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Old 02-20-2017, 10:55 AM   #1
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RV friendly gas stops

How many times have you pulled off the road to get gas and had to pull back on and look for another station? Our rig is not too big, but even many "truck stops" are not RV friendly, especially when they are busy. I would imagine those with 5th wheels have even more trouble than we do.

Diesel would be easy, those of us who burn gas are limited on getting to the pump!

An RV Friendly fuel stop directory would be great.
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Old 02-20-2017, 10:58 AM   #2
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Great idea.

Diesels are 'easy' because there is a special set of lanes, but they are full of Trucks........trucks that have 490,088 gallon tanks!! And they go in and take a shower while fueling! And you get behind one, and you ain't backing up, trust me!

MY diesel is 'easier' now, after installing a 37 gallon TransferFlow aux. tank, though!

But this is a great idea. I would keep a list of these if there was a 'sticky' or something where folks listed them.

The easiest one I have been to, bar none, is Exit 87N, I-40, Jackson, TN Speedway. Diesel OR gasoline in a separate HUGE area made for big rigs.
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Old 02-20-2017, 11:17 AM   #3
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All of the Flying J's have dedicated RV fueling separate from the Auto's. With Gas and Diesel. there may be exceptions but I am not aware of any and I have been to most all of them
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Old 02-20-2017, 11:19 AM   #4
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I had this problem ALL THE TIME with my gas TV. Once just outside of Charlotte, I had to try 5 consecutive exits before I found a gas pump I could navigate through. It was for this reason, I started carrying 10 extra gallons with me just in case I couldn't find a suitable station in time. Once I had to disconnect the trailer from my TV just so I could gas up. I got quite good at quickly sizing up a station to figure out whether or not I could pull in. The biggest factor is whether the pump lanes run perpendicular or parallel to the station building. Parallel is what worked for me.
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Old 02-20-2017, 11:24 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by timfromma View Post
I had this problem ALL THE TIME with my gas TV. Once just outside of Charlotte, I had to try 5 consecutive exits before I found a gas pump I could navigate through. It was for this reason, I started carrying 10 extra gallons with me just in case I couldn't find a suitable station in time. Once I had to disconnect the trailer from my TV just so I could gas up. I got quite good at quickly sizing up a station to figure out whether or not I could pull in. The biggest factor is whether the pump lanes run perpendicular or parallel to the station building. Parallel is what worked for me.
And all the new ones are perpendicular........thus the problem. Every station in the world was parallel up until a few years ago. Now, big towables are next to impossible. You can probably get IN. But getting out is another issue. I just go to the back and get in line, if I need fuel.
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Old 02-20-2017, 11:26 AM   #6
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I guess I'm the odd one out. I still look for the cheaper diesel and that ain't truck stops. Most of the time I find I can get in and out pretty easy. With a Mega cab and 42' 5er in most of the stations.It depends on the way the drive and pumps are pointing. Might have to drive a block or two,but can usually save 20- 40 cents over the truck stop prices.
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Old 02-20-2017, 11:39 AM   #7
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I have literally just downloaded an app for my phone called 'Trucker Path'. I haven't used it yet but was advised it listed gas stations which had truck lanes that would make it easier to get in towing a 40' 5er.
I also use Gas Buddy in collaboration with Google satellite images and street view images to see what I might be getting in to while I plan my route.
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Old 02-20-2017, 11:40 AM   #8
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Back when I owned a V-10 gas pickup truck I didn’t get the chance to pass up many gas stations when towing my fifth wheel. Finding gas stations on state and county roads can be problematic at times but I never had an issue at the travel plazas along the Interstate highways. I always tried to get a pump at the end and avoided pumps in the middle.

There are a lot of major travel plazas such as TA, Pilot, Loves, Petro, and Flying J. As mentioned previously, most Flying J’s have RV lanes. Back in the day, I used a book called the Next Exit to find plazas but today there are plenty of apps for finding them. I also planned my route and planned my fuel stops along the way when towing.

