Every day it seems that there are more trucks on the road. And every night it seems that more trucks stop in trucks trying to park, and there are not enough parking places to accommodate them. When truckers are tired, they need to park. Legislation on maintenance hours requires a 10-hour break, and when enough 10-hour breaks overlap, parking becomes scarce.
One option for trucks is parking at weighing stations. Some states allow this, some do not. It is best to know in advance so that if you cannot find a place to park at the truck stop, you may have a backup plan! In Libra and Parking, Part I, we reviewed Californian, Georgia, Florida and Kentucky. This article covers Arkansas, Connecticut, Michigan, South Carolina and Wyoming.
Arkansas
Do not consider parking at weighing stations in Arkansas. Many of the old weighing stations were converted to truck parking such as Lonoke, Jacksonville and Benton. But workweighing stations, such as West Memphis and Fort Smith, are for the scale business only. The officers may allow you to park there if the weather is bad, but otherwise they will direct you to continue working in the designated parking areas of the truck.
Connecticut
The officers at the weighing station in Greenwich will allow you to park until they need space. They can wake you up to transport a truck (regardless of HOS requirements). They usually prefer you to park at the far end of the area on the left side (on the side of the motorway). The officers want you to know that if you park there, they have the right to inspect your documents or truck when you are ready to leave. Weighing stations Meriden and Danbury are connected to recreation areas, although there is very little space in the Meriden recreation area - you should not plan parking there. Weighing stations on I 95 in eastern Connecticut are rarely open and have sufficiently large parking spaces to accommodate several trucks, although parking is not a guarantee. You may be asked to leave, but this is hardly possible. Keep in mind that laws at idle limit you to 5 minutes of downtime. The officers will be more indulgent in extreme weather conditions, but do not be surprised to knock on your truck if you are idling. Parking is not allowed at Union Weight Station.
Michigan
While there is space, Michigan allows trucks to park at weighing stations. The officers at Monroe nb metro station say that they would rather be tired of truckers at their weighing station than they continued to walk along the road. There are many rooms at the nb and sb Monroe weighing stations. Truckers will not bother if they are parked, unless there is an obvious violation.
South Carolina
Law enforcement officers from commercial vessels say that truckers can park at weighing stations while there is room for it. It depends on the cops, the driver may ask to leave. South Carolina plans to upgrade its previously closed recreation areas (thanks to TA Thomas for sending links to the news story) to provide additional parking for trucks, and, according to state police, has already converted Canady weighing stations into parking spaces for trucks.
Wyoming
Officers in the east connected the port of Evanston with the entrance to the network, saying that they allow trucks to park at the far end of the site to search through them, but they will stand so they know that this is not a car without supervision. Other weight stations in Wyoming are not so welcoming. Parking is limited everywhere, and weighing stations do not stop on trucks. In most cases, officers prefer to have a tired fleet of truckers than to go along the road and pose a security risk. If you are tired, you will not lose anything by asking to park at the weighing station. However, they are not required to allow you to do this.
