breaking federal regulations if they went on farther.

Hell in CA you can be doing 90 mph on THE 405 at midnight and not be pulled over. For the most part I just see the CHP going after commercial vehicles.

I think there are plenty of rest stops, but I'm not a trucker, so I don't know why they can't use them.

The rest stops are usually full to overflowing with resting truckers.

Not sure of a way around this, except maybe more rest stops.

A place for tired drivers--of all kinds-- is why the stops exist, after all. They're not in a high-traffic area, but in a place little used in comparison.

This is different. It's parking in a heavy traffic area that can reduce visibility and create traffic dangers for both the truckers and for other drivers.

It doesn't happen where I am, thank goodness, but I have seen it in other states and hated it.

but a lot of them are full, and the trucks spill out onto the roads. Maybe they should try the truck stops? Or vary their hours a little? The rest stops are so full of trucks that us folks driving cars can't even make a pit stop. Maybe the highway department needs to make more for tucks only, or some for CARS ONLY.

After almost 40 years in the industry, I wonder why I didn't think of that!

With all due respect, ma'am, you are showing with each post how little you understand the trucking industry. I'm really sorry you are inconvenienced by drivers who elect to stay safe and get some sleep instead of continuing to the point of exhaustion so that YOU are not put out by having to look around a truck.

On behalf of the roughly 4 million truckers in the USA, I'm sorry.

..quite frankly, most people do not know the rules of the road. Scientifically, they can't drive worth a shit.
Also, somebody was coming off of the freeway/expessway and crashed? How fast were they going to be injured? 20 mph?
Bet they were driving like the usual idiot.

Often the rest stops are packed so the overflow goes on the ramps.

Seems like a safe place to stop. Give the drivers a break. It’s a tough job.

...I want to be able to spend a hassle free night on entrance ramps too...

...what are my chances?

...

I-55, maybe farther south than where you see it, only once in a great while.
And, I see them on I-80, but more if I'm well east of Joliet. There's a big rest stop to the west & it's almost always crowded.
I never see them on I-88. The cops might be enforcing it there.

There are not enough rest stops and you will often find private passenger vehicles using the truck spaces at the rest stops which are few and far between and often overflowing. Really, look at a map.

If you don't understand how the trucking system works, it would help to look into the reality of the scene which is often loosely associated with the rules and laws on paper.

Time is a major factor in where a semi parks. If it is out of the travel lanes and safely so, it is most often a legitimate place to to park for the laws and safety. Placement is also a factor, Getting beyond a major city when traffic is unlikely is the best plan and if getting through one only to have no rest stop options shortly after will bring about the roadside option. Parking up on the breakdown lane of an on-ramp it is in a reduced speed/flow location, if the truck is off the travel lane, it is up to the drivers who encounter the area to take caution... just like in any other vehicle situation where a vehicle is off the travel lane at a on-ramp or near one. It is a set of business and personal safety decisions that go into the decision to park in such a location whether anyone outside the industry understands that or not.

My suggestion, pay attention while driving and remember that everything you have, unless you created it yourself at home without help, came to you on a truck.

Personally, I think everyone who wishes to be a licensed driver, of any type or class and prior to being licensed, should be required to spend 25 hours riding as a passenger in a semi so they see why it is imperative for drivers of other vehicles to pay attention. Too bad it's so impractical.

{{{{{{{2NaSalit}}}}}}


Well said.

You are awesome for this post.

There isn’t enough.

When I was on the road I tried to finish my work day by 3pm. If I knew I’d be running later I’d have to reserve a paid parking space somewhere. Depending on the truck stop that could cost as much as $25.00. My company reimbursed me for that but many companies don’t.

Where was that?

Never seen or heard of it in my day, pre-1992.

It was an issue when I was on the road. In California, people seemed to expect trucks to simply magically materialize at the delivery or pu point and exist nowhere else in the state. In all of southern CA there were like six truck stops that I can recall and only one was within ten miles of LA and not a good place to try and get sleep. California hates trucks and it's the most ridiculous mindset I've ever experienced in the decades while I was driving.

I think there are a couple of Loves locations that are doing it as well. The trick is to find a company that will reimburse for parking. Most of the big carriers won’t.

If you sit on the lot for more than 3 or 4 hours you have to pay to leave.

California hates trucks and drivers.

The liability for these incidents needs to be more strict. These result from making the driving runs too long without any padding for delays. The liability needs to pierce the corporate shields, the wealthy owners need to pay so they figure out all these capacity issues, and maybe make rail more competitive.

somewhere other than of and on ramps. Who's going to compensate the family of the man who was killed last night running into this asshole trucker who was parked on the on ramp with no lights or warning triangles?

