A Bad Parking Trend At Pilot/Flying J's.

I just want to let everyone know, that doesn't know about this. Its not good and it isn't going to get better until something really bad happens because of this. 3 times, 3 different locations: Pilot, Decatur, Illinois, Flying J, South Beloit, Illinois, Pilot, Lebanon, Tennessee. I reserve a parking spot. Get there and all are full. The management refuse to go out and find out who is in the reserved spots. Saying, It's after dark and it's too dangerous. I contacted the complaint department and they do nothing. Anyway, if I can't get to a place early I'm going to avoid the Pilots and J's. The hassle just is not worth it!

Sincerely B.L.Morgan

I ran into the same situation in NC once but luckily the workers there went out and started knocking on windows until they found someone did not have a reservation. Even though it worked for me I don't trust the reservations as I have heard of too many instances like you just described. I generally try to be rolling by 4:30 am at least and usually don't have any issues around shut down time. I know that is not always possible though.

Just going to throw this out there. There are many other truck stop brands beside pilot.

I refuse to pay for parking for philosophical reasons. I find it morally reprehensible and will not support it. Drop lots are different as is long term storage.

I run all different hours of the day, sometimes days, sometimes nights, and everything in between. While true, as I night owl, I prefer nights and have a general disdain for solar powered drivers, I understand a lot of drivers, if not most, choose that. But it would greatly alleviate parking issues if everyone quit trying to park in the same 3 or 4 hours of the day.

My solution to this would be to run nights and or start exploring the vast network of old independent truck stops.

Davy, what resources do you use and how do you go about finding parking when you find yourself needing to park from say 8 PM to 3 AM

Truckerpath, I note down ones I see in my garmin otr , experience from back when I was in training, my old trainer knew lots of hole in the wall places, I picked his brain.

A lot of it is choosing roads. Most US highways have a lot more old truck stops and places to park like stockyards, empty lots, restaurants etc. So I travel those more frequently. I prefer backroads. They're more challenging, better scenery and more places to enjoy.

I tend to only use truck stops for fuel and showers, there's a gazillion places you can find to park. Like Davy, I'm opposed to paid parking and refuse to do it. As a comment on Lebanon Tennessee, there's a bit of truth to their safety concerns after dark. There's a couple homeless encampments in those woods across the street and they like to get out and steal stuff after dark. Not to mention, go around that area enough, like I do, and you'll realize that law enforcement is always in that area with something going on.

I have run into it in the past a couple of times. I asked to speak with the duty manager and pointed out they sold a service and now were refusing to provide that service. That is fraud and also the people in paid spots without paying were committing theft of services.

Both are misdeamoner crimes in most states. I then asked if I should call local law enforcement to file a criminal complaint against them.

That changed their attitude pretty quick and both times they still refused to kick out the non paying customers, but did block off a fuel pump and allowed me to park there.

I have noticied more checking there paid spots after 1600 and keeping it cleaned out. Some I’ve even seen armed security guards.

I have found that Petro and TA have the best parking they have loads of spots and many pull through spots for newer drivers. I have found pilots to be some of the worse places to find parking at they are filled up early and lot's are really tight. Loves is another that seems to fill up early not as bad as pilot but still can be hard to get a spot.

I've run into this numerous times at Pilot/Flying J and even some TA's. Best thing to do before you go there is to call ahead and confirm they actually enforce their reserved parking.

Another GREAT resource to add to your toolbox for affordable parking is the Truck Parking Club App. Sandman J turned me onto this and it's awesome!