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I do understand people don't want homeless camps parked outside their houses. But cops harass people sleeping in their cars wherever they are. Some rest stops only allow you to stay for 3 hours. Some cities ban any sleeping in a vehicle anywhere in city limits from 10PM to 6AM.
If it weren't prohibitively expensive I'd buy an old semi truck and drive it around without a trailer. It would be like the ultimate cheat code for sleeping in towns without getting harassed.
Sleep in your car at a truck stop or rest area like, uh, truckers do. Trucks can't just park anywhere for the night, especially in a town or city. Not sure where you are getting that idea from.
However, as you note, it also allows anyone to sleep at a truck stop or highway rest area.
In the more caucasian parts of the US, I have definitely experienced state troopers who will complain that people are sleeping in a rest area. Some rest areas specifically have signage saying you can't sleep outside of the truck area (and cars are not allowed in the truck area) and others will make it a point to knock on your window every 30-40 minutes to say "Hey, just checking that you are okay. Oh, sorry, didn't mean to bother you."
I've also noticed this increasingly happening in some of the more popular climbing destinations. And... in that case I can't at all blame the locals. The popularization of #VanLife coupled with the increasing tendency for dirtbag climbers to actually be ridiculously rich teenagers during a gap year and "Leave no trace" has become more about hiding your macbook and jackery charger than not literally shitting all over the trails and parking lots. It really sucks for those of us following good practices on a weekend (or week long) trip but I've also grown to increasingly hate the vast majority of "dirtbags" so...
But, generally speaking: If you park in a rest area and don't have a car packed to the brim with boxes and luggage, nobody cares.
I never stated that idea. You just did.
Truckers can park in the streets in various business/industrial parks. Try doing that in your car and someone will notice you and rat you out.
You might be mistaking that with Walmart (?) and other stores that pride themselves on offering RV (and, where possible, semi truck) parking in their lots during off hours.
The vast majority of businesses will call a towing company or even the cops if they notice you are sleeping in their parking lot for an extended period of time.
I generally strongly discourage people from sleeping in parking lots (you tend to be pretty isolated and don't have the regular patrols/traffic that rest areas do) but as long as you get there at or around closing time and leave the next day, the vast majority of counties will not care. The issue becomes when you are there long enough that the employees notice.
Honestly OP? It mostly sounds like you just don't know how to "correctly" get your vagrant on. It increasingly seems like you are just pulling off in residential areas or setting up shop at a Trader Joe's.