Parking A Truck In The Northeast

I dont know how you northeast guys deal with it. There is nowhere to park up here. Its almost like a giant dead zone after you get north of pa for parking. Im heading toward portland me and i was looking for a parking spot close but even the service plazas are listed as small lots. Im beginning to understand why most truckers hate going up there lol

The big hurdle would be what Armyman is talking about: Who will want to give up their sweet spots?

Please. How many sweet spots does any one driver have? Two or three? Congratulations. I'm sure they'll write an article about you in newspapers from coast to coast. I live in a tiny town of only 3,000 people that easily has a dozen spots that won't be listed anywhere. There are literally tens of thousands of locations all over the country sitting nearly empty every night. You'll contribute your two or three and get hundreds or thousands in return. Simple math.

There are plenty of people capable of understanding the value of contributing to a community. Isn't that what this forum is? If anyone is hoarding their secrets it certainly isn't causing any concerns for the rest of us. Everyone gets the answers they come here looking for from kind, experienced drivers who enjoy contributing to the community.

If I had to do something about it there are plenty of ways to work around that sort of thing but I don't anticipate any problems with it.

I do. Of course, you will want to know why I will not share the location. I don't want my truck backed into... again. It is for this reason I think opening the door to the lesser known parking areas will cause problems. These lots usually require good backing skills and that seems to be lacking these days.

I don't see why undocumented parking would require better backing skills. Some will be tight, others will be wide open. And I think trucks back up as much today as they ever have so I don't think backing skills as a whole are diminishing over time.

Yeah, hauling freight up there is a pain for sure. The few times I hauled without a parking permit I made sure there was a plan.

Plan A: have enough hours to get to the outside of highly populated areas.

Plan B: I don't have the hours so I am going to try to make my pick-up or delivery early in the day so that there will be parking available.

Plan C: Dispatch is mad at me or I am a rookie. I will call the shipper/consignee and see if there is the possibility of an early pick-up or delivery. if not then I would ask if they knew where drivers would park and bend their ear about parking on side roads.

Hope this helps JakeBreak

I dont know how you northeast guys deal with it. There is nowhere to park up here. Its almost like a giant dead zone after you get north of pa for parking. Im heading toward portland me and i was looking for a parking spot close but even the service plazas are listed as small lots. Im beginning to understand why most truckers hate going up there lol

Look for a Walmart. Many of them allow truck parking. Look for a remote spot in the lot away from the 4-wheelers. Hope this helps.

Not as common as you may think. It really is a gamble... Unless... You get the experience needed. There is one common bond that all seasoned drivers have: don't hit my truck! Drivers that can't back will have a hard time finding parking at the not so well known places. You just have to work your way in.

Dave has his secrets:

There are a few spots I'll never disclose, NOT even to my own mother, if she were a truck driver.

So good truck stops are like good fishing holes?

I have found that you can skip any of the big 5 chain stops (Pilot/Flying J, TA/Petro, Loves)> They are nearly always full at night. Use an app (I have Trucker Path) and read app reviews of non-chain stops. I've found some great, easy access stops and some knockout diners that way.

Yeah, hauling freight up there is a pain for sure. The few times I hauled without a parking permit I made sure there was a plan.

Plan A: have enough hours to get to the outside of highly populated areas.

Plan B: I don't have the hours so I am going to try to make my pick-up or delivery early in the day so that there will be parking available.

Plan C: Dispatch is mad at me or I am a rookie. I will call the shipper/consignee and see if there is the possibility of an early pick-up or delivery. if not then I would ask if they knew where drivers would park and bend their ear about parking on side roads.

Hope this helps JakeBreak

Yeah, hauling freight up there is a pain for sure. The few times I hauled without a parking permit I made sure there was a plan.

Plan A: have enough hours to get to the outside of highly populated areas.

Plan B: I don't have the hours so I am going to try to make my pick-up or delivery early in the day so that there will be parking available.

Plan C: Dispatch is mad at me or I am a rookie. I will call the shipper/consignee and see if there is the possibility of an early pick-up or delivery. if not then I would ask if they knew where drivers would park and bend their ear about parking on side roads.

Hope this helps JakeBreak

Well im totally a rookie. I did start early because i knew parking would be a problem and i wasnt supposed to deliver until tomorrow, i called the receiver to see if they had overnight parking and i was told to just get there because they needed the stuff i was delivering bad. When i got there the warehouse guys told me 3 different places i could park that i never would have known of lol. So it definitly all worked out and hopefully ill be back in pa tomorrow night

I dont know how you northeast guys deal with it. There is nowhere to park up here. Its almost like a giant dead zone after you get north of pa for parking. Im heading toward portland me and i was looking for a parking spot close but even the service plazas are listed as small lots. Im beginning to understand why most truckers hate going up there lol

Look for a Walmart. Many of them allow truck parking. Look for a remote spot in the lot away from the 4-wheelers. Hope this helps.

Yeah, hauling freight up there is a pain for sure. The few times I hauled without a parking permit I made sure there was a plan.

Plan A: have enough hours to get to the outside of highly populated areas.

Plan B: I don't have the hours so I am going to try to make my pick-up or delivery early in the day so that there will be parking available.

Plan C: Dispatch is mad at me or I am a rookie. I will call the shipper/consignee and see if there is the possibility of an early pick-up or delivery. if not then I would ask if they knew where drivers would park and bend their ear about parking on side roads.

Hope this helps JakeBreak

Well im totally a rookie. I did start early because i knew parking would be a problem and i wasnt supposed to deliver until tomorrow, i called the receiver to see if they had overnight parking and i was told to just get there because they needed the stuff i was delivering bad. When i got there the warehouse guys told me 3 different places i could park that i never would have known of lol. So it definitly all worked out and hopefully ill be back in pa tomorrow night

Well there ya go!

Well, there's always the "INTERNATIONAL Truck Stop" in Mahwah, New Jersey.

They can fit about EIGHT trucks. The Pilot, up the road, can fit about EIGHT more.

Dave

I think im starting to see a trend here that maybe some of you more experienced guys can tell me if its true or not. Ive found in my extremely limited experience that the less well known a truckstop is the emptier it is. I just pulled into one at 930 at night less than 30 mules from the ny border that had 1 other truck in it. All the rest areas and the 1 other truckstop i passed were overflowing. And this has happened before, so im wondering how common it is

Not as common as you may think. It really is a gamble... Unless... You get the experience needed. There is one common bond that all seasoned drivers have: don't hit my truck! Drivers that can't back will have a hard time finding parking at the not so well known places. You just have to work your way in.

The reason why it is NOT well known is because truck drivers tend NOT to disclose which McDonalds have truck parking, or which smaller/local convenience stores have truck parking, because they don't want to look for a spot, should they run out of hours.

There are a few spots I'll never disclose, NOT even to my own mother, if she were a truck driver.

Dave

Yeah i just dont get it. I mean im definitly not complaining because i like being by myself, it just makes me wonder. And its even listed in the truckstop book that its here. I went in to grab a pop and talked to the lady in there and she said its always like this here.