Well, I got that knock on the window that everybody dreads. It happened at 1:30 this morning. It wasn't the police, it was a security guard. Im pretty sure of that because he had no gun. He knocked on my window and told me I was on private property...you can't sleep here and you have to move on. I was nice about it and said I will.<br /><br />After he woke me up I watched him for a few minutes. He was going to every vehicle in the parking lot. Cars, vans, motorhomes, everyone. Stealth didn't matter. He walked up to each vehicle looked in, then went to the back, took a picture of the license plate, then woke them up. He ran off everyone..musta been thirty vehicles.<br /><br />After this happened I drove around for awhile looking for a place to try and get a couple more hours sleep. Everywhere I went the parking lots where empty. I would stick out like a sore thumb. So I found a mcdonalds and got a cup of coffee and sat there for awhile. I didn't get anymore sleep.<br /><br />This changes things for me. That walmart was a central location and I was trying to find a way to make money. But now there is no place for me to sleep without driving some distance. It won't work for me. <br /><br />I'm thinking about borrowing some money and hit the road and try to find work along the the way. I have a friend in fresno who said I could come down there. He doesn't have any work, but I could park at his place if I need to. <br /><br />I don't know if that's the best move..but don't know what else to do. I seem to be going thru a rough patch at the moment. But I'm hopeful and know it will get better...please, please, please.
Walmart finally crack down
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josephusminimus
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Sid: There's a huge amount of work for drivers in the oil patch right now. A kid who worked up the hill for the neighbor a while and didn't have a CDL went to work at Midland/Odessa recently, $22.50 an hour until he gets his CDL. They put him up in a motel room with other drivers.<br /><br /> And Midland/Odessa isn't even where it's hottest. South of here is where there are more jobs than there are people to fill them.
josephusminimus
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Sid: <br /><br />It's in south Texas over something called Eagle Shale formation. If you search Eagle Shale you'll find all manner of folks hiring.<br /><br />a websearch brought this up:<br /><br />http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...14-need-work-south-texas-oilfield-hiring.html<br /><br />Need work? South Texas Oilfield hiring like crazy!<!-- google_ad_section_end --><div id="ad_thread_first_post_content"><ins style="position: relative; margin: 0px; width: 336px; display: inline-table; height: 280px; visibility: visible; padding: 0px;"><ins id="aswift_1_anchor" style="position: relative; margin: 0px; width: 336px; display: block; height: 280px; visibility: visible; padding: 0px;"><iframe id="aswift_1" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px;" name="aswift_1" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="336" height="280"></iframe></ins></ins></div><div class="content hasad"><div id="post_message_2135518"><blockquote class="postcontent restore "><!-- google_ad_section_start -->Hello! I don't come here very often, but I wanted to put a notice out there to anyone needing work or just looking for a change of scenery. I live in south Texas and the oilfield here has fired it's afterburners! Companies are hiring like mad, and in SOME cases will even train/ hire "under-qualified" drivers. The endorsments you need are HazMat and Tanker, and some (if not all) companies will pay for you to get/maintain your license.<br />I've been in the oilfield as a driver for about 5 years now, through ups and downs and right now it's so busy companies are desperate for drivers and/or equipment operators. I haul crude oil for Gulfmark Energy and I love it! The pay is great and the schedule is awesome.<br />Oilfield work typically pays above average and the schedule is different depending on who hires you and for what. Also, the rules of service are different than other trucking fields.<br />Before I let this go too long, I'll list some companies that I've seen in my area:<br /><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">CRUDE/ FUEL HAULERS</span>:<br /><br />Gulfmark Energy</strong> - <a href="http://www.adamsresources.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=112&Itemid=73" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.adamsresources.com/index....=112&Itemid=73</a><br /><br /><strong>Flint</strong> - <a href="http://www.flintenergy.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.flintenergy.com/</a><br /><br /><strong>Mission Petroleum</strong> - <a href="http://www.mipe.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.mipe.com/</a><br /><br /><strong>Plains</strong> - <a href="http://www.paalp.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.paalp.com/</a><br /><br /><strong>Arguindegui</strong> - <a href="http://www.aocpetroleum.com/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.aocpetroleum.com/index.html</a><br /><br /><strong>R.C.'s Jubilee</strong> - <a href="http://www.quicktransportsolutions....trucking-transportation-inc-usdot-1199717.php" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.quicktransportsolutions.c...ot-1199717.php</a><br /><br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>VACUUM/ PRODUCTION</strong></span> (note: this is not easy work, but it's a good way to get experience and a foot in the door)<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>:<br /></strong></span><br /><strong>Texas Energy</strong> - <a href="http://www.forbesenergyservices.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.forbesenergyservices.com/</a><br /><br /><strong>Key Energy</strong> - <a href="http://www.keyenergy.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.keyenergy.com/</a><br /><br /><strong>Mo-Vac</strong> - <a href="http://www.mo-vac.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.mo-vac.com/</a><br /><br /><strong>C&J</strong> - <a href="http://www.cjenergy.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.cjenergy.com/</a><br /><br /><strong>Cudd</strong> - <a href="http://www.cuddpumping.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.cuddpumping.com/</a><br /><br /><strong>Schulumberger</strong> - <a href="http://www.slb.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.slb.com/</a><br /><br /><strong>Torqued-Up</strong> - <a href="http://www.torqued-up.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.torqued-up.com/</a><br /><br /><br />That's all I can think of off the top of my head, if you have any questions, I'll answer what I can. I've worked for Torqued-Up, Texas Energy, and now I work for Gulfmark, so I know a bit about production work, vacuum, and crude. I hope this helps some of you!<br /><br />Ben<!-- google_ad_section_end --></blockquote></div></div>
mockturtle
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Hoping you find work soon, Sid!
