If every industrial park had truck parking, it would go a long way to solving the truck parking problem. This morning I went for a walk to the closest gas station. I had called ahead to see if there was a place close to my customer to park. The instructions stated that there was no on site parking. This customer was in Hartland, WI about 20 miles west of Milwaukee. Sometimes these place know somehwhere close by where you can park. You can always ask. The closest in route truck stop that I knew of was south of Milwaukee. That meant starting early and driving in rush hour trafficThe closest truck stop that I knew of is in Johnson Creek, WI. It is a nice little truck stop. The problem is that it is about 16 miles past the exit for this customer. That meant an extra 32 mile. I wouldn't have to account for rush hour traffic. It would mean adding 32 unpaid miles. Sure does cut into the profit margin.
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The streets in the industrial parked did look wide enough on the staellite pictures to accomadate overnight truck parking. I planned to ask about that as well. I could see that the customer had limited on site parking. While it was physically large enough to park a semi overnight, many customers do not allow overnight truck parking because they have experienced unprofessional drivers. You can't really blame the customer.
Fortunately for me, this customer invited me to park in their driveway. The man on the phone told me where I could park on the lot. I told him that I could see exactly where he was talking about. It was on the satellite. He thought that I was some sort of tech pro. WOW - I sure fooled him. lol. He even suggested a slightly different way in so that I wouldn't have to maeuver in the parking lot. I didn't tell him that I already saw it. I mean I don't want to seem too techie - right!
One of the things that I do before I park overnight at a customer is check out what is around it. The nearest gas station is always good to find. That way you know where to walk to get your morning coffee. There was a gas station about a mile away and they opened at 05:00. That would make a 2 mile walk in the morning. Most of the walk was through the industrial park. There were zero no parking signs. I could see a truck parked less that a mile from my customer. Turned out that that driver was delivering to the same place that I was.
Allowing trucks is part of the solution to the truck parking shortage. It would seem easy to build these areas with streets wide enough for trucks to park without impeiding traffic. If not perhaps they could build a parking lot witin the indutrial park. There is no single solution to the truck parking shortage. This is one of many. The biggest thing for us is just to be samrt and explore and confirm all options.