Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/141405
P Todd Dills Voices Thank you for not shopping at Walmart George is very familiar with the Lancaster, Texas, area. He delivers there often. Like any other trucker, he knows where his "sleep spots" are, and where he can go to get groceries and supplies without being hassled. The Walmart at North I-35E was one of these places – or at least it used to be. When we pulled into the Lancaster store recently, George noticed signs everywhere: NO TRUCK PARKING: VIOLATORS WILL BE TOWED AT THEIR OWN EXPENSE. "That's weird," he said. "I was just here three weeks ago and stayed the night in the lot. I'll go in and talk to the manager so we don't get towed while we're shopping." He parked (we only had the tractor – no trailer) and went inside to find a manager. George told the lady we were truckers (immediate eye-roll from her) and that we needed to get some supplies. He wanted to make sure his rig didn't get towed while we were spending money in their store. She flipped out a walkie-talkie. "We've got trucking customers at the front. What do I tell them?" "They have one hour. Write the time down." She put the walkie-talkie back on the clip. "You've got one hour." I was furious. I was hopping on one foot, and smoke was trailing out of both ears. I wanted to drag her across the counter and stomp some sense into her. George realized this and led me away from the counter before I went to DEFCON 5. "I will be naked, starving and cold before I spend one thin dime here." "Babe, I've got to have a couple of things. We won't buy anything that's not completely necessary to get us to the next place we can shop, OK? Just be cool." I agreed to be cool, but I was so insanely angry, it was completely futile. I just kept going back to the "one hour to spend your money" thing. We are not criminals. As a matter of fact, without our services, Walmart wouldn't function at all. Sam Walton credited his success to his truck drivers. Sam would have pooped his pants to see the way we were treated here. Wendy Parker chronicles her For the remainder journey on the of this story, which road with her owner-operator drew close to 100 comhusband, George, ments, see the May in the George and Wendy 29 post on the George Show blog on and Wendy Show blog: OverdriveOnline. com. Scan the OverdriveOnline.com/ QR to read more wendy. from her on your phone or tablet. Hope Rivenburg, widow of Jason's Law namesake Jason Rivenburg, has been working on the truck parking issue with Allen and Donna Smith of Truth About Trucking. They've been taking driver points of view, via an online survey, on where truck parking is most needed. Find it by searching "National truck parking survey" at OverdriveOnline.com. Catching flies with honey in parking advocacy As in Warner Robins, Ga., earlier this year, a no-truck-parking ordinance in Coon Rapids, Minn., drew truckers' attention in June. A driver posted to Facebook a picture of a note that had been taped by a resident to the window of a truck parked nearby. The picture began garnering attention over the first weekend in June, with drivers taking to Coon Rapids' Facebook page to threaten "everything from a boycott to a pox on the community," as Overdrive's Wendy Parker wrote June 10. "People are mad, and they should be." Along the way, Minnesota-based owner-operator Jason Haggard (Haggardon18.wordpress.com) began organizing drivers in communication with the City Council about trying to meet parking needs. Parker likewise took up the issue with the City Council, remembering "something my momma always taught me. … It's really true that you get more flies with honey. Approaching anything with a 'Hey, how can we make this better, and can I help?' attitude will most certainly garner a better response than, 'Screw you, I hope you run out of toilet paper. Forever.' " Find Parker's June 10 post on the subject, and weigh in yourself, via OverdriveOnline.com/wendy. 8 | Overdrive | July 2013 Voices_0713.indd 8 6/27/13 11:50 AM