Truck Stop Parking...
#21
07-31-2009, 08:35 AM
Yeah i've been practicing lately like trying to set up if i'm backing in a tight spot... I stay at Truck stops alot, but the ones i stay at the most Lee Hi in Lexington, Triple T in Centerville, MD, Oasis in North Carolina, and a Few More.. those arent really Backing Challenged... I guess i'm just terrified of pulling a swifty and back into someone hood...
and as far as the JB Hunt BBRs i didnt bother to help.....i should have corrected myself. I should have said that i'd help anybody with half a brain that knows better than to blindside when you could take 15 seconds and get turned around for a sightside back, than continue a blindside back just to try impress your co-workers. (yeah i know, improper sentence....sue me)
#22
07-31-2009, 08:38 AM
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.
#23
07-31-2009, 09:46 AM
Board Regular
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: In the back of your mind
Posts: 421
Hawk- I do a couple of things;
1. I'm always looking for good parking spots. I used to carry a notebook & write them down, along with good radio stations to listen to in different areas. Now I just put them in my GPS with "parking" in the name. I've got Fontana I210 parking, Vallejo 80 parking & so on. When I hit favorites on the GPS it sorts & shows the closest locations first. 2. Since I do tons of Home Depot deliveries I keep a file of Home Depot locations with notes about receiving hours, access, parking, nearby restaurants etc. I update this periodically, print a copy & keep it in my truck. If I get a Home Depot load to a store I've been to before I can see if I will be able to sleep before/after I deliver and if there is food nearby. 3. I don't have a laptop, but if I stop at home with an unfamiliar load on, I will use Google Earth to check out the address & see if looks like there is truck parking at wherever I'm going. You'll find that when you run regional you get familiar with things over time & nothing is scary anymore. I know I can always park at the Wheeler Ridge Petro or the 49'er in Sacramento. I've got special little hiding places scattered around CA & NV where hardly any other trucks park. I think driving truck is like going on a lot of first dates. By about the third time around it's no big deal, you can relax & have fun. The first time you just don't know what to expect and you're afraid you'll embarrass yourself. The big difference is whether you look stupid to one woman or whole bunch of truckdrivers that are laughing at you over the CB.
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The Big Engines In the Night- The Diesel on the Pass -Jack Kerouac, "Mexico City Blues" Last edited by LightsChromeHorsepower; 07-31-2009 at 09:48 AM.
#24
07-31-2009, 09:46 AM
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: In The Granny Lane Doing 60!!
Posts: 652
yeah Kevin I surrender... ive been hiding in the closet for so long... i can't back worth ****!! Damn poor me!! I suck!!
#25
07-31-2009, 09:48 AM
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 1,658
Originally Posted by Syncrosonix
i'll hit up the petro in frystown instead.
Try the PILOT in Frystown. They bought the All-American(Petro) awhile back.
#26
07-31-2009, 09:54 AM
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: In The Granny Lane Doing 60!!
Posts: 652
Hawk- I do a couple of things;
1. I'm always looking for good parking spots. I used to carry a notebook & write them down, along with good radio stations to listen to in different areas. Now I just put them in my GPS with "parking" in the name. I've got Fontana I210 parking, Vallejo 80 parking & so on. When I hit favorites on the GPS it sorts & shows the closest locations first. 2. Since I do tons of Home Depot deliveries I keep a file of Home Depot locations with notes about receiving hours, access, parking, nearby restaurants etc. I update this periodically, print a copy & keep it in my truck. If I get a Home Depot load to a store I've been to before I can see if I will be able to sleep before/after I deliver and if there is food nearby. 3. I don't have a laptop, but if I stop at home with an unfamiliar load on, I will use Google Earth to check out the address & see if looks like there is truck parking at wherever I'm going. You'll find that when you run regional you get familiar with things over time & nothing is scary anymore. I know I can always park at the Wheeler Ridge Petro or the 49'er in Sacramento. I've got special little hiding places scattered around CA & NV where hardly any other trucks park. I think driving truck is like going on a lot of first dates. By about the third time around it's no big deal, you can relax & have fun. The first time you just don't know what to expect and you're afraid you'll embarrass yourself. The big difference is whether you look stupid to one woman or whole bunch of truckdrivers that are laughing at you over the CB. And the trucking and date thing is true!! I remember the first time i went to two shippers i was like how in the hell am i suppose to get in here WTF?? but now **** most of time its like a breeze, take my time and back on in!!
#27
07-31-2009, 10:02 AM
#28
07-31-2009, 02:17 PM
Bring your butt over to Dollar General in South Boston. Even though most of us look like total idiots trying to do a textbook 45 or 90 degree back, through a table and set of chairs (or full-size sedan, or whatnot) out in the middle of things and we can back right around it every time.
#29
07-31-2009, 02:20 PM
i stopped at the petro a couple of years ago. when it came time to leave to my delivery in allentown, i saw that was in thoroughly blocked. i had to wake up 5 lazy ass drivers. since then, i haven't ever stopped there for any reason. i won't even fuel in that city. f that crap. i'll hit up the petro in frystown instead.
Not to mention that I saw a survey once that indicated newbie drivers preferred to stop at Pilots and Loves most of all. Hence, that’s another reason for me to stay out of Pilots and Loves: there are more newbie drivers that patronize them. Not that I have anything against newbie drivers, but their lack of driving skills is another story. |
