Didnt you see me say that Some Lots are tight and some aren't?? Ready the Post first before you criticize first Jack!!

Again i don't give a flying f%ck that your not as Skeered no more!! First of all, you have probably had more difficult backs than me to pick up that type of Experience... Second of Allk I got backhauls where i go to that isnt very 53 ft trailer friendly but there's been times where i've lucked up with a truck not next to me or more room to back, but i've had made very difficult backs since i've been here and i've incredibly improved in my Backing since the first week i left on my own which my Backing was Never Great!! It was Decent to say the least and i haven't hit anything so hey

3rd of all i'm ROFL at you being Courtesy!!! Yeah like you was to them J.B. Hunt Drivers huh??

Thanks for all the folks for your real help and comments, to set the record straight i can back up!! i can do a 90 degree back!! i can do a 45 degree back!! i guess squeezing into a tight pilot and Jackknifing in a hole something i've never done before kind of bothers me!! I think i can do it if i think it out but having a bunch of BBR and Super Swifties screaming can alter my thinking

And For the Last time Kevin!! I told you, when i post something Keep it Moving Please!! I can give two farts and a piss what you think!!

 

If i need a parking spot at a truckstop, i call 911 to see if the cops can help me back into one...

 

I second the notion of either shutting down early or running overnight. For the record, the Hook of which you speak is at exit 77 (and there's another at exit 81).
However, something I do tends to work out pretty well. I prefer to stay here at our distribution center (free showers... crummy, yet free, and I keep my pickup here so I can go into town and have my choice of supper), but if I can't, I either bust out the truck stop guide and see what the nearest one is that has decent parking, or stay at one of our stores. I hate staying at 99% of our stores (except Glade Spring and Mount Jackson, 'cause they're within easy walking distance of truck stops), but it works in a pinch. I don't know how picky Wal-Mart is about their trucks (and dedicated pumpkins) being parked at their stores, but I know that if we can get it in the lot at our stores, we can spend the night there... within reason, that is.

 

After i know the destination I make a plan of the trip. In this plan an important thing it's where is the first stop for the night. For that I use a truck stop guide (book or over the internet, if I have time for that).

 

I had a new Werner driver wipe out the front of my truck a few years ago at the Pilot in Carlisle, PA.

That Pilot is always packed and I should have gone to the Petro next door as I usually did, but it was during the winter time, it was cold, and I wanted some steaming hot chilly for supper. Anyway, I pulled in and there were no parking spots so I went to the end of the truck stop and did a U turn. When I was on my way out, a truck pulled out in front of me. So I went ahead setup and backed into that spot.

Anyway, after I parked, I closed my cab curtains and closed out logbook. Then just when I was about to exit my truck to go take a shower and then get some hot chilly, my truck started violently shaking and it kept violently shaking and shaking. When it first started I was sitting in the driver’s seat because I was about to open the door and then when it kept on shaking, I jumped back and sat my bunk because I didn’t know if something was fixing to go through the windshield or what.

Finally, after a while the shaking stopped and so I peaked out the cab curtain to see what had happened, and I saw a light blue Werner trailer had just ran over the hood of my truck.

Apparently, when I was finishing up my logbook the truck on the right side of me pulled out and left, and then came this new Werner driver and instead of trying to back into the slot like a normal driver would, he tried to pull in and ended up wiping out the front of my truck with his trailer.

When I talked to him afterwards he told me that per his electronic logs he was out of hours and his DM had been on his case about finding a place to park ASAP. So he pulled into the Pilot and the spot next to where I was parked was the only parking spot open. He also told me that he had been driving only for a few weeks and because it was so tight in that truck stop he didn’t think he could back into that spot so he tried to pull in instead and he ended up wiping out the front of my truck in the process with his trailer.

He also said he was dead tired and wasn’t thinking right. It was a pretty stupid decision too because since if he would have made it in without wiping out the front of my truck, he never would have been able to make it out. Hell, I never even got mad and actually felt sorry for him, since I knew that would be the end of his brief driving career..

Anyway, I have never been back to that Pilot in Carlisle, PA since and never will go back either if I can help it.

 

Do you move the barriers or do they?

 

Pilots Like That, That Scare the **** out of me!! I went there my second week solo and parked at the far end with no other trucks around!!

 

I ask them to, because i drive a truck, i am too lazy to get out and look, and move some stupid barriers, c'mon! haha

 

if u are regional then u will hopefully be going to the same places alot. if not call to wherever you are going and politly ask if you can park there. saves time and also allows you more time to sleep..in my opinion. but when i was otr/regional i wasn't real big on an actual ten hour break. if you can sleep at shippers and receivers then you can start a break before loading and finish when done. or do like i did and get 4 or 5 hours sleep...15 minutes updating the log book hidden in the bunk and roll home. one book to get to the shipper and one to get home!!

 

Great Stuff JD.. yeah i just talk to one of the guys at the company today at the truck stop.. he said the company really don't care about logs as long as its not outrageous.. Does alot of East Coast, but i know most of the Truck Stops along the I-95 corridor and which ones fill up eariler including the travel plazas so yeah i think i might be making the jump to these guys and when the day come to man up and jack that ****er into a pilot/flying j or something then i guess i got to rise to the occasion... Cause you know guys i want to be like Super Swifty Kevin over there!!