAR more for that seat on that plane than you did for that parking spot and THEY can be booted off the plane. They can be put on another flight or have their money refunded. That's up to the airline. But that ticket does not PROMISE you a seat on a plane.

A quick call to a manager with a fuel receipt for 750 would let you keep your spot if that truck stop wants to stay in business. Because if everyone came in and bought 15 dollar spots and no fuel they'd be out of business in a week.

Like I said, it's obvious you people have never operated a business before.

 

You really think the peons at the bottom rung of a multimillion dollar company care if you made their boss's boss's boss some more money? They have a limited number of pay spots and spots in general so if you think every one of the hundreds of extra drivers who fueled up there that day get to dictate policy you'll be in for a rude awakening.

 

#### straight because most of the truck stops that have paid parking are mom and pop places. TA's and Petros do but they are huge companies. They don't really care what you do. I'm talking about Mom and pop truck stops who count every dime that goes in and goes out. They will most certainly cater to, as we used to call them in the aviation industry, the "high rollers."

I used to manage an FBO. Several times we had little small single engine planes rent a spot in our hangar and before the little plane could arrive a huge corporate jet showed up and needed the spot. Since his rate was 5 to 10 times higher than the little Cessna, he got the spot and the Cessna got a phone call and a refund.

You cater to those who pay your bills. Ideally everyone gets a spot but when push comes to shove, high rollers win out every time.

 

Truckstops can make money anyway they see fit and the free market dictates that , if you don't like theyre business modal you are free to buy your fuel and park elsewhere .

 

You’re right. Me planning my trip is a total lack of planning.

This is why I like the guards at the J in Phoenix packing heat. When the spots are full I simply park in the fire lane and walk in to speak with the guard. About 5 minutes later I have multiple parking spots to choose from.

 

You might want to read the terms and conditions to PFJ reserved parking. You should also read up on the rights of "bumped passengers", as they generally end up getting compensated 200% of the cost of their ticket.

And if you think a $750 fuel receipt is going to change the night shift manager's mind, have another think. The places that have reserved parking are chains, not mom and pops (please note I'm making a distinction between 'pay to park' and 'reserved parking'). So first off, the manager doesn't have the discretion to pick and choose customers - he's going to follow procedure, whatever that procedure is. Secondly, if Pilot or TA have a choice between a fleet truck who paid $15 for a spot and an independent truck who has a $750 fuel receipt, they're going to choose the fleet truck that drops $1,500 a week, every week, with them.

 

TERMS SPECIFIC TO THE PRIME PARKING PROGRAM


Prime Parking may not be available at all PTC stores. A list of participating stores can be found at www.pilotflyingj.com/locations.

In addition to the Terms of Use,...

4 To edit a reservation, please contact Guest Services at 1-877-866-7378. Reservations can be canceled at any time, but will only be eligible for refunds if canceled prior to 12 p.m. on the check-in date (times are local to the reservation site).


There is nothing else in the Terms of Use that mentions refunds.

They do mention Guaranteed Spots on the 'Prime Parking Features' page.

 

So how bout the guy/gal that stops there regular, for the shop, fuel, tires, eats, but this trip only spent 300.00 in fuel but made his reservation 17 hours ago? Should he get his reserved spot or let some jackwad stay there? You have no idea about the people who made reservations, weather they are regulars or what. Your just assuming that because they paid some money for a spot that that's all they paid and your entitled to that spot cuz.....your entitled?