The lack of proper rest areas for truckers has created a problem nationwide, but in one neighborhood in the Bronx in New York City, the situation has gotten so bad that the message to truckers is an unequivocal “Stay out!” The Bronx is the point where highways I-95, I-87, and I-287 meet, and yet truck parking is still extremely scarce. So when truckers need a place to spend their federally mandated breaks, there’s nowhere to take them except on the side of the road in neighborhoods where homes routinely cost $600,000. District manager of Bronx Community Board 10, Kenneth Kearns, said that the truck parking problem is becoming a “quality of life issue” for the residents in his district.
“The trucks tend to be very big, very old and very dirty,” Kearns said. “They sit there grinding away all night long, while the drivers are in the back sleeping. We are not interested in our community board becoming a truck stop.”
The community board has instated a new fine for truckers idling in the streets. A single infraction can cost up to $515. Kearns defended the fine, saying that the board’s role is to deal with concerns of the taxpayers who live in the community, and that the commercial vehicles are currently a huge concern. He says the trucks take up valuable parking spaces and make disturbing noise all night while they idle during drivers’ off hours.
“I don’t know how to talk to them. I don’t know who they are, but they don’t live in this neighborhood… They wander off the highway and end up parking on city streets where they shouldn’t be… I can’t even venture to guess where you could put them. Nobody wants them.”
Despite the fact that there is already inadequate parking, there are new plans for an outlet mall in the works. Certainly the overcrowding issue will only get worse in the years to come, but is raising fines on truckers who have no place else to park really the answer?
“We aren’t out to ticket them out of business,” Kearns said. “We are just asking for some sensitivity on the truckers’ part. If there is some way to deal with them in a more creative fashion, we would be happy to consider it.”
Next Story: Is 85 mph the future for America’s highways?
Source: http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=24163
I think truckers should simply not deliver to areas where they are not wanted. Then the problem will work itself out very quickly.
They don’t want us there and we don’t want to be there. Sounds like a win win. No more delivering northeast.
Its only going to get worse. And with the ongoing, constrictive csa rules theres also less hope for broke states to build and provide suitable parking for truckers. So what it boils down to is the government making us follow a certain set of rules and the government fining us for following those rules. This guy Kearns should be a spokesman for more than just that community because almost everyone else feels just the way he does, meaning “they dont really care for us or about us”. Its a vicious cycle when its hard to care because the problem is getting worse and the problem causing the problem is worsening as well. Im just glad i drive locally now but it doesnt make me less angry about this whole thing.
Maybe trucks should stop going into The Bronx altogether. See how they like it when nothing gets delivered in their neighborhood
How about we just boycott New York City entirely? Actually I have done that for many years. If they couldn’t get their products or food they would be really happy to see trucks then. These days, newer truckers are gutless wonders and I’m saying that even for drivers of 20 years. Forty years and 4 million miles ago when I started driving truckers did not take this kind of abuse.
Well I say don’t deliver anything to new York for one week an truckers will become there best friend. This trucking industry has gone to shit If we all could just pull together an shut this country down for one week. Truckers would then get the respect that’s needed but look around at the out of shape drivers the nasty drivers no showers throwing piss bottles an shit bags out there truck into the streets an of course them that shouldn’t even hold in there possession any type of license. This old world is really screwed an congratulations USA we let it happen
In the northeast, truck parking has always been difficult to find. The trucking companies know that and many times transfer loads to local/regional haulers for the delivery into NYC. The problem exists because of the short-sighted fools who “don’t want noisy trucks” around, but still insist on getting food, clothing and other items on the store shelves quickly. I, too, say just boycott NYC. Let them starve for a few weeks. Bloomberg will suddenly insist on building truck stops.
Well I certainly wish someone would enforce traffic safety around commercial vehicles on our nations highways. People treat trucks as if you have no right to be on the road,they see just how wteckless they can be when around most trucks.and the lack of parking is just one of many concerns that the trucking industry need addressed.but nobody seems to care…but when one of us makes a mistake,oh now everybody wants to get involved,because now they want to fine you!!!! This is not right…why is this legal? We supply this country with almost everything people consume and use Daily…maybe we should just shut down all trucks transporting goods in this country since we are such a problem….
1. The owners of the houses have an absolute right to quality of life. (Think about if it was your house and you couldn’t enjoy the quietness and peace of your $600, 000 house.
2. The truckers absolutely need a place to park. That’s totally ridiculous they don’t have ample parking. America moves on freight. I agree with the boycott idea. Give the gov. 6 months to put in rest stops or else. I mean, how can the truckers go on when they legally have to take breaks and there is nowhere to take them. Just making it the truckers problem to find parking, when it can’t be done, is not right.
3. Query: The malls, grocery stores, and shopping centers (Walmarts, Kmarts, Krogers, etc)don’t allow truckers to park in their lots?. Extra sales.
We keep hearing complaints from residents and community boards and also outrageous answers from truckdrivers.It seems no one can come up with an adequate answer.It was discussed over the years to warehouse NYC bound freight in NJ and use daycabs to deliver it,but,that idea seems to have gone down the tank.Nobody wants to work at night,and drivers don’t want to be caughtup in NYC daytime traffic.If they were to build rest areas in the NYC area,they would be overrun with rodents and prostitutes and panhandlers or even gangbangers.A driver wouldn’t be safe.
I know my answer would infringe on FMCSA rules,but I believe any driver delivering in any of the 5 Boroughs or on Manhattan,should be allowed to drive outside the city to a well lit safe haven.But,proof of delivery must be provided to access the safe havens.OUR HIGHWAY TAX DOLLARS COULD BE USED TO BUILD THE LOCATIONS.A simple Male/Female restroom would be all that is needed and a fairly sizeable,well lit parking area with trash receptacles and security cameras for protection and law enforcement.
I agree, no parking is a major issue not just in the Bronx but all across America. When you run hard and get low on hours finding a place to park can be difficult. What more trucking companies don’t allow for is the hour or so it takes to find a place to safely park (that’s not along the side of streets and highways). Many states are closing their rest areas as they are too expensive to maintain. The ones that are open often have no idling rules. This put more stress on the drivers, as they are fatigued already and not getting a good nights (or days) sleep because they are too hot or too cold can lead to fatigue related accidents even though they took their required breaks. I too avoid NYC and New England when ever possible choosing to run regionally for less money and avoiding the hassle.
Easy answer to the question, boycott that area and don’t let any freight go there way. $515 dollar fine is insane. Let the folks not eat for a week beat the change there minds about truck parking. On that note Federal law trumps state and city. So those fines should be able to be dismissed due to the federal regulation. Don’t take the break your in violation, but take the break in this place parked your also in violation and fined….
This is PRECISELY why I don’t go to NY and places similar. Maybe since they’ve taken this stance on truckers. Maybe everyone needs to quit going, when the stores run out of groceries, fuel for their vehicles, etc… Maybe they’ll have a change of heart then, but alas, people won’t stick together anymore.
Lance,
Hi, I’m Vesta and apparently one of those ‘gutless wonders’ you so nicely labeled me as. You state we all need to just boycott the place. Well, sorry but not all of us have that luxury and have to go where the company we work for send us. Did you ever think maybe letters with *our* concerns could be sent in to Kenneth Kearns?
He stated he didn’t know us, nor that he knew how to talk to us. Maybe introducing ourselves and letting him know that we are human who are doing what DOT requires of us when it is time for us to have our DOT mandated rest, that we have no choice of where we choose to stop would help. But then with your attitude not only towards what is a concern for his district AND towards fellow brothers and sisters out on the road, maybe you shouldn’t be one of those representatives.
Maybe thoughts on APU’s and those companies that don’t provide them (or the independents who don’t have them) would be a concern. Maybe explaining that those trucks who do not have them need to idle when it’s too hot or too cold because if a driver is not getting sleep for those reasons, s/he is becoming a grave danger on the road because they are tired. He doesn’t know us? Let’s let him know us and tell him *our* concerns. But in a way that makes him think ‘hey, these guys need our help’ instead of ‘oh there’s an asshole that proves we need truckers out of our neighborhoods’.
Here is his information btw. Took me a whole 30 seconds to find it.
