Truck Stop Rodeos

I don’t have pictures but I’m hoping by me describing what I’m seeing you will get a little chuckle.

So, we finally got to leave the 840 maintenance yard sometime late this morning. It took TWO full days to fix the few items on the truck so they would work as they were meant to. Yesterday we were back in the shop again for the unit that runs the AC and heat. It ended up we needed a whole new compressor and it wasn’t until the ladder was climbed to the almost top that the best guy was put on our repairs. Whew!! Just know, if it wasn’t for Mark I’d absolutely HATE the shop in Lebanon.

Anyway, we are loaded and on the way to Apopka, FL. We stopped tonight in Tifton, GA at the Pilot Truck Stop. It’s pretty big and has Steak & Shake for food, yummies! Now, TSR’s are quite entertaining, it’s always worrisome for me though, especially if there is an empty parking spot next to us on either side. I’m scared to death one of these TSR cowboys is gonna want to park next to us and end up hitting the truck. Luckily, we have trucks on both sides of us and no worries about getting hit tonight.

I’m sure you’ve seen the way the trucks are parked, usually backed into the spot. Look, I’ll be honest here, I can barely back my Edge and it has a backup camera on it. So, I’m in awe of the drivers who know what they are doing and can get into a tight spot with little effort. Don’t get me wrong, not every driver is bad, most are great, but there are always a few who just need to hang up their spurs and go flip burgers or something other than driving a big rig.

It goes without saying, most places have a posted speed limit for the parking lot. If you follow that limit you’ll have drivers trying to pass you in order to either get to the fuel island, food stop, or parking spot. This always causes a backup. And if a driver isn’t good at backing or can’t clearly see where he’s trying to put 70+ feet of metal as he’s backing up, he’s gonna need to pull forward, back up again, pull forward and jockey around until he’s in a safe place.

Tonight is no exception. When Jimmy parks for the night, he tries to get us as far away from the fuel island as possible. It’s so much quieter in the back aisle cause traffic is less. So, here we are in the back aisle, parked for the night, we haven’t closed the curtains yet so I’m watching the crazy and laughing my ass off. Right this minute there is a line of 5 trucks trying to get into one spot. Luckily, the guy in the first truck knows how to drive and he’s gonna get that spot with no trouble.

This usually ends with one or more drives losing their minds and blowing their horn or trying to bully their way into a position to take over a parking spot if there is even the slightest hesitation on the first driver’s part. Yeah, to see grown men lose their fucking minds cause they have no patience and have just gotta be the first is hilarious. LOL!!