General Questions (sorry If These Have Been Asked Before)

Hey guys, Sorry to bug y'all again, but just wondered about the following "issues" that WILL come up (and I'm sure you guys have come up against).

1). Bladder relief when there's no rest stops or you're in the BOONIES..I tend to drink a LOT of water, I mean "gotta pee every 30 MINUTES" kind of deal..

2). If you're a single homeowner, how do you manage mail, upkeep, pet care (I have a saltwater aquarium and a cat), security,etc. being away weeks at a time?

3). Laundry? Do truck stops have laundry facilities?

4). What do you guys do when you're just sick as a DOG? I mean, can't get out of bed because of a throbbing sinus headache, sick and nauseous?

5). If a truck stop doesn't have any parking available, what do y'all do? Can you drive to a school or mall and park? There's an old K-mart I see some guys park in occasionally down by I-75.. how do you know that's OK? I'd hate to be woke up at 3:00 a.m. and told to leave....

6). Arrange various appointments-Luckily, I shouldn't have issues with this. Just curious.

As previously stated, I can deal with these issues. I am considering having my brother and his fiancée move in to handle the house hold stuff (IF he keeps the house clean that is!), I can carry a pee bottle (my dad used to make us use empty coke bottles. He refused to stop every time one of his 4 boys needed to pee). BUT if you guys have any creative ideas/suggestions to address the above, I would sure appreciate (and maybe other new guys too) your ideas/thoughts/inputs.

I do plan on heading to the local Love's truck stop here in Emerson, Georgia (off I-75 above Acworth) in the next week or so, just to get the 'feel' of it and maybe ask some questions.

Again, apologies if these have been asked before. I did do some searching, but I trust you guys more than what I see on other websites/forums...Besides, this is the BEST Trucker site around!!

One more thing, the weather's weird out there this week fellas...y'all be careful!!!

Gary

1: If you need to go to the restroom you usually have to wait a bit to get there. If you absolutely can't wait then pull over on an off ramp and go on the side of the trailer quickly. Either that or use a bottle. Sorry to be so blunt, but if you gotta pee then you gotta pee there's no way around it. A good habit to have is to go to the restroom every chance you get. Fueling? When you're done pull forward and go to the restroom. Stopped for a stretch? Go use the restroom. Stopping every 30 minutes isn't realistic. Sometimes you just gotta get "creative".

2: Can't answer this because I've never owned a home yet.

3: All medium-large sized truck stops have a laundry room. You'll be spending about 5$ total for a wash and dry. It's roughly 2.50 each. I do laundry once every 2 weeks. I stack it up until I know they the machine will be fully loaded. I put the clothes in a plastic bag and tie the bag and stick it under my bed. That way you don't get any dirty clothes smell in the cab. I like to plan my showers with my laundry.

I put the clothes in the washer and that usually takes an hour. During that hour I go take a shower. I come back to clean clothes and then I toss them into the dryer. They usually takes 45 minutes and during that 45 minutes I usually just watch TV or clean the truck.

4: If you're that sick then don't drive. You're better off sleeping and healing. There's a huge risk in driving when you're ill. What if you throw up at the wheel? You think you can keep it steady and not go into the ditch during that moment? If you are extremely sick then do not drive. You're the captain of the ship, it's your call in the end. If you don't think you can be a safe driver then don't drive.

5: This happens a lot when you're parking late in the day. And honestly, my best advice is to get creative. If there's somewhere you can park then park there. I arrive at the pilot in Joplin and there see no parking spots. So me and another driver parked in a small area with most of our trailer in the dirt. Another time I was parking in a Loves late at night and there were no parking spots. So I parked alongside other drivers that were parking next to the CAT scale.

Just find a place to park or go somewhere else. I would not recommend going to a school/mall/park. These places are usually not truck friendly. In a truck stop you don't have to worry about being kicked out, but if a security guard sees you parking overnight at a mall they will probably tell you to leave. There's a lot more safety parking in a truck stop. I avoid anything else unless its a Walmart that allows truck parking. But definitely avoid schools, malls, and parks.

Best places to park in order:

Truck stop

Rest areas

Parking area

Walmart (call ahead of time to make sure they allow it, speak to management.)

Nothing else really allows overnight truck parking.

6: You don't set the appointments. The only power you have with appointments is asking dispatch to try to get the appointment reschedule because your either very early or late. 99% of the time the appointment times are not up to you.

Unless you have someone living in your house taking care of the stuff you usually do then it will not get done til you get home. So the brother would be a good idea. Most single drivers that do have homes with have someone take care of it while they are a way or they "trim" down the stuff that has to be maintained all the time...like your fish. I can't resist....Fish dont need "pet care" their fish. Not pets. :D

The need to relieve yourself while on the road can hit you ANYWHERE and that is where you have to be creative. I can't tell you to pee in a bottle cause that is illegal if caught. Falls under Bio Hazard. So I can not tell you to do it *shrugs*

I have tentative Appointments setup with doctor to give them a idea when I will be there but really I am setup on a "Walk In" basis due to schedule and they understand it.

Parking is seriously one of hottest topics in trucking and the is never enough. If there is no parking available when you have to shutdown then you just have to come up with something. But never ever go and park at a school. Trust me not worth the trouble. Some big stores will allow you to park in their lot and most won't. Its a matter of trial and error finding who will and who won't.

Most larger truckstops like Petro and the TA have places to wash clothes so no worry there.

If your to sick to get out of bed then it's illegal for you to drive because you are unfit due to illness. Let your company know and a day or so of rest should do it but make sure you have someone checking on you in case you get worse. Over the years drivers have died in their trucks and it was days before they were found.

Hope this helps.