Kenneth Kearns-District Manager
3165 East Tremont Ave.
Bronx, New York 10461
TEL: (718) 892-1161
FAX: (718) 863-6860
email:bx10@cb.nyc.gov
To start off with, New York City and the whole state has been against truckers. They do not like to see them they have treated them as dirt ,personally I would love to see the truckers boycott going into New York City . Build a big building to receive all the goods for New york City out side of the state and have them owners of each delivery come get their own goods by their pickups and cars . No trucks allowed to pick up and deliver to their facility in NYC. Do that and watch how fast the NYC becomes friendly to the truckers. I can also relate to the idling of the trucks ,need to find a better way to idle the REEFS and any trucker that has removed their exhaust and replace it with straight pipe be fine big time . They do not come from the factory produce that way or sold that way the owners put them on them themselves. That is the biggest head ache of the whole trucking industry. The owners say ,it makes people take notice. What about when their sleeping at nite for work the next day? Then some jerk in a garbage truck, @ 1-7 am is picking up garbage in them hours ,Why does it(JAKE BRAKE) have to be on ? Totally uncalled for . Need to go back the old way .HAVE RESPECT FOR ALL ,QUITE ALL VEHICLES BACK TO FACTORY BUILT,ALONG WITH THOSE HARLEY S THAT JUST HAVE TO HAVE LOUD EXHAUST. No reason for it. Some times those bikes need fine for loud exhaust.
Course now back in the early years of transportation , the trucks had quite exhaust ,their were drivers that went out of their way to be kind to the shipper and receiver and the companies treated them with respect also. But then came that big bad TRUCKER. F… the receiver ,F… the shipper ,F… the people ,they OWE me to bring their product . Or get into receiver or shipper office and yell and scream @ them for something that happen to you before you left home ,or the dispatch order you to do something and you don’t like so let’s take it out on the world. Then came the HOGS of the industry, Garbage can setting right next door to cab to lazy to but it in there trow it on the road or where ya park. How about the ones that are to lazy to use the bathrooms and just squat down next to their wheels and relieve themselves and have the paper to wipe. Have seen that from a lot of Canadian truckers .
As a whole , I’m kind of glad that I’m out of the industry for life , cause of health and really don’t miss it that much. Do miss the comrade of it back when drivers help out with others ,but that has all gone and well never be back cause of a lot of criminals out there and is still growing .
If there’s room for an outlet mall….there’s room for a truckstop.
I am getting extremely tired of this issue. Nobody wants us around, yet, we bring them everything they buy. Heck, the politicians don’t even want us. When they finally get what they want and are all wishing for it is going to be a sad day. When people can no longer get the necessary items needed to carry out their day-to-day lives. I live in Georgia and there have been three rest areas shut down on the north side of Atlanta as well. I love the way that the so called social elites view us as a problem. Just look at the language used in this article. They made a point to say they didn’t want us there as well as using dirty to describe the trucks we drive. We as truckers are the backbone of this great nation. When will we be respected for what we do and the sacrifices we make in our personal and family lives to serve the needs of everyone else?
Once again OUR Goverment has done what it does best… Put another restriction on the Truck Driver without thinking things through. I’ve been in thhe Trucking Industry for 40+ years, gone through 2 major strikes, both as a Driver and and Owner Operator. The Bronx is not the first to instate fines for truck parking nor will it be the last, yet the Cash Cows (Truck Drivers) will not join togeather to figure out a solution to restrictions placed on us.
Local and State Officials are elected by us and will listen to us if we speak at the Polls. However in their defence, “I say when you sit behind a desk and have Special Intrest Groups and Insurance Companies with alot of money come to lobby for more restrictions to make the hiways safer for the motoring public, then go home at the end of the day”, You get what we have A Mess. It is time for the Drivers to stand up join togeather and start to police the Trucking Industry as we once did. In the years past we were a family, who cared about providing quality service safely to customers. It is also time for our goverment to listen to the person on the road doing the job and involve us in their planning.
It sounds like a poor-planning problem of the truckers . . . but they’ll never admit it. If they know they can’t park in an area but run all the way there as their hours expire, it’s NOT the neighborhood’s fault for fining them $500 a pop. The fine is to deter the behavior after polite requests have been ignored. Like the article said, the truckers are not residents, just noisy, demanding guests. Now it looks like they’re angry because they can’t just park wherever they choose.
I’m a fairly new driver myself, and that’s the first thing I’ve noticed, that the populated areas (the areas with the most freight respectively) also lack adequate truck parking. And as HOS regulations get tighter and tighter, it’s becoming harder and harder to find a place after 9:30pm on a weekday. And with the winter months coming, it’s going to be even more difficult yet.
I’ve already told my DM if they send me back there they can have there truck back. There’s no parking for one and you cant trust a single sighn nowhere in nyc. And to top it off they drive without any respect for trucks what so ever.. I had 5 deferent people pull U turns right infront of me in the middle of the street. Hell one of the passed me on the sidewalk and got about 30 yards in front of the truck before slaming on the brakes for his U turn…. I dont care nothing about ever going back
I made one trip, (with 4 drops, which took 4 days!), to NYC when I was driving, back in 2000. Even then, it was next to impossible to park, so I had to go back out to NJ to park at nite. The tolls I had to pay in order to do that were so outrageous, I just refused loads going there after that one trip.
Someone above has the right idea. If they don’t want truckers in their nasty little cities, just let them try to get along without them for awhile, and soon, they will be begging to get you back agsin!
“The trucks tend to be very big, very old and very dirty,” Kearns said.
How articulate. thats a high society New Yorker for you.
Easy fix! Just ban deliveries from your area! No Parking! No Trucks! No Deliveries!
How come everytime you turn around its always more fines for truckers or people saying they don’t want them around or their dirty just like their dirty trucks? Trucking was a highly respectable job years ago and the pay was good for drivers back then before deregulation-which I don’t agree with totally but it did help with driver pay and respect back then!! Today there’s no place for truckers to sleep or eat that’s worth a crap and all people want to do is fine the piss out of the truckers for bo damn reason other than greed and because truckers have no honest person or people that speak up and be taken seriously by our government or the d.o.t. or fmcsa the truckers are just run over and room advantage of which is a sad damn shame after all- our truckers are the backbone of the usa and deliver goods everyday that make our country run efficiently everyday and if they didn’t do their jobs driving all day and nite while concerning health problems at the same time and the rest if the crap they deal with we would stop as a country! So instead of fining the truckers go find out what you can do for them to better support their livelyhoods in a more healthy fashion and better compensation package rather than just coming down on them and everybody taking money from them and treating them like trash!!! Show some damn respect to our countries truckers!!! Keep them wheels rolling truckers!!!!
They want all the “stuff” we bring them, but they just want us to bring it to them
and magically disappear.
I would have been glad to go to New England to haul freight if it wasn’t for the
animosity toward truckers and lack of places to take my FEDERALLY
MANDATED REST. They want to have their cake and eat it too.
It is like unfunded mandates. They want to tell us what to do, then leave us no
way to legally accomplish their demands. My solution is, I don’t do
New England. If everybody said that, they would be building rest stops
EVERYWHERE. They MUST have their “stuff” after all.
That’s all you would need. A week long trucker’s boycott of New England,
empty all the shelves of EVERYTHING, and you’d see action.
There are plenty of other places for trucker to make a living besides the overcrowded northeast. I say let them get their groceries off of a train…..
The CSA does not accept excuses. You either following the rules or accept a fine and ticket. The company you work for, same thing. Follow the rules or pay the fine and tickets, AND get fired if you don’t do the run.
Rule of thumb to always remember in accepting your next job. NO NYC…period. Many drivers I know have the same policy. No NYC.
I go one better because this problem is more wide spread than just NYC. My job applications always say, NO NYC and NO East coast. Many places on the east coast have the same problem, so I simply don’t go there from the get go.
We all need to stop going into towns that do not appreciate our services! Lets do this everywhere in the USA..they are so stupid to think that freight automatically appears in there stores! Ha..let them send little trucks to borders for Semi-Truck freight…
i don’t do NYC, but on the flip side, how many of you have gone into a truck stop and parked in the drive way? i have been driving for 20 years and NEVER had to park in a truckstop driveway. but every time i stop at a truckstop i see drivers parked in driveways, blocking scales and fuel pumps, while there are ample parking spots available. if you want to be treated with respect, you have to behave respectably.
Look people lets address the real issues here. We the otr drivers have to first know were you come from to know where your going. People stand up for your rights. We are desciminated again everyday by law enforcement,shippers,receivers,super center,etc. People sue against things of this nature everyday and until we do something about it, its not gonna change. We also need to look @ ourselfs in the mirror to but damn it lets get in gear people literally……
After 20 years and over 2 million miles, I’m calling it quits. Truck driving has become such a stressfull, thankless job, that it’s just not worth it anymore. It’s time to restructure the entire industry. It’s time to get rid of the per mile pay scale. Start paying a fair, hourly wage, like most good jobs. It could be done, but why would the powers that be change it? They like having us work for peanuts. There should be “truck only” highways created. Maybe 2 going east/west and 3 going north/south. It would be a good start to getting the highways moving again and making things safer for everyone. Again, it could be done. Another thing that needs to go is the driver being responsible for unloading the freight. The receiver should unload/count their own freight at all locations. Finally, as far as parking, all these rest areas that have been closed, should be converted to “truck havens”, strictly for use by trucks. The government could use some of our highway taxes to implement this program. These are just a few of the myriad of issues facing the next generation of truckers. I wish all my brother and sister drivers out there the best of luck in the coming years. Keep the rubber on the road, and get home to kiss the spouse often.
