Overnight parking places

[pronghornracer]

Other than truck stops and rest areas; across the United States,
where can you park when your ready to pull over?
What about places like KOA or state parks with showers?
Are there many where you can take a truck? What about
parking lots? Where are some of the secret nooks and
crannies across the country where truckers park that
few know about? It's good to have more options; esp. if
you can't make it to a truck stop or rest area, or if they're packed
full. It's good to know these things, esp. if you're a woman.

pronghornracer

Sometimes the shipper or receiver will let you get rest on their lot. Doesn't hurt in asking. Last year briefly ran solo ... slept a lot of my time on shipper and receivers lots....it was secure didn't have to worry. You can sleep at the scales if you want....it's an option not many are interested in though. Sorry I really don't have this issue....truck seems to be moving when I'm sleeping.

As you learn about your secret spots best be keeping note of them and if no other trucks have found you smart thing is to keep quiet.

[pronghornracer]

Sometimes the shipper or receiver will let you get rest on their lot. Doesn't hurt in asking. Last year briefly ran solo ... slept a lot of my time on shipper and receivers lots....it was secure didn't have to worry. You can sleep at the scales if you want....it's an option not many are interested in though. Sorry I really don't have this issue....truck seems to be moving when I'm sleeping.

As you learn about your secret spots best be keeping note of them and if no other trucks have found you smart thing is to keep quiet.

Lol!....good point....
Might find an entire convoy in the secret spot....
Good idea about the shipper/receivers lots....
thanx...
pronghornracer

[Windwalker]

I don't know where you do your running. Some states will allow you to park at the scales. Some states, the weighmaster will give you a DOT when he/she comes in. Other states WILL NOT allow you to park in the scale.

I generally plan my trip so that I will get to a truck stop that I KNOW I will be able to find a place to park. There are a few places that never quite get filled up. But in most areas, they get filled up and if you're not there early enough, you're left looking. In most cases, I plan to get parked by 6 PM. Some even at 4 PM. Then, there are a few that are full no matter what time of the day you get there.

Along routes that you travel a lot, watch and see which ones are full early, and which ones you can get into to park. The Flying J at Billings, MY is one I never plan to stop at. There's never any room to park. But, many times, I can find a parking place in Laurel, MT, just a few miles west of there.

[choperbob]

i usually start lookin for a truck stop between 4am and noon. seldom is there ever a problem parking, shower lines are short. at prime time i found if i go opposite direction of most drivers i will find spots they cannot get into from their angle, which is why so many drivers pass them up

[FriPilot]

When I was in school, the Swift recruiter told us that Swift drivers could
ALWAYS park at a WalMart. She told us that Sam Walton used to be a truck driver and understood the need for a secure place to park. Apparantly this was his commandment, if you will. She suggested that we talk to the local WalMatr folks to ask where, exactly, to park.
Now, this may or may not be bullbleep, and it may or may not apply only to Swift drivers, but it seems like it's worth checking out to me. Shoot, considering that most WalMarts are open 24 hours, it seems like you would always have restroom availability, and shopping at 3am during a potty break might be OK.

[GMAN]

FriPilot, some Walmarts will allow you to park and others will not. Some even have a steel bar across the drive to prevent trucks from entering the parking lot and parking. Most of the time if you park well away from the store and don't interfere with the store's business, you won't have a problem. There is one in Gallop, NM which has an area where trucks and RV's can park.

[Jackrabbit379]

Yeah,Wal-Marts. Some of the bigger SuperCenters with the bigger parking lots have designated parking for trucks. There is a Wal-Mart in Dallas on I-30/Cockrell Hill Rd that has an area of the parking lot for trucks.

[GMAN]

If we could just keep the low life scumbags from throwing out their waste on the parking lots, we may be able to keep some of those Walmart parking spots.

[Sgt_D]

One place I have found to get a parking spot for the night is by a truck dealer that has a 24 hour shop...the Freightliner dealer in north Ft. Worth has a couple of side streets where drivers can drop trailers while getting work done...Plenty of room there to sleep...another is if you know of an industrial area where you run, you can normally park on the street there, just pretend like you are gonna deliver there in the morning....

[Jackrabbit379]

"Sgt_D"
One place I have found to get a parking spot for the night is by a truck dealer that has a 24 hour shop...the Freightliner dealer in north Ft. Worth has a couple of side streets where drivers can drop trailers while getting work done...Plenty of room there to sleep...another is if you know of an industrial area where you run, you can normally park on the street there, just pretend like you are gonna deliver there in the morning....

Park anywhere overnight off of I-35 from 121 to 820,and youll have everything but the paint stripped off by morning. :P

You couldnt pay me enough to park overnight in North Ft Worth.

[Sgt_D]

Not off 35...I wont even stop at the truckstop on the north side of FW and I am from here...I have never had anyone bother me by Freightliner on 820...I never got bothered at the warehouse district in Arlington either(park by Sigma where trucks come and go all night)

[Jackrabbit379]

Yeah. Drivers Truckstop on 35 is bad news. I think the Ft worth PD has a terminal there :P .

[redsunrise]

After you've been out for a while get yourself a small 3 ring binder....start making a list of places you've parked where no one else has. I have several places I have found....made notes, you'd be surprise where you can park, sometimes you just have to ask.

Most truckstops are filled by 8 pm anymore, might try driving odd hours to catch a place in one of them.

BOL

[beachbum2]

Buy a Interstate exit book in t/s's they not only list exits and what is close to the exits ie restaurants, hotels, hospitals but all in RED are places trucks are allowed to park.

I have found several places that you would never think of parking. Some state parks, restaurants, hotels etc...anything in RED is fair game, and the food is usually much better and cheaper.

[bigtimba]

Parking is yet another benefit of driving for SWIFT. I can park just about anywhere trucks might be expected; Walmart, Costco, Lowe's, Home Depot, Safeway, Albertson's, etc . . and never get a second look. (Medians, ditches and riverbanks, too, now that I think about it . . ) Who knows if I belong there or not? Stay out of the way, be courteous if confronted and move quickly when asked to.

I run Delorme Street Atlas and maptag all the little hideaways I discover. My latest is an alley behind Discount Tire, the one on Ralston, in Arvada, CO. There is an excellent Mexican restaurant in the plaza as a bonus.