"SCREEERUNCH" …… Yup, there goes another hood. I'm coming out the door and walking across the front of the fuel isle up at the Petro in Reno, NV last night. And that’s what I hear, "SCREERUNCH". I look up and the driver making the noise is coming out from one isle looking past the fuel isle for a parking spot while his trailer is running over the driver's hood parked next to the dropped trailers that have been there forever. There is a light pole there and I guess the guy that got ran over thought that by parking behind it outside of a designated parking spot, that he would be ok long enough to run in and take a shower. Reno as you know can be a very busy place on a normal day. Last night Donner Pass had the chain law in effect, so it was really packed.
So as I sat there in what I hoped was a safe spot for me, I watched as dozens of trucks circled round and round trying to find a spot to park. Did they not check earlier in the day as to what the road conditions were? I know I did. I had been sitting over at the Love's in Fernly, Nv just about thirty miles away when I booked a load for next day pick up in Sparks NV. I checked and found that everything was open. Drivers inside the store talked liked there was no problem and the fuel clerk took down the paper they had pinned up about any closings.
So I traveled the thirty miles over to Reno so I could fuel up and get a shower. When I get there, everything has changed. Now the chain law is in effect on Donner Pass, the parking lot has just a few spots left and I was lucky to get one of the last. So how is a driver supposed to know when things are going to change? There just does not seem to be a way. The more places you look to find the correct information, the more confusing it seems to become. Not even the government sources seem to agree sometimes as to what is right. Thinking about it, I'm not sure how anyone could be right. The weather does what it does when it does it. There is no trying to figure it out. It just is.
So now we have all the truck stops in the area filled with driver after driver circling trying to find that one spot and be the first one into it. It's not long before someone parks where they are not supposed to and someone comes along and there goes another hood." SCREERUNCH". What are we supposed to do? We have to go somewhere as we cannot continue on because the road is closed. The Truck stops have told the government that they are providing enough parking for us. We drivers know that’s not true on a good night. We begged for Jason's law to be voted in and they just ignored our request. It all boils down to it's a personal problem. Yours.
I wish I knew the answer. All we can do is keep pushing Jason's law and try as we might to find a spot to park at a reasonable time while we still make our appointment. Oh yea, I forgot. We still need to keep our log book straight so I'm interested to see how putting independent of each other on board recorders in every truck is going to work when they shut drivers down without taking into consideration of all the other drivers in the area with EOBR's.
I think that in a perfect world we would have representatives that knew and understood everything they have to deal with up on Capitol Hill. That world will never exist. So it's our job to fill them in on what it is that we need to make our highways safer not only for us, but the American public. Let them know about Jason's Law and perhaps how it is we should pay for the program. I've always been a firm believer that letters do work. Let's keep trying just in case I happen to be right.
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