Paid Parking Part 2

So, what is the solution?  Boycotting truck stops that have paid parking will not work because there is not enough parking as it is plus some companies pay for the spots so the truck stop is unlikely to stop offering them.  Also, drivers are not good at sticking together on anything.

Here are my solutions to this and it involves self-help.  These spots aren't going away so one solution is to work for a company that pays for them.  This solves the out of pocket issue.  I know, owners can't do that.  Welcome to the world of running your own business.  They will have to factor in this as a cost to determine if a load is profitable.

Another solution is to avoid parking entirely.  I have drivers that write all the time on dedicated runs that provide parking, like being on a Wal-Mart account.  Parking at every stop.  You could drive for a private fleet that has the same program.  Many years ago I drove for US FoodService OTR.  I could park at any US Foods warehouse even if they didn't allow others to park because I was their own truck.  Right now we are trying to get a driver on a dedicated run Minneapolis to Indianapolis.  It is D/H on both ends but more importantly there is parking on both ends.  That driver will never need to hunt around at night looking for parking at the J.  That is the kind of self help I am talking about.  It will take years to solve the need for parking and really it may just get worse.  Plan now for that.

​See you on the road!