Jon f mn and other OTR truckers Question?

[Greg1959]

I've been noticing that if I choose a remote far away area of a truck stop parking lot and park there for the night. As soon as I get parked, I have truckers park on each side of me, even though there are plenty of open spaces all over the parking lot.

Please understand, I don't mind the sound at all. It actually helps lull me to sleep.

I did a search on the net about this particular thing and is seems Truckers don't like RV'ers to park in overnight parking. I just spent almost $400.00 at Flying J this evening. Why shouldn't I be allowed to pArk here?

Read the link I posted and let me know.
Poke Here

 

[jacksun65]

Not to open a can of worm but you just did LOL. Rvs usually have their own section at flying J. They can park at walmarts or any shopping centers where trucks are not allowed. You only spent $400 at the truckstop Being an owner operator for twenty years I spent approximately $50,000 to $75,000 a year at those truck stops. I guess if I could have went to an Rv park instead of parking on the side of the road being harassed by police because I had no more hours to drive to someplace that was not filled up already. It has gotten so bad that drivers are having to quit driving early so they can find a place to park. I think if I was on vacation and had a nice rig like yours I would find a nicer place to park. Instead of kicking a driver who is trying to find a place to sleep back out on the road where he might hurt someones family.

 

[RBoots]

Yeah, it's too bad really when you notice the otr guys that have to shut down early to find a place to park for the night because they are going to run out of hours like you said. I noticed that last fall when I was hauling equipment to Alabama from MI. It was being hauled at night, but when I stopped to get fuel, the only place to park was in the fuel lanes, there was no other places to go, they were all FULL of guys with electronic logs that were out of hours. Luckily I just had to get fuel so I wasn't long enough to be in the way at all.

 

[Greg1959]

jacksun65- I understand your concern but my trailer is 24 feet and the camper is 40 feet for a total length of 64 feet. About as long as any standard 18 wheeler.

The manager of Flying J instructed us to park in the truck area. The front parking area was very small.

 

[kcm.MN]

We have also parked in the OTR section at truck stops, but ONLY under certain conditions. If the overnight parking area is already quite full, we don't stop -- truckers need that space more. If there is ample room but still early, we'll try to get into a spot that would be much more difficult for the truckers to get. I'm always reminded of a line from a song, "[i:053fc3dfee]Give Me 40 Acres And I'll Turn This Rig Around[/i:053fc3dfee]". If we get there at an hour when truckers are starting to wake up and leave, then I'll accept an open spot amongst the truckers...BUT, I always keep parking lights on!! Too easy to get lost in the shadows. And finally, if there's any chance possible, we'll take a spot that truckers can't even fit into.

Way I figure it, some of those truckers are likely going the same direction I am. Would much rather they see us trying to stay out of the way, rather than just taking up space because "it's allowed".

Also, we don't have an RV or camper. We were towing a 16' enclosed trailer. So, any sleeping to be done gets done in the truck seat. Our stays were never very long.

 

[Greg1959]

jacksun65- "You only spent $400 at the truckstop Being an owner operator for twenty years I spent approximately $50,000 to $75,000 a year at those truck stops."

Right now, I'm spending around $150.00 per day just in fuel. Let's just say I average 5 days per week traveling...That's That comes out to $750.00 per week. $750.00 per week times 52 weeks = $39,000.

Do you think my $39,000 shouldn't count for something?

 

[Greg1959]

kcm.MN- "We were towing a 16' enclosed trailer".

I'm 64 Feet in length.

 

[casecollectorsc]

When fuel was close to $4 I would spend $2000-$2200 a week. Trucked for almost 30 years and farmed also. Quit trucking a few years ago.

 

[kcm.MN]

Not criticizing you Greg, just saying how we do it. Everybody is different.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

Seems a lot of truckers act like they own the road so I guess its no surprise they think they own the truck stops too.The owners of the truck stops set the rules for their place
if you're going by their rules then I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[oldtanker]

(quoted from post at 01:19:52 02/15/18) Seems a lot of truckers act like they own the road so I guess its no surprise they think they own the truck stops too.The owners of the truck stops set the rules for their place
if you're going by their rules then I wouldn't worry about it.

Best answer yet! I don't get any write offs for fuel taxes, wear and tear, repairs or any other perks to offset my cost of operating a vehicle. I have just as much right on the road as anyone else.

Rick

 

[jon f mn]

I doubt any truckers care where you park. At least I've never heard of it. As a trucker I frequently did the same thing to find a quieter place and often the same thing would happen. The easy spots to park in fill up first, that means any drive through spits that don't require backing. You making too much out of nothing more than coincidence. What some of the others said about finding other parking when you can to leave truck spaces for trucks is good advice. Truck parking can be very hard to find.

