Running Out Of Time On The Road

Renegade, besides keeping a lookout ahead for possible truck stops, if you keep a schedule like most drivers (drive in the day, sleep at night) you should also plan to stop around 5:30 local time.

Using Trucker Path, look for non-national stops, or simple gas stations that allow truck parking. Last night I pulled into a TA, and saw two trucks almost racing to get that last spot. I turned around, and crossed over the interstate to a Shell station that still had 5-6 empty spots!

(If you drive from 3am to early afternoon, you'll never have a truck stop parking problem!)

Another factor is large cities. Truck stops close to a big town fill up faster than the in-between ones.

For instance, I stopped tonight near the Georgia-Alabama line on I-20 for a scale. It was that time of day: 5:30. I was heading west towards Memphis and even had 3 hours of driving time left. But in a few hours l'd be 1) close to Birmingham, AL, and 2) 7pm, after the time when all good truckers are backed into their spot for the night.

So I called it a day at the Love's in Waco GA. Better here than worrying about full/packed truck stops or (horrors!) on-ramp parking.

(If you drive from 3am to early afternoon, you'll never have a truck stop parking problem!)

That is EXACTLY what I Do. Try to start at 0200-0400. Truck Stop parking is abundant between 1300-1700. No wait for a shower either. Full service rest stops are a good option to plan on after a trip to Walmart. Buy a bag of match light charcoal, some chicken, hamburgers, hotdogs, pork chops, whatever. Hit the rest stop early, dump your charcoal in one of the bbq grills, light it up. Cook all of your meat, put it in ziplock bags, put it in your cooler after it cools off. VIOLA......Meat for the week. I reheat mine in my lunch box oven. Save a ton of money in the process.

(If you drive from 3am to early afternoon, you'll never have a truck stop parking problem!)

That is EXACTLY what I Do. Try to start at 0200-0400. Truck Stop parking is abundant between 1300-1700. No wait for a shower either. Full service rest stops are a good option to plan on after a trip to Walmart. Buy a bag of match light charcoal, some chicken, hamburgers, hotdogs, pork chops, whatever. Hit the rest stop early, dump your charcoal in one of the bbq grills, light it up. Cook all of your meat, put it in ziplock bags, put it in your cooler after it cools off. VIOLA......Meat for the week. I reheat mine in my lunch box oven. Save a ton of money in the process.

That is a Heck of an idea there man. I'm going to have to remember that one I can't tell you how many times I wanted to get my grill on but I don't want to carry it in the truck with me lol.

I think it was my 3rd trip to a Rest Stop before I noticed the grills. I have grilled like that for years at home. Fire up the grill and cook up all kinds of meat at once. Those coals are good for more than a couple of burgers or steaks. At home I will freeze some of the burgers, chicken, chops, hot dogs. Thaw them and pop em' in the microwave. Can't cook that much for the truck. Cooked meat will keep in a cooler for a week easy.

What a fabulous idea! Thanks, Tractor Man!

Weigh stations. I've stayed at a couple in IN where each rest area was Jammed pack. Get to the weigh station only three trucks.

I think its Kentucky that has signs saying "courtesy parking..come in and get your rest"

A lot of drivers won't park in WS because they are afraid of inspections. I haven't had any problems

This is without a doubt the friendliest and most informative trucker page out there and I thank my lucky stars that I found a site with so many wonderful people to share and receive information with. Y'all are the BEST!!!!

I agree with Rainy, weigh stations can be a good option for parking. Sometimes I am the only truck there, or maybe 1-2 others, so it's nice and quiet. Just be sure to do a real pretrip in the morning, they might be watching!

The last off ramp I used had a large patch of dirt besides the road where I could get a good distance away from traffic. I've been in those situation where I have hours left but could technically just shut down at the truck stop I'm at and pick up the next day given the load. I tend to always want to arrive as soon as possible tho and like driving the most I can before I get drowsy or run out of time.

One way I think of it is the sooner I get there, the less I worry about an accident or such making me late. Finding parking is a pain sometimes but yeah, google maps, trucker path, rest areas. I stop anywhere unless I have free showers. I try to use them at the end of the day but sometimes fit them in between my run and just hurry up. I enjoy showers tho so end of day gives me more time to relax as I listen to tayler swift :P

I like driving at night because there is less traffic but the dedicated account I switched to makes that harder given when most stores had me unload and the fact I save my clock waking up for the first unload instead of driving to my first unload.

Renegade, besides keeping a lookout ahead for possible truck stops, if you keep a schedule like most drivers (drive in the day, sleep at night) you should also plan to stop around 5:30 local time.

Using Trucker Path, look for non-national stops, or simple gas stations that allow truck parking. Last night I pulled into a TA, and saw two trucks almost racing to get that last spot. I turned around, and crossed over the interstate to a Shell station that still had 5-6 empty spots!

(If you drive from 3am to early afternoon, you'll never have a truck stop parking problem!)

Another factor is large cities. Truck stops close to a big town fill up faster than the in-between ones.

For instance, I stopped tonight near the Georgia-Alabama line on I-20 for a scale. It was that time of day: 5:30. I was heading west towards Memphis and even had 3 hours of driving time left. But in a few hours l'd be 1) close to Birmingham, AL, and 2) 7pm, after the time when all good truckers are backed into their spot for the night.

So I called it a day at the Love's in Waco GA. Better here than worrying about full/packed truck stops or (horrors!) on-ramp parking.

Tractor Man what kind of cooler do you have? I've got the Coleman iceless cooler, but I'm afraid to leave meat in there for that long.