Truckers are entitled to fundamental human rights, too! Trucking is lawful activity. Going after truckers in NY sounds hateful, discriminatory, and retaliatory, among other things. It sounds like a class action lawsuit against the state if they cannot treat trucking workers fair and equitable and make reasonable accommodations for trucking workers including proper rest areas. Seek out an attorney for assistance.
Yes….I had a summer job delivering RVs to dealerships all over the U.S. and Canada. I will tell you that every night, I found all the truck stops full and had to park in rest areas, which are not safe. (Even when you could find one with a space!) One of our drivers was almost killed when he was beaten up by a gang in California so they could steal the televisions and appliances out of the RV he was driving. I often saw truckers having to park at Wall Mart Shopping Centers and more often on the access ramps leading to and from the interstate highways. How safe is that???????
Being a commercial driver, we are REQUIRED to stop for no less than 15 minutes every 3-4 hours, and you cannot drive one minute over 11 hours a day. There are heavy fines related to going over these restricted hours. There is usually nowhere to go except on the side of the road, and that is even more dangerous than a rest area.
I say Boycott!!!
Poor truckers have not much leverage. Nothing will change unless there is some unified action.
People are targeting the wrong group here. They need to contact their representatives and demand they supply parking for our truck so we don’t have to park in these neighborhoods It’s just easier for these morons to target truck drivers. .I say boycott NY. After a couple of weeks when the food runs out and they have to start eating rats maybe they’ll contact their local representatives then.
Bring your freight trucker but get out of here! Gee how welcoming is that? I think they should build huge delivery warehouses on the exterior of big cities where the large trucks can delivery then let the smaller trucks clog up the freeways in the morning. Sounds like a good idea to me.
Parking has always been a problem around big cities.
It’s easier to complain for some than it is to plan your trip so that you don’t get stuck in a bad area.
I just love the comment “I don’t go to NYC”. So you boycott every large metro area in the country ?????
Maybe the city of new York , long island and all 5 burrows of new York should build a transfer warehouse outside the city limits where all the road trucks take there loads to and let local trucks deliver the loads for that area, this way this way the trucks will not be parking on the side of the roads. These local trucks could also put loads from the city and bring them out to the exchange warehouse where these trucks would pick up these loads. This would keep us out of the city.
I’ve never wandered off the highway into some neighborhood. Everytime I’ve been stuck in some nasty neighborhood it’s been because I was delivering the goods someone in that area ordered. I used to deliver to trash holes like the bronx, but not since 1999. I decided then that for all I care the people in the bronx can drive to Jersey to get their goods.
There is an easy solution to all this. Get as many drivers as possible to REFUSE to go to New York City. Dollars to donuts. many problems will start to solve themselves.
All the comments have valid and legitimate points
and this article offends me ,as well.
But ,one has to wonder; if this was happening in a poor neighborhood, which , of course wouldn’t safe, would there be this much outrage against truck drivers ? Heaven forbid we soil a wealthy neighborhood ?
The solution is simple. Put the burden for providing parking on the cities.
Cities know their steets, their businesses. They should provide parking in proportion to their population. Every city.
One major issue that these people aren’t realizing is the fact, that everything they use on a day to day basis is shipped by us. Granted the noise from us idling near the houses do bother them, but if we had enough rest area’s then their wouldn’t be and issue. SO the northeast doesn’t want us there, then i say they can buy there own damn truck and pick it up themselves. When you don’t have the products you need to fill your shelves or the fuel to make your vehicles run, you will get off your high horse and help us find a solution that will benefit everyone.
These people don’t want trucks parking on their streets and say they aren’t wanted, but u can bet ur hind end that what ever that trucker is loaded with they want. They better step back and realize if it wasn’t for us truckers they wouldn’t be able to have any of the snooty patootie crap they have. They arent takin in to considereration that truckers drive long hrs through all kinds of weather traffic and a whole list of other crap to make sure that food gets delivered so they can eat, so clothes get to stores so they will have something to wear and so on. Instead of complaining about truck drivers why don’t u consider thanking them. Just saying
I’ve been driving Trucks and Motor Coaches for the last 15years. I HATE NYC and the surrounding areas. I refuse to go because of the Parking, Lack of proper bridge clearance markings, streets that most trucks are not allowed on, cars parked right at the end in no parking zones so you can’t make your turns, no rest areas, etc…. I do everything I can to avoid running NYC! They are ungrateful!
Remember $600k houses in NYC are just normal sized houses to the rest of the country, they are only that much because of the location that they are located in.
People seem to forget, If it wasn’t for truckers, or transporters of any form people would not have their food or goods that they so are use to having. NYC takes it for granted that they just can walk up into a store and buy something just because its there. They don’t stop to take a min. to consider how it got there in the first place. Often people that live in the NYC don’t even stop to realize for example that beef really does come from a cow not a store. They lack association to the item from its roots.
As far as parking is concerned. The city should come up with a map for truckers providing them with safe places to park for the night where they won’t be ticketed. Its OK to idle if needed pending weather. They do need to provide a safe place to park for trucks while making these delivery’s. We are required by law to follow the HOS rules and regs. We do our best. Sometimes due to delays with traffic, shipper delays, receiver delays, breakdowns we run out of time to continue driving for the day with out being in violation. Often trucking companies today are set up with GPS attached E LOGS which makes it even more difficult in situations like these. You need to “get out of there” but you do you get in trouble. We can’t win either way!
I do want to thank those shippers and receivers that will allow trucks to let us sleep on their property so we can be in HOS compliance.
I am a truck driver who lives in the northeast. I’ve run the 5 boroughs as well. Doesn’t bother me. So, let me go through the rundown.
1. The residents have a point with the idling. You’re in a residential neighborhood? Shut your truck off. Have a little consideration for those around you.
2. There are idling laws in NYC. Follow them or they can cost you
3. Parking anywhere in NYC is at a premium. Cars or trucks. If they want, they could charge for a truck to park @ $20 a night, and it’ll make everybody a little $$$
4. There is nowhere to build anything in NYC. Nowhere. A rest area or new truckstop is a pipe dream.
5. Being a northeast resident, the lack of parking shouldn’t be what you should “boycott” over. How about the fact they are tolling the hell out of us. There’s something to be angry about.
Once again truck drivers being fined for nothing they can control. I say refuse loads to that area. The government mandated these new rules and failed to supply rest areas for the trucks. As far as Kearns what a snob ignorant fool. Don’t take anything not a soda in to that area and see the citizens quickly end up in a bind. Truck driving has become a hard exhausting job with little rewards as this article proves.
These people know exactly; where there crap comes from Yes they know it comes us (trucks) the people are not the problem the government is.. If they would treat all drivers the same and allow the drivers to make the decision as to when they need sleep then this problem could have the opportunity to fix it self… not all drivers are treated the same, a 4wheeler has no regulation on sleep and yet they have no problem with parking… it could be the same way for us If they would stop treating us like children… We could do this job with out Government up our collective asses
The Bronx and any other area need to provide a place for trucks to go when there HOS are ending. Forget about what this Kearns person is saying, I would not waste my time on him. The government and states need to provide areas for trucks to park if they do not want us parking on the street.
I tend to agree with some others, that if they do not want the trucks there, then do not deliver to NYC until they make areas for trucks to park.
“Kearns person” By the way, my truck is not old, it is clean and mechanically is safer than most small vehicles on the road.
This is one of the many reasons I do not run north east. I don’t have a single north east state on my truck irp license. Not worth going up there at all.
Every time they sit at their table they Should think about how the goods got there, as well as the table and plates and even the wood for the $600,000 house they live in. No trucker i know can afford a house that expensive. So sleep tight all you as whiners on that nice fluffy bed that came in a truck.
