Reserved Parking for 18 Wheelers

One of the major truck stop chains has started a new campaign recently. The TA/Petro chain has been going and putting in a few 'reserved' parking spots at their locations. Now they are only using about 2-5 percent of their total parking capacity at this point to do this.

The concept I believe is a good one.  They have a number you can call into and reserve a parking spot for the night (or day) for a fee ranging from 8-13 dollars. 

This allows you to plan your routes easier since you don't have to worry about whether or not you will find a spot when you are about to run out on your 14 hour clock.   This also allows people that pull oversized loads to acquire parking easier, although depending on how big the load is they might have to pay for 2 spots.

Now there are a 'few' drivers in the trucking community that do not like this new idea, hence my nice little picture above in the corner.  These are your drivers that, I swear, if you told them the sky was going to be blue, would argue with you over the point.  There are some out there that you just can't make happy. 

I have heard complaints ranging from 'they charge how much? well thats @#$%2 bs' to 'they are taking spots away from other drivers, if you can't make it there, tough, find another truck stop'.

I'm going to let you in on a neat little secret guys.......

The truck stops OWN the land that their parking lots are on.  Also, that kinda sorta makes it PRIVATE PROPERTY which allows them to do with it what they please.  There are truck stops out here that charge you to park in their parking lot....period.  You have drivers that don't buy fuel, or purchase items at the truck stop, but they want to take up a parking space there.  The truck stop has to spend money to clean and maintain the parking area.  They do have a business to run that needs to make a profit.

 Do you think that money comes out of thin air?  Well if you think our government is doing just fine you might so scratch that thought.....

It boils down to this neat little thing called CHOICE.  If you don't like it, don't use the service, its as simple as that.  Honestly, I'm not surprised that more truck stops haven't gone to the 'pay to park' model more.  Keeping up a large parking area is not cheap.  Quite a few truck stops now have security roaming around at night to help keep things safe.  Where does the money come from to pay for that?  Everything costs money guys, its just a matter of what you want to pay for.

As for me, I'll pay for the service when I need it.  I've already used it a few times and I have enjoyed the fact I didn't have to prowl the parking lot hoping to find a spot or catch someone leaving.  If your an Owner/Operator, its also a tax write-off, a deduction, so why all the whining?

One down one to go....

Well, I was able to make it back in time for Turkey Day. It was a pretty decent day overall.

I was able to relax for a few days before getting back on the road.  Note to self....don't go back on the road in the middle of a holiday weekend.  What can go wrong will.

I had a nice load going up to the northeast, but there was a massive screw up with the paperwork when I got there.  They gave me a mediocre load after that, ugh.

Now to get ready for the fat man in the red suit.  After that, we have New Year's.  This time of year it seems there is so much going on.

So did everyone else have a good Turkey Day?

Busy time of the year

The one thing I can say about the end of the year is that freight picks up pretty good. I mean heck, how do you think all of those gifts and stuff get to the stores? lol

I have been keeping pretty busy since the last time I have blogged and I apologize.  Right now I am helping out one of our many dedicated fleets that we have.

I am up in Corinne, Utah running with one of our Wal-Mart dedicated grocery fleets delivering to the stores in their area.  I have done this before for some of our other fleets and have always given them a very good performance, so when I wander in their area, they like to snag me up to help.

The nice thing about running this freight is that I can make more money running it vs OTR.  Now if I was to stay on the dedicated fleet and sign the contract it would drop back down to about what I made OTR so that's one of the reasons I like to run the 'surge' as they call it.

Well, I just got another load so I better get back to work.  I am hoping to be home for Thanksgiving, so chat with everyone later.

Evaluation time.....

Well, its time for me to evaluate where I'm at and where I need to go, and figure out a general direction on how to get there. Right now I can say I am rock bottom emotionally.

 I haven't ever felt this drained, or numb....ever. The first thing is to figure out how to start picking myself back up slowly but surely. I do know all of the 'alone time' I have in this truck doesn't help but I think I am getting a grip on those damn pesky voices that like to question everything. A few of the other voices got tired of them and they are currently tied, gagged, and thrown in the closet. Hopefully they don't get out for a while. lol

 Driving a truck really leaves me with zero time it seems to spend with anyone. I have been searching but I've yet to find anyone willing to take someone who is gone weeks at a time. I have a feeling that search isn't going to get any easier.

 I know I need to be happy, but what is happiness? I thought I knew but it looks like I didn't have the whole thing down. Some people say you have to be happy with yourself. Easier said than done. One of my problems is that I always have sacrificed my happiness so that others could be happy. In thinking that seeing others happy made me happy. Its just how I'm wired, and I don't know how to rewire myself.

 I guess I just feel if I do things to just make myself happy, I'm being conceited, etc concentrating on myself instead of others.

 Right now as you can see, I'm struggling hard on the 'make me happy' part, so does anyone have any suggestions or sage advice?

Getting off the Rollercoaster Ride

Well, as some can tell I have been on one of the worst emotional roller-coaster rides I have ever had in my life for the last few months.

I finally decided to try and take a few steps to get off of this thing, so I sat down and typed out the hardest letter for me to type.

It was something I know I had been putting off hoping that the ride would smooth out, but just when I thought things were leveling out, I would crash again.

All I can say is I hope I did the right thing in the right way.  I'll admit its hard to think straight when your in so much pain, but I don't want any others to suffer at all.  I guess I'm one of those guys that would rather take the whole burden.

I had decided to step back into the background and fade back.  I've tried seeing other people but there is just nothing there, so I'm done in that respect.

I guess I need to order my 'crazy cat guy' kit as it seems that's the direction I'm destined to head.

Love, accepting it...

One of my friends had an interesting poll the other day that got me to thinking, which can be very dangerous lol.

 She asked, 'in life we accept the love we think we deserve, true or false'. But she then followed it up with a zinger, are you getting the love you deserve, or not accepting all of the love out there.

Now lets break this down. I'm sure most would think that we would accept the love we deserve, because heck, we deserve it all. In fact we want more than is offered usually, and that's where the problems can ensue.

 When you want more, you go out seeking someone to provide it. The problem is, you rarely find it. What a person should do is continue to build on that foundation of love that they are currently receiving to expand it, not go looking over the horizon for more. Also, you have to keep in mind, love is a two-way street. The other person needs to know about and feel the same level of passion you do so they too can expand upon it.

 You see, it should be a self-sustaining circle, growing and expanding on itself. Now I'm not saying you can't love more than one. We are human and we have many people in our lives. What I am saying though is that there should be a positive feedback from the ones that you do love.

 If your trying to spread your net far and wide, to get love, but your not giving any back, you will find yourself in a pretty lonely place. So its pretty clear to me what a person should do.

 How do you feel about this subject?

Worn out...

I have to admit, right now I feel like our feline friend here.

I feel like I am drained, worn out in mind, body and soul.

My biggest problem right now is trying to figure out what the cause of this is.

I do know one part, and that is a few 'what if' scenarios that keep playing through my mind right now.  I've tried to dismiss them, put them to rest, but until I get a definitive answer to these I feel like I am spinning my wheels.

I know that's not the whole cause of everything, and that right now is my dilemma.  I went back to the hometown this weekend to try and relax and that hasn't happened so much.  A small repair job I had for my pickup turned into a 12 hour monster, so that blew my whole day.

I'm hoping tomorrow will be a better day of rest before I go back to work on Monday.