Where To Find Parking For My Break

Rainy mentioned Gary, IN. That reminded me of the terminal network that Swift has. The OP is a Swiftie right? Terminals aren't as well appointed as truck stops but they are safe and legal parking options. As for driving off duty. That sounds sketchy. The elogs will switch to driving automatically.

Yeah there is a terminal in Gary. I'm pretty sure Swifties aren't allowed to use Off Duty driving. Or so I was told in orientation--then again, I was also told I would be fired after going 68 mph three times, and THAT didn't happen lol.

Rainy mentioned Gary, IN. That reminded me of the terminal network that Swift has. The OP is a Swiftie right? Terminals aren't as well appointed as truck stops but they are safe and legal parking options. As for driving off duty. That sounds sketchy. The elogs will switch to driving automatically.

Partly true. My elogs once I hit "off duty drive" will allow me to drive 30 miles before it alerts me "are you driving legally for personal conveyance while unloaded?" It gives a bunch of scenarios. Then at 45 miles it says "you are over your off duty drive limit. Park or you will be place on duty."

They problem is that I once forgot to switch it back to on duty... so when I rolled out after my break.. I drove for 30 miles before realizing it. Had to call logs to fix it. I used to log my PTI at end of night.. not I do it in beginning to prevent that again.

Yup, sometimes you have to get creative. "Make a spot" at a truck stop, as long as I am not blocking anyone, and am not making myself into a target. I look for grain elevators when out in the country, because I know a truck will fit in there. I look for stores that are out of business that have big parking lots. Sometimes just a random place that has a truck or two parked if I think I can sit next to them for 10 hours unnoticed. I usually do not idle my truck at night, and pull the curtains before turning on a light so as not to draw attention to myself. (Stealth mode) I have learned the hard way that when the clock gets down to 1 hour, I need to be seriously looking for a place. few times, I just went over on hours and said "oh well, gotta find a safe place to park". Then cross my fingers for the next week that I don't have an officer check my logs!!

I also use teucking path at the beginning of the day... write my route on a notepad and list all the TS and exit numbers... as well as lot size. So I know before hand. Sometimes I put the distance in miles so I can fire out how far between places too

I am kind of proud of the fact that I have only had to make a spot twice since I started driving. I also have only parked at a weigh station once. The weigh station was because there is no parking around Seattle and neither of my deliveries had parking. The other 2 making spots were when I got held up at a shipper and I was still trying to make the delivery on time. Parking is kind of like backing it just takes some experience to figure it out. Trucker path is a life saver and I use it every day. I usually spend my lunch break looking at it to figure out where I am going to shut down for the night.