 

[Bruce from Can.]

Not a trucker , and got rid of the RV , prefer to camp in the Holiday Inn or Marriott,lol. As I see the Flying J , it is just another fuel station , that is doing whatever it takes to sell the most fuel it can , and really doesn't care if it is truckers or RV's or passenger vehicles that they get their money from. The restaurants probably are just as profitable as the fuel pumps. Providing long haul truckers a place to park is only good business, because it lures them in, but these service stations would probably just as soon not provide this service. They really just want to sell product. And it seems to me that they get the prime locations to set up shop.

 

[Mike M]

Maybe your old neighborhood is looking better ? Seems like it is a "jungle out there" I think I'd be "packing" at any sleep over spot too.
Maybe travel more off the beaten path and stop at fellow YT'ers ?
I'd let you park at my place in Ohio but for a rig that large it would have to be dry ground and I don't see that anytime soon around here.

 

[moresmoke]

I've had similar experience in my former life as a driver. One truck stop I used to frequent had about 25 acres of parking. You would go park on the far end by yourself, and by morning there would be a refer full of fish on either side of you. Still plenty of other spots. Most humans are herd animals.

As far as taking spots from trucks with your RV, I wouldn't worry too much in the mid west, but if you make it to the north east sometime, I would be concerned about it.

As to the comments about trucks having to shut down early to find parking, that is part of managing your time. Learned really quick travelling New England every week, you don't plan to find parking between Danbury, CT and New Hampshire any time.

 

[jon f mn]

Some of the western states can be tough to find a Truck stop in too, just because there are so few. Parking is usually not as hard because of all the open space, but somewhere with facilities is more difficult. In a motor home with cooking and bathroom inside, leaving truck stop parking to those without would just be polite.

 

[jimg.allentown]

I can add a few things here. I did about 10 years of OTR trucking, and here are some of my observations...
Most of my OTR trucking was in the northeast, Midwest and southern states. Most truck stops are at or near their parking capacity most of the time in the northeast states. There are simply not enough truck stops, and they are small compared to the Midwest. There are also a lot of RVs on the road during the tourist seasons. The majority of them should not be on the road. They are poorly qualified to operate large vehicles. They can't back up, they can't turn safely, and they are not observant of basic things like courtesy and rules of the road. In truck stops and rest areas, they park like they owned the place many times. They do not stay in defined areas, take more than one space, and hit things like signs, curbs, and other vehicles. Those are some of the reasons that truckers don't like RVs.
I am not saying that they are all bad. But there are more good than bad out there. In truck stops, they tend to take the easiest spots to park. They also take their time at the stores, restaurants, and fuel islands. They are on vacation. They do not have schedules to keep. They also do not understand that the truckers do have to keep moving to meet their obligations.
There are also a good number of truckers that should not be on the road as well. The driving schools see to that. They make statements like "we can train you to drive big trucks in 30 days" or "truck drivers make $40,000 to start." Skill comes with experience. Some will become good drivers. Some will not. Those that do not might really hurt somebody. One of them nearly killed my girlfriend.
Overall, if you have alternative places to park that truckers cannot use, that causes some resentment. The whole thing amounts to business versus recreation.

 

[Crazy Horse]

I assume you are an RV guy right? Why not support one of the local business guys and park at their RV park? I guess I know the answer to that. I wonder how any of us would feel (me included) if someone in your neighborhood was offering for free what you provide as your living. As for buying fuel at Flying J ....... say a person spent $400 on parts at NAPA on a trip. Would he expect them to allow the RV to park out front for a day or two (including overnight)?

 

[Crazy Horse]

Greg ...... your math is correct but it's in a hypothetical situation ........ if the truth be known, I doubt very much you are spending $40 grand per year on fuel for your RV or pickup truck/holiday trailer set up.

 

[kcm.MN]

Mike, you're right about being prepared for "anything". We had stopped at a rest area one night. This rest area was split - truckers on one side and everyone else on the other, with an entrance to the building on each side. Every time we pull into one of these places, seems we always have one eye open...maybe 1 1/2. *lol* Anyway, this was a particularly entertaining location. There was this woman kept going from truck to truck, and she didn't need a suitcase to display her wares! Then there were some folks that kept wanting to go out into the bushes for some reason. Wife couldn't figure it out, but seemed every time there was "stuff" being lit up. Weather and temp were great, no wind, so no need to take shelter from anything, except prying eyes!

But it's the last entertainment act that had us on the edge of our seats. Some guy showed up, we "think" looking for the lady who was going from truck to truck. Now, in all honesty, maybe she was just trying to escape a maniac, but she sure did have a free-spirit way of doing it! Anyway, this man shows up after most folks were asleep and started doing his own vehicle-to-vehicle search! He started heading our way and, being fully loaded with the trailer jack taking weight off the truck, we couldn't just up & go. He got within 20 yards before something caught his attention and he went back to the semi's. We took that chance to get back on the road -- just didn't seem to be tired anymore.

