parking question
 

When parking at a truckstop at night,do y'all avoid spots where you have to back in?Just wondering how hard backing is in some of these tight spot at night.

AT NIGHT if you can't back you don't get to sleep at the truckstop

Sometimes you gotta take what you can get. And sometimes you gotta get real creative in getting it into the hole.

If you want to park at a truckstop at night better learn to back. never be afaid to get out and look or ask for help .

if its late in an area parking spots fill up by 7pm i will try to park on the shoulder of a rest area. when i wake up halfway through my sleep (always happens) I usually can move up a bit and go back to bed. At a truck stop u run the risk of having no parking and end up next to the scales, etc. etc. and be woken up by some retard they cannot get into such n such spot because he cant do what the 100 drivers infront of him did.

How come the other person is the retard if you're parked in a non parking area and they are trying to back into a actual designated spot ?

:lol: :lol: That reminds me of the night I pulled into the "Gateway" Pilot over by St Louis. Was still kind of early. Got a pretty good parking spot with nothing in front of me but a row that did not extend to the lenght of the row I was in. So In front of me was no parking. Yeah right!! I was to get up very early to start my drive. I pulled the curtains and looked out and said OH sh!t. No way for me to get out. Drivers came in throught the evening and got real creative and "extended" the row ahead of me but they bowed the row so I wasnt able to pull out of my slot and swing the trailer. I had to wake up 5 drivers had to have them move their trucks back so I could get out. Amazing how drivers can get creative in their parking yet dont see that they are actually blocking others.

Re: parking question
 

As the responses show.... YES! MOST truckers avoid having to back into a parking spot.... but it is not all that hard! It's like backing into a shipper's dock!

IF there is enough room, you just have to set up correctly, and GOAL if necessary!

I will say this..... if you are at the end of your drive time..... your perception will be "off." It is a fact that a tired driver cannot back worth chit!! As a team driver just looking for a hour's break, I have tried 3 or 4 slots and gave up! Then, I went back onto the road and was refreshed "simply" from the exercise of my mind! But, if you MUST park for the night, I suggest you stop at the fuel island FIRST, and go inside to "refresh" yourself..... THEN try to find a hole to put it in!

Late at night, the spots that are open are most likely the "hard ones." But, common sense dictates that they were "laid out" as possible! The question is.... can YOU do it??

First..... make sure that the trucks on either side are WITHIN their "lines." Sometimes they are not! But, if the "lines" are clear.... the only question is whether or not YOU can do what others chose NOT to do!

This is often what separates the MEN from the BOYS! Do it.... or don't! Drive around again, looking for a BETTER option. If you don't find one, then come back to that one with the BEST setup you can make.... and ALL your attention on doing it right!

Don't count on having LOTS of 'pullups', the trucks in front of you will negate that option. You need to set it up right the FIRST time. Can you do it?

Driving a truck is pretty easy! Parking one is where you find out if you have SKILL!

There's no shame in passing up a tough hole! Many other drivers have done it BEFORE you! ..... but there is no PEACE like you get when you have "mastered" the tough hole!

Choose your poison, driver! :lol:

Re: parking question
 

Well saidhttp://bestsmileys.com/signs6/1.gif

Truckstops - Backing
 

"Do y'all avoid spots where you have to back in?" No, and you might want to get your blind side backing skills in order too. Saved my bacon more than once, particularly at the Pilot in Laredo. BOL