Truck Stop Parking: Why Are Some People Just Stupid?

So I pulling in to a travel Plaza on i80 in Ohio for my 30 minute break. These areas have doubles and triples parking made just for those of us THAT PULL DOUBLES AND TRIPLES! I think it's a pretty easy concept to get. Well I pull in behind another truck pulling a 53 foot trailer. What does he do? Takes the last freaking doubles and triples spot. I must say also that the parking area was half empty. There as plenty of spaces he could have pulled into. I am like WTF! so what do I do. You guessed it or should have. I pull up right beside him and set my brakes and turn the truck off and head inside.

I guess he got a bit upset cause he was standing beside the truck waiting when I came back out. I guess he called the police cause one showed up about 3 seconds later. After the cop found out what was going on, which by this time my 30 break was done, he told me to go ahead and move my truck and so I did. The other guy... $75 dollar parking ticket. Lol.

In short... Don't take up parking spots specifically made for doubles and triples. We have very few places we can park. Which adds to the already limited space for trucks.

I pulled up beside him so he had to wait on me to move. Sure it was mean of me to do so but his laziness cause the problem in the first place. Not to mention he was parked right next to a big ole sign (white background and red lettering) that read "Doubles and triples parking only. All others will be towed". It's the exact same signs the states and cities put up in no parking areas just the words are different.

The Ohio turnpike, like most turnpike, travel centers are not private property. The are patrolled by police and parking laws are enforced by police since it's still apart of the highway system.

There are very specific reason why doubles and triples have separate parking. We are longer. It take more room for us to move our trucks. My truck and doubles set is 10 foot longer than a truck and 53 foot trailer. I need more room. Triples are at least 20 longer than I am. That's 30 longer than a normal truck and 53' trailer. Our parking spots are the furthest from the building and are on the outer edge of the lot so we can park easier without having to squeeze in around other trucks. They are clearly marked for doubles and triples. Below is the picture of the travel Plaza I was in earlier. Ain't Google maps great. As you can see there are 3 areas in the picture. The ones towards the bottom of the picture is normal parking for trucks. And there is a lot of it but had to zoom in so phone readers could see it. The spots on the far right along the edge has the signs I was talking about. That is doubles and triples parking only. It's so we can pull in easier and pull out easier. Sometimes there is one sign that designates that row of parking is for a certain type of vehicle. The spots near the top and middle, the ones that looks like they have words in them, is for permitted loads. Wide loads. Over length loads and the like. And it's also over flow parking for double and triples when the sides are filled up. It's was midmorning and the travel center was more than half empty so he had plenty of parking yet he choose to take up parking that someone else needed cause they had no choice.

Some might ask if there was plenty of parking why I did not just go and Park in the empty spots? Well the way parking works in the travel plazas is you park and if you are in the wrong spot and people complain the police come and do their job. In this case it back fired on him.

yea but he didn't. So what? Somebody has to be the better man.

Yeah, but is it being the better man by letting others walk all over you and disrespect you? Because that's exactly what that was. It wasn't an honest mistake. It wasn't an emergency. It was a complete lack of consideration on that driver's part. He knew exactly what he was doing and he didn't care.

In fact, he felt so entitled to do whatever he felt like doing that even when he broke the rules and created this situation he tried calling the cops on Guyjax who was given no choice but to park in the only place he could safely park. So this dude can do whatever he likes, even if it means breaking laws and inconveniencing others. But how dare anyone do anything that inconveniences him in return, right? You can't let those types get away with that kind of stuff because the more they get away with it the more obnoxious they become. I mean.....look how obnoxious he is already! Who the h*ll breaks the law and then calls the cops on someone else??? Seriously??? And you just want to walk away and let him get away with it?

Unfortunately the trucker stereotype of loud-mouthed, small-minded jerks is alive and well in 2014 - there's plenty of em out there. You're obviously not going to get any kind of respect, consideration, or camaraderie from those types and this driver was obviously one of em. I'm all about being kind, respectful, and getting along with people but you have to realize that not everyone feels that way. You have to deal appropriately with the person in front of you. Most of the time it's better to ignore people if you can and just walk away. In this case I think Guyjax did the right thing. This guy could have easily parked anywhere he wanted to but chose to be an inconsiderate jerk to other truckers no less. Imagine how he treats people he can't even relate to?

Larry B. Being the bigger man? Where else was I to park? In a spot that the signage clearly stated I was not to park in?

I know you don't understand why this could not have gone any differently. You will realize that soon enough. When drivers would rather cuss you than look at you, you learn to avoid certain types of people. Believe me I was giving the guy a break. I know me and how I react to certain people. I avoid conflict when I can and one way to do that is to avoid talking to certain people. I have a very low tolerance for the stupid. If I go up to someone, as was suggested and going by did he did without regard to other people, if he would have said the least disrespectful thing to me then I would have not reacted well. I was raise to show respect and give respect and if your are disrespectful just because you can be well you handle it the way you see fit. I am not a child and don't expect to be treated as one. I follow suit with treating other people the same as I want to be treated SO it's true I don't know what the guys attitude was like even though his actions to this point were of one that did not care about anything but what was going on in his life but rather than find out and have it go completely wrong I avoid him.

It takes two people to have a argument. If there is only one person there doing the talking... Well they're just crazy.

And for everyone that has not been out on the road yet. You will learn super fast that there are people out here on the road(meaning truck drivers) that want conflict and throw attitude at you just because they can. You can smile and wave at someone and they will tell you to f#@k off all because you desided to speak to them. Not everyone is like this but as everyone always says "Actions speak louder than words" and if your actions are disrespectful then there is a very go chance the words will be also.