Look…I live on L.I.N.Y. and have been an Over the road interstate trucker’ for 33 years! Trucks move America…North,South,West And “yes” East..to areas like New York City too .Be realistic people, Truckers should have some where to pull off! Rest Areas,and, parking spots! *Even to this day on Long Island…we Still don’t have a “Real Truck Stop” anywhere! Why? For a few reasons mentioned above! **People need and want the: Food,Cars,Gas,and on,and on etc-Delivered,yet, when it comes to “A working Man / Driver” (pulling over His Semi-Rig over to shut down) you see: Buses Welcomed…”NO Trucks Allowed!” People whine, it will look bad,truck noise,etc! But,a Long haul sleepy Trucker needs to sleep…from his/her long drive! And obey Fed ,State, D.O.T. and His company laws also! So why are they: Towed,Ticketed,Harassed and not Wanted when it comes to Parking? * ” All about the Money!!” The World is changing! State,Gov, 4-wheelers and, people in general don’t care for there fellow man any longer as God does any more! I am Thankful for traveling our U.S.A. and meeting Friendly people who respected Truckers’-amen! See ya’ ,old school-Michael.
I run Ohio to east coast and have a couple of tricks that help. (1) STUDY and learn where the big truck stops are. Collect Cat scale brochures, truck stop chain location brochures. Keep them on the dashboard. Plan your trip. KNOW where you are going to stop for the night. //////Avoid the use of GPS devices.\\\\\\ STUDY maps and talk to people. STUDY the route in and scribble down the roads and turns on a paper. Just doing that will implant it in your brain. If you cannot do this, you need another job. (2) From Ohio, only run as far as eastern Pa. and stop. It’s not far into NJ or DE, you can turn around and get back out that evening. (3) Start your day early so you find a spot to park before 7:00, or you won’t find one. (4) TAKE NOTE of large warehouses, factories, storage lots where there are lots of rigs parked near where you deliver. You can probably park there, shut off lights and engines and don’t wander around much. Leave no trash….Note I capitalized words that mean THINK. Do that and you have better luck.
I got out of driving trucks a few years ago but I have thought about this problem alot. I used to drive to canada alot for kllm and their rest areas are privatized. Most of them have a mcdonalds or burger king and a gift shop, the bussiness that operates them are responsibe for the cleaning and maintance of the entire area. they would be kind like a service area on a toll road. Bussiness would be willing to open up more rest areas on highways and interstates in places where parking is needed. also if they build a wall around the parking areas that would cut down the noise and limit gangs and prostitutes, have like a gate all traffic had to go thru and have security there.
The solution is simple: charge the proper rate to go to NYC. For example if you are running reefers and you are a o/o the min rate should be $4/mi plus $150 in tolls plus $515 for the fine. I you are a company driver you should get at least $.40/mi, $250 to enter NYC and $515 for the fine. The people that own property there have the right to quiet enjoyment and they should defend it, and in the same time I will have no problem going to NYC,while running a 3000mi for $12665.
As a lady driver parking on the side of the street is dangerous. If there is room for an outlet mall there must be room for a truck stop
Hello Mr. Kearns. Many Professional Truck Drivers, such as myself, have heard of your concerns regarding truck parking in the Bronx. Parking for trucks is nil in this area you regulate. Federal law requires that drivers pull over after driving 11 hours and a 14 hour day. Professional over the road (OTR) drivers spend 168 hours a week working. That is, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Regardless of FMCSA rules, mandated by Congress and the non-professional public motorists.
You may be wondering why I would speak of a 168 hour work week. Well, if you look at the fact that, despite log book rules and regulations, the driver of an OTR truck is acting as the captain of the ship, always responsible for the ship, 24 hours a day, until that truck is in the home terminal yard, and the driver is completely away from the truck, and not required to be; on duty not driving, taking a break for 10 hours, in the sleeper for 10 hours, on duty not driving, but OFF DUTY, with no requirements for work or driving. You are physically and ethically leashed to the truck, just like a dog in a tin dog house. No break from any responsibility for the load or the truck.
Now add weeks of that responsibility. You put in 70 hours on the clock, or LOGBOOK. The rest of the time is spent being unsafely interrupted by your qualcom/ electronic dispatch or human dispatch while you should be either sleeping,eating,getting a bit of excersise,taking care of personal cleanliness,etc. You get poor pay,no pay,bad equipment and deal with surly shippers and receivers, automobile drivers and other truck drivers, DOT and local and state police, road side inspections, and on and on. We have multiple states closing rest areas because they cannot , with all their phd’s and government-ease ,understand that those areas are vital to the safety of drivers and equipment, the motoring public and flow of needed supplies of America.
The government cannot even understand that if you would simply contract out the rest areas, using a private maintenance buisness, who could charge a small fee for security and restrooms, and drivers could pull into such a facility, showing a delivery bill, and park and rest safely. Some amenities might be added,according to need. Sounds something like a truck stop, but here, you have security to keep out the prostitution, and crime. The cost will be transferred to the public, via a small surcharge on the cost of shipping. And the public benefits from safe,well rested drivers who are not fatigued,24/7/168 hours a week.
I speak, as a professional driver of 34 years, with no accidents,dui’s, or speeding tickets,ever. I have added the links above, to direct you to the concerns of the average American Professional Truck Driver. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has been mandated by Congress,and the general motoring public, for more regulation and control of the U.S. Trucking industry. We now have CSA, a mandated break, Electronic On Board Recorders/with cameras, less safe areas to park,more inspections, much less productivity, and the rules pile up, to make our jobs less safe, such as your fines you are implementing on trucks bringing vital supplies to The Bronx and the other buroughs of NYC.
The time may soon come, when trucks are parked for long periods of time, in protests of such policies, that cut our safe production and cut our ability to make revenues that allow us to remain in buisness and take care of OUR families and personal lives.
Imagine the day or night… you walk out into the blizzard, absolutely naked, or rags for clothes, the power is off, the water is off, no heat, no food, you vehicle won’t run, for lack of parts or fuel. You and your family are starving. No water to drink, no coffe or lattes… . Sounds like a war zone?! It is, as Arrogant Americans that we all are, hate truck drivers who get in their way, park wherever they can ,to rest, eat and sleep, finally have had enough of being treated like tin dogs in tin cans, park their rigs and you will see the results…..
You don’t see an airliner land at your neigborhood mall, grocery store, Target, or Walmart, nor does a train back in to bring your goods and services. It’s the Professional American Truck Driver who makes America go. He or she brings Everything you need or want.
Hey Kearns, here is an idea for your over priced outhouses…get rid of the plans for the mall and build a large parking lot for the trucks so that they aren’t in your precious way. Here is something that you forgot, if you build that mall as planned, guess who is going to make the deliveries to it? Well I can tell you 3 things, it’s not going to be a vw van, nor is it going to be the people that live in those over priced outhouses, so it must be those big, noisy, ugly, dirty things that are parked on the street in front of those outhouses (i think that you got the point that I don’t care for you and your precious neighborhood). Think of ways to get them out and help them (truck drivers) and not for those over priced you already know what I am going to say.
and hey wing, way to go driver, you spoke the truth that some people don’t want to and won’t listen to and I am hoping for the day that truckers across this country do stop, park and refuse to deliver the load lets see if they complain any louder than they do now or try to understand what we go through. Be safe wing.
And Wing,I’m with ya on what your saying….It’s NEVER been about saftey ALWAYS about get the money!! Ask yourself,How many times have i got a “over weight and unsafe ticket ” then ask ,How many time’s did i get shut down for being” over weight” But then was aloud to drive off ticket in hand??? Now I ask…Whats it really about……M.O.N.E.Y ….I guess it’s just me but (God for bid) You get in a accident after receving a “over weight ticket” and was “aloud to leave” should’nt part of the blam fall back on the state/trooper who let you leave in the first place knowing you are over weight??
Like Wing said.!!! We park are trucks… and see how loud they whine when there is nothing to buy at the stores or fuel to get to work!!!!!!!!!!!!! Be Safe …
Ted seems to be the real professional on this subject.How would you like it if someone parked their reefer in front of you house all night with the reefer kicking in and out constantly,with exhaust fumes waffting into your bedroom.And in the morning finding a big oil patch and a pee bottle by the curb.
I think the problem these days,is that truck drivers now never really wanted to be truck drivers.Their jobs got shipped overseas due to government regulations and they had no other skills to fall back on.So they figured lets go to truck driver school and hit the road to big money.
Now they are pissed off because of all the above mentioned reasons,and no longer care about anybody else.
All I am saying is lets just try a little to be more professional.When you accept or are given a dispatch,you need to take a few minutes to figure out your route to consignee,exact location of said customer,fuel stops along the way,the closest truck stop to your destination.(Most Walmarts will allow trucks to park overnight.)
I know OTR is a tough way to make a living (that’s why I haul gas locally now) but with a little pre planning the job can be a lot easier.
