Truck Stops

Discussion in 'Trip Planning and Travel Concerns' started by jmcf46, Sep 5, 2011.

  1. Galli

    Galli
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    QUOTE(campergal @ Sep 27 2011, 02:34 PM) [snapback]27719[/snapback]

    My husband was a trucker and one challenge he said would come up is that truckers are not allowed to stop at a lot of places (now, this is primarily Canada) so they need the truckstops and if they get to one that is filled and there are RVs in there that's makes it difficult for the trucker. I'm guessing it might not be as much an issue in the States but was an issue in Canada.


    one.Hi campergal, I understand your concern and I am sorry for your husband's problems but being on the road it should be the right of the first come, unless the place is specifically identified as not available for RVers.
    I understand that your husband is working and need time to break but even the RVers are travelling long hours and I think they have the right to occupy an available space if they are using the facility to fill up the truck’s tank and the restaurant before going to sleep for a few hours.
    Notwithstanding the inconvenience that you described above, I am an RVer, I wouldn't mind if some one , with good manners, would ask me to move in a smaller place of the facility to let a big truck to take the bigger place. It is only matter of good interrelation between adults
     
  2. campergal

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    Hi Galli - understand what you are saying and totally agree however, a mall operator is less likely to ask an RV'er to leave the premises but will immediately ask a truck driver to leave. This we have encountered first hand. We had pulled over at a truck stop that was filled and ended up having to go to a mall parking lot and were immediately asked to leave. We had no choice but to move on.

    Again, probably not so much an issue in the States, but in Canada very much so as there is a noticeable lack of rest stops on the side of the highway which are in abundance throughout the States.

    As long as a trucker has a spot to pull over legally and safely it's not an issue but if they are forced to continue driving over the their hours because a truck stop is full then I believe it's an issue.
     
  3. Galli

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    QUOTE(Galli @ Sep 27 2011, 03:10 PM) [snapback]27720[/snapback]

    one.Hi campergal, I understand your concern and I am sorry for your husband's problems but being on the road it should be the right of the first come, unless the place is specifically identified as not available for RVers.
    I understand that your husband is working and need time to break but even the RVers are travelling long hours and I think they have the right to occupy an available space if they are using the facility to fill up the truck’s tank and the restaurant before going to sleep for a few hours.
    Notwithstanding the inconvenience that you described above, I am an RVer, I wouldn't mind if some one , with good manners, would ask me to move in a smaller place of the facility to let a big truck to take the bigger place. It is only matter of good interrelation between adults


    I see but, in my opinion it is more matter of courtesy than real right, I wouldn’t mind if a truck driver comes to me and ask to an other location on the premises where it would be easer for him to part his truck.
    The only point at issue, in a similar case it should be, offering some place to the RVer. to park.
    It is very difficult to accept is some one comes there and ask your place and no alternate space is available, specially if this is happening deep at night.
    In Canada, Ontario, I am commuting frequently between Ottawa and Hearts, I see that there are not many spaces but I always found a corner to park my unit.
    Bye Galli
     
  4. FranznHilga

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    Always best to call ahead and ask. We have over nighted at truck stops to catch a few winks and had no trouble. Leave the slides in and don't get to settled and you will be fine. As mentioned Flying J and Pilot (same corp. now) are good, Travel Centers of America, Petro, Loves, are some of the majors. I like Flying J/Pilot becasue you can get the RV Club card and scan and fill up without the usual dollar limits. I have to go to the truck lanes so this is really helpful! Once filled I ask at the counter if it's okay to park. I have not had any issues.
     
  5. Don-in-GA

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    My wife and I stayed at a truck stop once years ago in our RV. The constant truck traffic coming and going all night and all the engines running made it impossible to sleep. And on top of that the diesel fumes were choking when they made there way into the RV. I will gladly pay my fee next time in a RV park if I have a choice.
     
  6. Fitzjohnfan

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    I read through this thread, and I think there is some confusion about where to park at truck stops. We used a Flying J last year and at first we parked in the area where the trucks parked. At first it seemed ok, but then the trucks started to crowd in and it got really noisy, plus I got the feeling we weren't welcome. I went inside to get a few things and noticed a few RV's in an outlying area where the cars parked. I asked if we could stay there and they said fine. It was very quiet there, just like staying in a Wal-mart parking lot.

    I would not hesitate to stay there again if it was convienent.
     
  7. JBH

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    IMO, truck stops have those great big parking lots for trucks...the trucks are why the truck stop is there in the first place. I can't even begin to imagine what an uproar in the RV community it would cause if the truckers started staying at RV parks instead of where they are intended to have what they need...I would imagine the forums would come alive with the complaints. Personally, I get my gas there because they cater to our sized vehicles but I park in places I belong in, not their space. I have seen truck stops where several RV's are parked in the truck area and the trucks have to park elsewhere (I personally think this is rude of us since they are making their living and we are enjoying our travels). The drivers don't like us because we get in their way...there is nothing that gives them more right on the roads, but I feel they have first rights to the truck stop since it is there for them in the first place.
     
