I don’t know if the e-log mandate will
ever prove to make us safer drivers, but if nothing else, it sure has shone a
big spotlight on problems that most of us already knew existed.
Parking is one of those problems. I’ve been hearing for years about a driver
shortage, but it sure doesn’t look like it at 7:00 at night when you’ve got ten
trucks circling a parking lot and there are only three open spaces.
I told my brother last week that if
I’m parking after 7:00 pm, I’m more likely to head straight to a rest area than
bother being one of those ten trucks. I
never used to go into a rest area after dark for safety reasons. After being a local driver for over 2 years,
he got to see what I was talking about when he filled in for a 3-day run that
had him away from home last week.
It doesn’t help that the 5 major truck
stops are owned by 3 companies that have made it nearly impossible for the
smaller chains and independent truck stops to complete. They’re slowly ceasing to exist, taking
precious parking spaces with them.
It also doesn’t help that so many
truck drivers trash a parking lot and ruin it for the rest of us. The parking lot of the old Pilot in Winslow
has been available for us to park in for years, conveniently located right next
door to a Wal-Mart. I’ve bought more
allergy medicine in that Wal-Mart than I have at home. A few months ago, barriers were put up -
keeping the trucks out. I heard that the
owner got tired of getting fined for trash on the ground and decided to close
it off. Thanks guys.
States are closing rest areas due to
lack of funding. Exit ramps are lined
with trucks that ran out of hours with no safe parking available. I’ve never been one to park at the truck
stops around the yard, my thoughts being I’d rather leave those spots for the
drivers who aren’t less than 2 miles from their terminal.
I
don’t know what the answer is. Sure,
like everyone else, I’ve got some ideas, but no one is asking me. For now, all we can do is the best we can do.
