It's a Team's Life

Parking Wars

Parking Wars

Everyone in trucking knows that parking for semis is at a premium. Where do you park for a mandatory 30 minute break? How often don’t we see drivers take their break in the fuel island? We see a driver walk into a truck stop with a duffle bag in hand knowing full well that they will take a shower and maybe even get a bite to eat. 

Where do you park for a 10 hour break? Or how about the required 34 hour reset? My husband favors the truck stops. I, on the other hand, try to avoid truck stops at all cost. I would rather take a 30 minute break in a rest area or scale house parking. To save time and avoid the 30 minute break altogether we have gone to driving a seven-three split. I realize that this isn’t for everyone. In all honesty, it did take us awhile to get comfortable with this driving schedule. Now that we have been driving this way for nearly a year, I do not believe that we will go back to eleven hour shifts. Driving this way also eliminates the ten hour rest break.

As for the 34-hour reset, we try to find other options to the truck stops. So many truck stops are now charging for parking. If we are going to pay for parking, we would prefer a safer and more comfortable option. For us, we have found something called Passport America. For lack of a better term, Passport America is like a club where we pay an annual membership fee. There are RV Parks all over the country that are part of this club. We can search their website to find participating RV Parks in whatever state we happen to be in at any given time. We can oftentimes get a spot for half of the retail cost. So if a RV spot costs $50.00, we can get it for $25.00 as members of the Passport America club. Each RV park has their own rules. Many times the half off prices are not available on the weekends. We have found some RV parks that we will not want to go back to and we have found others that we hope to get back to again. Just like any camping experience, some are better than others. The main reason we like to go to campgrounds is so that we don't have to run the generator for two days straight. We may have to pay for the spot; however, we are saving money on fuel and hours to run the unit.

Sometimes we find a casino in which to park our semi. They offer safe parking as well as good food and entertainment. Where do you like to park? Why do you prefer your choice? Wherever you park, make sure that you choose a spot that keeps you safe.

Here’s to millions of profitable and safe miles!