Truck parking club
Posted by Robjla@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 82 comments
These people are our enemy. I got this email from them. Not only do they want to charge for parking, which is fine— it’s your choice to pay. But they are in bed with politicians and FMCSA to ticket us off the on-ramps for a 25-dollar promo code off your next paid parking adventure.
AutumnBrooks2021@reddit
I blame the states. They’re the ones that allow cities and towns to put so many laws and restrictions on truck parking and when they do renovate rest areas, a lot of states don’t expand the parking area for trucks. Paying to park isn’t a solution, it’s an expensive band aid that adds to the rising cost of operating a trucking company. I park wherever I can find a safe place to park that’s free, even if it means I have to shut down early. I very rarely ever pay to park and that’s only if it’s a last resort.
Cooldude075@reddit
Indiana has quite a few 100+ spot public rest areas that practically always have spots so there's that
Independent-Fun8926@reddit
I agree completely. So many states get away with closing rest areas for years. Renovations take ages and hardly improve the parking.
Paid parking clubs are just vultures taking advantage of a bad situation. But they come in handy in a pinch so I guess they got me
bones_1775@reddit
Colorado closed the 2 between Colorado Springs and Pueblo during covid because the don't have running water. They could open it back up to trucks and we wouldn't care as long as we can park.
AutumnBrooks2021@reddit
Hell, all we need is a huge parking lots, dumpsters for trash and some porta potty’s. I mean it’s not the greatest but it’s better than nothing and at least it’s not pay to park.
Robjla@reddit (OP)
Yea if I’m tired or like near nyc or something I’ll pay to park. You should see my google map. I save any safe parking I see when I drop or pick up. Also shippers that allow overnight parking get saved. Good way to find safe street parking is google industrial street and goon around the map you will find turn around and click on businesses without gates and if the reviews say overnight allowed ill try it. There are no yard police checking what trucks are doing. Pretend you belong.
AutumnBrooks2021@reddit
That’s the way of trucking. Use any and every method you can to find a safe place to park and avoid paying as much as you possibly can. Another thing I find very annoying, these RVers that use truck parking areas like it’s a damn campground. Go find somewhere else to park and stop taking up our parking spots.
Robjla@reddit (OP)
I don’t totally hate them all like the little ones at the rest area are ok. But they could have parked in 4 wheeler area just take more spots. But a million dollar bus. Fuck off
AutumnBrooks2021@reddit
LOL, some of them do have a ton of money in their RVs but they need to find themselves a camp ground and leave our limited parking alone.
SeaRow556@reddit
Out of all of my years I've never fully parked on an onramp for more than 30 minutes. Once when the bridge to a pilot was shutdown for construction in new Mexico. I had planned to fuel then take my 30. Well i didn't have enough time to make it to the next exit and come back the other way so i decided to take the exit and shut down for my 30. Then another time when there was a massive accident i took an exit pulled into a very wide pull out on an on ramp and shut down for a few hours because the road was shutdown for the foreseeable future. To me i don't exactly count that as parking on a ramp as i was about a few hundred yards away from any pavement....
HeywoodJaBlowMe123@reddit
“inches away from 70 mph traffic”
Im on the on ramp bro, i promise you people don’t use the on ramp for what it’s intended for. They’re blowing by me at 20 mph and entering the highway at 40 mph and then 5 minutes later they’ll get up to 70 mph.
Also, “inches” away is false. It’s several feet away.
aeroxan@reddit
It's inches. Just a lot of inches. Like thousands of inches.
HeywoodJaBlowMe123@reddit
Dispatcher: Customer is 3 miles away
Me: Fuck, that’s miles away…
Dispatcher: What do you mean? It’s 3 miles?
Me: Yeah, miles.. plural. Miles away.
