Truck stop / Lorry Park Etiquette

[goshow]

There’s few things in life that raise my blood pressure but one sure fire way to get my working day off to a poor start is a rough / broken nights sleep.

Please add your own advice / gripes

Time and time again (more often recently) my kip has been interrupted by inconsiderate fellow drivers. I thought I’d write a bit of a list giving a few pointers to what experiences make my blood boil during an overnight stay in a wagon stop. The following points are advice between the hours of 21:00 and 07:00.

Excessive Idling - I understand why drivers warm the engine up. The majority of it is to get oils to the correct working temperature, offering greatest mechanical protection. From my experience an engine warms up a lot quicker when it’s driving. Yes, let it idle for a minute before setting off but is it really necessary to let it idle for longer than a minute at 4am? NO is the answer. It’s bloody inconsiderate for others around you who are still trying to get a couple more hours precious sleep. Likewise if you pull in to the stop after 9pm.

My personal record breaker was in Tayside truck stop on Friday morning. The tanker next to me Idled & occasionally revved for 35 minutes starting at 4:15am.

Reversing beep / siren - Turn the bloody thing off in any truck stop after 9pm and before 7am, & definitely take the truck out of reverse once you’ve stopped. Sitting in the truck at 2am whilst doing your paperwork, engine idling and reverse beeper going, is poor. (also see above paragraph!

Trailer changes - Yes, they’ve got to be done and often there’s no lay-bys available as they’re all clogged up with cheapskate foreign drivers. However, if it has to be done, then please make as little noise as possible and preferably do it at the empty end of the truckstop. Don’t however, decide to change the trailers in the middle of the yard, whilst leaving the engines running, whilst having a 10 minute conversation with your fellow driver.

Fridges - All other drivers appreciate that the goods in a fridge need to be kept cool / frozen and the customer has paid a lot of money to ensure their goods arrive in good fettle. However, if you have do an overnighter please try and park at the far end of the yard. My advice would be to park with the cab facing towards the fence. If the fridge has to be left on then run it on constant rather than intermittent. Certainly don’t park in the middle of the yard amongst the other non-refrigerated truck.

Wetting the wheels - Why drivers decide to go for a gypsies kiss at the side of their truck is beyond me. Most truckers use the same stop regularly, so why make it smell like a Tenerife nightclub back alley? It’s nothing more than laziness because they can’t be bothered to walk to the trap. If you can’t be arsed to walk to the throne, then at least walk to the back of your truck / fence / hedge for a jimmy.

That’ll do for now

[tommymanc]

Looks like someone needs to stop doing nights about and stop ■■■■■■■■ about it on internet forums

[fatboy_slimslow]

tommymanc:
Looks like someone needs to stop doing nights about and stop ■■■■■■■■ about it on internet forums

look up etiquette in the dictionary.

[harry_monk]

There’s a simple answer to all of these problems, don’t park in truckstops or MSAs.

[franglais]

tommymanc:
Looks like someone needs to stop doing nights about and stop ■■■■■■■■ about it on internet forums

No. I think thats pretty much good manners being discussed here. I do nights out too and agree with whats being said. Some noise is inevitable, but best kept to a minimum, surely? Anyway, do away with the ■■■■■■■■ and the content on this site would drop more than a little.

[goshow]

tommymanc:
Looks like someone needs to stop doing nights about and stop ■■■■■■■■ about it on internet forums

So it’s acceptable then is it? It’s not ■■■■■■■■, it’s just simple manners for your fellow driver. In fact, it just breaks down to lack of manners. You wouldn’t come back to a hotel room, in the early hours, and stand in the corridor having a chat for 35 mins, or turn the TV on 3/4 volume at 4am. So why is a truck stop any different?

[fatboy_slimslow]

What tickles me is all the professional drivers are in bed, no motorists/ their children would be wandering around the lorry park and they still proceed to make a dogs dinner of it. Thick screwdrivers with a licence = steering wheel attendants.

Many drivers weren’t around when we didn’t have seat belts and reversing bleepers.

[butcher]

tommymanc:
Looks like someone needs to stop doing nights about and stop ■■■■■■■■ about it on internet forums

So you think it’s ok for a Neanderthal to keep his engine idling all night??

Perhaps one of us could park outside your house ( when you are at home) and let the lump tick over all night?

Come on, we all need a decent night’s kip don’t we?

Admittedly, I have to let the “lump” idle for two or three minutes in n a morning just to get the air up to level.

There is no need for wheel pi$$ers, never! Take a large enough receptacle. I regularly take empty coffee jars and dispose of them in a correct manner. Don’t tell me that responsible sensible drivers can’t do that??

It’s easy…THINK about your actions. Oh…but that’s not part of truck driving is it.

The op has raised some good points.