Next time through the area, we heard there had been a shooting at a rest area. Didn't know if it was that one or that specific night, but was in the general area.

 

[DoubleO7]

Lot Lizards!!

 

[westga]

Think of your parking another way. You pull out to a remote spot on the lot and you become the new "benchmark " to park to in the new unparked area.

During our rodeo every year trucks with horse trailer pull in and if you don't guide them to a spot you can't get 4 parked in 4 acres.

Enjoy your post. Be careful in your travels.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

The owners of the businesses decides who and who cannot use their premises for whatever, whether its a truck stop or NAPA.Since most truckers don't own any stock in the truck stops then they have no more say on what goes on there than an RV owner or even a guy in a car.Another situation is at state owned rest stops I've seen signs clearly stating NO Overnight Parking and it'll be full of trucks parked over night.

 

[sotxbill]

(quoted from post at 23:08:47 02/14/18) jacksun65- "You only spent $400 at the truckstop Being an owner operator for twenty years I spent approximately $50,000 to $75,000 a year at those truck stops."

Right now, I'm spending around $150.00 per day just in fuel. Let's just say I average 5 days per week traveling...That's That comes out to $750.00 per week. $750.00 per week times 52 weeks = $39,000.

Do you think my $39,000 shouldn't count for something?

NO!!!! you dont spend $39,000 each night, so get off your high horse elitist answer. Next you will be telling us you dont like tankers, or cattle haulers. A $400 dollar fill up/90 to 100 gal.... is good enough for any truck stop. Lots of truckers pulling in with out even fueling. YOu dont own the road or the truckstop. Your just one of millions of truckers, who need to share the road, pumps, and stops with everyone else and learn to play nice. You running everyday gives you no more rights that the trucker who runs once a week. Sorry but this is 'Merica....(sound of the nat' anthem playing the background) Where truckers keep us going.

 

[Al Baker(pumpman)]

Let me put give this a different spin. When I was running the big road with MY trucks I looked at it different than most company drivers. If there was a accident in the parking lot while sleeping I paid the bill. Most owner operators have a high detectable to keep their premiums down. I also always had a long nose truck with lots of chrome and chicken lights. These things cost big money to repair. Human nature makes most truckers want to park close to the entrance so they don't have to walk. The least amount of traffic is out back. If you back into a hole between two trucks that are down for the night your hood is fairly safe. Last place you want to park is where trucks are backing in, then pulling out in a little while. Each time there is a chance of getting backed into, or getting scraped by someone pulling out and turning to soon. Now consider all the new drivers with limited experience, then add to that they may be sleepy. Most times I would look for a spot out back and next to someone who looks like they are down for the night. I would then PULL in, not back, to protect my tractor. A motor home most times is driven by someone on vacation, or sight seeing. Most times they don't want to be out in the dark. This makes you a safe place to park next to. And a quiet neighbor. No refer unit starting and stopping every little while. This is just another way to look at it. Keep writing your posts please. Some of us really enjoy reading your adventures. You are doing what most of us could never do. Be careful out there. Al

 

[dr sportster]

After reading the article I don't think I would be RVing into any truck stops. It seems to be one of those unwritten rules that it is for truckers and not RV s. I would honor that as they are working and I am on vacation .

 

[Traditional Farmer]

Maybe those truckers that parked beside Greg thought that was some gal's outfit.

 

[Spook]

(quoted from post at 20:06:03 02/14/18) I've been noticing that if I choose a remote far away area of a truck stop parking lot and park there for the night. As soon as I get parked, I have truckers park on each side of me, even though there are plenty of open spaces all over the parking lot.

Please understand, I don't mind the sound at all. It actually helps lull me to sleep.

I did a search on the net about this particular thing and is seems Truckers don't like RV'ers to park in overnight parking. I just spent almost $400.00 at Flying J this evening. Why shouldn't I be allowed to pArk here?

Read the link I posted and let me know.
Poke Here

Surprised at some of the remarks. Somebody crapped in their chili...

 

[Leroy]

Walmart has a sign up no overnight parking.

 

[cbop]

Sometimes, if the back end of the lot is dark, it is just easier to park next to something than try to figure out where exactly the parking spots are. It is easier to to park alongside you than try to figure out if you left enough room for trucks to fit between you and themselves. You established the row and it grows out each direction from you.

When I was driving, my biggest problem was trying to find the 'safe haven' parking spots since I frequently hauled explosives and was only allowed certain spots with the required distance from things they wanted to keep if I blew up :lol: