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Parking Problems for Truckers |
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Written by David J
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Friday, 10 April 2009 17:00 |
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Trucking is a 24/7 business and truckers run all hours of the day and night. I am sure anyone reading this has seen during their morning commute to work, tractor/trailers parked on the on/off-ramps alongside of just about every freeway in America. Why are drivers parking in such dangerous places, because in some areas of this country there is not
enough parking spaces for big trucks to park. Metropolitan areas are the worst hit. Los Angeles, Seattle, Denver, Dallas and other major hubs where industry needs thousands of trucks daily to ship their products creates a major shortage of parking. In most areas trucks are not allowed to park on the streets, even in highly developed industrial areas where streets are large no parking of trucks are allowed. No one wants a line of trucks parking on a residential street, but what is the legitimate reason for barring trucks from parking in industrial areas where there are no homes? City officials in these towns/cities pass a law without thinking about the impact it has on the truck drivers. Drivers are allowed to drive 11 hours a day maximum. Finding a legal parking place while in transit is easier than parking near where you must load/unload in the morning. Most truckstops are full by 3 in the afternoon. To top it off, there are a lot of states that are closing half of their rest areas while a few actually have large rest areas dedicated to and for large trucks. Those are the exception rather than the rule however. Salinas, California is a prime example. During the summer months the majority of the entire United State’s produce is shipped from the Salinas Valley. In Salinas there are only 3 small truck stops yet the City of Salinas has in its wisdom made it illegal to park a large truck on it’s city streets. The alternative? You can park 50 miles south in a truckstop in King City or north about 35 mile in Gilroy. Both of these cities also have industry requiring the services of trucks. The San Francisco bay area in my opinion is about the worst in the country however, with only 1 truckstop in So. San Francisco that isn’t very big and a driver must pay to park. In San Jose the police will issue a parking violation for each of your trailers and for your tractor. That means a minimum of (2) $75 tickets, while you park outside and check in with the shipper to pick up your load. This has happened to me. I however had 2 trailers so I got 3 tickets. Parking is a major issue and I don’t know the answers except to say we need more parking. In the future there will be even more trucks on the roads and the problem will get worse.
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Truck Parking 