Keep the shiny side up The Colonel
trucking companies should refuse to drive through that area or should charge very high rates if they have to. I am a driver and I see both sides of the argument some truckers have no respect and they do discard their trash and waste on the side of the roads and in parking lots so who can blame them for not allowing truck parking. rest areas are closing down all over because the govt cant afford to operate them any more, but I do see a few that are for truck only if they could make the closed rest areas for trucks only with no facilities would be better than nothing, but we still have the problem of the few truckers that leave their trash and waste for someone else..
“The trucks tend to be very big, very old and very dirty,” Kearns said. “They sit there grinding away all night long, while the drivers are in the back sleeping. We are not interested in our community board becoming a truck stop.”
This comment along with the one from California about not letting trucks on ramps to rest and for “them to go to the rest area down the road” are the most asinine comments that i have ever heard of.
Man this is getting sickening and tiresome for the trucking industry. If only all of us, regardless of being company driver or owner-operator, student or 30 year veteran, would unite and stand together against this crap(not just “This” but e-logs, CSA, anti idling laws PUNISHING DRIVERS FOR KEEPING THE TRACTOR ON IN 105 HEAT IN DALLAS WHILE MR. “IM THE LAW” GETS HIS FAT BUM IN THE PATROL CAR IDLING AWAY WRITING THE TICKET-you know what im talking about) this vocation will once again be one of complete freedom and professionalism. Im only 20 years old but have seen all the crap drivers face day in and out, in NYC or Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, ect.
We will need to be agressive when the time comes to strike nationwide. They threaten to fire company drivers, let them. Lets see which driver will return to their “awesome company”. Drivers in other continents have done so(Europe, Asia, Africa).
Im aware that the small percentage of “super truckers” is ruining the show for the rest. Those who dispose poop bags in rest areas, pee bottles in plain sight of tourists, speeding in the truck stop, rude, foul smelling, “i dont give a crap about anything” attitude steering wheel holders. Unfortunately, thanks to them, we are going to have to clean up our own image and return it to that of a level minded professional driver who is a pro at what he/she is doing.
Without further ado, what i’d wish would happen in this line of work:
REQUIRE APU’S IN ALL COMPANY TRUCKS AND PROVIDE ASSISTANCE FOR O/O’S TO GET ONE(why is this law aimed at truck drivers? I understand that idling is not good for all involved but enforce it at companies. one ticket= about 1600 miles of free driving to pay the law)
GET RID OF E-LOGS(Lose 1 hr on average/day on driving, cant go p/u or deliver a load if you have 3 hrs left because that customer will take their sweet time unloading/loading, “eyes” on your every move)
TRUCK HAVENS EVERY 150 MILES OR OUTSIDE ALL MAJOR METROPOLITAN AREAS WITH RESTROOMS AND AMPLE LIGHTING AND SECURITY(anyone interested in sleeping in the Bronx? I have once and even inside the Hunts Point it is frightning)
I started driving over the road in 1989, and the rest area problem has gotten steadily worse a the years have gone by. It is a true statement that the average American consumer has no idea how much they owe to the professional drivers in those big, nasty rigs they must call home for weeks at a time.
I have always wanted to run an ad campaign depicting a typical middle class family at Christmas time. Dad sitting in his easy chair, reading the newspaper – Mom baking cookies in the kitchen, Grandma and Grandpa playing with their grandchildren, Billy and Susie in front of the fireplace, and the kids anxiously awaiting the time when they can open their gifts. Out the window, you see the snow gently falling. It is going to be a wonderful holiday! Now, take away everything in that scene that came by truck, and what you will have are 6 naked people in a snowbank. The trucking industry would be well advised to run these as public service spots on prime time shows. The bottom line here is that the nation must move by truck, or it does not move at all.
But having said that, it is imperative that the truckers of America clean up their act, as well. I have grown weary of seeing drivers that have not changed their clothes in a week, nor have they showered. This is cause for concern – the public will not respect a man who has no self-respect. In the 50’s and 60’s, we were known as “The Knights of the Road”, and you could count on a trucker for help when you broke down. I don’t know anyone who was afraid to have a trucker stop to help them. Today, sadly, that is not the case – most people are afraid of a truck driver, because an awful lot of drivers are not very nice people. So let’s do our part, too. Take pride in what you do, and how you do it. Believe me, the reputation of the trucking industry did not deteriorate overnight, and it will not be restored overnight. Operate our vehicles as the professionals we are, don’t tailgate or drive agressivley and be nice to folks when you talk to them. In other words, just do it right.
Remember to slow down and take time to enjoy the days that God makes for his children.
Well I say we give the New Yorkers, what they want, if they want us out, we’ll stay out, and let the NY “taxpayers” figure how to get their own groceries and supplies that they depend on everyday. You want the truckers to STAY OUT, but you also want the truckers to COME IN with our freight that you will eventually end up buying, listen folks, you simply CANNOT have it both ways!!!!!
Frankly we won’t run to NYC, or NJ unless no other option. I can second comments by Tricia Nicolosi, if more truckers refuse shipments to these places pretty soon it will get to where they will have to start paying higher prices for shipments going in or out. Why can’t they have more oasis’s or safe spots more convenient for truckers, I am sure with abandoned properties around someone could come up with some spots to be developed.
Nationwide it is getting harder and harder to find a safe parking place; rest areas are too small, some have a lot of room taken up just to be pretty which is great but it does sacrifice a lot of parking space; a lot of the fuel stations in the northeast are nothing but fuel stations willing to take your money for fuel but give you no place to park. Next year with the new regulations going in about the 34hr reset will make it even worse to find parking.
Is it worth the hassle, no.
Ive been in the trucking business In 1 way shape or form for 28 years. I’ve seen a lot of changes in the American trucker. We used to be kind and courteous to one another and the general public as a whole. Now more and more often this is not the case. I can understand the publics poin of view when it comes to trucks in their neighborhood. Its not just the truck it’s all the other things that us drivers bring along with it pee bottles thrown all over garbage everywhere you see trucks it’s pathetic we as truck drivers need to clean up are act in general. Try taking a shower, have a little pride in what we drive and what we do don’t just fly into a parking lot use are heads and think about how we are viewed by the public. Don’t tailgate be courteous. Show the public that we can work together to solve these problems. Or there never going away they will just get worse.
As a driver that is currently unemployed do I want to subject myself to low wages, hours controlled by events outside of my control but held responsible for, hell no! I view my unemployment possibly as a blessing as I am still alive. Will I go back to sub par wages, dangerouse working conditions where a driver is considered as being a machine instead of a human being? I doubt it , I heard pizza delivery make make more in tips!
A large amonunt of the trucking companies are going to electric logs,when we are out of the driving time,we have to shut down.It is the same on paper logs also.If the people in the Bronx do not want us,then they need to figure out how they are going to get every item they touch on a daily basis,or use some of that wasted property that still has old warehouses and empty factories sitting there for people to use as drug flop houses and make some parking for us.If you keep fining drivers for parking on the side of the road,sooner or later we will all refuse to go into that area.Then what will the people think when they have to drive to a store or warehouse in Jersey.In my opinion,as they call them,old and dirty trucks add a lot of beuty to the area they call the Bronx.
George Dorman you apparently don’t have a grasp on the problem here much less any real solution.
How would i like it if a truck had to park in front of my house? I would be angry with my local govt for not providing the space they need to park in an appropriate place.
You say the problem these days is drivers not really wanting to be drivers in the first place. NO, the problem is a lack of parking for big trucks George. HELLO, McFlyyyyy FOCUS!!!
You think all of these experienced drivers need to be taught the ABC’s of planning by some local route driver? Plan your day? Really??? We do that George! The problem is Shippers and Receivers do not work on our time table. I’ve delivered loads 2 hours into my day and left the receiver with 30 min left on my log book. (after being told I couldn’t break on their property) Now, see how far you can get in 30 mintues when you’re in long island at 4pm. We can’t get out of the city George, and it has nothing to do with a lack of planning. It’s a lack of parking George!!!
I made a decision 2 weeks ago,all because of the exact thing this article shows. The awhipes in america have no respect for anyone but themselves.As a O/O I got fed up with the BS out there and sold everything in regards to trucking. We are told cant haul freight on equipment past a certain age. Then some foreign driver parks beside ya with a 1977 model reefer that shakes the windows in every rig with in 30 feet. They say we have to abide by the DOT regulations, but again the industry is flooded with drivers who cant speak it or read it.So they make no bones about not caring about it. I have a news flash for all of ya die hards. They are doing everything they can to cripple you. They claim a shortage,,,,,,,then close rest areas all over the country. The gov says we have more rules for ya. Then double the stress factor on ya. Drivers.!!! You need to stand up and fight.!
