Anyone who has driven on the highway late at night or in the early morning hours has seen them. The semi tractor-trailers sitting on the side of the road near off ramps with their flashers operating and their engines running. This is necessitated by the fact that sleepy drivers are at increased risk for causing semi tractor-trailer collisions. As a driver is limited to a specific number of hours on the road in any 24 hour period, they must be stopped the other hours. As most Semi tractor-trailers have sleeping births, sleeping in a rest area or on the on and off ramps, or even on the side of the road is a natural consequence of the need to have alert drivers.
Of course any stationary object on the highway shoulder presents a potential hazard to the driving public. In order to make the roads as safe as possible for both the sleeping trucker and the traveling family, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations address appropriate guidelines to help avoid the serious personal injuries, and even wrongful death that a semi tractor-trailer crash can cause. These parking regulations include, .(a) A motor vehicle which contains Division 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3 materials must not be parked under any of the following circumstances—(1) On or within 5 feet of the traveled portion of a public street or highway;(2) On private property (including premises of fueling or eating facility) without the knowledge and consent of the person who is in charge of the property and who is aware of the nature of the hazardous materials the vehicle contains; or(3) Within 300 feet of a bridge, tunnel, dwelling, or place where people work, congregate, or assemble, except for brief periods when the necessities of operation require the vehicle to be parked and make it impracticable to park the vehicle in any other place.(b) A motor vehicle which contains hazardous materials other than Division 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3 materials must not be parked on or within five feet of the traveled portion of public street or highway except for brief periods when the necessities of operation require the vehicle to be parked and make it impracticable to park the vehicle in any other place.