Would you do business at a truck stop that charged for parking ?

Every truck stop I've seen that had paid parking gave it to you if you got 50 gallons of fuel or more, and you also got the free shower. Some even give steak dinners for work in the shop or service.

You do not realize how much that asphalt you park on costs per acre! It's now more than 125,000 per acre. How about the taxes on that parking area that's not making money? Yes the STORE and fuel islands do but the parking doesn't unless they charge for those who come in there and park and never open the door! That's MY spot if I come in and fuel and pay for food and if I'm stupid enough to buy something out of the store!

Why do you drivers THINK that parking should be FREE for those of you who are looking for a 10 hour parking spot and don't put any money into the truck stop it's self? You do NOT get something for free! You went in and used the bathroom (free) put trash in the dumpster (free) and might even been lucky enough to get free coffee at the island (some still do this!) Quit whining like babies!

As to the pit hole in Jessup If there is a lot lizard on the lot after they put in the Idle Aire and repaired the fencing she won't be there long! They monitor the CB and the lot! You'll find them out on the streets now.

And how many of you have used that cell phone to call the truck stop about lizards roaming the lot? Every time I have I get results! Either the manager, security or the cops show up and I also call on pan handlers but I especially call on them all if they wake my sleeping butt up! The entertainment value is worth the cost in minutes! LOL. Don't just rely on the truck stop to get rid of the riffraff! And by riffraff I also mean those MORON truck drivers that throw any kind of trash on the lot! You do it in front of me, I call the fuel desk with your company and truck number I ALSO call your company hoping you get your worthless ARSE fired! It's drivers like you who trash my "home away from home" that makes it hard on the rest of us and make the truck stops charge more for everything and for parking! You need to be working somewhere else where you don't have a trash bag near you!

As for the pay to park I know some of you would "say" you would not charge for parking if you started a stop but when you look at it, to stop those freeloaders I mentioned you'll have to charge so the drivers that actually pay money to the store restaurant or shop have a plce to park. Why give it away for free?

But to answer the question........Yes I would give my business to a truck stop that charges parking and have!

 

At the Travel Centers of America truck stop in Jessup, MD they do charge for parking in the larger of the two lots. The smaller lot next to the scales does not charge to park, YET.

I think if you show the parking booth attendent a receipt from the restuarant or the travel store for more than $10 they will waive the parking fee in the larger of the two lots.

I have seen recently (in the past six months - June 2009 to January 2010) Howard County, Maryland cop cars in the parking lot but with plainclothes cops inside the car. Now, I don't know if they are off duty cops hired by TA, Jessup, MD or whether they are on duty cops sent there by their shift supervisor.

There is no parking fee, YET at Flying J, Carmel Church / Ruther Glen, VA or Flying J, Clear Brook / Winchester, VA.

 

Even if you pay for parking, if its got a lack of security, you REALLY might end up "paying for it".

 

haha.

I think i forgot to answer the OP, but:

I do business at pay to parks all the time. But only if i dont have to PAY. I have several of these locations as fuel stops, so i get fuel and then its free for me. I had a repair done at one a while back, repair receipt works too. The Detroiter in Woodhaven, MI is also our drop yard, so its free for werner to park there no matter what. They keep track of trailer numbers that are in the yard and thats it. dont even have to roll my window down.

 

I guess it depends where you run but I've only seen a few truck stops where you have to pay to park. I have seen quite a few where they have discontinued the practice though. That tells me they found it didn't pay to make people pay.

Even though the company will reimburse me for it I would only pay as a last resort. I do make it a point to buy at least something anywhere I park for the night but they really don't make anything off me. I really wonder how some of them stay in business.

 

Or hand them off to someone coming in the gate. Done that a time or 30...

 

I stopped there a couple weeks ago. Saw that it was pay to park and went back out and parked next to everyone else that was parked right off the access road going up to the place.

 

When I ran OTR I prefered places that charged for parking. I find it cuts down on the riff raff. The scumbags would go elsewhere and people with money just seem to behave better.

 

I also hope Jason's law override these nincompoop NIMBY small town ordanences on truck parking. If it's really a problem of the driver being "dirty" then the cops can wallpaper his truck with littering fines. Those won't be affected by Jason's law.

And Rollover: Yes I do think parking should be free. Untill the companies either pony up a "parking reinbursement" or let us all go home every night, it's comming out of our personal funds for no reason. I can't think of any other job that has so much restriction on our personal lives.

Could you imagine if dispatchers had to stay in their cubicles for weeks?
If Dockworkers had to turn off their heat and lights in there house for 8 hours a night?
And receiving clerks had to put a quarter in their chair every time they sat in it? (actually,,, that'd cost most of them about .25 cents a day anyway)

 

I find the same thing when paying to park.
I haven't been in the Dallas flying J 7 years. I like keeping my hood on the truck, not laying crushed on the J's parking lot.