Sleeping On Ramps

I don't know about TA/Petro, but Pilot/Flying J has a refund policy for their parking. It is on their web site under the rules for Prime parking. You can also call them and asked.

To get a refund, you must cancel, I believe it's 4 hours before check-in.. so by noon lol. Not practical at all, which is why I say no refunds.

I agree that you should not plan to stop; however, the real world sometimes dictates differently, such as, you are falling asleep (to me, way more dangerous than parking on a ramp) and aren't near a suitable rest area or truck stop. At least do it as safely as possible by using the get on ramp instead of the get off ramp due to slower speed of passing vehicles. Parking as far to the side as safety allows, watch for embankments or holes. Leave your marker lights on, turn your headlights off. If you still feel uncertain then trust your gut and find another spot. Don't park on the shoulder of travel lanes unless you are broke down. You create a hazard for yourself and others.

I agree that you should not plan to stop; however, the real world sometimes dictates differently, such as, you are falling asleep (to me, way more dangerous than parking on a ramp) and aren't near a suitable rest area or truck stop. At least do it as safely as possible by using the get on ramp instead of the get off ramp due to slower speed of passing vehicles. Parking as far to the side as safety allows, watch for embankments or holes. Leave your marker lights on, turn your headlights off. If you still feel uncertain then trust your gut and find another spot. Don't park on the shoulder of travel lanes unless you are broke down. You create a hazard for yourself and others.

Agreed, much better if absolutely necessary to stop on the on ramp versus off ramp, I knew a driver several years ago that had a drunk driver slam into his trailer on an off ramp and die. Kinda lost touch with him and never heard if he was found at fault at all or not.

I have stopped on ramps twice. Hated it both for safety and The Law. You should have enough planning to know when you're running out of time, and plan that way.

Pro Tip: If you have to use a ramp for any stop, use the on-ramp. Cars are accelerating from slow to fast instead of barreling down the off ramp at high speed.

I'd never park on an off-ramp, even for 10 seconds, unless I somehow broke down there and there was nothing I could do about it but get the triangles out as quickly as possible. I don't pull over on the shoulder for a break/toilet either - ever - but lots of idiots do that.

But the on-ramp, well, it isn't a great idea, but I have done it a couple of times, when I had somehow loused up my intended parking spot and couldn't go further without violating HOS. Even then, I'd only park on an on-ramp that has more than the typical amount of space and get as far off the main drag as possible without getting stuck, and I'd leave the marker lights on. The last time I did it, and actually, the only time I really remember, wasn't too long ago. I didn't choose parking well in advance as we should, but instead chose it on my Garmin a couple of hours before I'd be out of hours soon after getting to the place. When I got there, the truck stop had gone out of business and the entrance was barricaded. I had a very difficult time even finding a place to turn around. It was very dark, I was very tired, and my HOS was down to minutes. I finally got back to the highway entrance and was pleased to find that the rural entry was very wide at the beginning, as though it were made for us to park. I got to the extreme right, not far from the entrance, put the marker lights on and went to sleep. But do your best not to let yourself get into the situation where this is required.

Do any of you guys sleep on "on or off" ramps? I see this quite often and have almost been put into a position where I have no choice but to park and sleep on a ramp.

Would like to know if any of you guys do it, or am I out of my mind for considering this?

Dave has. His 'druthers:

I'd only park on an on-ramp that has more than the typical amount of space and get as far off the main drag as possible without getting stuck, and I'd leave the marker lights on.

This is true. I figure guard rails set closer to the road on ramps is more a powerful "NO PARKING" than any sign would be. On the other hand, I have seen ramps that have added paved shoulders I believe are meant for and used as unofficial parking. However, all ramps should remain parking as a last resort.