And maybe the driver if the amount of compensation exceeds insurance limits.

And it seems like that is more a problem of not putting out the necessary safety things than the act of parking on the ramp. Which, ironically, will probably mean that the insurance company won't cover the incident which means the family won't get anything because the driver won't have that kind of cash. But insurance companies sucking is a whole different discussion.

The driver who got killed probably should have been paying attention to where they were going. If the truck was off the travel lane, they have no lilability, or shouldn't. Is the trucker responsible for every other driver's actions at all times even while sleeping?

Sorry for your outrage but your assumptions are probably off.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218853356#post13

But some blame lies with him. Did he have is headlights on? Was he watching the road by looking ahead? If the answer to both of these questions is yes, then it could have been avoided.

To avoid inconveniencing you, you'd never see fresh food in the grocery stores. Any of them.

Even with no lights on a semi-trailer has reflectors and are not hard to see.

it's 4 am and they're parked on the on ramp with no warning triangles, which is my point. They block the view, and at that hour it's hard to see around them.

And it's hard to see around them then you can see the truck.

And you (the general you) hit it, you were driving too fast for the conditions and/or are drifting recklessly off of the road and onto the shoulder.

I've only seen then parked on the right hand side of the on-ramps where blocking the view of the highway is not an issue. If they are parked on the left, I could see that being an issue, but it still shouldn't cause someone to hit them.

No shit.

to save money. Truck drivers are required by law to be logged into the sleeper so many hours a day. Truck stops are full early in the evening and the only safe place is get on ramps. Tell your state government to open up rest areas!

Just not enough of them. There's one stretch of at least 100 miles that doesn't have any. Some of them are pretty small and have no room for trucks. OTOH, there is one massive truck stop complex at MM 151 on !-81 that if you're driving a car, you take your life in your hands to try to stop there. I did once, and never again!

Their magic cars could pay attention and watch where they are driving since their cars aren't really magic. where's the responsibility of the person who was killed? They aren't liable because..?

Honestly.

ever before, they are closing down scale houses too. We need these scale houses to get unsafe trucks off the highway.

They close down the scale houses and remove the black top in and out including the huge parking space. They could easily set up four or five porta potties and trucks could have a place to sleep.

Parking on the shoulder of get on ramps is safer than get off ramps. Whenever I trained rookie drivers I would always make that point. Vehicles exiting the interstate are traveling much faster than the ones getting on.

Don't blame the truck driver. We need more rest areas!

Sorry, but you're wrong.

1) There is no exit 151 on I-81 in Virginia.

2) Exit 150 is Troutdale and there USED to be a moderately sized truck stop (It was a TA but originally was a Union 76 and it could NEVER have been described as "massive" ) but they closed that place and bulldozed it probably 10 years ago. It's a vacant lot now and no trucks can park there.

3) The only other truck stop at exit 150 s a TINY Pilot/Flying J subsidiary called "ONE9" that has...ready? SIXTEEN TRUCK PARKING SPACES!!

How do I know all this? Because my company runs me up to the Roanoke Post Office about 10 times a year and I go to a hotel afterwards at that very exit. I know it very well. So your information about "one massive truck stop complex at MM 151 on !-81" is well over a decade old.

Here is a Google maps sat shot of that exit. The spot where the old TA was is across the street from the ONE9 fuel stop.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/uHrmfi1AgbH3LnG89

...with facts. Shame.

OFF

The place seems really tight to me but I’m not a truck driver.

It was a Pilot, but Pilot/Flying J created this ONE9 brand that they have been renaming a number of their smaller Pilots to.

There's another similar but even smaller one near Melbourne, FL that was a Pilot;

https://maps.app.goo.gl/BawP8dhKUE799jDt8

Anyone that has traveled the length of I-81 through Virginia has passed through the Wytheville & Fort Chiswell area where there are 5 major truck stops within 12 miles of each other (A TA, 2 Pilots, a Flying J and a Love's) plus a Circle K that has Diesel lanes and about 20 parking spaces. In total they have close to 825 parking spaces for 18 wheelers. They ALL fill up completely almost every single night of the week and you still see drivers parked on the ramps on 81.

And after the Roanoke area as you point out.

Because you are nothing but receipts.

?si=IlB4NNij77NZd44o

How could I have forgotten about the Singer Sewing Center? Or is it "Senter"?

