Comments By Fatsquatch

In your second picture, are there normally cars parked where the red box is drawn above?

Cars? No. Cars are generally only parked in the narrow white areas around the edges. There could potentially be the odd truck waiting his turn there, though.

Also, where that dropped trailer is, there is almost always a trailer of some type dropped there. Yesterday it was a pup tanker. And there is occasionally a vending machine vendor truck refilling machines right by the break area at the top.

Okay, here's a second shot, with some approximate distance measurements to give a little better idea how much actual maneuvering room you have. The large white block on the northern end of the lot is the employee break/smoking area, the large white block on the southern end is dumpsters and pallets, and the narrower white strips on the sides are vehicle parking. And yes, those parking areas on the left do go right to the edge of the gate, and yes, there are always vehicles in them.

Again, these are approximate measurements. I haven't taken a tape measure to the lot. They're guesstimate based on how many truck lengths and/or widths will fit in those spaces.

Sorry I must of forgot map picture.

Look at Google Maps to study and then call and if the allow entering of of W 8th? If so drive past, adjust, and back it in? Looks easiest and safest to someone like me that is not yest a driver.

That used to be the truck entrance, however that gate is now blocked and inaccessible. Good eye though.

Keep em coming y'all.

So there's this place I pick up from every now and then in Eugene that's kind of a tight spot, and I thought it might be fun to see how everyone would approach this scenario.

For reference, the red line is the gate/entrance/exit, and the purple block is the outbound door.

As with most of these, let's let the newbies have their shot before the experienced guys and gals go chiming in.

I'll throw up my personal solution in a couple days after everyone has had a chance to mull it over and throw in their 2 cents.

West Side Transport has had pay commitments for years. Here, you cannot refuse any loads, must not be late for any pickups or deliveries (that are your fault), no excessive breaks. The amount of the commitment depends on whether you're regional (home weekly) or network fleet (OTR), Regional must be available 5 days out of the week and network fleet must be available 7 days a week.

Honestly, if you do all those things, you'll always exceed the pay commitment, but it's nice if you happen to have a screwed up week through no fault of your own.

My only niggle about that would be, define "excessive breaks." Is that taking an hour long break mid-trip instead of a 30 minute break to spend a few extra minutes in the shower trying to loosen a knotted muscle? Is that taking a 12 hour break instead of a 10 hour break because your shipper or receiver doesn't open until a certain time of day? Is that taking a 12 hour break to wait until traffic has thinned out rather than wasting an extra hour off your clock crawling along the freeway at walking apeed?

Who is deciding what is or is not excessive, and what metrics are they using to define it?

You have to notify your employer of all citations you receive, including in your personal vehicle. Every driving infraction you ever receive affects your record, and if you fail to report it to your employer, they may terminate you for it. Better to tell them and get a stern talking to than have them find out later.

Add Heartland to the list. Driver pay was increased across all divisions on July 7. I don't know if everyone got the same increase, but for me, on the refrigerated fleet, it was $0.02 per mile.

Driving for a company that does both, I've pulled both, and I much prefer reefer. As others have mentioned, reefer trailers ride smoother, so there's that. Also (and these are pure nit picking), dry vans seem to rust out and "rot" faster. By rot I mean that nasty black mildewy corroded nastiness around the hinges where they're bolted to the doors, and where the paint on the doors is starting to chip and crack. And I don't like the way the walls of a dry van wibble and flex going down the road. It makes me nervous, because it looks like there either is or is about to be a problem with the structural integrity of the box, and one slight twitch is going to send a pallet flying through the side like it was made of rice paper.

Oh, one more bonus to reefer: extra rewards points. You get points for reefer fuel too. That extra 15 or 20 points every day or two adds up.

You can't really trust that GPS knows what is and is not a truck route. The GPS only knows what it was programmed by humans to know, and we all know about human error.

Example: there is an Americold in Victorville, CA. The truck route to and from the place is to take Nisqualli Road to Enterprise Way (and vice versa). Every time I go in there, my GPS (Rand McNally) howls about truck weight violation, despite it being clearly signed as the designated truck route, as well as the return route to I-15.

As far as the whole "exit lane blocked" thing, I would pull over (if it was safe to do so) and check two things: is that exit open going the other direction on the highway, and how far to the next exit to get turned back that way? Better to go a couple miles out of route and still be on track than end up playing Follow the Yellow Brick Road trying to figure out how to navigate surface streets.

With all due respect, please ask your fiancee to not park overnight at truck stops. Truck parking is extremely limited, and his parking in a truck stop can and will deprive a driver who needs it a place to park for the night. There are plenty of places he could park a pickup towing a boat that trucks are forbidden. Your fiancee has the dual luxury of not being hamstrung by either federal regulations on how many hours he can drive, or various municipal codes against truck traffic or parking. Please leave the allocated truck parking areas for those of us who need them.