Comments By Nick S.

Pfffft Climate change is another full on BS way to try and capitilize and make billions off of. Anyone with 5 brain cells, knows, our climate is a constantly changing thing. From 1 year to the next, some mild winters, then BAMM, next years is a real PITA bad one. Same with summers, this has happened every year of my life on earth, I remember em well (IN Calif)......Powers that be in Calif. are all friggin MORONS, continually, repeating the BS agenda they roll on. Same with the smog pollution in Calif. What has bi-annual vehicle inspections done to fix it? NOT a DAMN thing !

Take a ride up into the mountains, overlooking San Bernardino/Fontana/Colton area, you can see, the smog blanket lingering over it. All that's changed, is the smog has spread east from LA.in the last 40-50 years ! I know and seen this since I grew up there, since I was 6 years old. All Calif has done, is rip the public off in fee's for smog checks and emission BS....Car's run cleaner now days as well, hell my VW beetles, even with built Hi-Perf, non-smog engines, ran ZERO emissions.

Newsom, needs to leave office, right with Nancy POOlucy lol......

Hello Stevo Reno,

Thank you for sharing your views of California (with regard to climate change).

On the behalf of my friend, thank you.

Kind Regards,

Nick S.

Actual conversation with a weekend dispatcher years ago:

Dispatcher: Why did you drive all the way to Ripon for your 10 hour break instead of just parking the truck in San Francisco?

Pacific Pearl: You've never been to San Francisco, have you?

I can drive from Oregon to Maryland and get called into two weigh stations - I-84 at mm 41 outside of Hood River and the fake weigh station in WV (more of a brake check). If I go south there are a half-dozen between Portland and Sacramento and I usually get called into at least TWO. The 55 mph limit for trucks, the right lane only (for trucks) and the many anti-truck laws (no idling, no parking near a residential area, etc) show they tolerate trucks, but they're not happy about it.

The unholy trinity of a shortage of cheap land, the anti-trucker mentality and the environmentalism trumps ALL mentality all contribute to the lack of truck stops in Mexico's Gay District (some of the old-timers still call it, "California"). Whatever you call them, they're the most anti-truck state in the nation. The good news is that we won't have to put up with it much longer:

California Gov. Newsom executive order bans gas, diesel cars by 2035

California Looks to Ban Diesel Trucks at Ports by 2035

California seeks to ban sales of diesel commercial trucks effort to fight pollution, climate change

It's only a matter of time until trucks are banned completely there. I have a morbid curiosity about how long it will take them to realize bicycles aren't going to be able to keep the vital supplies of avocado toast and leather pants they need to survive on the shelves. I (and many other others) will breathe a deep sigh of relief when that day comes.

Greetings Pacific Pearl,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my friend’s question. I will send your response to him. WOW! What you have shared has been a big eye opening experience chocked full of great and useful information. Based on what you have shared, it will be very interesting to see how California copes with all of these upcoming rules and laws as they apply to big rig truck drivers.

On the behalf of my friend, thank you for your help, it is greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Nick S.

If you pick up or drop in LA, you might have to drive 50 miles or more to find a legitimate place to park. With traffic in the LA area, that might take two hours or more. There are absolutely no truck stops in OC. Driving south from LA, the nearest truck stop is about 100 miles away. So, most of those drivers probably don’t have the hours to make it that far. There is also the expense factor. The truck stops in Ontario are paid only. I believe it’s $35 now. Now you know just a couple of the factors that keep drivers out of Kalifornia.

Hey there TCB,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my friend’s question. I will send your response to him. What you have shared is good information to know, and a good learning opportunity.

On the behalf of my friend, thank you for your help, it is greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Nick S.

We have a terminal in the LA region, so that helps. Given the size of the area, you must as a driver, manage your clock properly to pick up, deliver and find safe legal parking there.

