Reserved Parking

T/As have stopped giving points and shower credits for service. I have heard they are cutting it out for fuel too. They are increasing the number of paid spots in many of their truck stops. I have heard they are testing no shower truck stops. My company reimburses us for paid parking. We fuel at Pilot. To me, I feel the truck stops are forgetting who keeps them open.

Nope. Come Jan, there will not be a rewards card. The customer service sent me a letter that it will be a code of phone number and a password. Still will get points as before.

The pilot off i77 in troutman, NC, just north of Charlotte is the worst. It used to be a wilco I believe. Now it probably has more reserved spots than free. It's a real dump. Most like due to elog being mandatory and more drivers stopping earlier. It's most likely a trend

100% agree. If possible, I only fuel at pilot/flying J and try to take my tens at Petros w iron skillet or Pilot with Denny’s. When those aren’t available and I see a Country Pride I’ll always try and find a spot but that’s about it for TA

T/As have stopped giving points and shower credits for service. I have heard they are cutting it out for fuel too. They are increasing the number of paid spots in many of their truck stops. I have heard they are testing no shower truck stops. My company reimburses us for paid parking. We fuel at Pilot. To me, I feel the truck stops are forgetting who keeps them open.

T/As have stopped giving points and shower credits for service. I have heard they are cutting it out for fuel too. They are increasing the number of paid spots in many of their truck stops. I have heard they are testing no shower truck stops. My company reimburses us for paid parking. We fuel at Pilot. To me, I feel the truck stops are forgetting who keeps them open.

One reason why I now do business mainly at Love's. I only use PFJ and TA PETRO as last resorts.

Here's a tip.. those paid prime and vip parking spaces... The reservations generally begin at about 4pm. If it's EARLY in the day and I need to stop in for a quick shower/30 minute break, I won't hesitate to slide into one of those open spaces, do my thing and promptly leave. I often park at customers, rest areas and other creative places so I commonly get my shower around mid morning unless I've taken my 10 at truck stop and and showered during my 10.

Don't park in a paid spot later in the afternoon or evening unless you have paid for it. Truck stops do track the paid parking and will ask you to move when it typically starts filling up. Sometimes they'll give a driver a receipt to stick in their window and sometimes they don't. Parking isn't that expensive actually and most companies will reimburse you for paid parking.. I know mine does anyway. My truck info (make, model, color, Company, and truck number is stored in my pilot/flying j and my ultra one card account info, so yeah, they know who I am and only rarely am I asked to put a receipt in my window.

If you reserve a spot in advance, just know you pay for it when you make the reservation, and it's non-refundable. For example l was in eastern NY a few days ago.. parking fills FAST, so I reserved a spot at the Rotterdam NY pilot. I got delayed at the shipper and couldn't make it to Rotterdam, however I did actually make it (barely) to the small pilot in Castleton-on-Hudson. It was 7pmish and I pulled in, asked if they had any paid spots available and they did.. some places don't use those stupid signs (that you have to roll out of the way) and have painted numbers on their parking. In those locations, they'll assign you a specific parking space number when you reserve your spot. Parking "cost" me $32 that night.. $16 at each place, but I used points to pay for one spot so I didn't bother submitting it for reimbursement from my company. I let them know at Castleton-on-Hudson that I'd already reserved a spot in Rotterdam so they cancelled it in the system to free up that spot (#2) for another driver who needed it. So yeah, they re-rented that spot, I'm sure. BTW, paid parking is tax deductible, if your company doesn't reimburse you for it.

When you "rent" a spot.. it's yours for 24 hours unless you let them know you got delayed and won't be there at all. That's why you'll see people utilizing those spots for short breaks earlier in the day and the truck stops don't have a problem with it. Some places, you pay no matter what unless you purchase a minimum amount of fuel or a minimum amount inside the restaurant or truck stop, then they comp your parking fee. There's a TA near Baltimore that's like that

You can reserve spots using the apps for pilot/flying j and Petro/TA or call to reserve, if they haven't sold out yet. When I'm on the east coast, I frequently do pay for parking, just because it tends to fill up quickly and there's not enough of it.

BTW, why be fixated on parking at the Big 5 chains? There are plenty of smaller chains (Wilco-Hess is common in the Southeast, QuikTrip), mom-pop, and of course rest areas, and even maintained Truck Parking areas.

I rarely spend my 10hr at the Big 5. And I nearly always find a "real" spot, without having to park next to the scales, etc.

Once at the end of my shift, I fueled at a TA and watched what seemed a race for the last spots. I crossed over the freeway to a Shell, where there were easily 6-8 empty spots.

Exactly Errol. Which is why I tend to park at alternative locations unless there's no other obvious choice. But for those drivers who may need the info on how to reserve a spot...

All the Hess-Wilcos that I know of in the southeast, were unfortunately bought by pilot and subsequently ruined by removing the existing restaurants and putting in a Subway (yuck) or even worse, a Cinnabon (the smell gags me).

I love the little Mom and Pop places myself. The larger chains are a complete cluster fck with drivers literally parking anywhere, including blocking the entrance and exit, the scales.. it's ridiculous.

Don't be that inconsiderate driver. Unfortunately, since I fuel at those chains, that's where I shower (but I do love pilot/flying j shower heads) so I tend to shower during my 30 minute breaks.

That’s why I try and park at the pilots. I hate fast food and like to shower at the same time. I’m on a target account now out of Ohio so I’m slowly learning the “hidden” spots. I haven’t ventured out too far from the big five much mainly because I’m worried I’ll use up my last hour trying to find an off the path spot that’s not there anymore. But I guess that comes with experience of the lanes you run.

BTW, why be fixated on parking at the Big 5 chains? There are plenty of smaller chains (Wilco-Hess is common in the Southeast, QuikTrip), mom-pop, and of course rest areas, and even maintained Truck Parking areas.

I rarely spend my 10hr at the Big 5. And I nearly always find a "real" spot, without having to park next to the scales, etc.

Once at the end of my shift, I fueled at a TA and watched what seemed a race for the last spots. I crossed over the freeway to a Shell, where there were easily 6-8 empty spots.

Exactly Errol. Which is why I tend to park at alternative locations unless there's no other obvious choice. But for those drivers who may need the info on how to reserve a spot...

All the Hess-Wilcos that I know of in the southeast, were unfortunately bought by pilot and subsequently ruined by removing the existing restaurants and putting in a Subway (yuck) or even worse, a Cinnabon (the smell gags me).

I love the little Mom and Pop places myself. The larger chains are a complete cluster fck with drivers literally parking anywhere, including blocking the entrance and exit, the scales.. it's ridiculous.

Don't be that inconsiderate driver. Unfortunately, since I fuel at those chains, that's where I shower (but I do love pilot/flying j shower heads) so I tend to shower during my 30 minute breaks.

I fuel at the big ones but hardly ever stay there unless I have too. I am lucky about 75% of our customers let us park on site. Some people find it creepy to sleep at a funeral home or in a cemetary but I sure don't. It is very peaceful. I try to be mindful of the ones that have houses close by. We have to idle for ac or heat. The only ones we can't stay at are ones that are gated. Which is becoming more common these days. We work during normal business hours so I grab a shower/fuel on the way to the customer I'm staying at for the night.