There were a few times that I didn’t have the option of a travel plaza. When that occurred I would always try to pick exits with more than one station. I loved the exits that had three or more stations available.
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Old 02-20-2017, 12:23 PM   #9
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Don't try to get into a Murphy Express station with a trailer, those things are so tight the traffic engineers that design them need to have their credentials re-examined.
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Old 02-20-2017, 12:26 PM   #10
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This is another reason why I downsized. Don't much worry about this issue anymore.
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Old 02-20-2017, 01:19 PM   #11
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I was just at a Walmart gas station and no way could you get a trailer in there, it was not easy with a 3500
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Old 02-20-2017, 01:25 PM   #12
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Ha! Yeah, we've had plenty a colorful debate about what we can pull into. We usually do try for the truck stops. If it's bad enough I just pull in and wait.

Now many of the larger non-truck stop based gas stations have two pumps at a time, which isn't all bad, if you can get on an end so pulling out isn't impossible. All that said, our gas tank door is by the back tire, I usually have to pull almost completely out of the filling area to get the hose to reach. All you can do is smile and wave.
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Old 02-20-2017, 01:36 PM   #13
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Standing at the pump

Quote:
Originally Posted by BandJCarm View Post
Great idea.

Diesels are 'easy' because there is a special set of lanes, but they are full of Trucks........trucks that have 490,088 gallon tanks!! And they go in and take a shower while fueling! And you get behind one, and you ain't backing up, trust me!

MY diesel is 'easier' now, after installing a 37 gallon TransferFlow aux. tank, though!

But this is a great idea. I would keep a list of these if there was a 'sticky' or something where folks listed them.

The easiest one I have been to, bar none, is Exit 87N, I-40, Jackson, TN Speedway. Diesel OR gasoline in a separate HUGE area made for big rigs.
I find the ones who leave their rig standing at the pump are those in motor homes. They seem to think they are the only ones on the road or at a pump. The go in a buy groceries or wait in line for a burger and fries.
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Old 02-20-2017, 01:38 PM   #14
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We look for an exit with the most stations listed on the sign before the exit. We also look at the GPS for the most stations and then we have options.
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Old 02-20-2017, 01:46 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hbdiver View Post
I find the ones who leave their rig standing at the pump are those in motor homes. They seem to think they are the only ones on the road or at a pump. The go in a buy groceries or wait in line for a burger and fries.
This one made me laugh. Liz and I always complain about those folks, and you are right, most times it is folks in MHs. Don't know why they can't fuel up and then move to the parking area like the rest of us.

This last trip the flying j was busy so there were lines. MotorHomes at both RV pumps. Both were finished fueling, one couple went inside, the other was in the MH fixing lunch! After 10 minutes of non-activity I went and knocked on the door and asked if they could move to the parking area since there was a line behind them. They got very upset with me, but did move their rig. People are funny
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Old 02-20-2017, 01:49 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hutch333id View Post
I have literally just downloaded an app for my phone called 'Trucker Path'. I haven't used it yet but was advised it listed gas stations which had truck lanes that would make it easier to get in towing a 40' 5er.
I also use Gas Buddy in collaboration with Google satellite images and street view images to see what I might be getting in to while I plan my route.
Exactly!
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Old 02-20-2017, 02:05 PM   #17
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There's always the option of parking the TT or Fifth Wheel in a parking lot and fueling normally. While yes, it is a PITA, it will probably take less time doing that than getting on and off the interstate 5 times trying to find a station.
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Old 02-20-2017, 02:12 PM   #18
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I have found that Flying J does have the RV lane and if you use their RV plus card you can get a 7 cent / gallon discount.
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Old 02-20-2017, 02:15 PM   #19
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All of the Flying J's have dedicated RV fueling separate from the Auto's.
Don't bring that mindset onto I-95, my brother. Maybe out in your neck o' the woods all of 'em have dedicated lanes, but back here they are some of the worst. Gas lanes close to and perpendicular to the store front.
On I-95 from Va. to Fla., I've found Shell stations most likely to have the pump lanes parallel to the highway/storefront.
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Old 02-20-2017, 02:19 PM   #20
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We do all our planning in advance as we don't have internet access during our travels. We know our daily travel distance give or take. We travel from Toronto to Orlando just about every year and found this method to work for us. 37' gas MH + toad so need to be sure we can get in and more importantly, get out. I use goole satellite to view several gas stations and have a strategy for each one. We aim for those with pumps parallel to the store or FJ/Pilot that have RV lanes. We have had to wait a few time for folks to finish 'shopping' and come move their vehicles before we can fill up too.
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