Dispatcher: Fuck you
illdoitlaterokay@reddit
I'm inches from ton 618 and im fine! Mostly
aeroxan@reddit
Oh just a cool 6.78x10^27 inches away.
hip-cat-daddy-o@reddit
LOL
Responsible_CDN_Duck@reddit
120" is still inches....
Robjla@reddit (OP)
Proves they are scumbags
GoMake_me_a_sandwich@reddit
$25 off??? You mean 25 dollars is subtracted from the price and there is still more to pay?!!
MajorHymen@reddit
I’ve used them once and if I recall the spot was around $20 which was fairly comparable with other truck stops in the area
forkystabbyveggie@reddit
Every spot I've reserved has been 20 or under. It's up to you which property you choose but you could realistically get a free spot and half off another one
okron1k@reddit
they should word their promo differently then because saying 25 off any daily booking only makes it seem like a daily booking will be significantly more expensive than 25 if that's the discount.
forkystabbyveggie@reddit
They've ran similar promotions since starting and I've honestly never read it that way.
okron1k@reddit
i've never heard "25 off" referring to something that costs less than 25. in a situation like that, i normally see "free 25 credit" or something like that
GoMake_me_a_sandwich@reddit
'Free 25$ credit' would have gotten me to download the app.
december151791@reddit
This is for weekly or monthly parking right??
HashnaFennec@reddit
Why would I want to give them ANY fucking money? Most of there payed lots used to be free until they started gobbling it up. I’d rather park on the shoulder of the autobahn and cut my clock so tight that a red light could get me an HOS violation than give them a single cent.
HowlingWolven@reddit
Especially with fuel costs being the way they are. I ain’t paying them shit.
Babnno@reddit
While it’s sleazy of them to do, I do also think drivers are way too relaxed with parking on the side of the road. Even on the on ramp, it’s still dangerous.
Sacr3dangel@reddit
~~Even~~ Especially on the on ramp, it’s dangerous.
There fixed it for you.
Shut_It_Donny@reddit
The on ramp is slightly safer than the off ramp. But I only use either one in an emergency.
Sacr3dangel@reddit
It’s dangerous either way.
bones_1775@reddit
It depends on the ramp. I know of a few that have a big enough shoulder that you can park completely off of the pavement and have room for 3 or 4 trucks in line.
Sacr3dangel@reddit
That makes it marginally less dangerous sure. But not not dangerous.
bones_1775@reddit
One off ramp that I have used is about 1 and a half trucks wide. If someone runs into me there it's totally on them, not me.
Sacr3dangel@reddit
You know what always baffles me? People jumping on the: “oh it’s not my fault”-wagon. What does blame or fault have to with how dangerous something is or not. It’s dangerous. Period. Who’s to blame is irrelevant.
Shut_It_Donny@reddit
Yes, that’s exactly what I said.
Robjla@reddit (OP)
They should throw gravel on the side and remove those no parking signs. It will temporarily fix the parking problem till they build those magic truck parking lots.
homucifer666@reddit
I like what Van Horn, TX did with putting truck parking in the pocket of the diamond interchange between the interstate and the offramp, complete with a dumpster for trash. Great way to make use of otherwise dead space.
Luigi_Dagger@reddit
Now if only people use those dumpsters
homucifer666@reddit
Ehhh, that's a whole other issue that affects more than just parking.
Robjla@reddit (OP)
Yea there are safe on ramps. Wide long with a little work a few cameras to fine the littering illegals. You can add thousands of spots. I think we prefer not too we gotta shit and eat but this can improve lives
Red_Sox0905@reddit
And now only illegals litter lol
Individual_Wasabi669@reddit
They pump the price up for your next booking at the same facility
Tromboneofsteel@reddit
I'll probably use this for my next home time, not an emergency lol
oasuke@reddit
Ramps are essential if you're a night driver and need a power nap. You will never find parking at 1AM-4AM on the East coast. Low traffic ramps with wide shoulders are generally fine. The real problem are the slobs that dump their trash out wherever they park. Someone has to pick that up. This is why what makes officials crack down on it.
