Why Does There Seem To Be A Truck Parking Problem In California (and Other States And Cities In Our Nation)?

NOTE: I’m posting this post (below) for a friend who is having trouble trying to get an account setup on TT, who is interested in becoming a truck driver.

"I was curious to learn from truck drivers that need to park in California, why does there "seem" to be a never ending problem of places to park a truck? Though I don’t know the ropes, but I thought that is what truck stops were for . . . but I have heard so many stories over the past two years, some truck stops run out of parking room and or you have to pay for parking. Yet I find it odd (here in the Los Angeles area), to see clusters of trucks with and without trailers parked on the shoulders of some of the off ramps and off to the side of some freeways late at night (with no lights on), so I figure these truckers have to be sleeping . . . yet I know for a fact that there are nearby truck stops within about 10 to 20 miles from where I see these trucks parked (nearby where I live). Plus there are at least 3 large truck stops within 10 miles where I live.  Plus I also on occasion have seen truck drivers in another truck driver forum ask where can they park their trucks (when they come from other states into California), along with some truck drivers asking about truck parking in Las Vegas/the Las Vegas area, after delivering a load, as they have to wait a day or two of another load. Isn't parking solved by the trucking company you work for, where your employer tells you the prefered places to park your truck when you need to wait (for some reason) making or picking up a delivery or if you get hit with a 34 hour reset while away from home?  What is the deal with truck drivers having an issue with finding decent and safe parking in some cities/states in our nation?"

Isn't parking solved by the trucking company you work for, where your employer tells you the prefered places to park your truck when you need to wait (for some reason) making or picking up a delivery or if you get hit with a 34 hour reset while away from home? What is the deal with truck drivers having an issue with finding decent and safe parking in some cities/states in our nation?"

This "friend's" questions are a great example of how people wanting to get into trucking completely underestimate how radically different this career is from other jobs. Our companies don't have any ability to deal with the problems we face. Truckers are, and must be, fiercely independent problem solvers. Personally, I think this is the major factor that divides highly successful drivers from the mediocre complainers.

Yes, we have a parking problem for trucks. A state like California is never going to allow enough land to be allocated for truck parking. They are convinced trucks are destroying the planet. But... they keep buying goods that have to be delivered on trucks. They want their goods delivered and those nasty truck drivers out of town as soon as they deliver.

States like California are champions for regulation yet don't even recognize how regulations require Truckers to get sufficient rest. A trucker faces challenges every hour they are on the road. Most of those challenges are not driving related. Many of them are centered on understanding how to manage your time so that you can deliver on time and still be able to find parking for sufficient rest. That is on the driver.

We decide where to park and rest. We decide how to get somewhere on time. Nobody at the trucking companies can tell you how to do your job. They have no way of knowing what's best for each driver in each scenario. We have a thousand options daily. We make those decisions and live with the consequences.

NOTE: I’m posting this post (below) for a friend who is having trouble trying to get an account setup on TT, who is interested in becoming a truck driver.

What seems to be the trouble? The process for getting an account setup is very straight forward.

This problem is not unique to California. What is a bit unique to California, most especially Los Angeles and Orange Counties, is that there are no truck stops within the urban and suburban areas. Once making a delivery in L.A. or Orange Counties, the closest place to find decent parking is Ontario, technically L.A. County, but far from the coastal areas, like the port areas where many warehouses are located. Trucks take up a lot of space. Truck stops become dirty and eyesores after many years. Most communities don't want the unsightliness of truck stops in their areas.

We have a terminal in the LA region, so that helps. Given the size of the area, you must as a driver, manage your clock properly to pick up, deliver and find safe legal parking there.

I'm assuming that your friend is referring to SoCal in general. There are ample places to park there. I have pulled into numerous truck stops that had available spaces yet the off ramps and on ramps were completely full. This tells me the ramp parkers are just being lazy or don't have the backing abilities to park.

I regularly do SoCal and I plan my days so that I'm in and out at night, and I have parking. Althouse I hate CA for ideological reasons, I've had very profitable weeks there running between SoCal and the central valley.

the closest place to find decent parking is Ontario, technically L.A. County, but far from the coastal areas,

I could be reading this wrong, but you're saying Ontario is technically in LA county? If you are, you are incorrect. Ontario is in San Bernardino county.

If you pick up or drop in LA, you might have to drive 50 miles or more to find a legitimate place to park. With traffic in the LA area, that might take two hours or more. There are absolutely no truck stops in OC. Driving south from LA, the nearest truck stop is about 100 miles away. So, most of those drivers probably don’t have the hours to make it that far. There is also the expense factor. The truck stops in Ontario are paid only. I believe it’s $35 now. Now you know just a couple of the factors that keep drivers out of Kalifornia.

the closest place to find decent parking is Ontario, technically L.A. County, but far from the coastal areas,

I could be reading this wrong, but you're saying Ontario is technically in LA county? If you are, you are incorrect. Ontario is in San Bernardino county.

I stand corrected. I was thinking of Pomona, which is in L.A. County on the border of L.A. and San Bernardino Counties.

Actual conversation with a weekend dispatcher years ago:

Dispatcher: Why did you drive all the way to Ripon for your 10 hour break instead of just parking the truck in San Francisco?

Pacific Pearl: You've never been to San Francisco, have you?

I can drive from Oregon to Maryland and get called into two weigh stations - I-84 at mm 41 outside of Hood River and the fake weigh station in WV (more of a brake check). If I go south there are a half-dozen between Portland and Sacramento and I usually get called into at least TWO. The 55 mph limit for trucks, the right lane only (for trucks) and the many anti-truck laws (no idling, no parking near a residential area, etc) show they tolerate trucks, but they're not happy about it.

The unholy trinity of a shortage of cheap land, the anti-trucker mentality and the environmentalism trumps ALL mentality all contribute to the lack of truck stops in Mexico's Gay District (some of the old-timers still call it, "California"). Whatever you call them, they're the most anti-truck state in the nation. The good news is that we won't have to put up with it much longer:

California Gov. Newsom executive order bans gas, diesel cars by 2035

California Looks to Ban Diesel Trucks at Ports by 2035

California seeks to ban sales of diesel commercial trucks effort to fight pollution, climate change

It's only a matter of time until trucks are banned completely there. I have a morbid curiosity about how long it will take them to realize bicycles aren't going to be able to keep the vital supplies of avocado toast and leather pants they need to survive on the shelves. I (and many other others) will breathe a deep sigh of relief when that day comes.

Pfffft Climate change is another full on BS way to try and capitilize and make billions off of. Anyone with 5 brain cells, knows, our climate is a constantly changing thing. From 1 year to the next, some mild winters, then BAMM, next years is a real PITA bad one. Same with summers, this has happened every year of my life on earth, I remember em well (IN Calif)......Powers that be in Calif. are all friggin MORONS, continually, repeating the BS agenda they roll on. Same with the smog pollution in Calif. What has bi-annual vehicle inspections done to fix it? NOT a DAMN thing !

Take a ride up into the mountains, overlooking San Bernardino/Fontana/Colton area, you can see, the smog blanket lingering over it. All that's changed, is the smog has spread east from LA.in the last 40-50 years ! I know and seen this since I grew up there, since I was 6 years old. All Calif has done, is rip the public off in fee's for smog checks and emission BS....Car's run cleaner now days as well, hell my VW beetles, even with built Hi-Perf, non-smog engines, ran ZERO emissions.

Newsom, needs to leave office, right with Nancy POOlucy lol......