The way you talk, I should just be able to park within some prison fencing. No thanks.
Get more tax revenue from the outlet mall.
With E-logs finding a place to park is causing problems because unlike paper logs when your 14 is up on e-log it is up!! Ok your down to your last hour of driving because you need to get as far as you can so you wont be late on your delivery. You get to the truck stop you want to park at and guess what!! NO MORE PARKING SPACES AVAILABLE!! OK you head down the road to the next truck stop but its 30 miles ahead and when you arrive you only have 30 minutes left on your 14. You better hope you find a parking space because your options are growing slim. Yes we need more parking areas for trucks if e-log is to dominate trucking or there will be many drivers in violation.
Well written and to the point. 1 week without trucks and America stops. See how the bad attitude and uncaring masses respond then.
I too drive, but not in the east. (Lucky me) I live on a small farm in Oregon and would go nuts if a truck parked near my home. I understand the home owner’s point of view. What I don’t understand is getting my balls busted at every turn paying this and paying that to stay on the road while state and federal government officials continue to provide wash-board highways, small rest areas, and poorly designed intersections. Look at CA, the roads beat us up so bad that the state should be sighted and fined for safety violations!!! Just as when fuel prices go up or when the economy goes to hell it’s the truckers who get pinched first. It’s just one more way Uncle Sam takes our money to “maintain highways and highway safety” and yet fails to do so. Since all those rich people have a issue with it then add a property tax to build truck-only rest areas! Oh, wait, they have more money than I do and can afford to lobby government and push freight transportation problems off on us. Truckers are between a rock and a hard spot in almost every major issue related to the industry. It’s well past time to start sharing the cost with every US citizen because we all need the good being shipped. But wait, it’s an election year and no politician would ever propose a true solution for fear of not being re-elected, Democrat or Republican. Some day, just for one day, hundreds of thousands of truckers are going to simply pull over and park for 24 hours. Then people will pay attention!
Most Walmarts will at this time and space is very limited and that is changing due to trashy drivers. Drivers need to clean up . I have a couple places that I park and ask the buussiness for a plastic trash bag and clean the lot out of respect for parking.
I believe Mr./Mrs. Wang wrote the most comprehensive response. Obviously very thoughtful and intelligent.My only addition would be that the nibys’ (not in my back) in the Bronx, attitude is in fact arrogant. I also have a clean record with no accidents and no tickets. A big fat zero on my records. I personally have solved the problem by refusing to go to their little corner of the world….If it gets any worse; perhaps the axiom of “what goes around,comes around, would be applicable.
i agree if they dont want us to park where we can get too At the end of our work day then i guess they dont need their produce and fancy tables and over priced houses neither… sorry snobby rich fools need to understand everything they have all the way down to the thread in their underware came on a truck i am glad i live in the south where people respect the truckers and appreciate them
Why don’t we take responability?….they don’t want us there…so don’t go….refuse to bring them food cars tolit paper medical supplies…refuse to remove their waste products…..stand up for yourself demand to be treated human….it would only take a very short amount of time to starve them to their senses….if they don’t figure it out then they will be buried in their own garbage…..what you must remember is we allow this to happen to ourselves…….if we band together and refuse to be treated like lower class beings then we could be payed like we deserve……owner ops trucks do break down…and company drivers do get sick…..apply for welfare and foodstamps…..and clog hwys with disabled big trucks….the army and national guard can’t repower this country without us….do something and stop whining
I have 1st hand experience in the shortage of rest areas in the Northeast areas,especially past New Jersey/Pa lines. I am a believer that all freught should be off lded @ the NJ?PA line and let the upper Northeast come and get there stuff, especially since they really don’t like trucks. The Northeast could careless that we are mandated to shut down after 11 hrs. They are the 1st to critize the drivers for not getting proper rest and creating havoc on their highways. The can’t have it both ways. I for one will not go into the Northeast for the various reasons. I could care less if they get their stuff or not. I guess they need to obtain a string of pack mules. LOL!!! I am just saying…
goverment is taking over too dam much, and allowing too much against the trucking industry. WHEN ? JUST WHEN???? are we all going to bit the bullet, park our trucks which will dam sure hurt the people , malls, and make them open up their eyes that we need trucks!!!!!! and more places for them to rest???
I’m done driving over the road for this people one less truckload of goods going into the northeast :-). No northeast or nyc they can start eating SPAM.
I agree with many of these people. My husband and I drive OTR and I am always amazed at the way some drivers treat the areas we can park in. Seeing trash and pee bottles laying on the ground, not 2 feet from a trash can is maddening! Everyone complains about drivers needing to excersize more….walk that 2 feet and THROW THE STUFF AWAY! I see pee bottles thrown on the side of the road. Wonder if they would like it if they were mowing the grass and hit one of those and got showered with urine? I think not! Drivers need to have respect for Mother Earth and then maybe others would have more respect for our profession. JMO!
Well we can solve the NY parking problem, Its easy…If they are not wanted there, They can stop delivering there. No Trucker I know Want to go to NY City anyways. If we stopped going and had a strike against NY of all the truck drivers and Companies, and NY Could not get anything it needed with out getting it them selves. they would quit whining and welcome truckers or at least get some real truck stops and rest areas.
All I can say is, if it wasn’t for the truck drivers out there our world would stop. How do you think we get everything from the food we eat, gas in our automobiles, clothes on our backs, etc. These drivers are only obeying the law. Just cause you live in a $600,000.00 house doesn’t make you better then them. Why don’t you spend some of your money and build them a parking lot
“Nobody wants them.”
How smart that he said that. If truckers put their money where their mouth is, then they’d stop deliveries entirely to that region. I wonder how long they’d willingly go without food, bottled water, toilet paper, medical supplies and more before begging truckers back.
That quote sums up the entire entitled northeast. It’s no wonder truckers hate that entire region and the people who live there.
Here is ken Kearns response tomy email to him……….db:
Thank you for your e-mail describing the life of an over the road truck driver. It was very educational and I thank you for highlighting the many issues that people in your profession must contend with, in order to bring goods to people like myself. The significance and importance of your work is held in high regard.
I am the District Manager of one of twelve Community Boards in Bronx County. There are fifty-nine such Boards across the City. We are an agency of New York City government and we are made up of a small number of City employees who report to a volunteer Board of fifty community residents. We provide assistance to residents who are experiencing problems with City agencies, we provide advisory opinions on land use matters and we also provide advisory opinions to the City’s central administration on the capital and expense matters. We are not a regulatory agency, nor are we legislators, nor do we have the ability to issue any summonses.
Our Community Board sits at the junction of three major highways, the Bruckner Expressway, the New England Thruway and the Cross Bronx Expressway. As you know, this is the principle truck route within the northeast corridor. It is also the principle roadway for the residents of the New Jersey, the Bronx and Connecticut. The traffic on this road and the connecting roads is very congested and is often subject to gridlock.
Among the byproducts of the many traffic jams along this road, are noise and air pollution, accidents
and trucks wandering off the road and parking on City streets overnight. This is illegal in the City of New York and the presence of so many trucks parked on City streets prohibits area residents from parking near their own homes. The trucks mind you, are often old and unsightly, and do not contain
perishable food items. In fact several of them are car carriers, whose owners transfer cars from one truck to another.
Parking is at a premium in our Board service areas and the presence of migrating eighteen wheelers parked overnight, is depriving taxpayers from their legal right to park.
So what is the answer? The answer is to avoid stopping in the Bronx entirely on the runs, if those runs
do not have the driver making any deliveries in the Bronx (the whole route from the George Washington Bridge to the New York/Connecticut border, can be accomplished in two or three hours),
other answers include working with the New York State and City, New Jersey and Connecticut Department’s of Transportation to develop a rational policy concerning truck stops to provide safe, reliable and clean places for the drivers to rest and lastly, I submit that the enforcement efforts alluded to in the article in your trade magazine, are not aimed at truckers like yourself, but a minority of truckers who may very well live in the New York City area who are irresponsible and participate in behaviors that have a negative impact upon the community as a whole.
Thank you for you attention and consideration.
Kenneth Kearns
District Manager
Bronx Community Board #10
If you would put as much effort in crime as you do in the trucking industry maybe better looking trucks would go up to new York. Me never set foot up their. That whole north east corridor is nothing but a ripoff. That’s why you get all the old trashy trucks cause anyone with séance would never go.