It seems you have assumed a whole lot about this guy. How can we know anything about what his motives were since he didn't even speak to him?

If he was speeding through a school zone and hit a child would you say the same thing? Would you give him the benefit of the doubt or would you say he's a professional driver who should be capable of reading signs and following directions properly?

What if someone's disabled mother had to have assistance getting into a building because some trucker decided to park lengthwise across all of the handicapped parking spots? Would you say we should let him go because we didn't know his motives or would you assume he can read signs and find an appropriate place to park?

Remember....we're talking about professional drivers here. The standards they should be held to are way, way higher. If you're driving an 80,000 pound death machine surrounded by SUV's full of children I'm expecting you to be able to read signs and follow directions properly. I'm also expecting you to be considerate of others whether it's safety related or not.

And don't forget I drove for 15 years. I know truck drivers pretty well. Trust me....he didn't park there innocently or accidentally. There are plenty of guys out there who can't stand to follow rules and don't give a rat's *ss how anyone feels about anything. You'll see it every day of your life out there. This kind of stuff happens all the time. People park in the fuel islands, on the CAT scales , and on property with "No Truck" signs all the time. They tailgate people, pull out in front of traffic, and spout out the most unimaginably disgusting and vile garbage on the CB every chance they get. This is an everyday thing out there unfortunately. It's not the majority of people, but there's enough of em that it's quite common.

Two wrongs never make it right

I agree. But Guyjax was in the right. Where was he supposed to go? There's a very good reason they designate special parking for doubles and triples. They can't maneuver the same way a single trailer can.

Larry, I understand you're not trying to argue and you have a perfectly valid point. I've always tried to be as kind and respectful as I can be with everyone. I'm a small town, blue collar dude who was raised the right way. But I'm also a realist. And the reality is you can't just let people do whatever the heck they please all the time. Someone has to call them out when they're out of line and someone has to enforce the rules. Otherwise you have anarchy.

To make matters worse, the trucking industry draws an overwhelming number of Type A personalities. If you're going to make your way in this industry you have to have a thick skin and you must have the confidence to stand up for yourself at times. This guy didn't accidentally park there. He did it because he didn't care whether or not he inconvenienced anyone else. Well Guyjax just wanted to point out to this fella that it kinda sucks when you're on the receiving end of that kind of treatment.

For the win, man! Yeah, that was awfully disrespectful of the other guy but he got what he deserved.

I didn't know that cops would give out tickets for that.... Cool!

Good for you😀

I'm trying to get the visual so help me out, here. You pulled up beside him, so his and your trailers were parallel or were you perpendicular to his set? I take it, he was unable to pull out until you moved yours first ... It's a great story - I want to visualize the whole thing so I can enjoy the moment.

-mountain girl

How can they give a ticket for a parking violation in a private lot? Or is the double/triple parking like a handicap parking spot?

I could see the truck stop being able to have it towed for improper parking, just didn't realize the police had jurisdiction over private property.

There are service plaza's in Ohio that are big rest areas with travel services. Fuel, food etc. They are not private property.

There are service plaza's in Ohio that are big rest areas with travel services. Fuel, food etc. They are not private property.

I guess I have not seen that....would make sense.... I know in the Illinois oasis stops, Florida Turnpike plaza's, New Hampshire rest areas(with state liquor stores)are patrolled by the law.

Thats exactly what they are.

I pulled up beside him so he had to wait on me to move. Sure it was mean of me to do so but his laziness cause the problem in the first place. Not to mention he was parked right next to a big ole sign (white background and red lettering) that read "Doubles and triples parking only. All others will be towed". It's the exact same signs the states and cities put up in no parking areas just the words are different.

The Ohio turnpike, like most turnpike, travel centers are not private property. The are patrolled by police and parking laws are enforced by police since it's still apart of the highway system.

There are very specific reason why doubles and triples have separate parking. We are longer. It take more room for us to move our trucks. My truck and doubles set is 10 foot longer than a truck and 53 foot trailer. I need more room. Triples are at least 20 longer than I am. That's 30 longer than a normal truck and 53' trailer. Our parking spots are the furthest from the building and are on the outer edge of the lot so we can park easier without having to squeeze in around other trucks. They are clearly marked for doubles and triples. Below is the picture of the travel Plaza I was in earlier. Ain't Google maps great. As you can see there are 3 areas in the picture. The ones towards the bottom of the picture is normal parking for trucks. And there is a lot of it but had to zoom in so phone readers could see it. The spots on the far right along the edge has the signs I was talking about. That is doubles and triples parking only. It's so we can pull in easier and pull out easier. Sometimes there is one sign that designates that row of parking is for a certain type of vehicle. The spots near the top and middle, the ones that looks like they have words in them, is for permitted loads. Wide loads. Over length loads and the like. And it's also over flow parking for double and triples when the sides are filled up. It's was midmorning and the travel center was more than half empty so he had plenty of parking yet he choose to take up parking that someone else needed cause they had no choice.

Some might ask if there was plenty of parking why I did not just go and Park in the empty spots? Well the way parking works in the travel plazas is you park and if you are in the wrong spot and people complain the police come and do their job. In this case it back fired on him.

I pull doubles 90% of the time and can park in the pull through spots beside other trucks without a length issue. I assume your longer because of your sleeper cab?

Just wanted to clarify the length for those that may be following the thread.