  8. Bandit23

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    Hey y'all. I was an over the road drive for a number of years and I can tell you that the rig I now drive is just as long and about as heavy as one of the big rigs. Yes I believe the drivers of the big rigs should have the spaces in the "truck" part but then again the rigs some of us drive aren't exactly out front rigs. I'm right at 65' with the MH and trailer. What truckers hate is to start to pull in to what looks like an empty slot to find a 28' class 'C' sitting there, or even worse a 21' class 'B'. I've used truck stops, but I always go to the overflow area and try to get a spot no driver would want to try to get into. One night we parked next to a refer but in the morning there was a cattle hauler there, wife noticed the odor...
     
  9. MCRANE

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    QUOTE(JBH @ Feb 3 2012, 12:48 AM) [snapback]28710[/snapback]

    IMO, truck stops have those great big parking lots for trucks...the trucks are why the truck stop is there in the first place. I can't even begin to imagine what an uproar in the RV community it would cause if the truckers started staying at RV parks instead of where they are intended to have what they need...I would imagine the forums would come alive with the complaints. Personally, I get my gas there because they cater to our sized vehicles but I park in places I belong in, not their space. I have seen truck stops where several RV's are parked in the truck area and the trucks have to park elsewhere (I personally think this is rude of us since they are making their living and we are enjoying our travels). The drivers don't like us because we get in their way...there is nothing that gives them more right on the roads, but I feel they have first rights to the truck stop since it is there for them in the first place.



    Perfectly said. As a truck driver/ rver it makes me crazy when I here these cry babies whining about how the trucks come and go all night, and the diesel fumes and refer noises. I'm so sick of these people thinking life is all about them. It's a truck stop built to cater to the needs of truck drivers. Trucks have to come and go all night long while your spoiled butt sleeps. If you don't want to hear them don't park at a truck stop, instead go to a rv park were you can complain about kids, dogs, and everything else that makes you such a miserable person.
     
  10. Cape Codger

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    QUOTE(MCRANE @ Mar 13 2012, 12:52 PM) [snapback]29027[/snapback]

    Perfectly said. As a truck driver/ rver it makes me crazy when I here these cry babies whining about how the trucks come and go all night, and the diesel fumes and refer noises. I'm so sick of these people thinking life is all about them. It's a truck stop built to cater to the needs of truck drivers. Trucks have to come and go all night long while your spoiled butt sleeps. If you don't want to hear them don't park at a truck stop, instead go to a rv park were you can complain about kids, dogs, and everything else that makes you such a miserable person.


    :D

    Just to lighten up this forum and add humor I have to add this. I in my former life did drive trucks but this trip took the cake with our new kitten.

    We are hated and banned from Pilot Truck Stops (Not Really).
    Do not laugh at me, this isn't funny. But for some reason I can laugh now about it.
    We stopped at a Pilot Truck stop for the usual Sleep, Food and Fuel in Newburgh NY. I of course took off my hearing aids and went to sleep.
    The next thing I know is my wife is getting hysterical because some truck was beeping his horn insistently and another truck was going back and forth only a foot at most along us and had a good loud backup alarm plus his flashers going (you know how tight they make spaces at truck stops).
    Took him about ten tries to get in. I went back to sleep for a few hours and got up and did my food and fuel bit and left. My wife was still very upset about those inconsiderate trucks and how she only got a little sleep from it.
    Fast Forward to next night in campground. We are all setup this time I have my hearing aids on. All of a sudden we hear a horn beep and we say to each other, who would be blowing their horn in this campground? All of a sudden we hear a continuous blowing and realize it is our rig. Run up front and find Smokey with his front paws on the dash or top of steering wheel and his rear paws, you got it, on the horn. Had to put a cushion across the wheel and tie it off. Then the horn blowing we heard the night before in the truck stop hit us.
    Smokey, being the snoop he is and always looking around for something to get into must of seen the truck backing in and climbed up the wheel to watch and throw in his two cents. Of course now I know the poor truck driver thinks I am blowing my horn at him and keeps trying to get in.
    I really feel sorry for all the drivers Smokey woke or rattled. Plus I can hear it at the restaurant about the rotten RV driver blowing his horn at the trucker.
    Now I have the steering wheel covered at night.
     
  11. Wink

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    QUOTE(Lindsay Richards @ Sep 9 2011, 02:41 PM) [snapback]27540[/snapback]

    A good friend of my wife's has a boyfriend who is a long haul trucker and has told me that generally truckers don't really like RV's because they make them "back off" the gas many times. Many states have no trucks in the left lane of 3 lanes (each way) expressway, so the middle lane is their fast lane. RV'er sometimes go slower than the speed limit or their "governor" speed in the middle lane and they have to work their way around them to get back to their "governor" speed. They pay a lot of taxes and think they have more "rights" than us. If you listen to the CB, you can also hear complaining. I think many truckers are RV'ers or want to be RV'ers when they retire. We sometimes get in a conversation with a trucker in a truck stop dinner and they are generally nice. Different seeing a real person than an inanimate vehicle. We have had trucker come up to us in rest stops and talk RV stuff.



