can you sleep at weigh stations?

I try to avoid them unless the weather is so bad that I need to stop and one is available to park at. But then again, I have always liked to avoid a situation where a cop might mess with me. Whenever I go to the local bar in my hometown, I park a couple of blocks away instead of in their parking lot. Cops around here troll through bar/tavern parking lots and hairspray one headlight or chalk mark tires and just wait until the bars to close.

As a rule though, I try to avoid most rest stops too. I have stayed in a lot of dangerous truck stops but I still feel more comfortable being around other truck drivers as opposed to a mix of some trucks and some criminal element in a four wheeler that routinely roll through rest areas. A few yrs. ago it got so bad in Florida that they now have 24 hr. armed security in many of their rest areas because several tourists were murdered and mugged.

 

I don't think they should be allowed to bother trucks parked in weigh station s and especially rest stops , they should be " Havens " unless and only if dot sees something agreegious like unsafe load or serious oil leak ect. , In Ohio they use the rest areas a lot , I figure best to avoid both as much as possible. My .02

 

Actually in Kentucky when you leave the rest haven parking the signage for the exit does not have you cross the scale. Once you enter the rest haven you are free from any worry.

 

Yes,just make sure you break camp before they open up! And pull thru,then park. Some states will use it as an excuse for a shakedown. Ohio and some others.3am you'll see a lot of trucks(by 5 or 6am they are all gone.

 

You can sleep anywhere, but do you really want to?

 

Are you talking about the wide spots on the turnpike?..and if so--a Pa Bear woke you up? Not to be smart ### or rude--but quite honestly(and especially since that is the ONLY toll road I still run)I ve probably got 100x more hours sleeping in those wide spots than you have in the seat---and have NEVER ever been bothered--shared many early morning cups of coffee w/Pa bears in a wide spot along the pike,,,,,and maybe Im a lil biased but IMHO the bears that work the pike--are some of the most honest--decent==professional troopers Ive ever dealt with in my 40 years out here--so this really surprises me

 

I stayed at the one on 95 SB just entering virginia post capitol beltway, i think its manassas or something like that. that scales is always open and it's a truck only rest area. I was way low on hours and was surprised how large the rest area portion of it was. Otherwise I make it a habit to stay away from the coops.

 

I too used to spend many hours sleeping in the wide spots on the PA pike and was never ever hassled... I used to take naps in Ohio rest areas and was never hassled either, of course I never did that in daylight hours, the sun definitely brings the DOT out of the woodwork. When I ran line haul and would have a really crappy night I'd be crossing the Ohio border from PA on 80 around 7:00 a.m. and was amazed by the sheer number of DOT bears from the state line to the turnpike. Heck, in Ohio and Michigan, I try to avoid the rest areas altogether during daylight hours, too many bears usually. My trainer told me years ago, it makes no sense to give them a reason to mess with you and parking in a coop definitely does that.. I have never slept in a coop and won't unless it's an emergency like a breakdown and I have no choice...