[franglais]

Harry Monk:
There’s a simple answer to all of these problems, don’t park in truckstops or MSAs.

Good answer Harry. He/we can always park in those big, empty HGV parking areas, with the security cameras, provided by the government in recompense for our taxes on fuel and road tax. . . . And then as a fridge started-up my dream was shattered.

[harry_monk]

Franglais:

Harry Monk:
There’s a simple answer to all of these problems, don’t park in truckstops or MSAs.

Good answer Harry. He/we can always park in those big, empty HGV parking areas, with the security cameras, provided by the government in recompense for our taxes on fuel and road tax. . . . And then as a fridge started-up my dream was shattered.

There’s plenty of quiet little industrial estates, fully CCTV camera’d up, often with security patrols which are just a few minutes walk from a pub and chippy, drivers who fancy a quiet night normally use these.

Given that transport is a 24 hour operation, you can’t really expect to park with 250+ other trucks and have a peaceful night’s sleep.

[butcher]

Franglais:

Harry Monk:
There’s a simple answer to all of these problems, don’t park in truckstops or MSAs.

Good answer Harry. He/we can always park in those big, empty HGV parking areas, with the security cameras, provided by the government in recompense for our taxes on fuel and road tax. . . . And then as a fridge started-up my dream was shattered.

You know what Goshow , with this attitude, nothing will ever improve. You have raised some good points and I applaud you for raising some good points. But there are people on here who simply can’t update and are stuck in the past with twin splitters and log books.

Unfortunately, it is what it is. An industry filled with Neanderthal man with Neanderthal ideas!

[franglais]

Harry Monk:

Franglais:

Harry Monk:
There’s a simple answer to all of these problems, don’t park in truckstops or MSAs.

Good answer Harry. He/we can always park in those big, empty HGV parking areas, with the security cameras, provided by the government in recompense for our taxes on fuel and road tax. . . . And then as a fridge started-up my dream was shattered.

There’s plenty of quiet little industrial estates, fully CCTV camera’d up, often with security patrols which are just a few minutes walk from a pub and chippy, drivers who fancy a quiet night normally use these.

Given that transport is a 24 hour operation, you can’t really expect to park with 250+ other trucks and have a peaceful night’s sleep.

Quiet Ind Ests/ Are there still? Some, maybe. Doesnt get rid of the issue of toilet facilities. How many cameras are pointed at the street rather than towards the premises being guarded? How many double as "do-nut" tracks or have some very small rubber bags filled with "precious bodily fluids" littering the gutters every morning? MSAs etc are there for a purpose and bad usage shouldnt force out others.

[mither40]

Hear hear!

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[muckaway]

Drivers who leave their bluetooth loudspeakers on. I realise that other drivers don’t want to hear me and my boss working out how to fit an extra delivery or collection into the day, or my Mrs telling me about the kids etc. So why do other drivers need to broadcast their conversations?
Foreign drivers congregating near my truck, chain smoking and talking gibberish.
Drivers who park level with my cab and then fling their doors open, hitting my mirrors.
Caravanners who pitch up and have a family picnic, and take up more space than an artic.
Charity fundraisers and AA employees wanting a minute of my time when I’m walking in or out of the services.

[ovlov_jay]

Am I in a minority in saying I don’t find noise an issue in msa’s overnight?

[muckaway]

OVLOV JAY:
Am I in a minority in saying I don’t find noise an issue in msa’s overnight?

I’m with you. There’s not a truckstop anywhere near my house.

[franglais]

OVLOV JAY:
Am I in a minority in saying I don’t find noise an issue in msa’s overnight?

For myself, I can put up with a constant background drone, but as the OP says a fridge on start/stop is a pain. And trailer changeovers, can be done reasonably quietly, but often aren`t. (Oh, and i found a pea under my lowermost mattress the other day too.)

[radar19]

Franglais:

OVLOV JAY:
Am I in a minority in saying I don’t find noise an issue in msa’s overnight?

For myself, I can put up with a constant background drone, but as the OP says a fridge on start/stop is a pain. And trailer changeovers, can be done reasonably quietly, but often aren`t. (Oh, and i found a pea under my lowermost mattress the other day too.)

One night at Cobham services, was parked up on the first row of trucks as you come in the entrance, someone over the way dropped a trailer so loudly it woke me up and the dude in the truck next to me as well. By the time I had got dressed to see what was going on the offender has dissapeared.

[terry_t]

Pulled on to Beaconsfield last week and some absolute ■■■■■ next to me was playing the radio up loud with the window open. I was only on a 45 but if I was trying to sleep it would’ve been a joke. I can only assume the guy next to him was already asleep.

[mikemccord72]

I can’t stand truck stops for the same reasons. Industrial estates or quiet laybys for me every night

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