Truck Stop Trailer Swap Etiquette

I'm a linehaul driver. I do a meet and turn with another driver at a small truck stop that has become a popular place to swap trailers. By the time we get there, the place is pretty much full up with trucks parked for the night and R+L, UPS doubles , Averitt (that's me), etc. doing their meets. A few random four-wheelers pull in before they know what they're getting into.

It's something of a mess. The word cluster**** comes to mind, but after my fellow driver used the vulgar, hilarious, and completely appropriate term "circle j***" to describe it I can't think of it any other way. It's also unsafe and rude in my opinion to the owners of the business. I doubt many of us go in to patronize the convenience store and the fuel isles are usually vacant.

The safest and easiest way to drop my trailer is at the fuel isle. I only do it when at least two other lanes are still available. Sometimes the other driver will drop his there too. We make the switch, I run in to use the restroom, come back out to do my pre-trip, and get out of Dodge. I feel like a dink though. I'll buy a soda and a candy bar or a bag of chips once in a while but still none of this feels right to me.

I could make this my new fuel stop to justify my presence and ease my guilt but I prefer to fuel at the end of my run. Any experienced drivers who could chime in with some do's and don'ts for this situation would be appreciated.

This is actually good advice. I can usually swap at a Walmart, but I can recall 2x did a repower swap at a TS.

It’s important to be familiar with the facility though before attempting this. The smaller TS, hit or miss. The medium to large ones, can usually get this done quick enough that no one notices.