Rest areas in Texas are more like travel centers for families. They're nice. But don't seem designed for trucks.
They have 20 trucking spaces in each direction. They are spaced every 70-100 miles.

Marietta is a county seat, not a giant city. It is on a primary route along the Ohio River, and there is always traffic, often impeded by large vehicles parked on the pavement. I see UPS and FedEx trucks parked on the main roads for delivery, I see local delivery trucks parked as well. Lately, the lawn care services park on the road, not in the drive where they are working. On my street, one of the neighbors drives a rig, and parks it on the street in front of his house almost every day at noon. My street is barely 2 lanes wide.

I assume this is more top down ignoring the laws. Not enough cops to enforce traffic laws. Around here, they have zero tolerance for child and domestic abuse and drug trafficking. Everything else gets by.

Perhaps the weight of the vehicle is too much for the driveway and whatever might be under it. Maybe the lawn-care company has some liability issue by putting the vehicle on a property, or maybe, there are ordinances regarding the chemicals in the lawn-care products that regulate how far it has to be from a residential structure due to volume when contained.

You see, there could be several legitimate reasons for this. Instead of getting pissed at a working stiff, maybe ask them about it.

not usually a tank, just mowers. I wish you could drive in this town for a day or 2. I am not going out today, and it is the best day this week.

In my decade and a half of driving large trucks in more obscure road conditions under extreme conditions than you can imagine and I had to back out of them sometimes with no clear view of where the back of the trailer was going. If you cannot drive your car past the truck without scarping your rear view mirrors or falling off the the travel lane then they are blocking the road. Otherwise, they are not.

The truck driver is not responsible for the level of driving skills of other drivers.

whether it is rest stops, truck stops etc. has been a major shortage for many decades. Major industrial/warehousing development has continued rapid expansion across the nation for the last 40+ years meaning more and more trucks to service those businesses. Yet the wisdom of the omnipotent planners who OK all of this expansion rarely take into account the need for more truck parking in nearby areas. They may discuss traffic but they do nothing about truck parking. Their attitude is generally that the trucks should "go somewhere else" despite nobody providing that "somewhere else".

The Feds and the states have been "studying" it to death for decades with some minor improvements here and there. But when Daddy Big Bucks says he wants to build a great big industrial park nobody wants him or anybody else to have to account for truck parking capacity in nearby areas that is needed for the hundreds of trucks coming to the big shiny industrial park that everybody is so happy about. It's similar to places that face major restricted water supplies but keep slamming in new housing developments at a record pace. They know they don't have enough of what is needed but they do it anyway.

Add to this mix the Federal government a few years back took away the limited amount of scheduling flexibility that drivers had and the geniuses who run the industry have been squeezing ever longer trips into the same allotted hours of driving/on duty time. For example 20 years or so ago an "overnight" delivery with 10 hours of driving time would typically be between 350-475 miles in length because old hands in the industry knew that things happen such as traffic jams, weather etc. But over the last 20+ years the industry is now run by geniuses who say to themselves "well the speed limit is 65mph and so in 10 or 11 hours of driving our drivers should be able to make overnight runs of 550-650 miles". Burn out the drivers, make them push to the nth degree, no time to stop and have a relaxing meal but just grab fast food to go and eat while you drive, dock them pay if they don't make the increased delivery length etc. Then they wonder why the old hands have retired early and why they can't keep new people.

If you stay in this industry more than about 30 days you will discover that nearly everybody you interact with from the company dispatchers, freight brokers, shippers and receivers are lying to you on a nearly constant basis. They lie about when the load will be ready, they lie about how long it will take to load, they lie about how many miles the trip really is, they lie about how many deliveries there are on that load, they lie about having a load for you when you get the current one delivered, they lie about having a load to take you home, they lie about when they will unload you etc.

If you do stay in this industry as a driver working for a company you will find that if you complain about the lies or being expected to meet an unworkable amount of miles in the time given you will be labeled as a "problem" with a little mark by your name in the computer. Because most drivers are paid by the mile they will cut your miles to almost nothing until you have to quit and go elsewhere. All of that crap from people all day long and then when you need a place to park there isn't one. The "powers that be" running the show for decades all know there isn't one.

"Over the road" trucking has turned into a massive pile of crap and the very last thing I would recommend anybody to do is to drive "over the road". If you want to drive try and do it for a local company or a more regional company where you can be home most nights. Those of us who have driven "over the road" over the many years know the difference and how bad it has gotten. I'm not going to tell you there are no good companies. But they are rare.

