Truck Stop Etiquette

If you are a new driver and unfamiliar with the unwritten rules of truck stops, these tips will help you fit in and get along with your fellow drivers. These tips come from a driver with 25+ years of experience and are meant to help you maintain your professional image. The following are the top tips for truck stop etiquette:

• Be Considerate at the fuel islands. It may be tempting, but other drivers won’t appreciate a driver parking at the pump or in front of the pump while you go inside for 30 minutes or so and block the fuel island. Everyone needs to get fuel, so be considerate of their time.
• Dispose of your trash properly. There are trash cans at the fuel pumps as well as the parking areas in truck stops. There are trash cans everywhere….Keep America Clean.
• Drive slow throughout the facility. This isn’t a race and there is no reason to speed.
• Follow the traffic pattern by watching for signs or road markings. In the absence of those, follow what others are doing so you don’t cause a problem.
• Park in actual parking spot or at the very least in designated parking areas. Don’t make your own spot and disrupt the flow of traffic.
• Dim your lights in the lot and turn your headlights off when parked.
• Help other drivers park if you see they need help. A lot of accidents happen at truck stops. Don’t be that guy who is filming it with your cell phone. Put the phone down and help your fellow drivers.
• Use the restrooms inside the truck stop. Don’t do your business next to your truck. No one wants to see that.
• Clean up after yourself in the restroom. Don’t leave toilet paper or paper towels on the floor. And for heaven’s sake…flush the toilet!
• Don’t honk your horn in or around the truck stop. Drivers are sleeping at all hours.
• Don’t knock on other drivers’ doors unless invited or if there is an emergency.
• In short, treat others as you would like to be treated.