I'm assuming that your friend is referring to SoCal in general. There are ample places to park there. I have pulled into numerous truck stops that had available spaces yet the off ramps and on ramps were completely full. This tells me the ramp parkers are just being lazy or don't have the backing abilities to park.

I regularly do SoCal and I plan my days so that I'm in and out at night, and I have parking. Althouse I hate CA for ideological reasons, I've had very profitable weeks there running between SoCal and the central valley.

Hello Davy A.,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my friend’s question. I will send your response to him. This is great information to know, and it sounds like in some places of our nation, a truck driver has to have some good skills and know-how in order to park trouble-free when required.

On the behalf of my friend, thank you for your help, it is greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Nick S.

This problem is not unique to California. What is a bit unique to California, most especially Los Angeles and Orange Counties, is that there are no truck stops within the urban and suburban areas. Once making a delivery in L.A. or Orange Counties, the closest place to find decent parking is Ontario, technically L.A. County, but far from the coastal areas, like the port areas where many warehouses are located. Trucks take up a lot of space. Truck stops become dirty and eyesores after many years. Most communities don't want the unsightliness of truck stops in their areas.

Hey there Ryan B. ,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my friend’s question. I will send your response to him. What you have shared is great information. Now that you mention it, I don't ever recall seeing a truck stop in Los Angeles county or Orange county.

On the behalf of my friend, thank you for your help, it is greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Nick S.

NOTE: I’m posting this post (below) for a friend who is having trouble trying to get an account setup on TT, who is interested in becoming a truck driver.

What seems to be the trouble? The process for getting an account setup is very straight forward.

Hey there Rob T.,

My friend got his TT account set up per se, however to make a long story short, he is having computer hard drive issues, yet when his computer seems to be working for a few minutes, whenever he logs onto the TT site AND tries to submit a question in this forum (General Category), he gets a pop-up screen that tells him that his question has been received, but it must be approved by a moderator before it can be posted in the forum. Since he was brand new to TT, he figured it was standard protocol new members, and was okay with his questions not instantly showing up. I think he posted about 5 or 6 different post questions (when he first joined TT). My friend joint TT about 5 weeks ago and thus far, none of his questions have been approved by the moderator/have never appeared in this forum. I'm not sure why, as I am posting his questions here (in my account), and it seems like those questions are all within the guidelines of this website/forum. Thus far nobody seems to have been offended by any of this questions I am aware of. Yet since he got the pop-up message (tells him that his question has been received, but it must be approved by a moderator before it can be posted in the forum ) each time he submitted a question, we are guessing they were received with no problems. So with the pop-up message, that lets me know that those questions were actually sent, yet we are unclear as to what happens to them while waiting for the moderator to approve of them.

Kind Regards,

Nick S.

Isn't parking solved by the trucking company you work for, where your employer tells you the prefered places to park your truck when you need to wait (for some reason) making or picking up a delivery or if you get hit with a 34 hour reset while away from home? What is the deal with truck drivers having an issue with finding decent and safe parking in some cities/states in our nation?"

This "friend's" questions are a great example of how people wanting to get into trucking completely underestimate how radically different this career is from other jobs. Our companies don't have any ability to deal with the problems we face. Truckers are, and must be, fiercely independent problem solvers. Personally, I think this is the major factor that divides highly successful drivers from the mediocre complainers.

Yes, we have a parking problem for trucks. A state like California is never going to allow enough land to be allocated for truck parking. They are convinced trucks are destroying the planet. But... they keep buying goods that have to be delivered on trucks. They want their goods delivered and those nasty truck drivers out of town as soon as they deliver.

States like California are champions for regulation yet don't even recognize how regulations require Truckers to get sufficient rest. A trucker faces challenges every hour they are on the road. Most of those challenges are not driving related. Many of them are centered on understanding how to manage your time so that you can deliver on time and still be able to find parking for sufficient rest. That is on the driver.