This is great advise. What about drivers who have to use eoblr? All the planning in the world doesn’t help here. Many times i have to be at the deliery or pickup the night before. And were do people build their houses in the industrial park area. Especial on the east coast. I say lets build swap locations eastern Pennsylvania then charge the extra cost to the people in the east for their goods. Then we can stay out of their neighborhoods.
I am a truck driver and I see both points of view. Yes there are truckers out there that just take advantage of situations and throw their various garbage anywhere. Yes there is a very big shortage of parking in the north eastern states. And yes I would not like to have a big rig parked outside of my home idling all night long. However, I think that instead of fighting and arguing with the citizens we need to fight and argue with the shippers and receivers into getting us unloaded or loaded in a reasonable amount of time. We need to fight with the local governments into providing us with adequate truck parking so that we can stay out of the local communities. Fighting and arguing with the citizens does no good to our cause and just creates more bitterness towards us. We also need as an industry to get our act together and start respecting the places that we are allowed to park. Walk over to a garbage can and throw your trash in it. If you sweep out our trailers then pick up the the garbage that we sweep out of them don’t just sweep it out onto the ground. We need to take responsibility for the things we do that causes people not to want us to park in their areas. And yes the north eastern people do need to realize that they need us to deliver their goods that they use every day and have a little understanding as to what we as drivers are up against. Fighting with citizens will do us no good fighting the people responsible for these problems is the only way to solve them.
Spoken like a true political trainer. With the amount of trucks on the road and parking trip planning goes out the window as the truck stop you planned to sleep at is slam packed with trucks.
I bet the rest area has been there longer than the homes. It’s like moving next to an airport than complaining about the airplanes.
Well, all the media reports, as usual, do not tell the facts of the situation, either regarding the trucker’s life or the manager’s position. We ,as drivers, have to do our best, and when we do our best, no one can take THAT away, regardless of the bad apples on both sides. TED has it right ,as others who have spent their dime here. So send an email to Mr. Ken Kearns and you local,state,and Congressional reps, and tell them your safety concerns. If we,as professionals, make a large enough wave, their pants will get wet, and if we do it like the response to the NFL refs,we can get some action.BX10@cb.nyc.gov. is the address for Mr. Kearns. Too bad we can’t ask the questions of the presidential candidates. They too are among the elite and most untouchable. The standing president and the wannabe have no power or sway over a recalcitrant,deaf 112th Congress that has passed the least amount of Bills in history,and are presently at rest,at home, waiting to see if they keep their positions,so they can eat their lame duck.
.BX10@cb.nyc.gov., is the address for Mr. Kearns
db:
Thank you for your e-mail describing the life of an over the road truck driver. It was very educational and I thank you for highlighting the many issues that people in your profession must contend with, in order to bring goods to people like myself. The significance and importance of your work is held in high regard.
I am the District Manager of one of twelve Community Boards in Bronx County. There are fifty-nine such Boards across the City. We are an agency of New York City government and we are made up of a small number of City employees who report to a volunteer Board of fifty community residents. We provide assistance to residents who are experiencing problems with City agencies, we provide advisory opinions on land use matters and we also provide advisory opinions to the City’s central administration on the capital and expense matters. We are not a regulatory agency, nor are we legislators, nor do we have the ability to issue any summonses.
Our Community Board sits at the junction of three major highways, the Bruckner Expressway, the New England Thruway and the Cross Bronx Expressway. As you know, this is the principle truck route within the northeast corridor. It is also the principle roadway for the residents of the New Jersey, the Bronx and Connecticut. The traffic on this road and the connecting roads is very congested and is often subject to gridlock.
Among the byproducts of the many traffic jams along this road, are noise and air pollution, accidents
and trucks wandering off the road and parking on City streets overnight. This is illegal in the City of New York and the presence of so many trucks parked on City streets prohibits area residents from parking near their own homes. The trucks mind you, are often old and unsightly, and do not contain
perishable food items. In fact several of them are car carriers, whose owners transfer cars from one truck to another.
Parking is at a premium in our Board service areas and the presence of migrating eighteen wheelers parked overnight, is depriving taxpayers from their legal right to park.
So what is the answer? The answer is to avoid stopping in the Bronx entirely on the runs, if those runs
do not have the driver making any deliveries in the Bronx (the whole route from the George Washington Bridge to the New York/Connecticut border, can be accomplished in two or three hours),
other answers include working with the New York State and City, New Jersey and Connecticut Department’s of Transportation to develop a rational policy concerning truck stops to provide safe, reliable and clean places for the drivers to rest and lastly, I submit that the enforcement efforts alluded to in the article in your trade magazine, are not aimed at truckers like yourself, but a minority of truckers who may very well live in the New York City area who are irresponsible and participate in behaviors that have a negative impact upon the community as a whole.
Thank you for you attention and consideration.
Kenneth Kearns
District Manager
Bronx Community Board #10
Wing bravo bravo you said this the way most of us feel. I am planning to leave trucking because of the reasons you gave. We are not respected anymore.
James is that all you can come up with. Not I am not a politician in training. I am to old to go into politics and not educated enough. However, I am smart enough to see that slamming the citizens of this community will do absolutely no good. And I am smart enough to know that if we want things to change in our behave as well then we need to go to the right people. These citizens do not have the power or need to make waves to get us more parking. We need to make the waves with the people that are making the rules about our hours of service. Our local politicians, congress, senate, etc. How much time will it take to sit down and write a few letters. Heck you can even email these people. It is easier to sit here and fight against the wrong people than to sit down and fight the right people that have the power to get things done.
Wing and DM if we want respect then it is something we need to earn. Each and everyone of us. Not just a few. Respect is something that is given once. Then to keep it we need to behave properly. I have been at truck stops and Walmarts where truckers throw out their piss bottles, garbage, and worse their plastic bags with crap in them. These are not things that will get us respect. Nor does it show that we respect ourselves. So how on earth can we sit and demand respect from others. I was always taught that respect is something that is earned. Look around next time you are in a truck stop. Watch what goes on. We sweep out our trailers and just leave everything on the ground. There are truckers out there that never take a bath. They stink. We don’t even respect each other just listen to conversations on the CB radio. My husband has been a trucker for more than a quarter of a century and even he says that the quality of drivers is getting worse. They don’t even respect the people that wait on them in the truck stops if they do not get what they want. They will treat the workers with disrespect. So how can we demand respect ourselves.
The day is rapidly approaching when people like the very considerate citizens of the Bronx will invite us to park in their driveways just so they can continue to eat.
This is what happens when the drivers allow the Government to mandate Electronic Driver Logs. If you do not plan out your trip in these “high impact” states where you know there is little or no parking available you end up caught in the mess. As soon as you cross the Delaware Water Gap on I-80 entering New Jersey it starts. One truck stop is all you have between there and NYC. Depending on the time of day and your destination There are some smaller TS down the road in areas that you would not know were there unless you have been out here some years but these are “trash holes” and you need to address your safety and load being compromised , The rest area on top of the NJ toll road Vince Lombardi is normally so full everyone parks where they can, this is full at around 5-7 pm from the truck flow out of New England and in bound NYC drivers waiting to unload or re-dispatch from the day before. if you do not have a solid 10 hrs of driving to enter across into NYC then you will be stuck. There is “No Parking ” in areas east of the Water Gap that you will not be harassed by local and county cops if you park. The Rest Areas are worthless with questionable people roaming around and there is most of the time no parking after 7pm as other drivers who could not find parking used these for the last resort. Shopping Malls, are now “off limits ” to commercial traffic unless you have a delivery. There were areas 20 years ago in some of these Malls that sprang up but as normal the “trash end” of the drivers out here wrecked this for everyone with their destruction of private property or worse.
I can go on about the NYC and route further north but all and all my friends the problem is parking. No matter what the States do they do not have the area or space to make a “Mega Rest Area” any where. The best all of the drivers out there can do is “STRIKE” Change these HOS Rules, get rid of these Electronic logs. A National shut down will in fact have a resolve and if they don’t want to change the HOS rules then do like I did, Get of the road and find a job you can support the industry.
I have a wonderful idea. If the community wants them to not come into the area, then they need to quit consuming what the truckers transport to the region. Easy solution, and it would turn their communities into self sufficient farmers out of necessity. Let’s see how those $600,000 properties look after they turn into fields of growth…….
Well, Margaret Luckey….I have been driving since 1978, no accidents,dui’s,speeding tickets,ever. I have driven every piece of junk equipment there is in this town. That is what is offered to me. Take it or leave it! I have lost count of the times I have taken a tractor home to detail it myself so, I could of course live in it, as tin dogs in tin cans do. The last was a truck driven by a driver with a Great Dane that was owner op spec until he got a hold of it. He, by the owner’s report, wasn’t an especially productive driver.