Imagine working in an industry where every day you are literally putting your life at risk as well as being responsible for the lives of those around you, dealing with the stresses of packed schedules, bad drivers, traffic, people lying to you about crucial information, crappy food and little time to eat it and then at the end of the day the people who run the industry and those controlling parking can't even care about you enough to be sure you have a safe place to park the rig that is well over $150,000 that you are responsible to keep safe and the multi thousands of dollars of freight on the trailer. After all of that on a daily basis at the end of the day they crap in their hand and rub it in the driver's face and say "there's nothing we can do", "we're studying it" or "just do the best you can but be sure you're on time tomorrow".

I started driving tractor trailers in 1978, before the days of deregulation, and went OTR back in 1987 while the national speed limit was still 55. I've been around.

The problems you mention are only going to get worse as the retail industry transitions more and more to internet purchasing and home delivery. Notice how many malls are empty and how many warehouses/distribution centers are being built these days? All of them with 50 or more dock doors. That's where all that commerce is going but it begs a question; Who is supposed to move all those trailers?

As you said, the industry is having a hard time retaining the old hands (I'll have to drive till I drop dead) and new recruits are leaving within a few years because they are getting screwed right out of the box.

How many young people want a job that basically pays piecemeal wages, keeps you away from home for often weeks at a time and then you have to contend with everything you said and the acrimony of the motoring public?

The trucking industry is shooting itself in the foot and they don't seem to care. And just watch, as soon as the technology improves, they will go to autonomous trucks for most OTR work, putting hundreds of thousands of men and women out of work and destroying what was once a good and well paying career for people for which going to a university was not an option.

We started the same year out there.

I couldn't keep it up physically band I'm glad I found another career path.

and the powers that be have always felt that they could just take anybody at all and send them through a 10 day training program and all of a sudden they have a truck driver. I've told people many times that it takes a certain kind of person to do this job. It's something you can't teach. You either have the ability to be behind that wheel hour after hour and day after day or you don't. The mechanics of driving as you and I know are only a part of it.

You're right about the autonomous trucks. They don't listen to you and I about the problems we see those bringing in safety either. When two trucks are approaching each other from different directions in a snowstorm with blowing winds in the daytime is that autonomous truck going to suddenly brake because it "thinks" it saw something because of the blowing, driving snow making things visible and then less visible? So somebody behind the autonomous truck is going to deal with a vehicle in front of them making a panic stop for no reason? Dandy.

It was pointed out to me that if someone wants to "freeze" an autonomous truck in it's tracks, like at a truck stop, all you have to do is put a garbage can in front and back of it. It will sense the objects and not move. Someone will have to come and "rescue" it. Also when the autonomous truck backs itself into the dock who is going to chock the wheels? You can't get shipping/receiving personnel to even come out and check the name on the door of the truck to be sure they're not giving the load to a thief. Who is swinging open the doors and closing them? Who is putting in load locks or straps? Who is sliding the tandems? Who is doing the count on each end? Who is fueling the truck? Who is hooking and unhooking hoses and light cords? Who is putting on chains and taking them off? Who is making the decision of whether a snow/ice event is OK to go? Highly doubtful the autonomous truck or remote observers in a command center are going to have a feel for ice and whether the plow trucks/salters have been out. When the autonomous truck comes to a right turn that is too tight how long will it sit there blocking traffic while somebody back in the command center figures out how to reroute the truck in order to come back at the turn from the opposite way etc.? When the autonomous truck comes to road construction that has all kinds of narrow switchbacks and shoulder driving etc. how will it react?
When an autonomous is on an upgrade hill in icy conditions will it hold back from attempting the grade until the vehicles in front have made the grade or will it charge on then be in trouble and having to stop on the slippery uphill grade when someone is spinning the tires in front of them and can't go up the grade?

Judgement, skill, experience. The autonomous advocates/developers have no idea of what all the truck driver is really doing. They think it is just start,stop and steer.

Thanks for the articulate update on changes since I bailed.

The CHP will give them a ticket and if it is abandoned they will tow it at the vehicle owners expense.

and drivers have to park somewhere to get rest. If you are running out of available driving hours for the day and every space in all the rest areas and truck stops you have passed are full, what are you going to do?

if you don't like what trucks are doing, stop buying stuff.

https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-07-24/at-least-9-migrants-dead-in-deadly-tractor-trailer-in-san-antonio



A tractor-trailer found parked in a Walmart parking lot in San Antonio early Sunday morning turned out to be the latest fatal case of human trafficking, according to local officials.

