Question For The Seasoned Ones. RE: Parking Space

Seems parking is a constant issue nationwide, rural and urban alike. Has it always been like this? I figure many more rigs are on the road coupled with the elog clocks might be making it worse? I write this from DFW after an evening Monday drop. The TS was a circus with no seats left and no chance at a rest stop or open space of any kind.. I'm squeezed into a Wal-Mart retail location that is far from truck friendly (in design).....it's a NO truck location but I asked and got the green light. No fun!!

We used to have a Moderator on here named Starcar. She was married to a trucker and they team drove for many years. Her husband has been driving for 42 years now and is still driving.

I asked him this question before and he replied "back when I started driving we had 1 million trucks on the road. Now we have 1 billion."

I learned real fast to make a record of the really big TS that always have parking and make sure I have time to get there. For example, 50 miles south of Dallas there's a TA on I 35 in Hillsborough. Always parking. Some people thought I was nuts cause big springs NE isn't that far from Denver. No matter how much time I had on my clock I would shut down there...even if I only drove a few hours that day. Cause there is no parking in Denver lol it is better to park where you can then start driving earlier than to drive 10+ hours and not find parking.

Many times you can plan ahead and reserve a spot. Reserved spots are often easier to get into and are usually closer to the building.

Parking has been an issue for years, and most likely will continue to be a problem. I think you'll find that as you gain experience it will be just like most other trucking issues - you'll learn to deal with it.

I regularly run in the Northeast, places that are terrible for truck parking. I have my places, and generally have no problems. Timing in trucking is everything, much like location in real estate is vital to success.

Hey Big Scott, ill be lookin' for ya out here on ch19.. Oh, I can't afford reserve spots like CFI'er's...plus a long walk does me good.

Seems the TS infrastructure is lagging far behind. That being said, the big boys like FJ are building. May be time to invest and crush the old school stops...lol.

In DFW seems the old school stop are now price gouging with parking price just to half way survive. If they cleaned up the joints maybe drivers would "want" to go there instead of "having" to.

Wal-Mart's are great but as long as drivers are garbage throwing pee -bottle tossing slobs we will loose privileges at more and more WM's..

Many times you can plan ahead and reserve a spot. Reserved spots are often easier to get into and are usually closer to the building.

Even the wash outs in this area are gouging....$67 for a reefer wash out that has a few pallet chips in it.

3 minutes of spray.. Now that's a cool profit margin there...lol.

Don't be so quick to want to run the old school stops out of town.

I've found some excellent stops that never fill up on parking outside the major chains. So they have a gravel lot with some potholes? Or they don't have a McDonald's?

Any truckstop, major chain or not, near or inside a major city is going to fill up very early. I always find it best to either plan to get into town and park early in the day or park outside town and leave earlier in the morning

*Disclaimer.. I'm an old school TS fan, as I've mentioned within my prior posts here. However, a gouging dive is just that.... ;)

Don't be so quick to want to run the old school stops out of town.

I've found some excellent stops that never fill up on parking outside the major chains. So they have a gravel lot with some potholes? Or they don't have a McDonald's?

Any truckstop, major chain or not, near or inside a major city is going to fill up very early. I always find it best to either plan to get into town and park early in the day or park outside town and leave earlier in the morning

*Disclaimer.. I'm an old school TS fan, as I've mentioned within my prior posts here. However, a gouging dive is just that.... ;)

Don't be so quick to want to run the old school stops out of town.

I've found some excellent stops that never fill up on parking outside the major chains. So they have a gravel lot with some potholes? Or they don't have a McDonald's?

Any truckstop, major chain or not, near or inside a major city is going to fill up very early. I always find it best to either plan to get into town and park early in the day or park outside town and leave earlier in the morning

Here I have to agree. Any stop, major chain or not, that charges an arm, a leg, blood and urine sample, and your first born child just to park for 10 hours SHOULD be run out of town. Not to mention the overpriced and unappealing food, the burnt coffee, and the nastiness of the parking lot.

This is where the Trucker Path app comes in very handy. It allows you to weed out those disgusting dives as potential parking possibilities. I run enough of the same lanes that I have favorite spots picked out and plan my trips accordingly.