I was supposed to be assigned a new Pete, which was given to him instead, to trash also. I am not blind and do keep the rig I drive clean, like a business office should be. I take care of the customer/client just like I do my employer, in a courteous,business like,professional manner, and that includes the four-wheelers and other professional drivers, shippers and receivers alike, also the good and the bad amongst the police and DOT, which I know are necessary, but many which I don’t like.
Attitude is every thing for drivers. It shows in how we go down the road. Well, that truck that was a dog house for the Great Dane, the dog got a new dog house and I got a bronchial infection from the moisture and fungus left in the truck from the heavy smoking and the dog and his unclean owner.The owner said this truck had been ‘detailed’.
The parallel is like the Bronx, California, etc., where it has become a take it or leave situation. All of the drivers must say no, change this in Congress, or we park them ’till you do. The standing president sent his lackey, Ray La hood, very quietly I might add, down to Mexico, to sign off on NAFTA, so our drivers can get undercut on pay and freight. He outsourced our jobs. We, as drivers, got ‘detailed’. We all know the 11/14 rule will cut into our home time,pay and productivity. But we are not demanding that FMCSA/Insurance industry put up or shut up. In my state, in a 400 mile stretch, there are but two good rest areas to park, well away from the urban areas. The north/south R/A’s in the middle of the state were closed, due to lack of funds, and DOT blindness to the needs of Truckers. Those areas that have been closed, could easily have been converted to private maintenance, and a small fee charged for parking, with a BOL/delivery order, with no cars allowed. These areas were overrun with ‘trucker hawks,drug dealers and criminals’. Pick nick tables and facilities trashed at night by low-life’s. Not the only state doing this…… just a lack of vision by the DOT/ State legislature, as the DOT is well aware of the problems, and the Elitist legislatures are blind to anything but power and greed. See ‘Bronx’ above for reference.
You make good points about truckers’ over-all cleanliness.Yet remember this, that Americans as a whole are arrogant and spoiled and want you out of sight, out of mind, and want their ‘stuff’ now! This why we have a just in time delivery system, with no longer term shelf life for product and an inventory tax. Greed and power drive the system and we will not see a positive change until we do something to make it change.
By the way, where do you think FEMA will imprison the driver’s who park and don’t run?, in their prison’s with razor wire and children’s playgrounds? Think Minnesota State Patrol, and what the ex-governor has reported on these people and places.
That may be a drastic measure…..
Keep the wheels turning…..
Wing
I am not accusing you of being a dirty driver. I was stating that there are many out there that are. When my husband and I get out of a truck and turn it in we spend hours washing the inside down from top to bottom. I do not want the next person getting into that truck to have to clean up after us. I always try to show everyone out there respect. I am very sorry to hear of your troubles about taking over trucks. It does suck. My point was to the people that are demanding respect and demanding that we not go into these areas that do not provide truck parking that they need to fight these battles the right way through the right chanels.
I would not want trucks parked outside my home whether they were nice or old running their engines all night. And that fighting theses neighborhood people will not solve the problem. They did not create the problem nor would they have any interest in solving it.
Yes we do come from a world of instant gratification and an I want what I want how I want it andnow. And greed is ruining this world. But if we want the respect of the outside world then we must start each and every one of us by giving respect first both to our fellow drivers and to the world around us. If we want more parking and laws that are fair then we need to go to the appropriate channels for that also. Other wise all we will do is sit in this community bashing the citizens of these areas and accomplish nothing.
We sit in our homes or our trucks and do nothing but complain. How many of us actually sit down and write to our government officials and offices to try to make changes. I know that I for one do. And I will continue to do so because that is the only way things will change. I do agree that there is a tremendous lack of parking for us in the North East and I also agree that some of these states wish us to just deliver and leave.
However we will see a big huge mess when the mandate that every truck is to have electronic logs. The drivers will suffer. However you will see us drivers parked in the shippers and receivers yards and docks unable to go anywhere because we are out of hours because they took hours to load or unload us. And they will try to call the cops, but the cops will tell them that they can not make us move without violating a federal law.What do you think will happen then? My guess is the shippers and receivers will not be so willing to take their jolly old time getting us loaded or unloaded. They will respect our delivery times more. And they will hire more help. This is not a problem they will want in their yards.
And as far as parking goes the federal government is mandating more parking and they are also giving these states money to create it. They have given my state of Florida more money and they are increasing the parking in Miami as we speak. They just build a new I believe it is Loves in the Northwest part of Florida along I-75 also. This is due to Jason’s Law. So in time we will see more Parking available.
And honestly I am not sure what you are referring to about Minn. Please tell me.
“Nobody wants them”…. Thats an ironic but sad statement. Oh you want us….trust me! Its unfortunate, and I know theres drivers out there that make us as a whole look unattractive, but when the work day is done, just like you, we need a place to sleep. And just like you, we need air conditioning and heat. Thats why our truck idles! Get over it! And when we dont sleep good, we start falling asleep at the wheel. So dont complain about people being killed in car wrecks where the trucker was sleepy and couldnt find a place to park and sleep…..this just cuts me to the bone.
Check Truckersreport, OOIDA about the trials and court rulings regarding Minnesota State patrol profiling truck drivers by asking a long list of questions , like ‘do you have a computer, tv,video player,pornography in you truck?’. The patrol has been using this information to put drivers out of service, saying they are fatigued, because they are not getting enough rest, distracted by these appliances when they are legally in the sleeper or off duty. Lawsuits have been filed and OOIDA has been involved, to protect truckers rights.http://www.ooida.com/Issues&Actions/Judicial/CaseSummary.asp?CaseNo=25. Minnesota continues to do their own bidding. Even though the justice system has ruled in favor of drivers. Yes, continue to contact you state and federal representatives. But regardless of the truth that there are disrespectful drivers, the truth remains that the government and the trucking industry as a whole, have fumbled the issues of enough parking. One truck stop with all the amenities will not serve the problem. As Mr. Kearns said, ‘Nobody wants them’!. The EOBR is just another fiasco to cause more problems with drivers’ productivity and safety.The people who make this equipment have their hands in the pockets of the drivers and the legislatures, and FMCSA/Insurance industry. Big government needs to know every move you make, including inside your sleeper.
Whatever happened to our privacy rights?
The truth about the general populace is that we, as drivers will never be respected, no matter what we do. ” But if we want the respect of the outside world then we must start each and every one of us by giving respect first both to our fellow drivers and to the world around us”, as you state,puts drivers at the bottom of the ladder. Outside world? Without trucks and drivers, the “outside world” doesn’t exist. I, for one, do not think that the people of America, are going to treat drivers and trucks with respect, just because we extended respect to them. The Golden Rule doesn’t apply anymore, what with lawyers and the justice system gone wild, lawsuits at the drop of a hat, government telling you ,as a driver, you have no privacy rights. Instant gratification, re: I have a cellphone, gps, computer all in one, and the world is at my command, the attitude of general and overall entitlement. More than one commenter on this parking subject has stated that truck drivers’ overall image has suffered due to the disrespectful driver out there. But the facts remain, that outfits like M.A.D.D., P.A.T.T, and the insurance industry have not lobbied for more parking. They grabbed the ear of the FMCSA , to let them and us know, that we will be treated like criminals, you know?, the CDL, an acronym for the Criminals Drivers License.
No state I know of requires that motorists driving their personal vehicles, when renewing their drivers’ license, take and pass a physical, drug screen or when they have an accident, a drug screen or alcohol test. Granny or others are exempt. Not professional drivers. the situation is one sided and lopsided at best.
It is a foreign subject to the American trucker of today that we would park on the side of the road and let America wait for her goods and services.
keep the wheels turning
Kenneth Kearns should stop first and consider the “quality of life” of the truck drivers out on the road, being away from home, gagged by excessive restrictions, being held hostage at shippers and consignees while their hours run out, only not to be welcome by people who would be the first to complain when they went to their grocery store to find it was out of their favorite product.
Along with the above mentioned challenges, drivers also get to deal with little exercise, as almost no truck stops anywhere have an exercise room, preferring expensive games and jacked up prices for everything they sell as a way of showing drivers their real appreciation.
Ripon, California, is a very big problem area for parking, and I have personally contacted the local politicians there, and, as usual, they do nothing to even look at the problem. After all, they get to go home every night.
I agree with most of you all saying here that we should boycott not only nyc, ct etc for not providing enough rest areas! This is a real matter and as a new school generation driver I say we all should fight to get the respect that we deserve!! Hopefully we get united on this matter soon enough ✌️