Pilot flying j travel centers overnight

[TrailBoss]

How many of you fellow travelers have stayed in a pilot flying j travel centers overnight. Do you feel safe staying there?(East Coast) Is there ample RV parking? I use these travel centers as often as I can traveling from MA to SC to fuel up but have never stayed in one. I know a lot of people that use the Walmart's, what's the consensus on the travel centers.
Thank You


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[cgotto1204]

Pilot Flying J

Have never stayed over night, but your post made me want to research to possibilities. The above link is to their RV amenities.

[The Wandering Irishman]

I've not stayed over at one, but would without any hesitation. I actually didn't know they had "RV spots" marked, that's nice.

On a recent trip from Central IL to the western panhandle of Florida (I-57 to I-24 to I-65) I kept an eye out specifically for Pilot \ Flying J. What I found is the Flying J stores are RV friendly with the RV fuel lanes (with water, dump stations, air and long handled window washers or ladders) and the Pilots did not have any of these amenities. Having a 36' gas RV towing a car this makes a huge difference getting in and out of a pump at a busy station.

There's a smartphone app called "MyPilot" that will list out the nearby Pilot\Flying J stores based on your location so you can see what each has before you stop. If you are a Good Sam member you can use their Trip Planner online which will show you the Pilot\Flying J stores along your route so you could actually set those as stops (which I am going to do next time). And of course as a Good Sam member you save 5 cents\gallon on fuel!

Most of these stores have huge truck parking areas that appear well lit and well marked. They are RV friendly stores and I think would welcome your overnight stop.

Tom

[MrJoe]

We have stayed a few times. Works in a pinch. Didn't have any issues. Just a noisy parking lot with no frills.


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[RubyDually]

We've stayed overnight at a Flying J a few times.

One was at Fargo ND where they had no dedicated RV parking so I was parked among the trucks so it was a bit noisy. I did manage to find a spot in the corner away from any running reefers.

The others had RV parking and were parked among mostly RV transporters that were parked for the night so there wasn't trucks coming and going all night long.

We took advantage of using the showers too which you won't find at Walmart. (obviously)

[chriscowles]

If you have a GPS that allows you to import POI (point-of-interest) files, I think you can get one on poi-factory.com that includes all travel centers combined.

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[bob caldwell]

Originally Posted by RubyDually

We've stayed overnight at a Flying J a few times.

One was at Fargo ND where they had no dedicated RV parking so I was parked among the trucks so it was a bit noisy. I did manage to find a spot in the corner away from any running reefers.

The others had RV parking and were parked among mostly RV transporters that were parked for the night so there wasn't trucks coming and going all night long.

We took advantage of using the showers too which you won't find at Walmart. (obviously)

Or 'Jimmies' hauling hogs.

[RubyDually]

Originally Posted by bob caldwell

Or 'Jimmies' hauling hogs.

AKA Double Breasted Yamaha's

[brer_rabbit10]

I've stayed in a number of truck stops when I was going from one place to another, not sightseeing along the way. They're well lit, fair number of people around so I didn't feel isolated. I've also done the same with Wal-Mart lots, parking under the lights. Once also in a Cracker Barrel. As long as you don't need amenities and can stand the drone of the engines they're fine.

[efgsr47]

I have stay at them from nj to tx and back. Only problem I had was hoping not to park next to a loud diesel running all night. Walmart is much quiet BUT watch some of them at NOT allowed to park overnight

[brer_rabbit10]

efgsr47 - Thanks! I thought you could stay at any of them. Did some research and here's a website with information, state by state, where you can find Wal-Marts at which to stay.
Walmart Locations Store Details & Parking | Walmart Store Locator

[efgsr47]

We also have a free app you can down load called FREE RV CAMPGROUNDS shows you also what and were different trucks stops also available for overnight

[camaraderie]

I have the android apps from Pilot/Flying J...as well as Loves and TA/Petro which also have parking overnight ( I love Iron Skillet!)
For those more PC based, here's the pdf for P/FJ which lists all centers by state and all ameneties and restaurants at each place (rv lanes, rv separate parking, Denny's vs. Subway etc. ) The real super centers for RV's are easily found this way. http://pilotflyingj.com/assets/files...ravelGuide.pdf
The others also have similar info on their websites.

[whitmw]

I have a small TT with no generator. When stopping at these places is there a place to plug in for the AC? I am pretty sure my battery wont run the ac and we normally travel in the summer time. This year is the first time for us going on an extended trip that will take more than 1 day to drive to the location.

[efgsr47]

the post I gave was for a truck stops across the country

[elind]

I thought about staying at one for the night on my way to Arizona this winter. But I parked in the truck parking to get some to eat and I realized it was tight and noisy. I couldn't get my bed slide out without worring about getting it hit. So I got a motel room.

[efgsr47]

When I stay at truck stops I never think about opening any slide for that reason I just make do. We didn't have a problem with NOT opening the slide, at a few stops just could not drive anymore I pushed it and dealt with the noise

[chriscowles]

Some trailers don't allow access to important features (bed, refrigerator, bathroom, kitchen cabinets) with the slide closed. That was one of my criteria for selection when I bought my 21DK. With it we can turtle with the slide in but still get to the bathroom and open cabinet doors and the refrigerator.

If it's just me and the wife (and maybe dog) that works. I won't be able to do that this summer because we'll have our kids with us.

For that reason we booked a pull-through site at a state park for a single night. I don't even have to unhook the trailer. Just drop the beds, open the slide, and maybe put down stabilizers. In the AM after breakfast, we're gone.

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[Al Fiallos]

My wife and I stayed at Flying J (before they merged with Pilot) from Louisiana to Virginia and back. Some of them have free dump facilities and dedicated fuel lanes. We loved the restaurants and gift shops. The ones with dedicated RV parking were very quiet and well lit - felt very safe. We are leery of Wal-Marts because their video surveillance is only for anti-union monitoring, not for customer safety.
JMHO - Regards Al

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by whitmw

I have a small TT with no generator. When stopping at these places is there a place to plug in for the AC? I am pretty sure my battery wont run the ac and we normally travel in the summer time. This year is the first time for us going on an extended trip that will take more than 1 day to drive to the location.

There are no hookups at truck stops, Walmarts, and Cracker Barrels. You must be self-sufficient.

The slide space is a good point. It really depends on the truck stop that you're at if they are going to have room or not. I've been at some where I couldn't leave my slides out and others where I could. We haven't stayed at any truck stops overnight- just a Walmart now.

Weather-wise for me has to be "just right" and there are very few days that it works out for us because we are "particular" and don't have a generator.