Quynn_Stormcloud@reddit
I know of five locations on my regular locals where entirely free lots have been taken over by Parking Club. It’s freaking idiotic. Why pay fir some that was already free?!
Shallow-Thought@reddit
What do you expect from an extortionate business model?
fredbear1964@reddit
Parking club is just another middleman pretending to help, but lining their pockets with driver money ! Too many do nothing companies that make a fortune off the backs of drivers ! It's all B.S. !
HatedReaper@reddit
A lot of shippers wont allow you to park overnight, but will take 5-8 hours if not more to load you. By the time they are done, all the truck stops are already full. If you aint parked by 8pm, Goodluck fighting everyone else for a parking spot.
Robjla@reddit (OP)
Truckers Path is garbage for navigation, but I’ve found so many spots using it, like Mexican restaurants with truck parking 2 spots. Some hidden gems with barbecue or a diner with 20 spots.
Wasabi-Kungpow@reddit
Its their fault that I'm parking on the ramp because I wont pay for parking. They are taking over sooo many truck stop parking lots and making the completely paid spots.
The_Vass_76@reddit
Truck parking club. I got only one response to them:
🖕
Responsible_CDN_Duck@reddit
That's a really bad take even if it were true.
Gonna go after MADD for being in bed with politicians and police over drunk driving too?
Ramp parking isn't safe, and all too often it's not the trucker who made the bad decision to park on one who suffers.
BedAdministrative619@reddit
"Off" ramp parking isn't safe, but "on" ramp parking is as safe as being on any other road.
adidaman@reddit
I just park in fuel islands. They make the spots nice and accessible and the bathroom is always close. Great spot to take a 34
tributarybattles@reddit
Lol, just put up a swing bed and leave lots of pee bottles.
Fasting_Monster@reddit
Lol
Robjla@reddit (OP)
Please put a cone behind you or you might bet the padlock on your trailer
ThePr0fessi0nal@reddit
This is why we carry battery powered grinders and extra wheels, brother!
TaperingRanger9@reddit
I got written up for parking on a ramp to pee. On my usual route the first rest area doesn't appear for nearly 2 hours. Absolutely ridiculous.
Robjla@reddit (OP)
I stopped after a toll booth. Trooper wrote me a criminal ticket for parking. That means 650 lawyers and court costs and fine from leased on company for failing an inspection. They consider that a fail that’s 800. I think taking a piss is stopping not parking. So I’m fighting it. Let’s see if I’m right.
melyssafaye@reddit
That truck parking club is in almost every city. They put up these hard to get into spots in gravel lots, charge monthly subscriptions, and the cities started counting those spots as “increasing truck parking”. They city gets tax incentives for increasing parking initiatives, truck parking club gives them some funding, the city doesn’t have to deal with upkeep on parking area etc. it works out great for everyone- except the drivers
Robjla@reddit (OP)
I went to a solar farm in the middle of nowhere Mississippi o parking no truck stops with parking. I’m glad they exist paid parking is great in an emergency. Bit trying to mess with ramp Parking so they profit. F off
JOliverScott@reddit
"they are in bed with politicians and FMCSA to ticket us off the on-ramps"
I had this same theory about 15 years ago when Tennessee closed half it's rest areas or put up signs limiting parking to two hours, while at the same time putting up signs on the ramps, and increasing ramp parking enforcement. This coincided with Pilot/Flying J broadly rolling out their paid reserved parking option and gradually segmenting increasing amounts of their truck stop parking lots for revenue parking... Not increasing the amount of parking, just converting it to revenue generating. The low-stakes conspiracy theory is that this all took place while Haslam was governor of Tennessee - brother of Pilot's CEO and member of the family that started the truck stop brand. The Haslams undoubtedly colluded to drive truck parking business towards their revenue business model by disincentivizing free parking options elsewhere.
