Truck Parking / Drop lots

When asking how much you pay I would imagine WHERE said lot is would have a significant impact on how much.

You want to park a semi in or within several miles of say Miami, New York, LA... I can only imagine having to first see a loan officer. (There is only 1 truck stop in the Miami area (it is actually in Davie which according to google maps is 25 miles North of Miami!) and they charge $20 just for a single night! That works out to $605 a month!

On the other hand, you want to park in the middle of Nebraska or Kansas you could probably get by with tossing the landlord a 6 pack now and then...

I park just outside of a very small town about half way between Daytona Beach and Jacksonville. I pay $100/month to a very nice lady that runs a lot with about 30 spaces.

What your parking ON can make a difference to.. Pavement? Gravel? Dirt?

My old lot, about 10 miles up the road from my current place, had a very nice paved driveway all the way to the back of the lot. Parking was alley dock back in style off of the pavement onto "grass". When it was dry it was literally worse than the Kansas dust bowl disaster of the 1920's. If it even though about raining... Call a wrecker because your stuck. (Seriously). That place was also $100/month.

Both places are fenced with automatic openers.

There was a third place in the same general area. It was old mostly busted up concrete (used to be a HUGE slab that has been abused for years) very rough in most spots, some spots fairly decent, no fence of any kind. Also $100/month.

Again, all 3 places are in a more or less rural area not far from a very small town which in turn is not far from a medium size town with a LOT of parking restrictions.

Like I said, location is going to be the biggest factor in price as well as lot conditions and security or lack thereof. Simply asking how much is only going to give you a very small, fairly useless part of the picture.

Don't forget, whatever you pay to park at least it's tax deductible..!

 

Since I don't know where I am going to land at, I started looking for a spot. I know a few guys that drive, one of them asked his boss if I could park in the yard a few times a month. His boss said for $20 a month I park as much as I want, and he has others that park there. I talked to him and asked him why $20 and not more, he said $20 from a few drivers a month will buy him and his wife a nice meal, he knows parking is tight, but it shouldn't be the cost of a mortgage. They have a huge lot, good news is, it is right off the I-5/I-210, which is 30 minutes from the house, and secure. Sure beats the local PFJ, or the independent across the street from it, $20 a night.

 

I see guys park at PFJ, TA, Loves... All the time. Personally I would not even consider leaving my rig unattended in any truck stop for anything more than a couple hours to run an errand or appointment or something. Overnight? No freekin way.

 

Lowe's probably won't like that to much. They (not just Lowe's, any retail store) often won't say anything if your there sleeping for a 1/2 day but to "abandon" the truck for a day or two is way different. Places like that have been known to call a wrecker after 12 hours...

 

I agree. Knew a guy parked his rig at a truck stop every weekend somebody noticed his routine, went to start his truck Monday morning and nothing. they stole all his batteries even popped the hood and took the alternator.

 

The 595 truck stop is not the only one in that area of ft Lauderdale FL there is in that area, in Miami FL there is a few pilot there also, if are taking the alley to Tampa there is one on the Indian reservation which is just west of Davie FL there are also service plaza on the turnpike ,there also some mom and pops just enough to get fuel and get out ,as you may know I ones live there

 

You know your availability right. Has been a long time since I was there. Traffic sucks so bad I quit going passed Hollywood and my stupid self forgot about those 3 small PFJs. And yeah, there are a couple tiny Mom/pop places with a few parking spots.

So in reality, since there actually are a few (very few) other parking options that makes it even worse that the 595 charges (and easily gets away with charging) so much.

Thanks for that post. I hate giving incorrect info.!