During the reporting of Overdrive's series delivering the inside story of Truck Parking Club, Shawna Taylor, a former company driver and customer service rep at TPC, penned this first-person perspective on what it was like to work for the company. Company CEO Evan Shelley responded to some of Taylor's claims in the three-part series, the first part of which can be found at this link.
When people think about the trucking industry, they picture 18-wheelers rolling down the interstate, drivers racing against delivery deadlines, and life on the open road.
What they rarely see is the support staff working behind the scenes, trying to solve one of trucking's biggest daily challenges: finding safe, reliable parking.
For more than a year, I worked as a remote Customer Support Representative for Truck Parking Club.
From the outside, it seemed simple: answer calls, help drivers reserve parking, solve problems.
In reality, it was one of the most rewarding yet emotionally exhausting jobs I've ever had.
This isn't an attack on a company, nor is it blind praise. It's an honest account of what I experienced -- the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good: Drivers made the job worthwhile
Every day I spoke on the phone or through email with men and women hauling America's freight. Some had driven through blizzards. Others had been awake since before sunrise. Many were simply trying to find somewhere safe to park before their hours ran out.
Sometimes a reservation wasn't just a reservation. It was the difference between ending the day legally parked or desperately searching highway exits with minutes left on the clock.
Those were the calls I loved. There is a unique satisfaction in hearing the relief in someone's voice after telling them, "I found you a spot." Many drivers called back just to say thank you.
Some became familiar voices. We'd joke, laugh, and talk about life outside trucking while solving their parking issues. Those conversations reminded me that customer service isn't about transactions, it's about people.
The Bad: A company growing faster than its processes
Truck Parking Club grew quickly. Growth brings opportunity, but it also creates growing pains.
Procedures changed constantly. Policies evolved overnight. Support representatives often learned new expectations while simultaneously trying to explain those changes to customers.
The people answering the phones became the bridge between management decisions and frustrated customers. Most of us simply wanted to help drivers. Unfortunately, we often had to answer questions based on policy shifts we didn't control.
In addition to previously free truck parking spots becoming paid TPC spots, one example of the rapid policy shifts was a move to pre-written snippets and templates to explain the procedure and "teach" the customer how to address problems that, previously, customer service reps would have fixed.
In one particular instance, a property owner emailed Customer Service with a question about how to complete something. I responded by explaining the procedure to him, but I also went ahead and completed the necessary steps for him as a courtesy, because it was quicker, eliminated unnecessary back-and-forth, and would allow things to run more smoothly.
I was written up literally the next day.
The Ugly: When management becomes the biggest obstacle
The hardest part of the job wasn't dealing with upset truck drivers. It was dealing with management.
Customer support is built on trust. Representatives need the freedom to think critically, solve problems, and adapt to each customer's unique situation. Yet many days felt defined by constant oversight and second-guessing. The culture leaned heavily toward micromanagement.
Every interaction felt as though it was under a microscope. Rather than feeling empowered to make decisions, employees often felt they were expected to follow rigid expectations without room for professional judgment.
The irony wasn't lost on many of us.
We were trusted to de-escalate angry customers, solve complex parking issues, and represent the company professionally, yet we often weren't trusted to manage our own workflow.
Demands came more and more often, and began leaning away from customer service and into how to make the company's image perfect, especially with reviews.
A disconnect like that slowly wears on even the most dedicated employee. A supportive manager can inspire a team to stay through difficult days. An unsupportive one can make employees dread even the easiest shift.
What I learned working at Truck Parking Club
The vast majority of drivers weren't angry at us, they were exhausted by a system that doesn't provide enough safe parking for the people responsible for keeping America's economy moving. They were angry at the fact they used to have a safe place to park, but now had to pay for that parking due to Truck Parking Club gaining that property on their platform.
Working those calls gave me a level of respect for professional drivers that I'll carry with me forever.
I don't regret working at Truck Parking Club. The job itself was meaningful. Helping drivers was meaningful. Supporting an industry that often goes unnoticed was meaningful.
If the company invested as much in supporting its employees as those employees invested in supporting its customers, I believe it could become something truly exceptional.
The experience also reinforced something I now believe wholeheartedly: people rarely leave jobs because of the work itself.
More often, they leave because of leadership. Customer support representatives are the voice of a company. They're the first people customers hear when something goes wrong and often the last people who can make things right.
When those employees feel respected, trusted, and empowered, customers notice. When they don't, everyone notices.
[Related: Truck Parking Club: Super Ego relationship, reviews policing, influencer empire revealed]
