[LA90077]

Still in the process of getting my CDL.
I have been reading a few post and it sounds like crime is a problem on the road.
I am a firm believer is watch your back and being stupid will get you in trouble.
So I am not asking about parking in a bad part of town and placing a sign on the door "Don't not disturb - Stupid sleeping inside"

I have done several road trips over the years and always stopped at truck stops for gas. Yes I found some a little harsh, but mind your own business and move on.
Rest stops for sleeping. Never had any problems but also as a 4 wheeler could just keep driving if I felt I was in the wrong area. I always used the rest stops in the middle of nowhere.

Will start as OTR and will be using my best common sense to plan stops but know the best plans can be screwed by Murphy's Law.

I have been told Casinos are good for truckers, parking etc..

Is crime a big problem on the road?

What dose the experience driver advise?

[repete]

Not really, you do hear about it when a driver is mugged or killed but it's rare. I had someone try to get into my truck once while I was sleeping but I think that was because I always took my 30min. break in the same place and at the same time after seeing what looked like the same truck sitting in a rest area for a week they probably thought it was unattended. SURPRIZE!
I certainly wouldn't walk around flashing a big roll of bills nor leave something out for long unattended but for the most part it's safe.

[GAnthony]

Originally Posted by LA90077

Still in the process of getting my CDL.
I have been reading a few post and it sounds like crime is a problem on the road.
I am a firm believer is watch your back and being stupid will get you in trouble.
So I am not asking about parking in a bad part of town and placing a sign on the door "Don't not disturb - Stupid sleeping inside"

I have done several road trips over the years and always stopped at truck stops for gas. Yes I found some a little harsh, but mind your own business and move on.
Rest stops for sleeping. Never had any problems but also as a 4 wheeler could just keep driving if I felt I was in the wrong area. I always used the rest stops in the middle of nowhere.

Will start as OTR and will be using my best common sense to plan stops but know the best plans can be screwed by Murphy's Law.

I have been told Casinos are good for truckers, parking etc..

Is crime a big problem on the road?

What dose the experience driver advise?

crime is all over the world. crime can happen to anyone at anytime. if one walks like a victim, they will be a victim, meaning, keep your head up, keep the phone in your pocket, and WATCH AND LISTEN to your surroundings.

truckers are no more no less a victim of crime than anyone else.

[Mr. Ford95]

I deliver overnight to Walmarts in some shady areas, stores aren't always lit the best. I carry 2 wallets, a fake one with dead or fake credit cards in it to easily hand over if need be. I never get out of the truck with my real wallet to go around the back of the stores. No jewelry, ever. I keep my pen open and in hand ready to use as a weapon. Always, check my surroundings pulling around to the dock area and coming out of the store. I look for things or people out of place. I have called several stores to alert them I'm there and I will not be using the backdoor until the manager comes out and meets me.

Always pay attention to your surroundings even while driving. I've been followed several times, all while empty no less! Called the police on one in the middle of the night on a lonely desolate stretch of interstate. I knew I had a buddy behind me about 5 miles, I called him too. Told him I was going to very slowly back it down so he could catch up. Once he got close, I dropped to 30 mph. I was already down to 50 in a 70 zone...... Another, guy pulled up at a backhaul at 1am. Came racing up beside me, shouldn't have been there. I picked up my hammer and flipped my red dome light on. He reversed pretty quick, but called my company dispatch and told them what was up and to stay on the phone with me until I got the drop n hook done and was rolling on the main highway again. Fastest DnH I've ever done!

Try to find Walmarts that will allow you to park and sleep. Get the Walmart app and do a store search along your route. Pick one and call them up before you get moving, make it a part of trip planning for the day. Call and flat out ask if you can park there later. Many are cool, some not so cool. Not even cool to actual Walmart trucks parking there. 1 in Reading PA is a no go for any truck, they tried to tow a Walmart Private Fleet truck. 1 in Roanoke VA by the mall is a no go for any truck not hooked to a Walmart trailer. MUCH safer to park at the majority of Walmarts, less visitors in the night. Also less chance of being woke up by another truck hitting you like is typical anymore at truckstops.