We decide where to park and rest. We decide how to get somewhere on time. Nobody at the trucking companies can tell you how to do your job. They have no way of knowing what's best for each driver in each scenario. We have a thousand options daily. We make those decisions and live with the consequences.

Hey there Old School,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my friend’s question. I will send your response to him. Based on the detailed and thorough information you have provided, it certainly is very educational.

On the behalf of my friend, thank you for your help, it is greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Nick S.

NOTE: I’m posting this post (below) for a friend who is having trouble trying to get an account setup on TT, who is interested in becoming a truck driver.

"I was curious to learn from truck drivers that need to park in California, why does there "seem" to be a never ending problem of places to park a truck? Though I don’t know the ropes, but I thought that is what truck stops were for . . . but I have heard so many stories over the past two years, some truck stops run out of parking room and or you have to pay for parking. Yet I find it odd (here in the Los Angeles area), to see clusters of trucks with and without trailers parked on the shoulders of some of the off ramps and off to the side of some freeways late at night (with no lights on), so I figure these truckers have to be sleeping . . . yet I know for a fact that there are nearby truck stops within about 10 to 20 miles from where I see these trucks parked (nearby where I live). Plus there are at least 3 large truck stops within 10 miles where I live.  Plus I also on occasion have seen truck drivers in another truck driver forum ask where can they park their trucks (when they come from other states into California), along with some truck drivers asking about truck parking in Las Vegas/the Las Vegas area, after delivering a load, as they have to wait a day or two of another load. Isn't parking solved by the trucking company you work for, where your employer tells you the prefered places to park your truck when you need to wait (for some reason) making or picking up a delivery or if you get hit with a 34 hour reset while away from home?  What is the deal with truck drivers having an issue with finding decent and safe parking in some cities/states in our nation?"

First it is a myth that there is a driver shortage. Freight is slowing and companies are slowing their hiring now. Predictions for freight over the next year have looked dismal.

Most training companies have turned over to autos. Truck manufacturing companies had production rates of manuals of about 6% before covid.

My mega carrier began turning over in 2017. Companies do not actually consider themselves a "training school" for you to take a CDL anywhere. They are training you to work for them, therefore they want to train you on their equipment.

I have always believed it best to train at the company and if you get the restriction then eventually you can test later if you change jobs. A new exam to remove the restriction would be so much easier and less stressful when you have a year or more.of experience driving. The shifting would be easier to learn and test when you are confident with everything else about driving.

Hello Truckin Along With Kearsey,

Thank you very much for reply back to my friend’s questions. I will send him your response in an email.

Since my friend and I are new to the truck driver scene, all I can say, here in Southern California, we see many trucking companies looking for licensed drivers (each week), along with a lot of trucking companies looking to train new drivers. Maybe the truck driver shortages we have been hearing about is regional. Yet going by all of those ads we keep seeing, it seems like there is a truck driver shortage here where we are.

On the behalf of my friend, thank you for your help, it is greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Nick S.

NOTE: I’m posting this post (below) for a friend who is having trouble trying to get an account setup on TT, who is interested in becoming a truck driver.

"Since there is a big demand for new truck drivers right now, I was wondering if you have been to one of the paid CDL trucking companies (in the past two years), as I was curious to learn if you learned on an automatic or manual transmission truck? Do you have an option to learn on a manual truck or do they by default teach you to drive and get licensed on an automatic truck nowadays? Prior to the pandemic and the truck driver shortage, (I had always heard) it seemed to be the norm to learn on a manual transmission truck (at these trucking companies) and most fleet trucks were manual transmission trucks. Nowadays (I am now hearing) most large/major trucking companies are replacing their fleet trucks with automatic transmission trucks."

Each and every training company is different. Some train on manuals and some train on autos. There is no option to choose, as far as I am aware. You get trained on the equipment that the company uses.

Hello Ryan B.,

Thank you very much for reply back to my friend’s questions. I will send him your response in an email.

On the behalf of my friend, thank you for your help, it is greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Nick S.