When Trucks Are Blocking Open Parking Spots

Here's the scenario:

You pull into a truck stop late at night. As you circle through the parking lot you see a few open spots on your left. Unfortunately there are a couple trucks parked along the curb on the right, making it impossible to back into either of the open spots. You don't have enough HOS time to drive to a different truck stop.

What would you do in this situation?

(The 2 green lines represent parked trucks. Pretend the only available spot is in the row facing the green lines)

I dealt with this situation last week at this very truck stop. Well, actually I was trying to leave, but I was blocked in. The question can be applied to either scenario.

RD, to get blocked in or out is a really aggravating thing. This has happened to me a number of times. I guess you could knock on their door and risk getting in a fight or shot. You could complain to the truck stop personnel, but they are usually to low-level to deal with it, especially at night. My standard practice is just to move on, if possible. Or find a way to block them in, but usually not such a good idea.

My worst experience was at a Loves where I needed to leave but was blocked in. I tried to wiggle out, but it was impossible. I called the truck stop desk, but no one ever came out. I woke the offending driver up and politely asked him to move and he insisted I had enough room to pull out, which I already knew I didn’t. So I ended up calling the police and even they had difficulty convincing him to move, but I did get out after 45 minutes of aggravation. I got all the info I needed and called this driver in to his company the next day and really let the person in safety know how I felt. I may even have used a bad word or two.

Here’s the things I always think about in these situations :

1) Can I park here without blocking another truck?

2) If I block in another truck, will I get my tires slashed? Will I get my pin pulled, door seal cut, air/brake line cut, or some other type of retaliation?

I’m sure others will comment on their experiences about this, but inconsiderate and obtuse drivers are a reality and are a fact of life, unfortunately.

I will look around to see if a driver for either truck is in sight. By in sight, I mean in the truck with a quick peek or around the truck where it's obvious that's their truck. If this is a Pilot, Love's, or TA, I will go inside and ask the staff to have the driver move. It's their job to police parking on their lot. They usually have security who do it. I have had a couple of these chains that refuse to knock on doors of trucks for safety reasons. I won't ask anyone at a mom-and-pop truck stop to go knocking on a truck door. If it's left up to me, I will gauge the situation and condition of the truck to decide if I want to go knocking on a door to ask someone to move. If I have my gut telling me that it's not a good idea, I will find where the next closest parking location is and PC to that location. I put "lot full" as a note when changing duty status to PC. I use this same method when there are no spots available. My safety manager told me that he would rather see us use PC to go to another place to park (as long as it's a reasonable distance--within 20 miles--and not done constantly) than try to force the truck into a spot. He also said that he doesn't expect us to be parking police by waking up an unknown driver to ask them to move.

Oh, before doing all of that, I pull into the fuel island at the furthest available pump from the door. When it's that late, there are typically plenty of fuel pumps open, so being parked at one for a few minutes isn't holding anyone up. That's the best place to be out of the way.

Oh, as far as the issue of being blocked into a spot. Bang on the door and calmly tell the driver now awake that he/she is blocking people from being able to pull out. I have seen where you have one truck on a curb and it's no big deal. Then you get that second truck parked double right beside the first and that second truck is just a kinds of in the way.

I pulled into a KwikTrip in Fond Du Lac WI. They have a row of pull through spots in the middle. Everything else was full, and some driver parked perpendicular to those spots behind them, blocking 6-8 spots.

I pulled around the row, backed into the spot in front of his drivers door, and left him about a foot to squeeze into the cab.

Yes, I know I am an ahole, but hopefully it was a teaching moment for him.

Yes, I know I am an ahole, but hopefully it was a teaching moment for him.

Your name says it all. If they knew who you were they'd have to expect you to respond in some way🤣

Drivers do that a lot in rest areas where there is angled parking for pull-throughs. They park along the back of several trailers essentially blocking the spots when they become empty. Grrrr!

If it's preventing me from getting into a spot, I just grumble and move on. If I am parked in, I will pound on the door, pound on the sleeper, whatever it takes.

Lol. Yeah.

He just incon 6-8 drivers so he could run in and grab some lunch. Forgot to mention that

Yes, I know I am an ahole, but hopefully it was a teaching moment for him.

Your name says it all. If they knew who you were they'd have to expect you to respond in some way🤣

Drivers do that a lot in rest areas where there is angled parking for pull-throughs. They park along the back of several trailers essentially blocking the spots when they become empty. Grrrr!

A terrible situation that can put a person in a bad mood. No getting around that! I'm confounded by some of what I see out there. I've been blocked in once. I knocked on the door and they moved. Personally, I avoid Pilot truck stops, they are always a nightmare. I usually shower at a Love's or TA and then head to the closest rest stop if there is one.

I read a small truck stop I use for scaling in Green Bay, WI, was temporarily shut down I believe due to a fire. So no services, but still parking available. I went to scale there last night, and someone was parked ON the scale! I assume it still worked, you just wouldn't be able to get a printout, but I don't know for sure.