The death toll rose to 10 on Monday morning after the Associated Press reported another victim had died. More than two dozen workers have been transported to local hospitals, 20 of whom were listed in "extremely severe" or critical condition, according to the city's fire chief Charles Hood.

Smuggling immigrants from Mexico into the U.S. in tractor-trailers is a common means to get them into the country, but also comes with the threat of dehydration, heatstroke or hypothermia, especially with Texas' summer heat.

According to local weather reports, it was about 100 degrees Fahrenheit Saturday, and local officials said that the tractor-trailer's air conditioning did not work. The New York Times estimated the temperature inside the tractor-trailer was as high as 173 degrees Fahrenheit.

_____________

Prior to this event, there were always alot of trucks parked at local Walmarts. The trucks seemed to attract crime. People would be sleeping on the ground in a parking space. After this, the number of trucks parked over night is now real small. I think they only allow Walmart trucks to park overnight now.

And gas stations that have truck parking often fill up fast, hell, I've seen two of them across the street from each other and completely full. As its the only place where they can get a shower and a hot meal (not a good one mind you). And then you have at times long rural stretches that have neither. And by law, they have to stop and rest, but no designated places to do so. Need federal funding for that to happen.

Nor do most companies shell out the cash for them to stop at a Motel 6. Usually private owners will do that, unless they bid the job too low. Also, for example, in California, our rail infrastructure is maxed and no room to build more lines. A solution would be to build an "inland port" where the trains make small but more frequent trips and other lines and/or trucks pick it up from there (would save us some tax dollars as well in maintaining roads). However, why would Arizona do that when the shipment is going to Minnesota?

and I wouldn't mind paying more taxes to get more rest stops either, because it would also benefit me, the car driver. But quite honestly, I just wish they would stop parking on the on ramps where I have to turn right, because I can't see around them. It does make a difference, particularly on foggy rainy mornings like today was.

You get a tired trucker off the road so he won't cause any fatal accidents, but then, you create a new situation no one bothered to think about. A simple law limiting their driving time seems like an easy and cheap way to fix things, but like any major home project, you can make an expensive fix that will outlast you, or you can do the cheap route and revisit it, often.

Looks like the truck was on the shoulder; out of traffic lanes. So the car wasn't driving on the road and must have been going very fast because it is unrecognizable.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/22/us/politics/truck-parking.html

https://archive.ph/Kun6F

America’s Truckers Face a Chronic Headache: Finding Parking
Parking spots for trucks are in short supply around the country, and the problem can lead to unsafe situations for long-haul truck drivers and other motorists.
By Mark Walker
Dec. 22, 2023

In the wee hours one night in July, a Greyhound bus heading to St. Louis turned onto an exit ramp leading to a rest area in Southern Illinois and hit three parked tractor-trailers, smashing its front, crumpling its roof and ripping off part of its side.

Three passengers were killed. The tractor-trailers were parked along the ramp’s shoulder, a common sight on the nation’s highways.

“It’s scary because it can happen in the blink of an eye,” said Carmen Anderson, 64, a South Dakota-based truck driver for America’s Service Line, who recently had to park on an off-ramp in North Carolina after not being able to find parking at rest areas or truck stops.

The accident in Illinois highlighted a widespread complaint among the nation’s truckers: Parking spots for commercial trucks are hard to come by.

As a result, truckers often take refuge in store parking lots, along the shoulder of highways and on ramps, though the legality of doing so varies by location. The shortage of parking is both inconvenient and financially costly for truck drivers, and it can lead to dangerous situations when truckers are forced to improvise.

...

I don't know anything about trucking industry etc

I've noticed trucks parked on the shoulder too. It's a recent thing. I don't think it's a good thing
They are increasing. Here is the 1-10 - 410 interchange via google maps.



City is trying to address the situation. A ban on all city streets would ban all on ramps, but modified ban would ban 1,000 feet from residential areas. Studies showed shortage of truck parking.

Walmart used to allow truckers, but don't anymore.
1. Possible crime/liability (The dead migrant smuggling case here in town)
2. They are no longer open 24/7 with available restrooms and truckers were using the parking lots. https://www.reddit.com/r/Truckers/comments/rpvw07/parking_at_walmart/

Public TX DOT Rest areas: Not enough!!! They seem more designed for families. They're nice. Clean restrooms 24/7 with attendants on the interstate, but they're spaced 70-100 miles apart on the interstate. (Each side has 20 truck stalls)

There is an interstate pac, for truck parking. The pilot program started in the midwest. It is expanding to I-10 between Texas and California.