Randomfactoid42@reddit
Normally I roll my eyes at conspiracy theories, but when you mentioned the state’s governor was the brother of Pilot’s CEO that’s not a theory!
melyssafaye@reddit
I used to roll my eyes at conspiracy theories too until I saw DOT officers rolling up to a Loves, doing random inspections and then going inside and getting free coffee and doughnuts while flirting with the truck stop manager.
It doesn’t have to be a big hidden conspiracy- just a group of officers knowing they can get their coffee and doughnuts free at a certain place and while they are at it, they can terrorize some truckers. It’s a win win. I can’t blame them because I shop at places they give me better reward perks- it doesn’t take much incentive to get more business sent your way:
Responsible_CDN_Duck@reddit
Funny how the release of engineering reports discussing safety impacts people looking to regulate the issue and offer alternatives.
At best you could argue the governor said it was coming with way so there would be demand, which seems consistent with other regulatory changes.
Robjla@reddit (OP)
I just wanna say I try and avoid ramp parking like the plague. 3 state troopers, all different levels of professionalism. One talked to me like I was stupid. Who cares. One was nice. One threatened to tow my truck so far away I’d never find it. lol. Also, some jack off at the company I’m leased to parked on the side of the interstate like he was an Amazon driver or something. Someone died; his face hit the trailer, horror. Someone when you do stop to piss they call and give you the closest Truckstop annoying when you’re taking an emergency nap.
Responsible_CDN_Duck@reddit
How is this any different than saying you avoid drunk driving like the plague, but sometimes you just feel you have to?
Consistent with how they treat drunk drivers and domestic abusers.
Some think another lecture or two might get through to you, others suspect you're gonna do whatever regardless and do the minimum.
Robjla@reddit (OP)
I don’t think drunk driving and parking on a ramp are equivalent
I don’t get the drunk driver and abuser response
The one that got to me was the insane one threatening to tow me. I really don’t want to deal with someone like that again.
possibly_lost45@reddit
Fml how much do they charge per day if they're giving you $25 off? That's more than parking in the Northeast at a truck stop
Pm_Me_Mtn_Bikes@reddit
Pilot charges $15-$25
TruckerBiscuit@reddit
I've used them twice. One was okay. The other had no idea I was coming and had no space for me. I ended up being told to make a space blocking other vehicles in and to be prepared to move in the morning. I put a note in my driver's side window so at least the guys waking me up in the morning didn't do it angrily.
Yeah, that organization definitely doesn't have its shit together.
jacklisterr@reddit
people complaining about paid parking and expecting to park on someone’s lot for free lmao
RectumRavager69@reddit
I've parked on an on ramp before but you really have to be picky about where you do it and when and how or yes it is wildly dangerous and a good way to get yourself or others killed. With that said there are absolutely on-ramps and even some off-ramps that are entirely safe to take a 10 on and if you want people to stop parking on the ramps then make more truck parking on the interstate.
Hell do it like they do on I-40 coming out of memphis - big fuck off patch of concrete and lines with a couple lights and a dumpster and porta shitter you can use. Hell I don't even need the dumpster or the shitter honestly, just a place I can park to go to fuckin sleep without getting towed or booted or hit.
shadowmib@reddit
If $25 off is the discount, I'm afraid to ask what the full price is for one night. Fuck the truck parking club up the ass sideways
Megalodon7770@reddit
Fuck them I never paid for parking and never will
FWD_to_twin_turbo@reddit
I'd park in the back lot of a state trooper office before i pay for parking. We pay premiums at truck stops and travel centers for a reason.
Robjla@reddit (OP)
I’d be fine with tax breaks for loves to double parking where possible. I’m also anti pay parking in general but I have paid like 3 times last year. NYC area it made sense to
Optimal_Row3798@reddit
I found one at your mom’s house.
Robjla@reddit (OP)
Haha I say your mama on the cb at least o ce a day