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Truck Drivers in many parts of the country will quickly acknowledge that a major challenge in the industry is finding adequate parking. We are required to take the necessary ten hour break and locating parking in the evening can be quite difficult. My question is how do we assist one another to best utilize the parking that we have available?
In the last few weeks, I will share a couple stories from the road relating to this very subject. My first story begins in Port Allen, LA. I arrived at the truck stop and it was very full. On the side of the establishment, there is a small two lane dead end street. There were no driveways, lanes or roads connecting into this spot. From previous experience, trucks will park at the head of this lane for the night. When I arrived, there was one space available along with another space beside it which was occupied. I backed into the open space and began to get ready for bed. I happened to notice another truck pull into the travel center searching for an open space of which there were none. I had enough room to back up which made more space in front of my truck. I decided to get out and speak with the driver to see what time he intended on leaving out the next morning. He and I were planning on heading out the same time and therefore I offered to share my truck spot. It worked out great.
A week later in Laredo, Texas, I dropped my trailer off at the receiver and parked at the TA in Laredo for the night. I parked behind the shop location along with other bobtail trucks. Upon completing my paperwork for the night, a driver came to the window and asked when I planned on leaving out? He asked if it would be alright if he parked behind my truck for a few hours. I was leaving out in the morning and therefore, it was not an issue. He didn’t want to take up an entire parking spot when he was only going to be there for a few hours. Once again, this worked out just fine. This is my regular run and if I know of a parking area in which I can park so that another driver can have a space at the truck stop, I gladly will use those as many drivers are not familiar with the area.
The parking situation we deal with daily can be challenging. These recent scenarios have helped a few drivers along the way. The one question I’ve always had was why don’t we as drivers work together to share a space when we are bobtailing. This is a big help to those coming in with a truck and trailer combination that need a full parking space. Let’s all do our part to help one another out on the road.