    I for one try to stay out of there way.I have seen both sides.Trying to get some where at road speed and now RV`ing with no set time to get some where.I will pull 60 to 65 but I don`t expect the trucker that has to be 500 miles down the road to night to have to stay behind me.Plus every time a trucker has to slow down and get back to speed it cost him in fuel.I would hate to be out there now having to fill two hundred gallon tanks every day to make a living.Just cut the drivers some slake and get over. ;)
     
  12. Parrothead Mike

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    I respect the truckers. I should as my father, grandfather, nephew, 2 uncles, and a few friends have been truck drivers. Truck stops are for the truckers. It's their "world" and we're just visitors there. I usually have my CB on when taking long trips in the RV and listen to their advice regarding traffic issues on the highway. CB traffic isn't what it used to be, cell phones have reduced the chatter.

    We've pulled in for fuel and an overnight at truck stops before. I prefer Flying J's, but other busy stops are ok too. One issue I haven't seen posted on this thread in regard to truck stops is the panhandlers that float through the parking areas. I'm not talking about the lot lizzards, but people that hit people up for money "for gas to get home" or "for gas to go see my mother who is in the hospital" in some distant location. These people don't make me feel very safe, but it's something I'm much more aware of now that it's happened to me twice.

    Always keep your eyes open and stay safe.
     
  13. Galli

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    QUOTE(Parrothead Mike @ Apr 17 2012, 07:42 PM) [snapback]29290[/snapback]

    I respect the truckers. I should as my father, grandfather, nephew, 2 uncles, and a few friends have been truck drivers. Truck stops are for the truckers. It's their "world" and we're just visitors there. I usually have my CB on when taking long trips in the RV and listen to their advice regarding traffic issues on the highway. CB traffic isn't what it used to be, cell phones have reduced the chatter.

    We've pulled in for fuel and an overnight at truck stops before. I prefer Flying J's, but other busy stops are ok too. One issue I haven't seen posted on this thread in regard to truck stops is the panhandlers that float through the parking areas. I'm not talking about the lot lizzards, but people that hit people up for money "for gas to get home" or "for gas to go see my mother who is in the hospital" in some distant location. These people don't make me feel very safe, but it's something I'm much more aware of now that it's happened to me twice.

    Always keep your eyes open and stay safe.


    It never hapened to me, however, I will never give in to that requests
     
  14. Texasrvers

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    Here is a little different (but related) spin to RVers taking up spaces at truck stops. We have just gotten back from a month long trip, and during that time we made many stops at roadside rest areas. I’m sure all of you are aware that most of these stops contain an area for cars and an area with much bigger spaces for trucks and RV’s. I cannot tell you how many times we saw cars parked in the longer truck/RV spaces when there was plenty of room in the car lot. I suppose this is not a big problem if the rest area is not crowded, but on two occasions we had to keep going because all the long parking spots were taken up. If they had been occupied by other large vehicles, we would not complain, but in both cases several of the spots had cars in them. IMHO I think cars should stay out of these spaces since (1) they are designated for larger vehicles, and (2) we don’t have the possibility of using one of the car spots. I know posting this won’t change anything, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
     
  15. HappiestCamper

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    QUOTE(Texasrvers @ Apr 18 2012, 01:08 AM) [snapback]29294[/snapback]

    Here is a little different (but related) spin to RVers taking up spaces at truck stops. We have just gotten back from a month long trip, and during that time we made many stops at roadside rest areas. I’m sure all of you are aware that most of these stops contain an area for cars and an area with much bigger spaces for trucks and RV’s. I cannot tell you how many times we saw cars parked in the longer truck/RV spaces when there was plenty of room in the car lot. I suppose this is not a big problem if the rest area is not crowded, but on two occasions we had to keep going because all the long parking spots were taken up. If they had been occupied by other large vehicles, we would not complain, but in both cases several of the spots had cars in them. IMHO I think cars should stay out of these spaces since (1) they are designated for larger vehicles, and (2) we don’t have the possibility of using one of the car spots. I know posting this won’t change anything, but I thought it was worth mentioning.



    AMEN.
     
  16. John Blue

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    You see this all the time. Can people read well or understand the signs? I guess we need to take up ten parking places in the car parking lot. :rolleyes:
     
  17. AbdRahim

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    I wonder if it is ok to park on the far end of an empty car side of the rest area at night when the truck side is full. .i am about approx 45' long (SUV and trailer), though ?I am way over the weigh posted for that side.
     

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