Security Guard VS HoS

Even tho I know its hard to find a place to park...I would never park on a fuel island...Its a real picky subject to truckers, for alot of good reasons. But for me, all I can think of is the danged place catching fire, and there I am, right in the middle of the grill. OR someone pulling my 5th wheel pin as they walk by, and me not knowing. And...do you do your pre trip parked on the fuel island ?? Its just a thing for me...I can always manage to find a spot in the dirt or mud...and I will admit...I have parked on the CAT scale to sleep...but I cleared it with the fuel desk first...

Even tho I know its hard to find a place to park...I would never park on a fuel island...Its a real picky subject to truckers, for alot of good reasons. But for me, all I can think of is the danged place catching fire, and there I am, right in the middle of the grill. OR someone pulling my 5th wheel pin as they walk by, and me not knowing. And...do you do your pre trip parked on the fuel island ?? Its just a thing for me...I can always manage to find a spot in the dirt or mud...and I will admit...I have parked on the CAT scale to sleep...but I cleared it with the fuel desk first...

I cleared it with the fuel desk first and trust me had their been anywhere else to park I would have and when I say their was no place to "make" a spot there really wasnt. I was in London, OH. No spots at the TA, Pilot, Speedway or behind McDonalds. I could barely maneuver around the parking lots to even look for spots to park because of all the made spots. It was the only option. I slept there a few hrs and moved into a spot in the morning.

Oh and ps it was next to the fuel island and not blocking a pump. I was right next to the 1st pump and the door.

Using the 2 hour safe haven rule is an excellent way to handle that! I hadn't considered that option. That's why it's so important nowadays to know those logbook rules. With electronic logs you need every advantage you can get.

My heart almost stopped when you said you were sleeping in the fuel island, but as long as you weren't blocking any pumps then you're fine. But seriously, people get extremely upset about that sort of thing and there are drivers out there that will pull your 5th wheel pin or cut air lines or all sorts of things to make a point about that.

And Starcar made an excellent point about safety - you're sitting in a very dangerous place.

Believe me, I fully understand the parking thing after 15 years out there but don't block fuel islands for your own safety if nothing else.

David, is your system setup where you can drive a certain number of miles at a very slow speed as "off duty driving" or something to that effect? I know a lot of people have mentioned that their company has policies that will allow them to do something like that for the exact reason we're talking about. Maybe you just have to drive two miles to the nearest truck stop but you're out of hours. So you can flip it into "off duty driving" and drive either a limited distance or at a limited speed to get where you need to go.

We can drive for 3/4 mi before it pops into driving. really sucks. Swift drivers are pretty limited with that..

We too don't get the off duty driving line (Line 5) but O/O do.

I actually had this discussion with another driver one night at the Petro in W. Memphis. His hours ran out being unloaded one night, and security told him to leave or they'd call the police. He told them to go ahead, so they did. When the cop showed up and asked why he was refusing to leave, he showed the cop his log and said "if I leave, I'll be in violation." The cop said " you're right," turned to the security guard, and said "he's staying."

Mind you, I'm not suggesting this as a recommended course of action for this situation. Being belligerent rarely actually pays off.

Heh, in my mind, better the fuel island than the entrance or exit, like I have seen trucks parked. I have by passed truck stops because someone was parked in the entrance and the turn was so tight I was worried I would hit something.

We rarely face that situation on hours and being at a shipper with teams. We manage our time so that one of us always has hours. One advantage to teams.

Using the 2 hour safe haven rule is an excellent way to handle that! I hadn't considered that option. That's why it's so important nowadays to know those logbook rules. With electronic logs you need every advantage you can get.

My heart almost stopped when you said you were sleeping in the fuel island, but as long as you weren't blocking any pumps then you're fine. But seriously, people get extremely upset about that sort of thing and there are drivers out there that will pull your 5th wheel pin or cut air lines or all sorts of things to make a point about that.

And Starcar made an excellent point about safety - you're sitting in a very dangerous place.

Believe me, I fully understand the parking thing after 15 years out there but don't block fuel islands for your own safety if nothing else.

Trust me I circled all the parking lots I mentioned 3 times before I finally had no option but to ask. Ive heard the stories bout these drivers doing nutty things out here. Which is why at minimum I always check my airlines, 5th wheel, tandums, seal and lights. I was surprised noone bothered me and I woke up at 8:30am! Guess I lucked out.

We have a line 5 on our e logs itscalled driving off duty we can use it when mty only and to get to a safe haven anything over an hr is in violation and results in a write up

We have 'personal drive time''. Can't be under a load or even assigned a load to use it. If you have the right dm , and you're empty, you can have them temporarily remove a load assignment so u can use personal drive time.

If at shipper/receiver and run over 14 and can't stay, we are told to call safety to get a tow out.

If under 45 mph and less than 3 miles, can run on line 1 without triggering qc to line 3. Very helpful when u have to get through gate at the customer, get the bills, and hook up all without starting your 14. Of course I nor any other drivers have behaved thataway.