Nelda
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Can you tell us which Walmart this was? You probably already know that Yahoo groups has a walmart group? It's called <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/walmartrving/?yguid=111831085"><em>walmartrving</em></a>.<br /><br />Nelda
mockturtle
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There is a lot of seasonal work in AZ [I used to work as an RN there in the winter] if you're willing to stay for 4-6 months. As an experienced delivery driver, you should be able to get hired. Places like Yuma more than double their population in winter and all trades see increased business.
Mortisha
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This is the reason I am hoping not to use walmart as much as possible. I really want to be in woods as much as I can. But I am sure I will have to use them when travelling and sight seeing. I hope I can be stealthy enough to get me through. HuggZ Good luck finding a new location.
The walmart is the southhill walmart in puyallup WA. They have signs up for no parking, but didn't seem to be enforcing it...until now. I think it may be due to the fact that I notice alot of the people seem to have moved in. Some of the motorhomes are parked in the same spot for days.<br /><br />I assume he took the license numbers for future reference. If people return they will probably wake up to a tow truck instead of a knock on the window.
Nelda
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I, too, am in Washington State. The reason my walmarts don't allow overnight parking is:<br />someone set up a portable meth lab in the Vancouver WA parking lot.<br />(side note, a beautiful campground just off the Oregon coast was closed for years because of a meth lab in a cabover camper.)<br />We always use walmart when traveling from one place to another. And stealth has nothing to do with it. Thousands of walmarts welcome travelers for overnight parking. Not for living there which we have also seen.<br /><br />Nelda
When I had my transport business I stayed in truck stops and rest areas. Very seldom at walmart or store parking lots. The truck stops can be loud from trucks running but that never bothered me.<br />My favorite truck stop was the flying J in palm springs. It's pretty big and you can hide around the semi's. Some of the truck stops have seperate areas for trucks and motorhomes. Those are not so loud.
Sid - are you still in the Puyallup area? Heading south is a good idea as soon as your finances permit it but until then you'll need a place to sleep. The rest area along I-5 north of the Fife exit is really good. It has a separate parking area for RVs. We've stayed in the parking lots of all of the Indian casinos. A couple of times when there were concerts we couldn't stay because of limited parking but that was it.<br /><br /> Walmarts along the I-5 corridor are very strict about overnight parking. Most do not allow it so I'm surprised that you could stay even one night.<br /><br /> Hope things get better for you.
mockturtle
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While I don't live in Chehalis, I drive by their Walmart off the freeway frequently and notice quite a few overnighters, both trucks and RVs. Probably wise to clear out during the day and find a different spot at night.
Yes Im still in puyallup. I know about the rest area and also there is a pilot truck stop in fife. I've stayed there a couple times. I was planning to head south around the end of this month but things happened to make it difficult. The thought of spending the winter here in my truck is not a good one.
angeli
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Hi sid,<br /><br />I'm so sorry that things are tough right now. I definitely know what you mean! Do you have Google Earth on your system? If you do, or if you would be willing to download it, there are some layers that folks have put together that show different types of parking spots across the country (world actually). Google Earth is a free download. And these are layers that show the locations of each thing on the Google Earth map so you can be as detailed or as generalized as you want.<br /><br />I used them quite a lot, and they are kept pretty updated. There's a layer for Walmarts that allow parking, CVS Walgreen's that allow parking, Walmarts that DON'T allow parking (there are one or two states that are almost blacked out on that one! There are layers for Kmarts, particular truck stops (I always loved Love's myself), rest areas in each state, state parks with camping, fed parks, all sorts of other parks, etc.<br /><br />Anyway, you can choose which layers you want to download, just keep them in a folder in your downloads file, and activate each layer by clicking on the Google Earth symbol in the layer folder. The Google Earth program will do the rest, and you can click each layer on or off as you need it. Keep as many of them on as you want.<br /><br />I think I first spied this resource in the Walmart RVers yahoo group. It's been invaluable to me, much more so that the little truck stop book, although there are a few stops in there that never make it in anywhere else!<br /><br />Sorry to babble. Here's the link: http://discoveryowners.com/cginfo.htm<br /><br />If you click on the list alphabetically, you can view rest stops by state pretty easily. I hope this might help you, and good luck with the cash flow.
hitekhomeless
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<p>I am sorry that you are going through such a hard time. There's also the sugar beet harvest in ND and Amazon in Fernley, NV. They are both short term gigs that pay pretty well. Next month, pumpkin lots in socal will be up and running. Perhaps you can land a job at one and live on the lot. It's part of the deal. All three of those options include a campsite and are very short term. Not to distract from the board, but here is a list of work camping opportunities: http://hitekhomeless.net/workamping</p><p>If the walmart was anything like the one in Bellingham, I totally understand why they had to stop it. There were probably 8 rigs with people living in them, full time in the walmart parking lot. We saw it on our way to alaska. On our way back down four months later, the same rigs were setup (chairs, rugs, awnings) in the same spots. We had never seen anything like it before.</p>
Well Sid you can enjoy all the sunshine blown up your ass or you can make a move... Things wont change if you dont change, as a matter of fact they are going to get rougher as the season changes into winter... Sh*t or get off the pot man... We have talked about this months ago, time to make a move bro...
