I slept on an on ramp once and will never do it again. it was 3 in the morning and I was eastbound on I-84 in NY I stopped at the TA at x-5 I believe (my planned stop) and there was no parking anywhere!! I couldn't sleep I was worried about the truck tipping over and every time a car or truck went by I was afraid I would get hit! I think that was my 3rd load solo and I will never forget that lousy trip planning!!!

 

Have you ever gotten a ticket for being on the ramp though? Besides the risk of another sleepy driver or wide load coming by and the shoulders being not so strong on some places............isn't there also something about parking on the on/off ramps for extended amounts of time? I know we've done it before too....would take a chance and park it before taking a chance driving it too tired and know it's not always easy to find an empty parking spot, you can plan and plan yourself to pieces and no guarantee that plan will work out when you get to it..........

 

Try parking at the flying j across the street. I was there a while back and it was noon. no place to park. I went across the street to the T/A nightmare also. Thats one of the reason I hated the road. Parking is a nightmare out there.

Heres a few other pain in the butt places to try and get a spot at.

Pilot I-95 Port wentowth GA exit 109
Pilot I-95 Milford CT Exit 40
Flying J I-75 San Antonio FL exit 285?
How bout pilots in Carlsile Pa or Bordentown NJ

One spot you will always find a parking spot is the Flying J in Latta Sc on I-95 exit 181. I dont care when you go in there. Always a parking spot mon - sun anytime.

 

I Hate that one!!!! Parking is terrible and fueling even worse!

 

Gotta give that a try!!!
But then again, even with that one, they'll still try to recruit you into their religion, whatever the hell it is.

 

NO TRUCKSTOPS! what next. just tell the evangelizers you got more jesus then they ever dreamed of so they should give you money

 

Had guy knockk on my door at 7am one time. He asked me "can I talk to you about Jesus?"

I said "No.........I havent had any coffee yet and Jesus would understand"

 

I seen the State Trooper in ever State waking Truckers guess you been lucky..

 

Tell Mr. State Trooper that he is violating federal law by interupting your mandatory 10 hr break and that if you are to move, that he must escort you to a safe area. We had a driver who got delayed for unloading at a WalMart by the time they finished unloading he was out of hours and refused to move the truck one inch unless they called the police and had him escorted to a safe area to park for his break. I tried it at a shipper in Alabama because it took them 6 hours and 3 weighs to get the load right and by the time we were done, I casually informed them that I'm spending the night at their dock because I was out of hours for the day.
Nothing they could do about it. I wont say it will work every time and you have a better chance of getting away with it if the shipper/receiver doesnt know anything about the 14hr rule and they have no authority to look at your logbooks, neither do local cops. Its a sneaky way to get a place to stay the night. I hold no liability if you try this and it goes terribly wrong. :wink:

 

There are states that are starting or escalating campaigns to "ensure the safety of the public." i.e. step up enforcement.

A couple of months back (I posted this I believe) I watched three of Virgina's finest block an exit ramp full of parked trucks. Officer #1 started from the back and woke the driver up to inform him that some of his/her pay will be going to the fine state of Virgina. As #1 proceeded down the line Officer #3 kept a vigilant watch for drivers suddenly realizing what is happening, and proceeded to stop and ticket the individual. Officer #2 manged traffic around the trucks while Virginia's finest were hard at work. At least 5 trucks got tickets.

I have been noticing such operations in Tennessee and Utah.

Parking on a ramp in Utah is ridiculous because there are soooo many places to park.

First, I ran a 8.75 hour regimen. So if things got dicey and a safe place to park was not found by say 9 hours .. I had 2 more hours to find a safe place to park. I tried to always plan to be somewhere safe by at most 10 hours.

I got to say that GMAN provided the best advice on this thread (as he always does)

I am not a big fan of truck stops either ....