[GAnthony]

Originally Posted by Mr. Ford95

I deliver overnight to Walmarts in some shady areas, stores aren't always lit the best. I carry 2 wallets, a fake one with dead or fake credit cards in it to easily hand over if need be. I never get out of the truck with my real wallet to go around the back of the stores. No jewelry, ever. I keep my pen open and in hand ready to use as a weapon. Always, check my surroundings pulling around to the dock area and coming out of the store. I look for things or people out of place. I have called several stores to alert them I'm there and I will not be using the backdoor until the manager comes out and meets me.

Always pay attention to your surroundings even while driving. I've been followed several times, all while empty no less! Called the police on one in the middle of the night on a lonely desolate stretch of interstate. I knew I had a buddy behind me about 5 miles, I called him too. Told him I was going to very slowly back it down so he could catch up. Once he got close, I dropped to 30 mph. I was already down to 50 in a 70 zone...... Another, guy pulled up at a backhaul at 1am. Came racing up beside me, shouldn't have been there. I picked up my hammer and flipped my red dome light on. He reversed pretty quick, but called my company dispatch and told them what was up and to stay on the phone with me until I got the drop n hook done and was rolling on the main highway again. Fastest DnH I've ever done!

Try to find Walmarts that will allow you to park and sleep. Get the Walmart app and do a store search along your route. Pick one and call them up before you get moving, make it a part of trip planning for the day. Call and flat out ask if you can park there later. Many are cool, some not so cool. Not even cool to actual Walmart trucks parking there. 1 in Reading PA is a no go for any truck, they tried to tow a Walmart Private Fleet truck. 1 in Roanoke VA by the mall is a no go for any truck not hooked to a Walmart trailer. MUCH safer to park at the majority of Walmarts, less visitors in the night. Also less chance of being woke up by another truck hitting you like is typical anymore at truckstops.

that's a good idea, the fake wallet!

i too make night time deliveries, and the places we go to are all locked and alarmed. we have the codes and keys.

i deliver in downtown Boston, 2 stops. where there is always someone walking on by.

the other stops are shall i say "out of the way" and as such, no one really knows of them, but that doesn't mean i relax either, i still keep my eyes wide open.

[Roadhog]

I hauled to lots of grocery warehouses, and for the most part, they were tame, and at best you might snap or bite at the stinking union lumpers or forklift jockey, maybe over something as simple as your broom, maybe.

Often felt like beating someone senseless with a submarine sandwich, over the pallet exchanges.

I think the longer I pulled OTR grocery, the more felonious my behavior got.... at least in the truck cab after a phone call with dispatch, or some lousy drop with long detention, that any longer, I might come unhinged at any moment. I'd drive for miles shouting in anger, or coming up with things I wish i would have said or done. Better than anything you would find on Youtube, or even an ISIS threat video.

But that's why I liked driving truck. I could hide so much of myself, that in previous jobs where I actually had to interact well and play nice. In that truck, I could unleash everything. Do that as a carpenter, or better yet as a waiter...or a Postal worker.

You don't want to listen to the CB if you travel through any City, or I promise you will be offended. Some of the grocery warehouses I dropped at are real liberal-infested hellholes, like Detroit or South Chicago. I will say I had a few places where seedy and unsavory is the best part of town. Where you deliver is unHoly and dangerous. You want to be situationally aware. There are places more dangerous than delivering young goats in Damascus.... right here in America.

[Roadhog]

By the way... 352 days from 365 leaves 13 days.

No wonder my log book (books) never added up.

[Mr. Ford95]

Most all truckstops are just fine. We are all drivers just making a living and minding our own business, leaving the other alone. Or, if a driver is seen having some difficulty, other drivers will walk up and offer to help. It's rare to find problems at truckstops unless your going looking for trouble. I know it used to be said, stay away from the back line of parking at any truck stop, not sure if it's still the same. If you park on the fuel island, your going to have a bad time. If you pull forward from the fuel island and park, then decide to walk inside for your 30, your going to have a bad time.

[Roadhog]

Mr. Ford... yer probably right aboot parking in the back of a truck stop.
That's where I would always prefer parking.

[Fozzy]

I've never had any issues with any crime myself.. There are lots of unscrupulous types out there and in the truck stop world.. it draws them due to the influx of new suckers in trucks every day.. and that class of driver who is a rolling party.. Don't go looking for trouble and you normally won't find any.