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Re: streight trucks with APU John-- you started this party then you wonder why we're jumping on you. Here's the deal: Truck stops are what they are. They've been that way a long time before you and I showed up, and they'll be that way a long time after we're gone. If you're going to try to...

Worse. A good deal worse. You haven't been to load-Hell until you've transported several boxes of chicken packed in ice. Picked it up at a packing plant that smelled so bad flies would refuse to go in there, and the bloody watery mess it left behind made the van smell terrible for weeks...

Johnny-- you have a van, like me. You're not restricted to truck-stops like some of these big fellows are. You can park ANYWHERE that it's legal to park a vehicle, including truck-stops, most Wal-Marts, motels, some church parking lots (you'll have to ask before doing this) sometimes at the...

Re: streight trucks with APU I'll have to look into that. Set up your device to either a white-noise frequency, or to the music of your choice, and muffle any external sounds. Not bad.

Re: streight trucks with APU John, I'll have to leave it to others. You have no idea how much I'm having to hold back right now, if I let loose--- well, maybe I'd better not. About noise: The only excessive noise I make is when I put the van into reverse. This thing came with a back-up alarm...

Re: streight trucks with APU OK--- I tried. Now I reckon it's for others to try-- try, that is-- to explain the facts of life to you, since it appears you're the brother of that woman I met that day in the Wal-Mart parking lot. You don't happen to have relatives near St.Charles, Illinois, do you?

Re: streight trucks with APU You know, it's gonna surprise you that I don't have a generator on my van. I could sure use one, and a decent air-conditioner. Believe me, when you've driven all night to make an 8 AM delivery and you realize the sun is gonna beat down on your van and make sleep...

Re: streight trucks with APU You got jumped on for one simple reason. You seemed to think you owned not only your own parking spot (surprise, you don't own it-- it's being supplied for your use by the truck stop) but also the parking spots within hearing distance of your van. Somehow...

Re: streight trucks with APU Somebody forgot to mention Pennsylvania. I mention it here because it's one state where I know they have a law that says you can't let the main engine of a truck over 10,000 lbs gross idle for more than five minutes. You have to run an APU there if you want heat...

Re: streight trucks with APU About the parking-lot issue: I had a bit of personal experience on the other side a few years back. I was doing route-work for a courier company in my area, made a pharmaceutical delivery to a Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart had us deliver through the front of the store to the...

You're on quite a learning curve now. Some find it hard to dump the "Employee" mindset-- especially if they've been union before-- and learn that life as an I.C. is a completely different sort of thing. You're driving somebody else's straight-- that's a good start. You get to learn the...

The only problem is the weight issue. The more stuff you carry personally, the less payload you have available. Batteries are heavy, so's the generator. I have a 2500 series Chevy with an 8600lb GVWR. Subtract 160 lb for the generator, maybe double that for a healthy battery bank--- we're up...

John, I've got some bad news for you. Last time I checked, you don't own the parking lot. That means you can't make anybody park far away from your van, even if the lot is almost empty. Now, you can call the other fellow bad names if that makes you feel better, but facts are facts and the fact...

A minivan? How do you keep your head above water with that vehicle anyway? I drive a Chevy full-size cargo, and it's tough sledding at times with that.

Re: streight trucks with APU I make a point of avoiding sleeping at truck-stops entirely, with certain exceptions. Sometimes there's no choice, but--- I'm in a van, and generally that means I get to choose whether I take up space in a truck-stop or go somewhere else. The bigger trucks--...

I was just gonna say that. Before I got into expediting/hotshot, I did courier work. Load up at the terminal in the morning-- office supplies, liquor-- believe it or not-- and pharmaceuticals, also some hardware (like, construction hardware). Take all day unloading the van on a way-too-long...

Home, Villa Park, IL. I was gonna say "If I tell you that I'll have to find a new hiding place" but then thought-- nope, not gonna say that.

I was just thinking about that. If you don't have a dog, at least get a cd with the sound of a large dog growling and play it on a loop.... that should help.

Too many headaches for my liking. I could possibly get my own customers, but with only one van to service them there are bound to be problems. So, running under another carrier's authorities makes good sense for me anyway. I negotiate a contract with ONE customer, namely the carrier I drive for...

Don't they teach you that stuff when you have to get a CDL? I seem to remember, back when I went to school to learn to drive a rig (1987, just so's you know) that they taught us something of all of this. Filling out a logbook-- I fancy that though it's been decades since I went to school, I can...