Parking And Leaving Your Truck....not Talking About Abandoning.

Hey guys,

Just curious about when you have time off and are out of town how you get time away from your truck? Pertaining to company drivers rather than owner operators.

Questions:

1 - Can you leave your truck (like with an empty) at a truck stop for a few days? I suppose different companies have different rules.

2- Can you leave an empty at a truck stop and just bobtail ?

3- Say you request/have a few days off - some where not where you are based - do you have to always have an empty (generally speaking)? I realize the same flatbed trailers are mostly kept with the same truck (if I understand correctly). To me that would be a downside of flat-bedding but other than that I like the flatbed idea since it has more hands on work (I am in decent shape).

I ask since I am not looking for hometime. I want to take my days off where ever they have/need me.

OK so yeah you can leave your truck and trailer at a truck stop for a few days... Truck stops has rules for dropping empties and leaving so just ask....if your company has a drop yard where you are at and its ok with company to bobtail you can drop your empty at the yard and go to some stores and what not but just depends on company...

If you're going to be out of the truck for longer than usual home time, they may ask you to clean out valuables in case they need to loan it to another driver for a day or so.

I drive flatbed. Over labor day weekend, I parked my truck and loaded trailer at a Love's near Portland, rented a car and drove home to Idaho for the weekend. The company knew and approved. I parked in a spot very near the fuel pumps in plain sight, and I secured the side boxes with ratchet straps to discourage would-be thieves. Left on Friday afternoon and came back Monday night, no problems.

It may well depend on your company. When I drove company for Central Ref. (now Swift Ref.) they would have me park at the terminal in Atl and get a ride home, though I only lived about 1.75 hours away. I was able to bobtail after I leased. When I drove for SRT, I was just able to park at the Pilot a few miles from home since there wasn't a terminal near by, nor a company drop yard. In those instances I would just park near enough to the building to hopefully deter anyone with bad ideas, but far enough out of the way to not screw over other drivers.

Thanks for the answers! That helps me understand things much better.